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Article, does your engagement ring look cheap lol

Fun read! My $0.02:

1. Low color? Whoever wrote this article obviously hasn’t seen the old cut and ideal cut stunners here!

2. I’d have to agree about the prongs, but I really don’t think most people notice! I’ve seen a crazy amount of bad prongs on random IG accounts.

3. Yep. Setting must actually fit the diamond.

4. Yep.

5. Yep again, though I’d carve out an exclusion for contrasting gem or fancy colored diamond halos.
 
This has been on my mind because I've been watching RHOC lately, starting at season one. Some of their rings look SOOOOO cheap because of the settings.

ETA- although with them, I'm wondering if it's because those settings were more in style back in the late 2010's?
 
whitewave said:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...ke-engagement-ring-look-cheap-avoid-them.html

1. “Low” diamond color
2. Unbalanced or large prongs
3. A high setting
4. Bad metal work
5. Mismatched center diamond and halo stones
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OH NO! The clerk from Kay's thought the platinum ring was sterling silver. My old cut is an abominable "I". My new one is a nasty "L". My rings are not the stuff of dreams, according to British Experts.
I am inconsolable. Going to go have a glass or two of wine.
 
moneymeister said:
OH NO! The clerk from Kay's thought the platinum ring was sterling silver. My old cut is an abominable "I". My new one is a nasty "L". My rings are not the stuff of dreams, according to British Experts.
I am inconsolable. Going to go have a glass or two of wine.
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Just send your diamonds to me and you can start over. :mrgreen2:
 
I admit I can spot bad metal work a mile away.
 
moneymeister said:
OH NO! The clerk from Kay's thought the platinum ring was sterling silver. My old cut is an abominable "I". My new one is a nasty "L". My rings are not the stuff of dreams, according to British Experts.
I am inconsolable. Going to go have a glass or two of wine.
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Funny story about this... my grandmother's engagement ring was 2.83ct and in a white colored metal. When I was little I couldn't understand why she had her ring in a sterling silver setting. Why not gold since it is so much more valuable than silver???

Wasn't until middle school science when I learned about platinum and a light bulb went off over my head. MIDDLE SCHOOL and I made that connection. She was absolutely just being snotty to you *eye roll*
 
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I don't think that my custom HPD/CBI rings look cheap, but someone asked me if my rings were fake on our last cruise, and the $34k cruise was on an upscale cruiseline too, LOL! :lol-2: :x2
 
cflutist said:
I don't think that my custom HPD/CBI rings look cheap, but someone asked me if my rings were fake on our last cruise, and the $34k cruise was on an upscale cruiseline too, LOL! :lol-2: :x2
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I honestly would take that as a compliment- your diamonds are so amazing they HAVE to be fake.
 
Wewechew said:
Funny story about this... my grandmother's engagement ring was 2.83ct and in a white colored metal. When I was little I couldn't understand why she had her ring in a sterling silver setting. Why not gold since it is so much more valuable than silver???

Wasn't until middle school science when I learned about platinum and a light bulb went off over my head. MIDDLE SCHOOL and I made that connection. She was absolutely just being snotty to you *eye roll*
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Ahh, we with our children's eyes. When I found out about platinum (probably in high school) I was amazed at how heavy it is. It does look like silver.

As far as Kay's. Yeah, I guess I don't present as someone who might have a real 1-carat diamond. Between Kay's and the "British Experts", all hope is lost.
 
cflutist said:
I don't think that my custom HPD/CBI rings look cheap, but someone asked me if my rings were fake on our last cruise, and the $34k cruise was on an upscale cruiseline too, LOL! :lol-2: :x2
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Oh, I might gush over a ring, but can not imagine being so bold to a stranger to ask if the diamond is real. Just insanely rude. It could have been so otherworldly they just didn't know what to make of it.
 
JPie said:
1. Low color? Whoever wrote this article obviously hasn’t seen the old cut and ideal cut stunners here!

2. I’d have to agree about the prongs, but I really don’t think most people notice! I’ve seen a crazy amount of bad prongs on random IG accounts.
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Plenty of celebrities have lower-color stones too, especially the ones with antique-inspired or super trendy settings.

I also think 99% off the prongs I've seen are bad by PS standards. My own engagement ring prongs are.

They didn't mention the "diamonds so included they don't sparkle/frozen spit" look, which imo is worse than all these other offenders. I also don't really care if the halo stones don't match the center diamond... but if they don't match EACH OTHER, we've got a problem. And I've seen a number of rings irl where halo or pave diamonds are mismatched.

moneymeister said:
Oh, I might gush over a ring, but can not imagine being so bold to a stranger to ask if the diamond is real. Just insanely rude. It could have been so otherworldly they just didn't know what to make of it.
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If you think that is bold - I have people snatch my hand ALL the time to look at my rings and ask what they are and if they're real. Had a woman at an Arby's drive-thru haul me half out the window of my car while I was trying to pay to exclaim over the sapphire. It's flattering but also scary.
 
distracts said:
Plenty of celebrities have lower-color stones too, especially the ones with antique-inspired or super trendy settings.

I also think 99% off the prongs I've seen are bad by PS standards. My own engagement ring prongs are.

They didn't mention the "diamonds so included they don't sparkle/frozen spit" look, which imo is worse than all these other offenders. I also don't really care if the halo stones don't match the center diamond... but if they don't match EACH OTHER, we've got a problem. And I've seen a number of rings irl where halo or pave diamonds are mismatched.



