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

[Sunstorm]

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

I too think that a cushion would be a great option if she liked them. Hmm, yes I see that the GOG is over budget, maybe they would consider offers or perhaps they could recommend a similar option, I just think that the cut and color of the centerstone are well worth the premium.

 

[stargurl78]

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

I would go for the Gabriel & Co setting with a diamond from ID Jewelry. It seems like the perfect combo of getting what she wants and not overpaying for it. You will end up with a beautiful ring.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

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

I too think that a cushion would be a great option if she liked them. Hmm, yes I see that the GOG is over budget, maybe they would consider offers or perhaps they could recommend a similar option, I just think that the cut and color of the centerstone are well worth the premium.

My family member just got a split shank halo Gabriel setting with around a .75 ct I VS princess stone for $4k total. So I know for sure it can be done with an I or certainly J color stone.

Ultimately the OP has to decide if he wants a larger, lower color stone where the tint is going to show in contrast to the halo or whether he wants a slightly smaller stone that will appear closer to, but not as white, as the halo.

 

[Sunstorm]

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

Yes of course OP has to decide but we can still give opinions, sometimes they may come out somewhat subjective but we are only human. BTW, I have also made a halo for an L stone and it came out quite nice but as I said above, not in the post you referenced diamondseeker, and agreed with others, OP should first see K stones IRL to see if they like them, some do and some do not, I see nothing wrong with that. Also, an I may be a lot less tinted than a K. I am most definitely not trying to force anyone to do anything here, I would not even benefit from that at all, only trying to help. I wanted to clarify this for sure and sometimes I do not have time to write very lenghty posts. But if I just say OP get what you want, that would also include the Zales stones he came here with and I would not feel very good about that. We can only try our best and sometimes others may misunderstand us.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

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

Yes of course OP has to decide but we can still give opinions, sometimes they may come out somewhat subjective but we are only human. BTW, I have also made a halo for an L stone and it came out quite nice but as I said above, not in the post you referenced diamondseeker, and agreed with others, OP should first see K stones IRL to see if they like them, some do and some do not, I see nothing wrong with that. Also, an I may be a lot less tinted than a K. I am most definitely not trying to force anyone to do anything here, I would not even benefit from that at all, only trying to help. I wanted to clarify this for sure and sometimes I do not have time to write very lenghty posts. But if I just say OP get what you want, that would also include the Zales stones he came here with and I would not feel very good about that. We can only try our best and sometimes others may misunderstand us.

I agreed with all your advice posted previously on the thread! We certainly all are giving our opinions in an effort to help. My general philosophy is quality over quantity, but that certainly is not for everyone!

 

[Sunstorm]

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

Yes, sure, thanks Diamondseeker thanks for pointed that out.) I may have seemed too blunt and yes perhaps was too subjective, I just did not want OP to feel resentment afterwards as it has happened to me as well personally and to my best friend who was given a K engagement ring and she hated it, tried to sell it and could not, it certainly depends on the tint, I have to say hers was not very attractive to most but some of the OECs (and others) I truly love in creamy colors.

 

[Niel]

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

What did you decide to do?

 

[Steve708]

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

Sorry Niel, I didnt see your post asking what I decided because I took time off to save up more money to get exactly what I like. My budget is now $6500,maybe a little more. Im making a decision in the next few days. Im going with one of these bands

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER7262W44JJ

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER10926W44JJ

Im buying from idjewelry.com, seems like they have good diamond prices and carry gabriel and co. I want a 1-1.5 carat. My final question to you, what is the lowest cut, color and clarity you would recommend for a brilliant? You told me for a radiant when I was thinking about that, but not a princess. Ill show you what I end up with in a few days once I decide. Thanks again for all your help

 

[Niel]

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

Sorry Niel, I didnt see your post asking what I decided because I took time off to save up more money to get exactly what I like. My budget is now $6500,maybe a little more. Im making a decision in the next few days. Im going with one of these bands

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER7262W44JJ

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER10926W44JJ

Im buying from idjewelry.com, seems like they have good diamond prices and carry gabriel and co. I want a 1-1.5 carat. My final question to you, what is the lowest cut, color and clarity you would recommend for a brilliant? You told me for a radiant when I was thinking about that, but not a princess. Ill show you what I end up with in a few days once I decide. Thanks again for all your help

Cut I wouldn't compromise on, to be safe, personally, I'd see if they could find you a AGS 000 princess cut.
Clarity, I dont worry about, myself, when trying to maximize size. If its eye clean, I'm happy. Some people differ on this, but if I can't see the inclusion why pay for a higher clarity. Because of that I'd look around a si1 range.
Color is subjective, but I would say if you stay around a 1 ct for a well cur princess I would say it will look white going down to an I

Good luck let us know!

