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$15 K budget. I need that last 0.2 carats.

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shiny

Rough_Rock
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Sep 26, 2007
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Thanks to all of the informed and helpful responses I''ve seen here. LOVE this place. :)

I''m pretty sentimental about this whole engagement ring thing. I don''t want to upgrade the stone or the ring after I have it, although we will both probably have a lot more money after I finish school and become a dentist in 2009. We''re looking to get engaged before summer 08 ends, so we have tme to shop and plan. I''ve got my heart set on a 2 carat round solitaire with no sidestones (maybe suprise diamonds because you can''t see them from the top).

He gave me a budget of $15K for the stone, and another $1K for the setting - it''s a little more than 2 month''s salary. I am not going to ask for more, I think we need to live within our means. Especially since I probably won''t wear it all day, just every day.

After shopping around a little, I think I want at least an H color. Probably SI1 eye-clean. Ideal cut.

Unfortunately, it seems that 1.7-1.8 fits better in the price range, but I don''t know if I will forever be thinking I wanted that extra 0.4 mm in diameter. I can think of a few ways to cut costs and increase carat size or make the stone look larger. Let me know what you guys think. What I really want are suggestions that I haven''t thought of.

1. Get a setting that makes the stone look larger. The only problem is, I don''t want a halo or bezel set. I was thinking a tiffany-style 6 prong with an extra thin (2 mm?)
band, unless someone else has a better idea.

2. I am definitely open to getting a stone with fluor. as long as there are no milky/oily problems.

3. Lower the size. How much smaller can I go without noticing a size difference?

4. Get an EGL stone from a good vendor who thinks the stone is nice.

Any ideas would be great. I know you guys and gals are full of ''em. :D

Thanks in advance.
 
I welcome criticisms on my ideas as well. I don''t want to gallavant off with my own ideas which may not be the best...
 
COnsidering that your setting can cost just a few hundred, you technically have 15,500 for your stone, I think it is very doable to get a 1.9ish stone with a depth of around 60-61 and maintain excellent cut polish symmetry and spend under that amount.

maybe this one http://www.angara.com/shop.do?pID=33186
 
wouldn't the mm difference range something around .2-.35 or so mm? (i can explain where i got that range from if you want) but with a diamond that is already 7.8mm in diameter, .3mm change would only be an increase of 3.8%. That is not really very much, especially after being set. side by side there would def be a noticeable change, but it might not be as bad as you are imagining. I think you should head out and find some live examples of similar % changes and see how you feel.


but, some ideas. a few things you might do are, go budget on your setting for now. There are plenty of cheap semi-Tiffany style settings for 200 dollars or even less (though actual tiffany replicas cost a good deal more). You could invest your money in the diamond and get a budget setting, and then for the wedding, or as a graduation present or whenever you had the money, you could change out just the temporary setting to get the setting you really want (which probably wouldn't be too much anyway)

Dropping down to SI2 might also be an option, or going for a lower color--but you might not feel mind-clean about those, and there is the possibility you won't like what you see as much. So obviously lowering color and clarity might be an option, but if not, and I know you said you don't want him to have to spend anymore money,

the most important thing is going to be to really talk to him. Share with him your concerns. The last thing that he is going to want is for you to ALMOST get your dream engagement ring, and I am sure that if you talk about it together, you will both be able to work out some plan that will get make you happy. You are really not far off from your goal already , and since he sounds like a very loving man, he would probably be very enthusiastic to help you get to where you really want to be, and may well be very upset if you didn't share your concerns with him now, while he can still do something about it.
 
Date: 10/2/2007 10:26:55 PM
Author:shiny
Thanks to all of the informed and helpful responses I''ve seen here. LOVE this place. :)

I''m pretty sentimental about this whole engagement ring thing. I don''t want to upgrade the stone or the ring after I have it, although we will both probably have a lot more money after I finish school and become a dentist in 2009. We''re looking to get engaged before summer 08 ends, so we have tme to shop and plan. I''ve got my heart set on a 2 carat round solitaire with no sidestones (maybe suprise diamonds because you can''t see them from the top).

He gave me a budget of $15K for the stone, and another $1K for the setting - it''s a little more than 2 month''s salary. I am not going to ask for more, I think we need to live within our means. Especially since I probably won''t wear it all day, just every day.

After shopping around a little, I think I want at least an H color. Probably SI1 eye-clean. Ideal cut.

