Marginally clueless newb needs help.

[dadamerican]

Hey, everyone. I've read that this is THE place to go for advice about diamond-buying. And, boy, do I need some. Advice, that is.

So my girlfriend and I are going to get engaged in the next month or so. We've been shopping around for settings and I think we've found one we like. But I love her like the water loves the flower and I want to make sure I get her the best damn diamond for it possible. I'm a public school teacher, so the budget isn't exactly impressive, but I want the sparkliest, most impressive diamond I can get for my buck.

I'm looking for a round brilliant cut between .66 and .75 carats. No lower than J color, and eye clean. Brilliance and fire are big important factors here.

I've been looking at the diamonds these qualifications bring up and it's frankly overwhelming. What would your advice be for a New Yorker to do? Am I correct in thinking U.S.A Certed Diamonds has a NY office? There are so many listed here that I'm not even sure where to begin.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

EDIT: In this ring what is "be stock"? Is this a good ring? The IF caught my attention but the J . . .not so sure.

 

[chialea]

You might try having a look at this thread:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/engagement-ring-shopping-in-nyc.16663/

Good Old Gold is currently under construction, but they're supposed to be great. Give them a call or send them an email and see what you can do if you'd like to work with them.

 

[dadamerican]

Cool. I've actually looked around a lot at Good Old Gold. They're definitely going to be a stand by, but I'd really like to know of a place that I can actually visit. Reading all the info online is nice, but I want to see the little buggers in my hand.

 

[dadamerican]

I found another stone that intrigued me. What do you guys think of this?

 

[chialea]

a) you don't have enough information to judge how good the cut is
b) but that is way, way too deep. it will look much smaller than it would with a better cut

 

[reena]

if you're in NYC, the diamond district is a good place to LOOK just to get a sense of what the different colors, sizes, and clarities look like. they'll let you look at and try on just about anything. just be sure to be firm that you're just browsing, so that they ease off the pressue.

also, michael c fina, jewelers on fifth, and even high-end places like saks and fortunoff can be good places to look for ideas.

 

[dadamerican]

----------------
On 8/2/2004 2:28:02 PM chialea wrote:

a) you don't have enough information to judge how good the cut is
b) but that is way, way too deep. it will look much smaller than it would with a better cut----------------

Er, to which one are you referring?

EDIT: And what is a good range for depth?

 

[quaeritur]

----------------
On 8/2/2004 2:31:35 PM dadamerican wrote:

----------------
On 8/2/2004 2:28:02 PM chialea wrote:

a) you don't have enough information to judge how good the cut is
b) but that is way, way too deep. it will look much smaller than it would with a better cut----------------

Er, to which one are you referring?

EDIT: And what is a good range for depth?----------------

I'm pretty sure she's referring to the link you posted. And by the way, I agree with her. I wouldn't want anything deeper than 63% and I'd really rather keep it to no more than 62%. You can run a search based on cut quality from here

Here are another couple of well-cut pretties for ya...
0.612 F SI1
0.62 G VS2

 

[dadamerican]

Hey, I might as well bug you folks about this, as well. (Sorry if I'm a pest.) The setting we've found that we like quite a bit is from Leigh Jay Nacht at antiqueengagementrings.com. He seemed GREAT, the absolute nicest guy we've dealt with. Has anyone else had good experiencs with him? Bad ones? Please let me know.

 

[Rowan]

And the cut quality is what will determine how sparkly that rock is.

 

[wonka27]

That's right...don't sacrifice the cut!!!

 

[Diamondsbybree]

I have heard some pretty good reviews on antiqueengagementrings.com

 

[ChooChoo]

USA Certed is a good company, and they have some good stones, but you won't find it using their search function yourself, since it doesn't let you sort by cut. You should just send them an e-mail, state your price limit, and ask them what ideal-cut stones (or at least premium cuts) they have in your price range. I would drop the clarity to SI1, by the way, and if you're willing to go as low as J (though I would stay at an H/I or better) you should be able to find a decent size stone.

If you post your max price for the stone, I can also pull up some good examples from DirtCheapDiamonds and a few otehr discount vendors.

 

[dadamerican]

Thanks, guys. Going to see the altered setting tomorrow at antique engagement rings, then Thursday I've got an appointment with USA Certed to look at a few diamonds.

I feel this bizarre mix of fear and excitement and frustration when looking online at these things. I just want to do it in person!