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advice needed on how to buy an engagement ring on a very small budget

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one day

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 4, 2006
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Hello Everyone,
I was hoping that you could give me some advice. My boyfriend and I have been talking about getting engaged and have been trying to educate ourselves about diamonds for a while.

We are both graduate students and our total budget is tight, approximately $2000. I have purposely not set my heart on one particular ring because my expensive tasts far outweigh what we can currently afford. What I do want is the biggest, sparkliest rb stone on a platinum or white gold band. I have a small hand with thin fingers, so I think I can get away with smaller size diamonds.

I do really like solitaires and would love a 0.66 -0.8 if possible, but think that I suit a trilogy, with a larger stone in the middle and two much smaller stones at the side, in white gold, much better. Can you advise on which would be the most affordable and what grades of diamonds we should focus our search on.

Many thanks in advance,

one day
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Lower color grades, such as H/I/J and the rare K, and lower clarity grades, eyeclean SI1/2

A setting will be at least 10% and could go up to about 25% of your budget, so maybe you should price a few settings.
 
Hi Julie,
should we be focusing on ideal/premium cuts if buying these grades?
 
definitely excellent make.

the way i see it is like this: you can get better clarity and color if you go down in cut. but good cut is what gives you sparkle and light return, which can mask low color and clarity. two birds with one stone (hehe...)
 
Hi one day, welcome to Pricescope!

For a solitaire, this stone is a great choice. It's a .6ct ACA from whiteflash, and it'd look gorgeous in a WG setting:

.591 G, SI1 ACA

4-Prong WG setting

For a 3-stone, Quest Jewelers has a WG setting with .15ct sides for $826 (go to www.questjewelers.com, Collection, Bridal, Engagement rings, and it's the 3rd ring over on page 4). Depending on your color preference, either of these stones could work in the middle:

.46 F, SI1 1.3 HCA

.52 I, SI1 1.3 HCA

These are just suggestions to get you started. Hope you can find something you and your future FI both love.
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hello!

I would focus on H-J color stones, Si1-Si2 quality, from a reputable vendor who has a tradeup policy so you can upgrade later if you want to!
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That way, you can put the stone into a simple WG solitaire setting and probably still be able to reuse the setting later on for a bigger stone.
 
Hi again,
thanks for your great suggestions. I really like the Quest ring and the WF diamonds are just what I want. I also spied a WG micro pave set ring (ctw .15) on Quest, page 3, third over, that I thought was gorgeous and within budget. It would also settle my dilemma about WG over platinum because you hardly see the actual ring. I had never really considered those before because I thought they were too expensive. Could i really put a I -K stone in this or would it look yellow? The idea of buying a K diamond makes me nervous or am I just buying into the hype?

OD
 
Something else to consider: you might want to keep your eyes open for blue flourescence... in my understanding, a medium or even strong blue has the potential to bring the appearance of an I-J-K colored diamond up a color grade or two... and usually knocks a little off the price of the diamond as well. Another situation of killing two birds with one stone!
 
Date: 7/5/2006 3:50:01 AM
Author: jadeleaves
hello!

I would focus on H-J color stones, Si1-Si2 quality, from a reputable vendor who has a tradeup policy so you can upgrade later if you want to!
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That way, you can put the stone into a simple WG solitaire setting and probably still be able to reuse the setting later on for a bigger stone.
Click to expand...
This one from James Allen, at H SI1, and .64, is only 2/100th away from your target. He won't know if it's eye clean till he sees it, and he doesn't have it yet, but it's on the search by cut db, and promising.

P.S. Although the one above is particularly promising, do the search by cut search youself (above, go to "prices," then "search by cut"), and you'll see that Jim does have 3 more options, all under $2K, based on Pricescope discounts afforded by wiring payment...which will get you over .7 carats, albeit with SI2 clarities. You might talk with Jim to see about how he can help you evaluate these.
 
i second the fluorescence. pears are cheap because they are out of style. Love those pears!

here is a fluorescent pear.

kemmaavatar.jpg
 
Hi there,

You must be so excited!

I looked at Whiteflash for stones around $1,000 and here are some links below to what look like good ones. They''re all right around .50ct., I,J, SI1-2 When I tried to go bigger, there just wasn''t anything until it jumped to about .75ct and that was over $2,000. You could also try Good Old Gold (I can''t get on their site right now).

The advantage of going with WF or GOG is you could eventually trade your stone in for a bigger one down the road (if you wanted to). Then, you could re-use your engagement ring setting by putting a pretty saphire, ruby, or any color stone in it to replace the diamond.
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for a gorgeous right-hand-ring.

Also, be sure and ask for the Pricescope discount when yoiu call to ask about the stones!!