Unfortunately, it seems that 1.7-1.8 fits better in the price range, but I don''t know if I will forever be thinking I wanted that extra 0.4 mm in diameter. I can think of a few ways to cut costs and increase carat size or make the stone look larger. Let me know what you guys think. What I really want are suggestions that I haven''t thought of.

1. Get a setting that makes the stone look larger. The only problem is, I don''t want a halo or bezel set. I was thinking a tiffany-style 6 prong with an extra thin (2 mm?)
band, unless someone else has a better idea.

2. I am definitely open to getting a stone with fluor. as long as there are no milky/oily problems.

3. Lower the size. How much smaller can I go without noticing a size difference?

4. Get an EGL stone from a good vendor who thinks the stone is nice.

Any ideas would be great. I know you guys and gals are full of ''em. :D

Thanks in advance.
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If you were a friend of mine, and I was hearing the parts I highlighted above, I would guess that you are a size girl. You may be sensible, you may want to find ways to make it work, you do want to stay on budget, but it seems to me that the WHOLE truth is that you want to break the 2 carat barrier. And for the record (and if I''m guessing the above correctly), I just want to say that it is PERFECTLY fine to be a size girl.

I''d advise working with a vendor to eyeball stones that break the 2 carat mark. I would open up the search to include H and I colored stones, but especially and definitely take a look at SI1 and SI2 stones. Personally, I''m a color whore, so I''d open up the color field in my search for a freak E of F SI2 that happens to look good to the human eye. I would not rule out EGLs for having an EGL cert, but I would definitely keep in mind that I need to be wary of those gradings and accept that the cutoff for EGL may be SI1 for a brilliant cut like an RB. There seems to be a little bit of a premium for the AGS 000 stones, so I''d probably hope for a GIA stone with very good or better cut ratings (but preferably ideal/excellent).

Good luck. You have a reasonable budget, and since you''re hoping to only do this once, I''d put in the effort to find your PERFECT stone, rather than your "settle" stone. It can be done.
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This diamond has possibilities. It''s a J, but it also has strong flourescence, which will definitely help it face up whiter. That''s a great combo!

You would certainly need the vendor to look for not only eyecleanliness, but also to see if the strong flourescence is having a negative affect on it. (rare)

But if it checked out, this would be a great buy. 14,137.48 with bankwire. Reputable company, and great to work with. (not sure if you''re considering online)
 
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-385711.htm

http://www.uniondiamond.com/diamonds/diamonds.php?item_id=AA478057&search_type_id=2&action_type_id=2&network_id=0cf05810a0f83094f6e9972ef21cdd34

Both are within your budget (WF stone doesn''t include the discount). I haven''t seen the cert for either, but it look like there are some stones available in that size range for the price.

Go to an I color and you open up loads more options.

http://www.uniondiamond.com/diamonds/diamonds.php?item_id=AA534803&search_type_id=2&action_type_id=2&network_id=0cf05810a0f83094f6e9972ef21cdd34# as an example.......lots more come up if you do a search.
 
Have you considered other shapes than round? Fancies usually cost less, and pears and ovals can look larger than rounds of the same size.
 
have you seen an exceptionally cut I stone? if not, you might want to check one out as that might be the way of squeezing the budget.

i''m a size girl. small things like .2mm or whatever bother me in the end. if you already are thinking about that, chances are you won''t just be able to ''accept'' getting a smaller stone. since you already know you don''t want to upgrade this one, try to get as much as you can out of it. is there a way to add like another $1-2k of your own money in? or sacrifice elsewhere to get what you want now? if this is a ''one time shot'' then make it count and have it be what you REALLY want with no regrets. otherwise it might bother you.

but i''d def check out H&A I stones. the worry about an EGL stone is that it might be misgraded one or two colors so you might pay a little less for an H when it might really be an I. so if that is the case, might as well consider an H&A I or something already and stick with a primo cut.

also i agree with your thought on getting a 2mm band. the thinner the band the bigger visual impact of the stone. solitaire will give you the most visual bang for buck unless you want to halo or bezel it. that is a great way to make a stone look bigger...BUT again if you are not ever planning on upgrading it, you will always have to halo or bezel the stone because if you ever change the setting to one without that accompanying mm setting then the stone would probably appear much smaller to you!

you are on the right track here in my opinion with what you are thinking. definitely try to get an eye clean SI1 or even better an eye clean SI2 (i have had one and they are fab when you can find them) and maybe look at an I instead of an H. see what you can do about budget. but also look into thinner settings. good luck!!
 
