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Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy??????

Steve708

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My jewelry knowledge is next to none. I have been looking online at rings for a couple months now, and finally landed on this. Is this a good ring for the money? If not can someone please point me to somewhere that would be better to look? I greatly appreciate your help, want to get someone with more knowledges advice before pulling the trigger. Thanks again. Below is the link to the ring I'm looking at

https://m.zales.com/diamond-framed-bridal-set-14k-white-gold/product.jsp?productId=19130016
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

No its not.

I'll be back with better buys. :wavey:
 

diamondseeker2006

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Nooo, you don't want to overpay for poor quality. Niel will help you find something better!
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Thanks for your reply. Can you please point me somewhere that is better to look at than Zales? Looking to be around $4000, want at least close to a carat center stone, obviously the bigger I can get for my buck the better. I looked at every major jewelry store and costco, unfortunately I just dont know where else to look to get the good deals. Thanks in advance for your help
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

its graded H-I I1-I2. Who is grading it that??


Unless its GIA or AGS (which it isnt ) it isnt really an H-I. Other labs are "softer" on grading, that means, it is very unlikely the color would meet the H-I color range of more strick grading labs (GIA or AGS). What color are you getting if it were graded by these labs? Who knows? If you dont know, how do you know youre not overpaying??

The same goes for I1-2. They are lax on their grading criteria. So what would it be from a more strick grading lab? It wouldnt be better. And ideally you really dont WANT to have an I graded stone, regardless of who graded that, but particularly when its a soft grading, and still was that low. Very good chance there are noticeable inclusions.


CUT is the most important part of any diamond. Its what makes the diamond sparkle. Without a good cut, whats the point? How well is this stone cut? they dont even tell you! That doesnt mean its good.
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

that center stone is only about .75 cts. You could get larger if you eliminated the halo. Does she want a halo, or does she like solitaires too?


Usually fancy shape stones are cheaper than rounds, would she be happy with an emerald cut or other fancy shape?

Do you have to buy the wedding band too, or could you, currently, put the full 4k toward the engagement ring?
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Halo isn't a necessity. The biggest thing is getting a ring that has that wow factor. Before we were looking at this http://m.costco.com/Princess-Cut-2.00-ctw-VS2-Clarity%2c-I-Color-Diamond-Platinum-Ring.product.11753332.html
So it doesn't have to be round cut or halo. The main cuts she likes are round, princess or brilliant. I can do $4k on just the ring and worry about wedding band later. Man I really want to thank you again for your help
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Steve708|1413747358|3769461 said:
Halo isn't a necessity. The biggest thing is getting a ring that has that wow factor. Before we were looking at this http://m.costco.com/Princess-Cut-2.00-ctw-VS2-Clarity%2c-I-Color-Diamond-Platinum-Ring.product.11753332.html
So it doesn't have to be round cut or halo. The main cuts she likes are round, princess or brilliant. I can do $4k on just the ring and worry about wedding band later. Man I really want to thank you again for your help


No problem!

brilliant? what do you mean exactly? Round, princess or was there another shape? Im going to look at all of them, just in case :lol:
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Sorry I meant radiant not brilliant lol.
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Actually she said she likes radiant the most, then princess. Round is her least favorite of the three
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

how about

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.90-carat-j-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-366885

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/14k-white-gold-3.3mm-cross-prong-solitaire-engagement-ring-item-421

I know thats a hundred or two over budget, but James allen will sometimes offer a discount if you specifically ask for it. You go to live chat with someone and say you want to get a "pricescope discount" or "referral discount" or "preferred customer" discount. They arent suppose to call it a Ps discount anymore, so it may be called something else, but ask, and be persistent

eta RATS.... ok ill go look at radiants
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

And we are sure she doesnt like Emerald cuts or asschers?
I ask only because radiants and princesses are square and rectangular. So are those shapes. Does she dislike the way the facets look?
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

She didn't like asschers because it didn't have that Shiney sparkly look the others. And she didn't really like the shape of the emerald.
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Bare with me here, I don't know much about this. Wouldn't I be better getting a little lower color or clarity and getting a bigger diamond for the money? Is a little lower really noticeable? Will it look a lot crappies?
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Steve708|1413748630|3769475 said:
She didn't like asschers because it didn't have that Shiney sparkly look the others. And she didn't really like the shape of the emerald.


That makes sense, they look very different. The "sparkle" shes talking about is the type of faceting. So we will stick with stones with brilliant facets. That being ovals, marquise, pears, radiants, and princesses (well leave out rounds sense we know he doesnt love those.