You are absolutely on the right track about the pave halo making your stone look much bigger, but the WF pave halo setting puts you over your budget by about $650, even using white gold instead of platinum.

So, I would get the setting from someplace like Fay Cullen (very popular on this board). They are very pretty, you can find pave halo settings in white gold, and you can definitely get the look you want within your budget.

Stones:

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-2435203.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-1358297.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-2432794.htm#
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-2432795.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-2362001.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-2361999.htm


Settings:

http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/20024md.html
http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/21613md.html
http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/19233md.html
http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/575626m4d.html
http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/575583m2d.html
http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/575866m1d.html
http://faycullen.com/diamond_ring_settings/500/575546m2d.html

A couple of these you could even afford the platinum if you wanted it.

Some of the settings are for center stones that are a different size than yours, but most of the descriptions say you can call them and they will make one to fit your stone''s dimensions. But you can''t return special order items, so be sure it''s what you want.

Ask if you can have it sent to the place you buy your diamond for setting.

Good luck. Let us know what you pick out!!

Best,
LizzyD
 
Yeah......I just adore fluorescence too!!!

blod
 
oops! I''m so sorry, I inserted "halo" when all you said was pave, meaning around the band. Oh well. Fay Cullen also has some pretty pave''d bands as well.

Best,
LizzyD
 
Welcome to PS, One Day. All the advice given is great. I would also look in the I/J color si1-si2 range, as eye clean as possible. Do not sacrifice cut quality! You might want to check out some local pawn shops, as I hear they have "diamonds in the rough". Hope this helps and good luck!

Peerless
 
Then there''s this .8 J VS2 http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&item=882700 ...strong blue flouresence. It probably falls into the premium category because the depth is just the touch outside of ideal (but the carat weight will still make up for the loss in spread.)

I''d ask why this stone got a "good" on symmetry, if the flouresence has any negative effects, and for an Ideal Scope picture.
 
Wow, thank you for all of these ideas. Yes, if I''m honest, I''m getting very, very excited. We''ve been looking for a while and i''m ready to just have the ring on my finger!!!

So basically, I prioritise cut, then carat and sacrifice the clarity and colour a little,but I can overcome the warmer colour if i get a stone with strong blue floresence??

I love both the .7 and especially the .8. I also saw this earlier (I am getting sucked into diamonds and not getting any PhD done!) and I really like this matching set from Quest:

http://www.questjewelers.com/imageview.cfm?img=images/catalog/zoom/GS-25316_set.jpg&id=354&wSet=353&mSet=0&eSet=352&pSet=354



Do you think I could put the .8 stone in this without it looking too yellow? With the .8, we are going over budget a little, but I''m sure we can work something out.

Has anyone has positive experiences with Quest and do they provide a discount for pricescopers? If I bought the ring and setting from different suppliers, is this alot more expensive? Sorry for so many questions.

matching sets.jpg
 
James Allen has a 5% discount if you pay by wire and are a PS member. I think the .8 is 1900.

Quest, I don't think has a PS discount; they aren't PS vendors.

Mara has a HUGE J in a 4 prong band like that...
 
Date: 7/5/2006 4:39:02 PM
Author: one day


If I bought the ring and setting from different suppliers, is this alot more expensive? Sorry for so many questions.
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Hi One Day ~
emrose.gif


Welcome to Pricescope!
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In answer to one of your questions ...

I believe the answer would be "Yes". I understand that when you purchase a diamond and a setting from a vendor ... they will set their diamond in their setting ... it's included in the price. If you purchase a diamond from one vendor, and then a setting from another vendor, there rightfully should be a setting charge to set someone else's diamond in their setting. I believe that the setting fees are pretty reasonable, and dependant on the size of diamond.

Have a wonderful day!
emhot.gif

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P.S. Also, there are some vendors that sell diamonds that will not set someone else's diamond in any settings that they offer ... in other words ... you want their setting, you will need to buy the diamond from them/
 
The James Allen setting I picked out seems a little expensive...

I''d price out something from SP http://www.thefacetscollection.com/item.cfm?item_id=3658, ask for a quote with their G/H VS quality melee.

If you want a thinner band (or less expensive,) ask for 4 or 3 pointers.
 
Hi folks,
thanks again for the great suggestions.
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I keep coming back to the .8 J on James Allen. My other half loves the matching set too, so thankfully, after about 4 months of chasing our tails, we''ve decided to go for the micro pave solitaire and I will get the trilogy (my 2nd choice) for my anniversary ring. The diamond still has to be decided upon, but Im hoping for around 3/4 ct.

We have been directed towards www.rings2000.com: does anyone have any experience of purchasing their rings?

thanks
OD



 
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