If you think that is bold - I have people snatch my hand ALL the time to look at my rings and ask what they are and if they're real. Had a woman at an Arby's drive-thru haul me half out the window of my car while I was trying to pay to exclaim over the sapphire. It's flattering but also scary.
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x1000 on the frozen spit look! And that is super scary how grabby people get! :shock:
 
How ridiculous! Thanks for posting this... I've had a horrible day and I needed a good laugh!
Gee, where do we start lol!
The low diamond color thing is so lame... first off, that may be either one person's preference, or perhaps that is what their budget will allow... so like we should SHAME them because they cannot spend what it would cost to get over a K??? Seriously! And, as stated, let's look at all the gorgeous antique cuts that are often seen in the "lower" colors.
Further to that point... actually IMO, I think the more colorless a diamond the more fake it looks! My MIL has a 5.01 GIA graded D color. You don't think people look at that and think it's fake because it is so large and "white"... I'm sure they think it is a CHEAP fake!
Prongs: Whatever. That has to be the last thing I would notice on a ring that I could potentially "critique", so to speak.
While I personally don't care for high settings, I know many people do. I am super clumsy so the lower to the finger the better for me. Also, I have a larger knuckle to ring size situation so the higher the ring the more prone to spinning for me. But a lot of people like high settings. But the part about how much room there is under the culet... are you kidding me. I see rings here all the time that are beautiful and costly mountings with high quality diamonds that have space underneath. QUITE HONESTLY, I think my ring should've been set higher so all the yuck of the day doesn't have such an easy hiding place.
Bad metal work... cannot argue with that one. But I honestly feel sorry for the person when I see that and jewelers/retailers who put their name to that should be ashamed of themselves. It doesn't matter ones budget... even the most basic of mountings should be of quality. This is something that totally irks me when I see it.
Mismatched center diamond to halo or any other side stones... this I have to agree with. Again, goes to the jeweler for not pointing this out. When the stones match it is just a higher quality piece... unless you did it INTENTIONALLY, especially with either vintage cuts or even modern cuts in vintage mountings... it isn't always a no-no to the extent the way the article made it sound.
And, anyhow, WHO CARES WHAT SHE SAYS??? However, I do feel badly when people pay good money and are given a poor quality product. No excuse for that.
 
lovedogs said:
Oh nooooo, a random on the internet doesn't like my N color CBI?????? :roll2:

These types of shaming nonsense articles are so pathetic.
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She should see your (fabulous!) ring and then she would keep her comments to herself!!!
 
cflutist said:
I don't think that my custom HPD/CBI rings look cheap, but someone asked me if my rings were fake on our last cruise, and the $34k cruise was on an upscale cruiseline too, LOL! :lol-2: :x2
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Please tell us what your reply was!!!! :appl:
 
distracts said:
They didn't mention the "diamonds so included they don't sparkle/frozen spit" look, which imo is worse than all these other offenders.
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#Preach

But I do agree with the bad prong/metal work and high setting (especially in a halo) making a ring look "cheap." I never really associate the color of the diamond with cost, but when I see a halo with terrible prong work, choppy transitions in the metal, sharp pave metal, and a huge "halo gap" where the diamond is so high that you can see empty space between the diamond and halo, I do tend to think "That looks cheap."

The TD;DR of the story is: Setting make a huge difference in how "Expensive" the ring looks. A $10,000 diamond in a poorly-executed setting is going to look "Cheaper" than a CZ in a well-executed setting.

I wish more guys would pay attention to the setting, as it seems almost like an afterthought to many men during the E-ring selection process.
 
TreeScientist said:
But I do agree with the bad prong/metal work and high setting (especially in a halo) making a ring look "cheap." I never really associate the color of the diamond with cost, but when I see a halo with terrible prong work, choppy transitions in the metal, sharp pave metal, and a huge "halo gap" where the diamond is so high that you can see empty space between the diamond and halo, I do tend to think "That looks cheap."
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oooh, my worst halo contender (other than diamonds that are so included that they're lifeless) is when the pave stones are all set on different angles so they all reflect light differently. The round brilliant version of "crooked teeth baguettes."

headlight said:
Bad metal work... cannot argue with that one. But I honestly feel sorry for the person when I see that and jewelers/retailers who put their name to that should be ashamed of themselves. It doesn't matter ones budget... even the most basic of mountings should be of quality. This is something that totally irks me when I see it.
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I agree... especially since I see many jewelers who only have stock settings in their cases, but will do custom work, and when I ask for examples, the custom work is multiple levels worse than what is in their store to easily see - but most people probably wouldn't know to do that. People don't know any better for a purchase that is so rare for most and it is up to the jeweler to be responsible and offer good quality.
 
TreeScientist said:
I wish more guys would pay attention to the setting, as it seems almost like an afterthought to many men during the E-ring selection process.
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Well, that depends...What if he drops $6K on a custom setting but she dislike the style, then what? just flush $6K down the toilet?
 
...I am grabbing some ice cream, putting on Frasier, and crawling under my blanket with my teddy bear and my chihuahuas.
when I feel like the world is not going to bite me, I will come out and post my contribution to the floozies of PS.
 
Dancing Fire said:
And ruin the surprise?
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6K surprises are VASTLY overrated. Open, honest communication is key in all parts of a relationship. At the very least, a man should have *talked* to his GF about what styles of rings she likes, etc. Or just get it in a temporary setting until she chooses something. But anyone who spends 6K on a completely surprise setting is in for a bad time.
 
I keep saying I will re-set my 1.73 N OEC (the Daily Mail journalist shudders) in it's not quite right Jared setting but I truly love the ring as is. I get tons of compliments on my inferior piece of shhhhh........ (whispers of the DM journalists) ring.

I even once (before it became illegal) wore it with cheap bands before I bought nice ones.
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