Hello all,
Please forgive this long post as I introduce myself.
I am 37 years old and have previously been married. Unfortunately at the time I was 17 years old and just rushed into something that I clearly did not fully understand. That marriage lasted 15 years before we decided it just was not working out.
Four years ago, I met the love of my life. I cannot imagine a day in this world without her. I have now decided I want to ask her for her hand in marriage and live the rest of my life with her. Even though I have been married before, and even though their is a 99.9% chance she is going to say yes; I have never been so nervous in my life.
After knowing her for four years, I know she would love, adore, cherish and even proudly display and brag about a cracker jack ring if I gave it to her; but I want to give her the best I can. As I stated above, I have been married before, but I proposed with a $500 Zales ring and have absolutely no clue what I am doing. Well, that is not completely true; I have been lurking on this forum for about a week and have learned quite a bit.
I know she loves Tiffany's as I have purchased a few items from them in the past. In fact she owns more Tiffany jewelry than anything else (even her eye glasses are Tiffany). I honestly though about just going to Tiffany and getting a ring and calling it a day. Note* I am not in a hurry to make this purchase; though I want to do it in the next few months. After reading online a bit, with Tiffany you are indeed paying a bit for the name. I am not in any way claiming they do not have stellar quality, but the name (and advertising behind that name) comes with a price.
Now that my slight OCD has kicked in, I have spent more than 60 hours reading this forum the last week. Not once have I read that the Tiffany engagement ring is sub-par. What I have come to the conclusion of is that Tiffany builds, markets, and sells some of the best settings in the world. In those settings happen to be well above average diamonds. However, those diamonds are not necessarily (and often not empirically) the best sparkling diamonds available.
With all of that said, I have decided I will end up with one of two options. First is to just get a classic Tiffany solitaire and call it a day, which I am leaning further away from. Second is to purchase the best diamond I can and have it set in a classic Tiffany "style" solitaire band in platinum. The more research I have done makes me want to do the latter. With that, though, is a lot of stress in ensuring I feel I have purchased at or above the quality of the Tiffany stone.
From everything I have read, I think my order of preference (of the 4 C's) is as follows. 1) Cut... as this is the major determining factor for sparkle and shine. I want it to sparkle and shine from across the room (looking for round brilliant). 2) Carat... I would like to purchase her at minimum a 1 ct. stone, this would be the first choice for upgrading. 3) Color... From what I have read I think I want a minimum of H in the color scale as on a quality cut in most, if not all, lighting conditions it is colorless. 4) Clarity... This is an engagement ring, not an investment for resale. All I am looking for is eye clean so VS2 or greater?
As a product manager myself, I understand the concept of diminishing returns. For example the difference in D -> G is slight at best, but the price difference is major. What I am not familiar with is is the diminishing returns on the cut itself. I have been looking at Whiteflash and DGD a lot. Are we into diminishing returns of ACA vs. ES or Signature vs. Advance? I want the best sparkle, but if there is no distinguishable difference to the naked eye, I would clearly move to the ES or Advance.
I just realized I did not post my budget. I am looking to be in around $15,000 total. The setting will run me about $1250 from WF in platinum if I buy through them. This leaves just under $14,000 for the diamond itself. The $15,000 limit is not absolute, but highly preferred unless there is a stellar deal that I just cannot walk away from. Also, is there a "good" time of the year to purchase a diamond?
Thanks in advance,
Ray
Please forgive this long post as I introduce myself.
I am 37 years old and have previously been married. Unfortunately at the time I was 17 years old and just rushed into something that I clearly did not fully understand. That marriage lasted 15 years before we decided it just was not working out.
Four years ago, I met the love of my life. I cannot imagine a day in this world without her. I have now decided I want to ask her for her hand in marriage and live the rest of my life with her. Even though I have been married before, and even though their is a 99.9% chance she is going to say yes; I have never been so nervous in my life.
After knowing her for four years, I know she would love, adore, cherish and even proudly display and brag about a cracker jack ring if I gave it to her; but I want to give her the best I can. As I stated above, I have been married before, but I proposed with a $500 Zales ring and have absolutely no clue what I am doing. Well, that is not completely true; I have been lurking on this forum for about a week and have learned quite a bit.
I know she loves Tiffany's as I have purchased a few items from them in the past. In fact she owns more Tiffany jewelry than anything else (even her eye glasses are Tiffany). I honestly though about just going to Tiffany and getting a ring and calling it a day. Note* I am not in a hurry to make this purchase; though I want to do it in the next few months. After reading online a bit, with Tiffany you are indeed paying a bit for the name. I am not in any way claiming they do not have stellar quality, but the name (and advertising behind that name) comes with a price.
Now that my slight OCD has kicked in, I have spent more than 60 hours reading this forum the last week. Not once have I read that the Tiffany engagement ring is sub-par. What I have come to the conclusion of is that Tiffany builds, markets, and sells some of the best settings in the world. In those settings happen to be well above average diamonds. However, those diamonds are not necessarily (and often not empirically) the best sparkling diamonds available.
With all of that said, I have decided I will end up with one of two options. First is to just get a classic Tiffany solitaire and call it a day, which I am leaning further away from. Second is to purchase the best diamond I can and have it set in a classic Tiffany "style" solitaire band in platinum. The more research I have done makes me want to do the latter. With that, though, is a lot of stress in ensuring I feel I have purchased at or above the quality of the Tiffany stone.
From everything I have read, I think my order of preference (of the 4 C's) is as follows. 1) Cut... as this is the major determining factor for sparkle and shine. I want it to sparkle and shine from across the room (looking for round brilliant). 2) Carat... I would like to purchase her at minimum a 1 ct. stone, this would be the first choice for upgrading. 3) Color... From what I have read I think I want a minimum of H in the color scale as on a quality cut in most, if not all, lighting conditions it is colorless. 4) Clarity... This is an engagement ring, not an investment for resale. All I am looking for is eye clean so VS2 or greater?
As a product manager myself, I understand the concept of diminishing returns. For example the difference in D -> G is slight at best, but the price difference is major. What I am not familiar with is is the diminishing returns on the cut itself. I have been looking at Whiteflash and DGD a lot. Are we into diminishing returns of ACA vs. ES or Signature vs. Advance? I want the best sparkle, but if there is no distinguishable difference to the naked eye, I would clearly move to the ES or Advance.
I just realized I did not post my budget. I am looking to be in around $15,000 total. The setting will run me about $1250 from WF in platinum if I buy through them. This leaves just under $14,000 for the diamond itself. The $15,000 limit is not absolute, but highly preferred unless there is a stellar deal that I just cannot walk away from. Also, is there a "good" time of the year to purchase a diamond?
Thanks in advance,
Ray