How opposed are you to paying the difference on your own? I think you could probably find a very well-cut 2 ct H/SI1 stone for around $18,000 or so. If you only spent $500 on the setting and had $15,500 left over for the stone then you would only have to pay for about $2,500 out of your own pocket. I can completely understand why you wouldn''t want to ask him for any more since I know he''s already paying more than 2 months salary, but if I fell in love with a stone and knew it was perfect for me I''d have absolutely no problem paying the difference on my own. Just wanted to throw out another option...
 
I would definitely consider an I SI2. I would NOT do EGL at all. Just this week alone one person''s EGL came back FOUR color grades lower (cruise ship purchase) and another person (thread titled ''did I get a good deal'') came back three color grades down AND clarity 2 grades (I''m less sure about the number of clarity grades) down. You get what you pay for, so you might as well pay for what you intend to get upfront. I''ve seen PSer''s ideal cut I''s at GTG AND I''ve seen Mara''s J and they are so blindingly bright and firey... and white face up, that you REALLY can''t tell unless you look from the side or are hyper color sensitive. I too would do a thin solitare setting. Legato from WF would get my vote for a 2 carat you want to POP or a tiffany style classic solitare.
 
Gypsy, sounds like Shiny's been reading here, shopping, or both...



Date: 10/2/2007 10:26:55 PM
Author:shiny

4. Get an EGL stone from a good vendor who thinks the stone is nice.
Click to expand...
Not all EGLs, nor vendors are alike. I think it's not a wacko strategy...though the boards here aren't very helpful, separating out one EGL from another.
 
Date: 10/3/2007 12:01:59 PM
Author: Regular Guy
Gypsy, sounds like Shiny''s been reading here, shopping, or both...




Date: 10/2/2007 10:26:55 PM
Author:shiny

4. Get an EGL stone from a good vendor who thinks the stone is nice.
Click to expand...
Not all EGLs, nor vendors are alike. I think it''s not a wacko strategy...though the boards here aren''t very helpful, separating out one EGL from another.
Click to expand...
You are absolutely right. I would have to say that if the EGL stone was bought from WF or GOG, or Pearlmans... generally from a trusted vendor who can look at the actual stone and tell you what their opinion of the color and clarity are... irrespective of the certificate... which I then would send to an appraiser to get an appraisal before buying, then I guess an EGL stone would be okay. But well, I personally would be more inclined to drop down to an I SI2 and bide my time for the right one to come along, graded by GIA or AGS.
 
I''d personally call Jonathan at Good Old Gold, because he has gotten a couple of EGL hearts and arrows stones recently. And he can check the color and cut, so you can feel safer buying an EGL stone that way.

Here''s one they have in stock that has excellent cut and light performance, just not a perfect H&A:

http://204.17.89.15/diamond/3068/ (not sure about the SI2, though, you''d have to ask about eyecleaness)
 
I think ya''ll hit it on the head as far as me being a size girl.
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It''s just one of those things. I''m set on round solitaire look, so no fancies. I''ve been thinking about this since I was a teeny tiny little girl - so close, but still not there yet.

I think BF would rather go to three month''s salary than have me chip in on the ring. Pride and whatnot. I just don''t think it''s really reasonable to ask him to do that for me. In all honesty, it''s hard for me to think that I''m spending this kind of cash on such a little thing.

Then I realize, Oh, but how I will love it.
30.gif


I think I will take everyone''s advice and open up to I color, and it''s true, I haven''t seen HOF stones. Maybe that will do it for me.

Anyone have advice on finding a nice 2 mm tiffany replica?
 
Date: 10/3/2007 7:42:48 AM
Author: Ellen
This diamond has possibilities. It''s a J, but it also has strong flourescence, which will definitely help it face up whiter. That''s a great combo!

You would certainly need the vendor to look for not only eyecleanliness, but also to see if the strong flourescence is having a negative affect on it. (rare)

But if it checked out, this would be a great buy. 14,137.48 with bankwire. Reputable company, and great to work with. (not sure if you''re considering online)
Click to expand...
OH ELLEN! Me LIKEY!!!
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If I were in the market right now, I would so be ALL OVER THAT ONE!
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Yum!
 
Date: 10/4/2007 9:14:22 PM
Author: shiny
I think ya''ll hit it on the head as far as me being a size girl.
2.gif
It''s just one of those things. I''m set on round solitaire look, so no fancies. I''ve been thinking about this since I was a teeny tiny little girl - so close, but still not there yet.

