Fussy Little Lady

[Splodge2003]

Hi every one

Just wanted to introduce myself - I'm Sarah from England, and I am officially a lady in waiting!

Who knew ring shopping would be so stressful! I am quite possibly the worlds fussiest person, and I really did think it would be easy and something would leap out at me as there are so many styles I like. This isn't the case sadly. I get to pick out my ring because my BF clearly knew I was going to be a nightmare! Did anyone or is anyone going through a similar thing?

Bit of background so far:

- We ordered a moissanite ring online as I actually quite like them and we were trying to be frugal with money. It arrived, it's beautiful but it's huge! I thought I would want a massive stone but I really don't, and the setting was so high! Unfortunately we are unable to return it as we asked for the prongs to be the same color gold as the band, which they now class as a special order as it's not a standard color option. Lesson learned about online ordering....

- Boyfriend and I had a talk about sharing paying for the ring as I don't feel its fair for him to pay for all of it when we earn the same and it will be 'our' weddding, and this way we can double the amount that goes towards the ring and get a proper diamond! (we only had a small budget to begin with, now it's still small but reasonable to get something nice)

- We book an appointment in London, drive all the way there to see some real diamonds and settings - We learned a lot but no settings leap out at me like I thought they would. There was one which had lucida style prongs that crossed over with an emerald cut stone which I liked, but I wished the emerald cut sparkled more. This is when I start to realize I might be pickier than I thought...

- We spend 3 hours looking around high street jewelers, try on about 20 different styles and still nothing. Some were very nice, but not 'Me'. At this point I think by BF will just be glad when I stop looking at and talking about jewelry.



So at this point, one ring in the closet, many hours walking around shops and hundreds of hours spent online obsessing, I've got to the point where I am so confused! So far I've only been able to figure out things I really don't like and a few things that I do, and even then i go back and forth and change my mind.

You'd think after all that we could find something! There have been many I have seen online and like the look of, but we've been stung once with an online purchase already. Brick and mortar stores so far haven't had anything I like enough and are too expensive to make something custom, and we're hesitant to order online even though we've heard great things about Blue Nile and other retailers.

I then stumbled on a UK jeweler who has a solid returns policy and a setting that 'appears' to have quite a few of the elements I like combined. They have a store 3 hours away which is too far for me to get to see them, but they have an online store. I showed my BF and as we can definitely return this one we've taken a gamble.

I'm now waiting for a .58 radiant cut, channel set solitaire with tapered band and lucida style prongs to arrive in the next 3 weeks! I just don't want to get my hopes up only to not like it when it's here.

Wow that was a long post!

Can someone reassure me that all this being fussy will be totally worth it in the end?! I realize I sound a bit mental

 

[Stephny691]

*Waves*
You're not that fussy! Those just sound like realistic things you take into consideration when you buy anything expensive! But it doesn't sound like you'll be a lady in waiting long

I'm also from the UK, did you find rings/diamonds here are insanely expensive? Me and my fella did. What part of the UK are you from and what's the name of the store? I'm trying really hard to find something UK based so I can *see* it, or at least return it easily!

Wishing you all the best!

 

[pandabee]

Welcome!! I would say you are not being fussy at all...it's a big purchase and you want to be sure you love it 100%!! Can you try to post the first ring for sale on loupe troop or diamond bistro to help recoup some of the costs?

The ring you are expecting sounds lovely. Was that the shape you tried on that sang to you the most?

 

[Splodge2003]

Thanks for the supportive replies ladies

Stephny, I went to visit 77 diamonds in Mayfair, London. They were really nice but had nothing that I liked enough to really want. That's where I discovered I liked the emerald cut shape and the way Lucida style prongs cross over, but emerald cuts don't sparkle enough for me. They had a huge selections of diamonds though in all grades/colours/cuts/certificates and prices were much cheaper than shops.

The place the new ring is coming from is diamond-heaven.co.uk who are based in the Birmingham jewellery quarter. Their website only let's you pick basic options, but I spoke with them via email and explained I wanted to pick my own GIA certified stone and they were really helpful, and reduced the costs to fit our budget.

I'm feeling a little calmer about the decision today, I've been over and over the different styles I've looked at and I'm 90% sure this one might be a winner.

The only other styles I liked were a three stone with channel set band and a cluster ring shaped like a marquise with a channel set band. I guess the main theme so far is the channel setting lol. I'm more drawn to elongated stone shapes as I have long skinny fingers.