 

[Steve708]

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

Thanks niel. We are going with this band.
https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER10926W44JJ

The biggest carat it will take is 1.0. So I was looking at stones on idjewelry, and got it limited down to these 4 I think. I attached a screen shot with comparisons. There's no pics of stones, so it's hard to tell. What do you think I should get

 

[Steve708]

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

Sorry didn't mean to post screenshot twice

 

[Steve708]

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

Ones only 2800, is that gonna look noticeably worse than the others

 

[JDDN]

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

Hi there, I'm not a veteran like Niel and some of the others, but I have been learning a lot from PS! Something to consider, you usually pay a premium for carat weights hitting 1 carat, 2 carats….you get the picture. In other words, you can get a better cut, color, clarity for the money going down to say .90 carats or 1.05 carats.

For the "spread" of the diamond or how it faces up and how large it looks, look at the dimensions listed. Looks like the $3K stone faces up the smallest. The $2K stone has an excellent cut which is great, but it's cheaper because of the J color and the SI1. The 1st and the 2nd (going from left to right) look the best to me.

Not to make things difficult, but I think you could get a larger stone if you weren't limited to 1 carat in the setting. Just saying' .

 

[Steve708]

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

Yes, that's my dilemma. She loves that ring, and the largest it can hold is 1 ct. Don't wanna go much below the 1 ct, because don't want a gap between the stone and the rest of the ring. Thanks for your input, that's all things I have to consider

 

[JDDN]

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

Have you asked if they can do a custom setting? Ie, same setting but accommodate a slightly larger stone?

 

[Niel]

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

What size is her finger? This is on sale as it's a closeout, fits a 6mm, and I bet he might even take an offer if you buy the center though him.

I'd tell him specifically that you find him though ps, you're interested in this setting and an ags000 stone to put into it.

http://m.pearlmansjewelers.com/site/pearlmansjewelers/default?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pearlmansjewelers.com%2Fjewelry-specials%2Fcloseout-jewelry%2Fritani%2F17QQ1%2F0%2F#2701


Eta: however a 1.5 ct probably would be over budget

 

[Steve708]

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

She is a size 6.5 ring. She doesn't like that ring for some reason. I can increase my budget up to 7500, if that helps. Niel, what's your opinion on that $2900 stone I posted? If you have any other ideas, I'd be excited to check them out. Thanks again

 

[Niel]

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

I'm not the best at princess cuts, admittedly, so I can't really comment on the ones above without photos.

Too bad she doesn't like that one, what about this one?

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

Stones like these would be lovely

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-sku-417955

Or this one, after seeing if they have ant discount they could apply to it

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.25-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-sku-505685

 

[Steve708]

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

I like those stones. And even though I like that ring as well, my girl doesn't lol.

 

[Steve708]

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

She likes the bigger diamonds on the side like the one I posted

 

[Steve708]

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

I'm sorry to keep asking questions. You guys have given me all the input I need to make an informed decision. I have one final question. She changed her mind one last time lol, she assures me this is the final change. She now wants this ring

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER9041W44JJ

My question to you is, since its a cushion set ring, can I put a princess cut center stone in instead? And if I do, will it look funny? The center stone measurements are 6.5mmx5.5, so wont a princess cut leave space between on one part, since are most princess cuts square? Thanks in advance

 

[mrs-b]

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

Hi Steve - my opinion....

I think you'd chosen the best ring with the one you liked earlier. I think the one you've posted now will be a lot more...busy looking. Just too much going on and a bit overpowering. The side band also overpowers the head, and will make your center stone look smaller by comparison.

