Advice needed - complete newb!

[diamondcookie]

Hi all,

Not only am I new to PS, I''m relatively new to this whole diamond bizzo too. My e-ring is 1ct of diamonds (32 stones in total), from a chainstore, and several of the larger stones have visible inclusions or flaws. I love it, don''t get me wrong, but it''s not the ring I want to pass down for generations of my family to come, to enjoy!

So - for my wedder, I am looking at moving my e-ring to my right hand and starting again with something I absolutely love, with a center stone of value. I''ve had a look around, and I really really really love pears, particularly pear halos. I think our budget will be around $10k, although fiance would prefer we not go over that amount! I am not concerned about colour, as I actually quite like yellow/champagne diamonds, but would still like something fairly clean and sparkly.

Am I out of my mind to think we could afford a 1.5+ carat center stone with our budget? Should I be looking at settings other than halos, even though I love them so much?

And where on earth do I start looking for a jeweller to help us out? Buy the stone online? We are in Australia, and our wedding isn''t until Oct ''09, so we have plenty (I hope!) of time.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JulieN]

Precious Metals.

10K should be fine for a 1.5 pear...

 

[Cocosgirl]

Welcome!

I truly don''t know about pears very much but I did a quick search on Good Old Gold and it seems that you can find some nice pears for slightly over your 10K budget right around 1.5 carats -- of course this doesn''t include the setting but at least it might give you a good place to start to determine if you need to go a little lower in carat weight. Here are two that look interesting:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2996/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2998/

As for vendors there are many here who carry halos and certainly do custom work. You may want to check out Whiteflash, Good Old Gold, Engagement Rings Direct etc. I would do a search for pear halos and see what comes up. Good Luck!

 

[swingirl]

Good Old Gold seems to have a few pears. I love pears but you don't find a lot of them. There are a lot of different shapes and proportions, long, thin, fat, etc. I don't know anything about what to look for in a pear but here is one to check out.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4909/

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/6/2008 11:43:33 PM
Author:diamondcookie
Hi all,

Not only am I new to PS, I'm relatively new to this whole diamond bizzo too. My e-ring is 1ct of diamonds (32 stones in total), from a chainstore, and several of the larger stones have visible inclusions or flaws. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it's not the ring I want to pass down for generations of my family to come, to enjoy!

So - for my wedder, I am looking at moving my e-ring to my right hand and starting again with something I absolutely love, with a center stone of value. I've had a look around, and I really really really love pears, particularly pear halos. I think our budget will be around $10k, although fiance would prefer we not go over that amount! I am not concerned about colour, as I actually quite like yellow/champagne diamonds, but would still like something fairly clean and sparkly.

Am I out of my mind to think we could afford a 1.5+ carat center stone with our budget? Should I be looking at settings other than halos, even though I love them so much?

And where on earth do I start looking for a jeweller to help us out? Buy the stone online? We are in Australia, and our wedding isn't until Oct '09, so we have plenty (I hope!) of time.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to Pricescope,

I would contact Garry Holloway at www.HollowayDiamonds.com.au and see what he can find for you.

 

[MMT]

If you don''t care about color you might want to check out some J''s and K''s. I have seen many gorgeous ones on this website and it''s a good way to get more size. I have never seen a pear halo but it sounds beautiful. Good luck

 

[diamondcookie]

Thanks for the advice - esp the Aussie site.

Will keep looking around for a bit, seeing as we''re still just over a year out from the wedding.

I definitely like the warmer stones, having spent many hours looking over the past few days... K''s are a definite winner in my book!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 9/9/2008 8:47:33 AM
Author: diamondcookie
Thanks for the advice - esp the Aussie site.

Will keep looking around for a bit, seeing as we''re still just over a year out from the wedding.

I definitely like the warmer stones, having spent many hours looking over the past few days... K''s are a definite winner in my book!

Hi Diamondcookie, congrats on your upcoming wedding !
I am glad to hear you are open to J and K''s, they can really be stunning. Here is my thread with my 1.25ct K RB if you''re interested. https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-wonderful-e-ring-upgrade-thankyou.89827/page-2
I am also in Aus, and I purchased through PS vendors - it was a very easy and satisfactory experience. I will be happy to answer any Aus-specific questions you may have.
welcome !

 

[diamondcookie]

Oh my! The colours in your stone are breathtaking, arjuna!!

Can I ask - you have to pay import taxes when buying diamonds/jewellery overseas, right? Is that expensive?

I''ve seen one custom WF pear haloe setting that I love.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 9/10/2008 6:41:51 AM
Author: diamondcookie

Oh my! The colours in your stone are breathtaking, arjuna!!

Can I ask - you have to pay import taxes when buying diamonds/jewellery overseas, right? Is that expensive?

I''ve seen one custom WF pear haloe setting that I love.

Hi again, thankyou for the compliment !
yep, we have to pay customs on anything greater than $1000.
There are a number of threads on this topic, such as https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/importing-tax.82821/
But personally, I think this link is easier to understand (and probably more accurate than my ramblings, lol !).
They also have examples of how to work out what your charges will be at the bottom of the page http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=5549

I will say, it sounds expensive (and yes, it sucks having to pay up, lol)..But at the end of the day, its mainly the 10% GST, which anything you buy in Aus will have already..
I know without a doubt that, even after paying the customs, my ring from the PS vendors in the US is such better quality and a Hugely better price than anything I could''ve found locally..
You will find there are a number of other PS ladies from Aus, and from what I know their experience has been overwhelmingly the same as mine..

Anyway, enough from me !
Have you narrowed it down to a vendor yet?

 

[diamondcookie]

Holy toledo batman - so on a $7000 diamond, I''ll pay over $1000 in taxes and duties.

Oh well, as you say - better choice overseas! I have emailed a local jeweller to ask about sourcing a diamond in my colour/cut/carat range and having it set there, will see what they say. Otherwise, WhiteFlash seem to have more choice in pear-cut diamonds than the other sites mentioned, and one of the settings I am lemming is a custom WF, so I think they''re looking pretty good at the moment.