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5 stone ring - vendor and setting?

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ashleyjones84

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 15, 2015
Messages
3
Hi everyone!

First time posting - thank you all so much for the helpful information I have found so far! :)

My partner and I are looking at 5 stone rings - leaning toward 1 ctw (vs. 1.25 ctw) - to serve as combo engagement/wedding bands.

It sounds like Whiteflash and BGD are two popular vendors so I requested quotes from both of them with diamonds of F/G VS Melee. I'm hoping to get some advice from all of you with so much diamond knowledge!!

1. has anyone had issues with the melee diamonds from these vendors where what they promised didn't match up to an independent appraisal? I get worried when they aren't certified with papers etc.

2. WF and BGD standard 5 stone rings have a half bezel setting on the outside stones - we are debating about this vs. getting custom shared prong on all diamonds. What are thoughts on stability of of the half bezel vs. prongs on the outside stones?

4. Has anyone recently shopped WF and BGD for comparison? Both seem responsive and helpful. BGD is quoting 1000 more for the same ring, same diamond quality etc. - is there really that much of a difference in quality?

5. Finally, thoughts on euro shank (flat along bottom of ring)? I like that it is supposed to help with rotation (and we really liked the A. Jaffe 5 stone euro shank but price for this quality of diamond was so much higher!) but worried about if we need to resize it, I think it is much more difficult and expensive? Do you think with this size ring, the euro shank is really that important?

Again, thank you so much for any help/advice!!!!
 
ashleyjones84|1424011603|3832935 said:
1. has anyone had issues with the melee diamonds from these vendors where what they promised didn't match up to an independent appraisal? I get worried when they aren't certified with papers etc
Click to expand...
Just a reminder: even the most legit, independent appraisal of a ring may not squarely match the classifications in a GIA or AGS lab report because the labs graded the stone(s) when loose & in the face-down position. See, e.g., this thread:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-appraisal-is-different-than-gia-report.42666/
(And it has occasionally happened that even the lab itself has graded the same, loose diamond somewhat differently for color/clarity on two separate occasions.)

Melee diamonds typically don't carry reports because most customers wouldn't sufficiently value having reports for small stones to pay for the expense of grading them before the stones are set. There are some older threads here on PS that suggest the difference in pricing between BG & WF on such items is because BG has AGS reports for his Signature melee stones. I'm not finding anything, however, on BG's current web site which affirmatively states that (and the cost of grading .20 ct stones is appreciably lower than $200 each). Think you should feel free to ask BG why there is such a difference in the price; maybe the prices are not really an apples:apples comparison?
 
Thank you very much for the reply! Yes, I had asked BG about getting diamonds that would be certified, but they didn't have any in the correct size in stock. Perhaps there was a mistake in the quote for certified vs. melee. I will double check with BGD. Thanks again for the help!
 
Absolutely no reason whatsoever to need grading certificates on stones that small. That just drives up the price. I would 100% go with WhiteFlash because the diamond quality is going to be the same and I see no reason to pay $1000 more if the diamond sizes are the same. I think that is crazy!!!

I don't like euro shanks, personally, and do think sizing might be more of an issue.
 
Thank you @diamondseeker2006 ! I just received an email back from BG and all they said was that there is no way WF can be providing the same quality diamonds as BG (but on WF website, it says the diamonds will be their "A cut above" H&A). Has anyone ordered recently from WF and had any issues with the quality of diamonds? I've never ordered diamonds online, so naturally a bit nervous (mostly due to costly returns with shipping etc.). If there are plenty of happy recent WF customers, I would LOVE to get their rings - seems like such a great deal and will save us quite a bit of money! I know I've seen some WF rings posted on here that are BEAUTIFUL, just haven't found too many recently purchased 5 stone rings.
 
I am another happy WF customer--you should have no worries w/ the quality of their melee!
 
Hi all, I"m a new member here on PS, but I've been lurking here for a while :D I've bought from both BGD and WF. I would go with WF because you can save $1000. I have a WF 7 stone shared-prong diamond wedding band 0.75tcw and it is ACA diamonds. It's very pretty :)
 
I recently purchased a 5 stone from BGD. I was debating between WF and BGD, but Whiteflash did not have enough of the stones in stock in the size I wanted. BGD really was about the same price, and all five stones are certified AGS0. JMHO, but I went with BGD both due to them having certified stones available in the size I wanted, plus the craftsmanship on the setting is outstanding. I had lost my previous 5 stone band, and when I filed the insurance claim, they were talking about replacing with "like kind". Fortunately, the stones were branded and I had the documentation, so they ended up cutting me a check. I feel more comfortable having the certs, plus the diamonds being branded.
 
ashleyjones84|1424011603|3832935 said:
Hi everyone!

You've gotten some great advice so far!
First time posting - thank you all so much for the helpful information I have found so far! :)

My partner and I are looking at 5 stone rings - leaning toward 1 ctw (vs. 1.25 ctw) - to serve as combo engagement/wedding bands.

It sounds like Whiteflash and BGD are two popular vendors so I requested quotes from both of them with diamonds of F/G VS Melee. I'm hoping to get some advice from all of you with so much diamond knowledge!!

1. has anyone had issues with the melee diamonds from these vendors where what they promised didn't match up to an independent appraisal? I get worried when they aren't certified with papers etc.

2. WF and BGD standard 5 stone rings have a half bezel setting on the outside stones - we are debating about this vs. getting custom shared prong on all diamonds. What are thoughts on stability of of the half bezel vs. prongs on the outside stones?
I have a .87 5 stone with shared prongs all the way across the top. I like it that way and have had no problems with it. I
say buy which style appeals to you the most. Most of the 5 stones on the BGD site are prongs all the way across so that should
be a clue whether they are safe or not.

4. Has anyone recently shopped WF and BGD for comparison? Both seem responsive and helpful. BGD is quoting 1000 more for the same ring, same diamond quality etc. - is there really that much of a difference in quality?

If they are ACA stones then for the price I would go with WF. I have seen many beautiful rings with small ACA stones on PS.
I have a BGD stone which is also beautiful but if there is truly a $1k price difference then I would go with WF.

5. Finally, thoughts on euro shank (flat along bottom of ring)? I like that it is supposed to help with rotation (and we really liked the A. Jaffe 5 stone euro shank but price for this quality of diamond was so much higher!) but worried about if we need to resize it, I think it is much more difficult and expensive? Do you think with this size ring, the euro shank is really that important?
What size is your finger? I think that 1ish to 1.25 should about cover the top of most people's finger and as long as it fit's
well then you shouldn't need a euro shank. However, if you have to size up on a ring because you have a larger knuckle and
a smaller finger than it may come in handy.

Again, thank you so much for any help/advice!!!!
Click to expand...
 
Hi there! I bought a 5 stone ring from WF (MollyMalone kindly posted a link to my post from September last year) and honestly I am sooooo happy with this ring. The ACA melee diamonds are simply gorgeous - they sparkle like crazy! People comment on this ring all the time and at 1tcw it's not huge but the diamonds are so striking and sparkly that I guess it just catches people's attention.
The people at WF were lovely to deal with, so, not surprisingly, I'd go with WF any day :)
 
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