Re putting a princess in a cushion setting - you can probably force it into some settings, but it will never look like it was made for the setting. Apart from anything else, the inner lines of the setting - where the diamond is meant to sit - will be slightly curved, and the stone will be straight. So it will look odd, in my opinion.

One of the tricks of using a pre-made setting and having it look great is to aim to get the center stone to fit the setting as near as you possibly can. I would NOT try to put a larger diamond in the setting; it will sit too high and won't look like the stone belongs in that setting.

Apart from anything else, a slightly larger stone won't get a larger setting (unless you go up quite a lot in size - at which point the setting will be made for a larger stone), so the perimeters of the ring will remain the same. So it won't look like 'a bigger ring'. A halo setting largely masks the size of your center diamond. So altho both of the stones Niel posted are lovely, I would go with the smaller stone - it will fit better and look better. But pls do think about reverting to the former setting - it will look far better, IMO.

I think the stones you're looking at all look ok, though the table/depth proportion of the second stone is by far the best. In general, you want to keep the table a smaller percentage than the depth. Here's a link to what you're looking for, and how the various proportions fall into the ideal category - or below:

https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-grading-chart-princess

On the basis of that - I think stone #2 is your clear winner. H colored stones are plenty white and will go well with the stones in your setting. SI1 is plenty clean enough and is also good value. Its stats seem to me to be the best of the 4 of them.

So I would put stone # 2 into *this* setting:

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER10926W44JJ

I think that ring would be classy and substantial. It would also be within your budget, and I think that's important. And don't forget to ask IDJ to give you nice, tight, tiny claws/prongs on your center stone; you want to keep the metal to a minimum!

Whatever you decide - good luck, and I hope she loves it!

 

[Niel]

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

Hi Steve - my opinion....

I think you'd chosen the best ring with the one you liked earlier. I think the one you've posted now will be a lot more...busy looking. Just too much going on and a bit overpowering. The side band also overpowers the head, and will make your center stone look smaller by comparison.

Re putting a princess in a cushion setting - you can probably force it into some settings, but it will never look like it was made for the setting. Apart from anything else, the inner lines of the setting - where the diamond is meant to sit - will be slightly curved, and the stone will be straight. So it will look odd, in my opinion.

One of the tricks of using a pre-made setting and having it look great is to aim to get the center stone to fit the setting as near as you possibly can. I would NOT try to put a larger diamond in the setting; it will sit too high and won't look like the stone belongs in that setting.

Apart from anything else, a slightly larger stone won't get a larger setting (unless you go up quite a lot in size - at which point the setting will be made for a larger stone), so the perimeters of the ring will remain the same. So it won't look like 'a bigger ring'. A halo setting largely masks the size of your center diamond. So altho both of the stones Niel posted are lovely, I would go with the smaller stone - it will fit better and look better. But pls do think about reverting to the former setting - it will look far better, IMO.

I think the stones you're looking at all look ok, though the table/depth proportion of the second stone is by far the best. In general, you want to keep the table a smaller percentage than the depth. Here's a link to what you're looking for, and how the various proportions fall into the ideal category - or below:

https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-grading-chart-princess

On the basis of that - I think stone #2 is your clear winner. H colored stones are plenty white and will go well with the stones in your setting. SI1 is plenty clean enough and is also good value. Its stats seem to me to be the best of the 4 of them.

So I would put stone # 2 into *this* setting:

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER10926W44JJ

I think that ring would be classy and substantial. It would also be within your budget, and I think that's important. And don't forget to ask IDJ to give you nice, tight, tiny claws/prongs on your center stone; you want to keep the metal to a minimum!

Whatever you decide - good luck, and I hope she loves it!

You're right. I like the graduated halo best its not too busy. I must have misunderstood, I thought you posted that split shank one as one she liked, so I thought I'd suggest other ones similar from vendors that make it easy to shop for princesses. But ignore me, that setting is nice.

 

[Steve708]

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

Hi Steve - my opinion....

I think you'd chosen the best ring with the one you liked earlier. I think the one you've posted now will be a lot more...busy looking. Just too much going on and a bit overpowering. The side band also overpowers the head, and will make your center stone look smaller by comparison.

