How to inform but, not overwhelm your BF about diamonds

[CherryCoke]

Hello,

My BF and I have been looking at rings off and on. We know what I want but, now since coming to PS I know it''s a lot more than just a setting and diamond size. My BF wants me to email him some pictures of the specfic settings I like so he can have them for when he makes the purchase. How do I gently pass along the info about cut, color and clarity without overwhelming him. I also don''t want to be too bossy and say within this size, color, clairity etc. I know what I am willing to cut back on and what I would like most in the diamonds. I would be thrilled with a J color but, I want a great cut. We are both very frugal so I want to make sure he is getting his money''s worth. Do you think I am being too forward?

Thanks, Any advice will help.

 

[luckynumber]

no, i think you''ve got the right attitude.

you really have to guage the kind of guy you''re man is. does he like direction in other aspects? does he hate taking advice? that will be a good guide on how to approach it.

i would get your most important 3 points across, and then just leave it up to him.

this wont work if you are very particular about what you want and wont be happy if it''s even a little different, but it doesn''t seem like the case. try not to get too caught up in the PS hype for big rocks either!

good luck!

 

[vc10um]

If your man is like mine, he''s a researcher by nature. I know several other ladies on here as well who have talked about how their SOs will research for hours before making a purchase...on anything from shoes, to lawnmowers, to car parts. If this sounds like your guy, then I suggest showing him ONLY the education section of Pricescope (we don''t want him reading all your LIW posts now, do we??) and if you''re confident your identity is secure, you can direct him to RockyTalky so he can show the PSers who know their stuff what he''s chosen. He''ll probably ask you at some point what color, cut, and clarity you like in your diamonds if he thinks you know your stuff, too.

If this is NOT your guy, I suggest you simply put in the email with the pictures of the settings what kind of cut, clarity, and color (give a range...like G-J color, etc.) you''d like in your diamond (perhaps preface with "I''ve done some research myself and I''ve found my favorite diamonds fall into these ranges) and he can talk that over with the jeweler he goes to see and get you a diamond in your spec range that''s also in his budget.

 

[fuzzers]

My plan is to send him a link to Pricescope''s article about the 4C''s which clearly states that cut is key.

It''s the best article I''ve found on it, and it''s pretty simple. Maybe send him a note about your preferences: "Cut > Clarity > Color > Carat" or however you like.

 

[girlygirl29]

If you go to the Tacori site they have a Gentleman''s guide that is very helpful. You can even save it as a pdf and send it if you don''t like the click through, which I recommend as its less about selling you the Tacori brand. (if you click one of the topics a video comes up and at the bottom its says, download Tacori Engagement Guide)

Here is the link!
http://gentlemensguide.tacori.com/#/home/

 

[Winks_Elf]

Since it is a major purchase, why not make it the first major purchase that you select together? If you go with him, he''ll be less overwhelmed, and you can pick out three choices and let him surprise you with the final decision.

 

[HopeDream]

If your guy isn''t much into the whole researching thing you could point him toward a pricescope vendor that you know has well cut stones and say buy from there.

or

You could point him toward a well cut brand like hearts of fire which is a branded precision cut (you pay for a brand premium here, but you know you will recieve something that has been percision cut symetry-wise) and then specify to look within a magic range of crown and pavilion angles on the diamond''s certificate.

Here''s Loreli''s diamond angles cheat sheet that he could print them off and compare them to the measurements on the stone''s certificates he sees (I assume you want a round brilliant):

"Here is the cheat sheet some of us use as a guide to find a well cut near Tolkowsky type round:
depth - 60 - 62% - although my personal preference is to allow up to 62.4%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees
girdle - avoid extremes, look for thin to slightly thick, thin to medium etc
polish and symmetry - very good and above "

or
you could pick 3-4 winners from a PS vendor and them have him choose the one he likes.

good luck!!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

My BF really wants this to be a surprise, but knows how picky I am and knows that I am a frequent member of the diamond forum.

I gave him bits and pieces at a time and told him how to get a nice diamond without doing too much work.

He knows about WF and Brian Gavin and knows he can find a well cut diamond pretty easily without doing too much work as long has he looks at the ACA''s or signatures diamonds. He also knows my size and color preferences.

I think the most important thing I did was guide him towards a vendor who I am pretty confident in and puts all the well cut diamonds in one list.

 

[CherryCoke]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I sent him the email with a picture and name of th setting. I attached some links to a few PS venders. I also attached a link with info about the 4 c''s. I gave him a little bit of inormation about each and noted that I felt cut was the most important. I also included my ring size and a note about what we have liked in stores for diamond size range. Since I want a three stone i mentioned that the center stone is the biggest and that the side stones are usually half to 2/3 the size. He''s happy to have th infomation. Now I get to sit and wait....

We may go on vacation at the end of March. I think that is the soonest possibility of a propsal.

I like the trellis three stone ring with round stones. My finger is a 3 1/2. AS far as diamond size goes anywhere around 1 ctw to 1 1/2 ctw looks great.

 

[AustenNut]

Glad everything went so well. And you even have a vacation to look forward to (proposal or not). Have fun!

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Before I was engaged, I made a cheat-sheet for my boyfriend. It had pretty much everything you could imagine. Size, color, clarity and most importantly, CUT. I also kept a list of "acceptable" diamonds. Yes, I used that wording. I had links to diamonds from online vendors that I liked.

We ended up finding a diamond from Good Old Gold and had Jonathan shoot a video comparison. I also picked the setting. So basically, there was no surprise at all. But that was fine with me. I liked knowing exactly what I was getting. But I''m a picky b*tch. I''d ask your BF how much help he wants. If he wants to surprise you but needs to be led in the right direction, go for it. If he wants you to take the guesswork out of it, by all means, help the guy out! You won''t regret it.