A newbie needs help

[kwheels72]

Hi everyone. I''ve been reading this forum for awhile, but this is my first post, so bear with me. BF and I have finally gotten around to shopping for rings, and I need HELP with the center diamond. We''re looking at getting something custom-designed here in our hometown, but I''d like to get the best deal possible on a center stone. I know I want a 1 carat round brilliant center stone, and I want the best possible cut/color for the money. Our budget is right around $4000 for the center stone (maybe a little more) but right now the jewelry store is trying to sell us an H color, SI stone for $5775. That seems a bit overpriced to me, based on my limited reviews of diamonds on pricescope and other websites. Thoughts on whether that is a good price? I''m having it set in a micro-pave setting, and the pave diamonds will be VS1 clarity, so I think I''d like to stick with at least a VS1 center stone so that they all match. What is the lowest color that you experts would recommend going with assuming that the stone is well-cut and at least VS1 clarity?

Thanks for the help!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Welcome, KW! I''m afraid you need to look below VS1 if you want a 1 carat stone around $4000. I think you will have to go lower in color and clarity to get to that price. I''ll take a look and see what I can find.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, J SI1's are around $4500 at 1 carat:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/3041/

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-150441.htm

I SI1 around $5000:

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-161903.htm ($5087 with wire/pricescope disount)

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2854/

H VS2 $6300 (w/discounts)

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-273582.htm

All of the above are top quality cut stones. Cut is most important factor in the beauty of a stone. That is why it is hard to judge price on the jeweler's stone. It might not be an ideal cut at all. be very careful to check out the numbers on the certificate here if you do decide to consider that diamond. And you want a GIA or AGS certified stone.

 

[ringplease]

Welcome to PS.

I would try looking at some slightly lower colors and maybe go to SI clarity that is "eye clean". If it is eye clean, you don''t need to worry about seeing the difference between the clarity of the pave on the band and the center stone. Good luck with your search.

 

[kwheels72]

Thanks for the quick response! The only thing I''m concerned with regarding the color is that this is going to be a halo setting and I don''t want the center diamond and the surrounding diamonds to be too mis-matched in terms of color and clarity. I should also mention that we want to do a platinum setting. I take it that in your opinion it would be better to go with a top-quality cut I or J color stone than a slightly less-quality cut F-H color stone? I haven''t seen the GIS report on the jeweler''s diamond yet, but they did tell us that it''s considered an "excellent" cut. Thankfully it''s also not a mall store and they do have an excellent reputation here, but I still feel like they might be marking up their stones and settings a little too much. The problem is that the setting is going to be more expensive than we had envisioned, but because I''ve met with the designer and trust that she''ll be able to do what I''m asking her to do, I''m almost willing to pay the extra amount in exchange for the peace of mind that comes with it. The issue is then finding a center stone that doesn''t completely break the total budget. Right now the setting is around $6000 w/ wedding ring and BF has said no more than $10,000 max ... hence the $4000 left for the center stone. Any tips on how to negotiate with the jeweler to get them to come down a little on price so that we can get a better quality center stone?

 

[Regular Guy]

Seems like you''re a bit upside down compared to many others here, vis a vis ring vs diamond...but to each their own. Here''s one option on line that can get you $4K and a carat plus...but if you''ll want no less than J and SI 1, I don''t think you''ll find better.

In general, re negotiating...see this. Moreover...do a search here above under prices up top, so that you are at least informed about what things cost in the on-line world...which you generally wouldn''t expect usually to easily replicate in a B&M store. In your case, though, to keep you business for the ring, where I''ll bet their profit is considerable...you could reasonably consider asking them to more or less match web pricing. But, at that, you won''t easily do better than J and SI 1 for $4K.

 

[ladykemma]

whiteflash as a nice K si1 for $4750 ACA round...

otherwise i think you might need to rethink your plan. you are paying wayyy too much for the setting.

 

[iheartscience]

Personally, I would much rather throw more money at the stone than the setting. You could get sick of the setting, you could need to replace it eventually, you could want a larger diamond that won''t work with your old setting, etc...

Plus, $6000 for a micropave halo seems incredibly high to me, even if it does include the wedding band. Leon Mege is probably the most highly regarded micropave-focused designer (at least on Pricescope) and that price is probably at least as much or maybe even more than what he charges.

I have a micropave halo and a three side pave shank on my engagement ring (custom made by Whiteflash) and it cost less than half of that.

My advice would be to spend around $7000-8000 on your center stone and use the rest for the setting. I would also go with a vendor who will allow you to upgrade your diamond in the future if you want a larger diamond or a better color diamond, etc. Whiteflash has a great upgrade policy and I think a few other vendors on here have good upgrade policies as well.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[kcoursolle]

I think 6k is really high for a nice micropave setting and band. For this price, you should be getting best...and this is leon mege (artofplatinum.com). I''d get a quote from him and see if it''s less than the quote from your jeweler. It''s waaaaay high. Depending on the new quotes, maybe you''ll have a little more money to spend on your center stone.

 

[kcoursolle]

You might want to also check out the danhov line at Jamesallen.com http://www.jamesallen.com/designer-jewelry/meno_collection_by_danhov.asp?cid=294&main=1

They are well made and affordable, and JA also has some very lovely diamonds! In addition, bill pearlman carries Ritani, which is another great designer pave line.

 

[neatfreak]

I agree with the others. You are getting ripped off on the setting.

For comparison, when I was thinking of doing a really detailed micropave halo setting for my .81, in platinum from Engagement Rings Direct (someone else on PS who does great halo work) the price quoted to me for the setting was just about $3,000 and the WB was going to be $1,500. So that quote comes in $1,500 less than your setting including the wedding band.

I wouldn''t pay it if I were you.

I also personally would stick with the G-H color range if you''re doing a halo with stones of that color. IMO a J might (but might not) look a little yellow when compared to the halo. But that is just my opinion.