Average color/clarity of engagement rings?

[msop04]

I would've thought the opposite to be honest. In my mind and personally shopping, the average first time buyer is a male buying an engagement ring who really only knows about ct size, and tries to get the biggest stone they can get (the whole stereotypical 'bigger is better' male mantra). They walk into a chain B&M store and they look at different rings, which of course all look good because of the store lighting. The salesperson makes small comments of the color/clarity, but since most of the rings are the same (low) color/clarity (aka I-J, SI2-I2), they don't go into detail or compare. If you ask for different stones, they ask if you want 'bigger or smaller', not 'higher or lower color/clarity'.

Hhhhmm..., not the "yuppie" ones who bought rings in the '80s and '90s. Or at least not the ones that I know. All of those guys went to one of the top b&m jewelers in town, and bought the pitch for high-color-and-clarity. Nobody focused much on cut then, but probably cut would also be factored into it now. Without making a study of it, it appears that most of the new guys who come here to PS asking for help are picking D-F or G on their first pass, some pick H or I if they've seen in in a store, and the majority don't intentionally look at J color or below or at non-eyeclean stones. I've seen a lot of "what about this VVS_ or VS_ stone" and then PS people talk them into looking at SI1 range but eyeclean. Or say "Go lower in color, like a J, to get that size for your budget."

Yes, this is what we all see a lot here on PS... and I think it's a good thing, IMHO. It's all about allowing someone to make their own informed decision, regardless of what they decide suites them.

Guys usually aren't into diamonds or even jewelry for that matter. All they know is "I love my GF and I want to get her to like her ring and say yes." The problem is, if they go into a nicer B&M, all that is preached is: COLOR & CLARITY are the only thing that's important. I don't think PS is necessarily trying to get them to change what they deem acceptable or lower their standards by any means, but to educate them about the effects of cut and the impact it makes on color AND clarity. After being preached to about "color & clarity," most SA's are NOT gonna show a lower color and the guy is not gonna think to ask for comparison purposes. So what happens is the guy gets a smaller E/VVS1 stone with a "good" cut. He has paid a premium for characteristics the naked eye can't even appreciate with a cut that does absolutely nothing to enhance optics.

So... five or ten years down the road they decide to upgrade and find out that, WOW!! That H looks just as white as the E we have... and I can't even see any inclusions in the VS2 or even SI1!! -- I can get her a lot larger stone all along... if we'd only knew.

Well... now you know.