Marquise, pears, and ovals face up larger for there ctw.

Princesses and radiants looks smaller for there ctw.

This means, say you take an oval and a radiant that are bot .8 cts.... the oval, typically, will look visually larger, though they are the same weight.

Steve708 said:
Bare with me here, I don't know much about this. Wouldn't I be better getting a little lower color or clarity and getting a bigger diamond for the money? Is a little lower really noticeable? Will it look a lot crappies?

better is relative, but you are right, to many people, compromising a bit on color and clarity to get the carat weight you want is totally worth it.

Now cut is king. Like i said, a good cut is whats going to make the diamond sparkle. we want to make sure whatever shape you get, you get one that has a good cut so its nice and sparkly. Now, for fancies, its a little more difficult than rounds. You cant go by a set of numbers that say "this is good, this is bad"... there are generic guidelines, but really you have to look at them. Then you see one you think has potential, you get an ASET. An aset is a tool that evaluates light performance (meaning how well itll sparkle)...you find one with a good aset? then great!

color is a liiitle bit more important in fancies than rounds. brilliant cuts like your girlfriend likes seem to concentrate more color than rounds. This is due to the fact that they have that faceting she likes. Broader facets dont concentrate as much color . Now because of this, you cant go TOO low in color in the shapes she likes, probably not lower than an H...maybe even a G... but then again from time to time you find a nice I or even J.... kind of play it by ear.

Clarity. Ggreat news about that, brilliants, on average, hide inclusions better than stones with broader facets. Those tiny facets mask these.

Now you cant just go in and say "i want an SI1, H radiants thats well cut" because you may not find one. You have to be a bit flexible. Say "i want an eye clean H or better well cut randiant" and hope you find one thats an SI1. Sometimes the only well cut stone in your budget is an F, VS1, and if thats the case, then thats what you have to buy...

Its more of an art, less of a science. But dont get intimidated. But still a bit of science haha

ct is just how large you can get after getting all the other criteria
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Wow I realize just how little I actually know after talking to you lol. After finding out about that james allen site from you, I looked with her over the different kinds of rings. Turns out she really does like the halos. This one in particular. Will a radiant work here, or just princess? She is ok with princess. What stone you think works best with this ring, trying to get as close to a carat as possible, but also trying to keep it as inexpensive as I can without it looking horrible since the ring without the stone she wants is $2000

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/halo/14k-split-shank-princess-shape-diamond-halo-engagement-ring-item-49477
 

JulieN

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

The last one is pretty nice.
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

it could probably fit a perfectly square radiant without additional cost, but then, why not just get a princess at that point.

you could fit a rectangular radiant, but they will probably charge you for the changes.



hows about.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-3244883.htm

plus

http://www.ritani.com/engagement-rings/french-set-halo-diamond--v--band-engagement-ring-in-14kt-white-gold/10612

they have it on there website but only in 18k. Id do 14k and ask them to match the price on the ritani website.

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/diamond-settings/ritani-bella-vita-split-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-for-princess-2133.htm
 

Niel

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msop04

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Steve708|1413750811|3769488 said:

If you want to stick with radiant, then I wouldn't go any lower than H in color (maaaaaaybe I), but most definitely not J/K/lower... as Niel mentioned earlier, radiants will show color more so than rounds.

Also, does she like the square shaped radiants or the more rectangular variety? Understand that a 1 ct radiant will appear much smaller than a 1 ct round... I know it's been said -- just reiterating. :halo:
 

Niel

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

ok, ill admit off the bat that this is a long shot but. From time to time This company has a sale. When they do, they mark this ring down by at least a thousand. But no one has bought it for a few years. I would offer your budget and see if they accept it. The link pics dont seem to ever work (for me at least) so i attached pic from another area. Its tiny though.

I would just shoot them an email and see if they are open to it. They very well may not be, so i wouldnt get my hopes up, but like i said im certain ive seen this ring marked down multiple times in at least two of there sales and no one ever buys it. Not a split shank, but designer, platinum, and the bezel will help the stone look larger.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/3380/

_23421.jpg
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Thanks for all your help guys. I think we've got it finalized on a princess cut now. Since the ring she likes is for a princess cut diamond, that's the route we'll go. So I'm a little confused, the one I sent solo by itself, even tho its a k, since it's a princess cut do we think that will look fine?
 

Steve708

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Re: Please help, is this Zales engagement ring a good buy???

Thats beautiful. Ill definitely inquire on that. Thanks
 
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