Re putting a princess in a cushion setting - you can probably force it into some settings, but it will never look like it was made for the setting. Apart from anything else, the inner lines of the setting - where the diamond is meant to sit - will be slightly curved, and the stone will be straight. So it will look odd, in my opinion.

One of the tricks of using a pre-made setting and having it look great is to aim to get the center stone to fit the setting as near as you possibly can. I would NOT try to put a larger diamond in the setting; it will sit too high and won't look like the stone belongs in that setting.

Apart from anything else, a slightly larger stone won't get a larger setting (unless you go up quite a lot in size - at which point the setting will be made for a larger stone), so the perimeters of the ring will remain the same. So it won't look like 'a bigger ring'. A halo setting largely masks the size of your center diamond. So altho both of the stones Niel posted are lovely, I would go with the smaller stone - it will fit better and look better. But pls do think about reverting to the former setting - it will look far better, IMO.

I think the stones you're looking at all look ok, though the table/depth proportion of the second stone is by far the best. In general, you want to keep the table a smaller percentage than the depth. Here's a link to what you're looking for, and how the various proportions fall into the ideal category - or below:

https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-grading-chart-princess

On the basis of that - I think stone #2 is your clear winner. H colored stones are plenty white and will go well with the stones in your setting. SI1 is plenty clean enough and is also good value. Its stats seem to me to be the best of the 4 of them.

So I would put stone # 2 into *this* setting:

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER10926W44JJ

I think that ring would be classy and substantial. It would also be within your budget, and I think that's important. And don't forget to ask IDJ to give you nice, tight, tiny claws/prongs on your center stone; you want to keep the metal to a minimum!

Whatever you decide - good luck, and I hope she loves it!

Thanks my friend, that is a very informative post. Gave me a lot to think about. I agree, I like that other ring better myself as well. I think she wants the bling factor, I need to try to talk her back into that one. After looking around until 2am last night, this is what we decided on, unless I can get her to revert back to other one.

This ring

https://eshop.gabrielny.com/product/ER9041W44JJ

And here is the stone

http://www.idjewelry.com/princess-vmm1138.html

Now my final question to you is this. The ring has a center stone spot opening of 6.5x5.5mm. After browsing every damn diamond idjewelry has for hours, this diamond is the closest to those dimensions. It is 6.37 x 5.42 x 3.60. Do you think that would fit and look good in that cushion halo even though it is a princess, or do you still stand by your original thought that a princess wouldn't look right in that cushion?

Niel I would appreciate your opinion as well. As I fear I am not gonna be able to talk her back to the original ring. Once she seen the bling of that, she was set on it lol

 

[Niel]

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

A princess is meant to be square, I would not try and find a poorly cut one just to get it elongated. If she wants that setting, I'd look for a cushion to fit it in.

 

[Steve708]

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

Thank you niel

 

[Niel]

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

Thank you niel

If she likes that setting, would she consider a cushion??

 

[Steve708]

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

It sounds like she is gonna have to. We both really like the Princess cut a lot more, but from what I'm hearing that won't look right in that ring. And she is set on that ring for some reason so it's looking like she may have to get a cushion

 

[mrs-b]

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

Steve - ditto what Niel said about not going with a poorly cut princess just to get that setting.

Is there some reason she wouldn't consider a custom setting? That would solve EVERY problem and would look far better as well.

And just to add - the first setting would have a lot of bling factor, so it's not like she'd be missing out on that. It's possible to go too far with a setting, so it loses elegance and looks a bit all over the place. I'm NOT saying that's true of her final choice - I'm just saying it's worth considering. In the final analysis, all taste is subjective, so it has to be what she likes. It's possible, tho, that she might get it home and think "oh man - I overdid it!"

If she went custom, she could go as blingy as she liked without looking like she was trying to force a certain stone to fit a setting it really wasn't meant for. In fact, she could have more or less the same ring made - but just for her stone. That would certainly smooth out some rough edges and give her control over the design and quality and fit. And it could keep it all in proportion, too.

 

[Steve708]

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

Excellent idea. Is custom made a lot more? And can you give me some good, reputable places that make custom rings please?