Hi there all
I've lurked here off and on for over a year and have found it a very valuable source of information. I'm now at a point where I'd really appreciated some guidance and advice from all you learned people.
What I'd like is some advice on buying a Halo set, MRB ring for something around 5k USD including diamond and setting.
I'm at the stage of seriously starting to hunt for an engagement ring for my girlfriend. We've had some discussions about marriage (we've both been married before and have both have kids) and I know a little about what she definitely would like as a ring. She has fingers that are around size 7 I believe and is adamant that she does NOT want a solitaire type setting. Every time she's looked at rings through the window, she's picked out Halo style rings as her favourite and considering her finger size and my budget, it seems a wise choice for finger coverage.
Typically when looking at Halo's she has often seemed to prefer a rectangular shaped Halo with a round brilliant centre stone. She also very keen to get a halo which only has stones in the top section itself as she'd like diamonds set into her wedding band and we understand having diamonds set into the band of both wedding and engagement ring can cause damage from rubbing.
One further complexity is that I am based in the UK which makes it very difficult as there don't seem to be any decent online retailers there that show full views on stones etc. Given that fact, I'll need to buy from the US and will therefore have to pay 20% VAT on top of a finished ring. As a result of this, rather the try to squeeze the last pound of value out of a stone, I want to get a stone that we can be very confident will be lovely and avoid the need for returns. Consequently I'd like to get something like a Whiteflash ACA, Brian Gavin Blue or GOG type stone. We're not picky about colour, happy with an I and also SI1 if eye clean.
In terms of setting the one she's seen and liked a lot is the Ritani Halo: http://www.ritani.com/engagement-rings/french-set-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-in-platinum/4974
Example diamonds:
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3061810.htm
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.708-f-vs1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104068959034
Does this all seem like a sensible approach and does buying the finished product from the US have any obvious pitfalls?
Also does anyone have any competitively priced halo settings they can propose - other than the ritani one everything I've found tends to have diamonds in the band and is a lot more expensive.
Thanks all hugely in advance!
I've lurked here off and on for over a year and have found it a very valuable source of information. I'm now at a point where I'd really appreciated some guidance and advice from all you learned people.
What I'd like is some advice on buying a Halo set, MRB ring for something around 5k USD including diamond and setting.
I'm at the stage of seriously starting to hunt for an engagement ring for my girlfriend. We've had some discussions about marriage (we've both been married before and have both have kids) and I know a little about what she definitely would like as a ring. She has fingers that are around size 7 I believe and is adamant that she does NOT want a solitaire type setting. Every time she's looked at rings through the window, she's picked out Halo style rings as her favourite and considering her finger size and my budget, it seems a wise choice for finger coverage.
Typically when looking at Halo's she has often seemed to prefer a rectangular shaped Halo with a round brilliant centre stone. She also very keen to get a halo which only has stones in the top section itself as she'd like diamonds set into her wedding band and we understand having diamonds set into the band of both wedding and engagement ring can cause damage from rubbing.
One further complexity is that I am based in the UK which makes it very difficult as there don't seem to be any decent online retailers there that show full views on stones etc. Given that fact, I'll need to buy from the US and will therefore have to pay 20% VAT on top of a finished ring. As a result of this, rather the try to squeeze the last pound of value out of a stone, I want to get a stone that we can be very confident will be lovely and avoid the need for returns. Consequently I'd like to get something like a Whiteflash ACA, Brian Gavin Blue or GOG type stone. We're not picky about colour, happy with an I and also SI1 if eye clean.
In terms of setting the one she's seen and liked a lot is the Ritani Halo: http://www.ritani.com/engagement-rings/french-set-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-in-platinum/4974
Example diamonds:
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3061810.htm
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.708-f-vs1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104068959034
Does this all seem like a sensible approach and does buying the finished product from the US have any obvious pitfalls?
Also does anyone have any competitively priced halo settings they can propose - other than the ritani one everything I've found tends to have diamonds in the band and is a lot more expensive.
Thanks all hugely in advance!
300x240.png)