I think BF would rather go to three month''s salary than have me chip in on the ring. Pride and whatnot. I just don''t think it''s really reasonable to ask him to do that for me. In all honesty, it''s hard for me to think that I''m spending this kind of cash on such a little thing.

Then I realize, Oh, but how I will love it.
30.gif


I think I will take everyone''s advice and open up to I color, and it''s true, I haven''t seen HOF stones. Maybe that will do it for me.

Anyone have advice on finding a nice 2 mm tiffany replica?
Click to expand...
Yes, if you want a Tiffany replica, WhiteFlash sells one that is pretty close to the original. It is about 2.5mm, but you need to realize that 2.5 mm is still very thin.

http://www.whiteflash.com/Engagement-Rings/Styles/Solitaire/Classic-tiffany-style-Knife-Edge_1137.htm

You probably should work with them on a diamond if you want that setting, though.
 
Just to show you, it can be done:

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-427556.htm (G, SI2, over 2 carats, under 15K)

Now, the stone linked above is not an in-house stone, it''s not their premiere collection (ACA, Expert Selection), and I don''t know if it merits the 4 stars on their 5 star scale. But when I put in the parameters of D through J color, SI1 and SI2, 1.9 to 2.2 carats, and under 16K in whiteflash''s search engine (only selected because their band was mentioned earlier), a whopping 238 stones came up.

Shiny, you have a great budget and you''ll be able to find many pretty stones that''ll fit the bill. If you''re interested in weeding through the haystack, I''d guess you''d find the needle of a truly superlative stone you seek. Good luck!
 
do you want platinum or is gold fine?

there are also some options like this, as I am sure you have noticed:

http://whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-289203.htm

While some of these options such as this would be putting you about 1k over your budget, if he is making 8k a month that is 1/8th of a month so about 3 1/2 days more work. I would think most guys would be WANT to sacrifice an extra few days to get you EXACTLY what you want. If its a big financial difference then it is very sweet for you to consider him so well and to make certain compromises, but if it is a relatively small difference he might be happier doing it for you than making compromises when you are so close?
though I agree with what you said, asking him for 1 months more pay would be pretty inconsiderate.

James allen also has alot of options, you might have to buy the setting elsewhere and send the setting to them to set it, not a big deal though, like this one:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Premium-Cut-Round-Diamond-895323.asp it is a little steeper in the pavilion angles than AGS would like, but it might look fine.

or

http://www.jamesallen.com/search_results.asp?cid=131&step=SearchResults&sbmt=1&shape=BR&carat_from=2&carat_to=5&price_from=&price_to=16300&fromtabledepth=&totabledepth=&fromtablesize=&totablesize=&x=46&y=10
I VS2 it would cost 15880 with the PS discount, but I believe they would still allow you to pay with a credit card, and it comes with an AGS0 light performance grade, which is meaningful with


and if I run a search considering 16200 making you 1k over your budget (just because I think that is really reasonable as i said above)

they also have this one:

2.24 cts J VS2 with medium fluo for 15180with the PS discount
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1074479.asp

and I am getting tired but a few from the PS search that you probably already run, I would def ask questions about this one

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-354704.htm

and this one that is 15750 if he money wire transfered it anyway

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-354698.htm#

anyway, It might not help any but there are a couple that I would be asking questions about.

also, it is easier to search through some databases on their respective homepages sometimes, and then use the PS search tool as a means of sorting out discounts and comparing more specific criteria with other offers.
 
These guys are giving you some awesome options (really good color, too)! I'd go great stone and simple mount. The mount is easy enough to upgrade (only if she wants to) later.....BTW, one of my bff's is a dentist and she wears a pretty eternity ring during the day under her gloves. Makes it easy as it does not catch on the gloves. You are going to be smashing with your new ring!
 
Some of those stones posted do not say ideal cut. I''d call the vendor and ask them to help you find a 2 ct. ideal cut stone within your budget. Using a virtual inventory with no measurements and certs is really shooting in the dark.
 
I would say that it is always great to get a completely ideal cut, but that there can be alot of diamonds that have a 1 on polish and/or symmetry and are JUST as beautiful and look the same to the naked eye--especially when coupled with an AGS0 performance grade.

as to some of the others, I would personally ask to see what I could find out about GIA excellents with parameters slightly outside of AGS0--if they had one particularly close to AGS standards and it looked like a particularly enticing offer--but, as DS is saying, if possible it may be best (I would for the most part) to avoid those and just aim for parameters within AGS0 standards (which can also be found within GIA excellents).
 
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