Oh and the first ring is on diamond bistro, but I've had no interest yet disparate reducing the price a fair bit! Maybe I'll turn it into a pendant

 

[Roxy]

Thanks for the supportive replies ladies

Stephny, I went to visit 77 diamonds in Mayfair, London. They were really nice but had nothing that I liked enough to really want. That's where I discovered I liked the emerald cut shape and the way Lucida style prongs cross over, but emerald cuts don't sparkle enough for me. They had a huge selections of diamonds though in all grades/colours/cuts/certificates and prices were much cheaper than shops.

The place the new ring is coming from is diamond-heaven.co.uk who are based in the Birmingham jewellery quarter. Their website only let's you pick basic options, but I spoke with them via email and explained I wanted to pick my own GIA certified stone and they were really helpful, and reduced the costs to fit our budget.

I'm feeling a little calmer about the decision today, I've been over and over the different styles I've looked at and I'm 90% sure this one might be a winner.

The only other styles I liked were a three stone with channel set band and a cluster ring shaped like a marquise with a channel set band. I guess the main theme so far is the channel setting lol. I'm more drawn to elongated stone shapes as I have long skinny fingers.

Oh and the first ring is on diamond bistro, but I've had no interest yet disparate reducing the price a fair bit! Maybe I'll turn it into a pendant

I'm excited for you and I really hope that this is "the one"! Do they have pictures that they can send to you so that you'll have something to daydream about while you wait?

 

[Splodge2003]

Thanks for the supportive replies ladies

Stephny, I went to visit 77 diamonds in Mayfair, London. They were really nice but had nothing that I liked enough to really want. That's where I discovered I liked the emerald cut shape and the way Lucida style prongs cross over, but emerald cuts don't sparkle enough for me. They had a huge selections of diamonds though in all grades/colours/cuts/certificates and prices were much cheaper than shops.

The place the new ring is coming from is diamond-heaven.co.uk who are based in the Birmingham jewellery quarter. Their website only let's you pick basic options, but I spoke with them via email and explained I wanted to pick my own GIA certified stone and they were really helpful, and reduced the costs to fit our budget.

I'm feeling a little calmer about the decision today, I've been over and over the different styles I've looked at and I'm 90% sure this one might be a winner.

The only other styles I liked were a three stone with channel set band and a cluster ring shaped like a marquise with a channel set band. I guess the main theme so far is the channel setting lol. I'm more drawn to elongated stone shapes as I have long skinny fingers.

Oh and the first ring is on diamond bistro, but I've had no interest yet disparate reducing the price a fair bit! Maybe I'll turn it into a pendant

I'm excited for you and I really hope that this is "the one"! Do they have pictures that they can send to you so that you'll have something to daydream about while you wait?

There is a video of the setting here (it says emerald cut but shows a radiant):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CyTCg0DcNME

It might even arrive at the end of this week!

 

[Roxy]

Thanks for the supportive replies ladies

Stephny, I went to visit 77 diamonds in Mayfair, London. They were really nice but had nothing that I liked enough to really want. That's where I discovered I liked the emerald cut shape and the way Lucida style prongs cross over, but emerald cuts don't sparkle enough for me. They had a huge selections of diamonds though in all grades/colours/cuts/certificates and prices were much cheaper than shops.

The place the new ring is coming from is diamond-heaven.co.uk who are based in the Birmingham jewellery quarter. Their website only let's you pick basic options, but I spoke with them via email and explained I wanted to pick my own GIA certified stone and they were really helpful, and reduced the costs to fit our budget.

I'm feeling a little calmer about the decision today, I've been over and over the different styles I've looked at and I'm 90% sure this one might be a winner.

The only other styles I liked were a three stone with channel set band and a cluster ring shaped like a marquise with a channel set band. I guess the main theme so far is the channel setting lol. I'm more drawn to elongated stone shapes as I have long skinny fingers.

Oh and the first ring is on diamond bistro, but I've had no interest yet disparate reducing the price a fair bit! Maybe I'll turn it into a pendant

I'm excited for you and I really hope that this is "the one"! Do they have pictures that they can send to you so that you'll have something to daydream about while you wait?

There is a video of the setting here (it says emerald cut but shows a radiant):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CyTCg0DcNME

It might even arrive at the end of this week!

Great, please come back and post pictures when you get it!