Hello everyone out there. After doing months of research on the pricescope forums, I have decided to buy a custom made e-ring for my girlfriend.
To pay back the pricescope community for all that I have learned and possibly help someone who was where I was at a few months ago, I will document the whole process from start to finish.
Since I don''t want to finance anything, I set my budget to 5000 total (we are still young and she can always trade up one day). In order to get some good ideas on what her tastes are, we went to several jewelry stores (Cartier, Tiffany, Shreve and Co, a small jewler in Houston...etc). 2 rings really got her attention: The first was the Scott Kay 3 stone with pave'' stones set on each side of the side stones. The second was the Cartier 1895 with the semi pave setting.
My gut instinct tells me the Cartier is much more appealing... I just think this is a really classy setting and it would look perfect on her hand. The center stone sits very close to the ring and the design just really seems to flow quite well. The Scott Kay just seemed a little to "busy" for lack of a better word.
I knew Cartier would be out of my price range, so I visited them several times and really studied the design in order to have something similar custom made. Over 9k for a .81 G VS2 in this setting. Call me crazy, but a little red box does not justify that kind of mark up!
I will attach pictures of the setting. It has a total of 10 diamonds on each side that when combined, weigh .5 carat. The diameter looks to be about 2mm or so. Since my girlfriend''s ring finger measurement came out to me 3.75 (long slender fingers), this will look perfect even though the center stone is only .81.
After reading all of the good reviews about Whiteflash, I decided to go with them. I saw an "A Cut Above" .81 H SI1 for about 3300 (minus the wire transfer discount). Perfect. I know I could have gone higher in color or carat weight by getting a regular AGS0, but my instincts tell me to get the ACA, so I went for it. Also, Whiteflash has a great trade in policy. I am a little concerned about the "H" since I can clearly tell the difference between a "G" and an "E". All that matters, though, is how it looks in the setting and I from what I have read, I can trust the guys at Whiteflash.
I sent Bob Hoskins at Whiteflash several pictures of the setting and he agreed to have it made. The only difference is that this version will have 5 diamonds on each side that are graduated. The biggest is 2.1mm and the smallest is 1.7mm. They are ACA diamonds as well. The price for the custom setting came out to 1420. When all is said and done, I came out spending about 500 less that my max.
Currently the setting is being designed and it should be complete in about 10 days or so.
Here is a link to the center stone:
http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-5820303
I am also including pictures of the cartier setting. The picture with the pave'' setting does not give a good view of how the center stone is set. The solitare picture does, however.
I will post the progress as it comes. Any comments would be appreciated since this is my first diamond purchase. I am such a rookie!
To pay back the pricescope community for all that I have learned and possibly help someone who was where I was at a few months ago, I will document the whole process from start to finish.
Since I don''t want to finance anything, I set my budget to 5000 total (we are still young and she can always trade up one day). In order to get some good ideas on what her tastes are, we went to several jewelry stores (Cartier, Tiffany, Shreve and Co, a small jewler in Houston...etc). 2 rings really got her attention: The first was the Scott Kay 3 stone with pave'' stones set on each side of the side stones. The second was the Cartier 1895 with the semi pave setting.
My gut instinct tells me the Cartier is much more appealing... I just think this is a really classy setting and it would look perfect on her hand. The center stone sits very close to the ring and the design just really seems to flow quite well. The Scott Kay just seemed a little to "busy" for lack of a better word.
I knew Cartier would be out of my price range, so I visited them several times and really studied the design in order to have something similar custom made. Over 9k for a .81 G VS2 in this setting. Call me crazy, but a little red box does not justify that kind of mark up!
I will attach pictures of the setting. It has a total of 10 diamonds on each side that when combined, weigh .5 carat. The diameter looks to be about 2mm or so. Since my girlfriend''s ring finger measurement came out to me 3.75 (long slender fingers), this will look perfect even though the center stone is only .81.
After reading all of the good reviews about Whiteflash, I decided to go with them. I saw an "A Cut Above" .81 H SI1 for about 3300 (minus the wire transfer discount). Perfect. I know I could have gone higher in color or carat weight by getting a regular AGS0, but my instincts tell me to get the ACA, so I went for it. Also, Whiteflash has a great trade in policy. I am a little concerned about the "H" since I can clearly tell the difference between a "G" and an "E". All that matters, though, is how it looks in the setting and I from what I have read, I can trust the guys at Whiteflash.
I sent Bob Hoskins at Whiteflash several pictures of the setting and he agreed to have it made. The only difference is that this version will have 5 diamonds on each side that are graduated. The biggest is 2.1mm and the smallest is 1.7mm. They are ACA diamonds as well. The price for the custom setting came out to 1420. When all is said and done, I came out spending about 500 less that my max.
Currently the setting is being designed and it should be complete in about 10 days or so.
Here is a link to the center stone:
http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-5820303
I am also including pictures of the cartier setting. The picture with the pave'' setting does not give a good view of how the center stone is set. The solitare picture does, however.
I will post the progress as it comes. Any comments would be appreciated since this is my first diamond purchase. I am such a rookie!
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