Bestest Deal

[jasper11]

I have no time to research tonight, so I thought I''d throw this question out there:
In your opinion - what is THEE best deal out there for a diamond engagement ring (or wedding set)?
Thanks!

 

[JulieN]

it depends on what you''re looking for?

 

[Regular Guy]

Only because I saw your other post...I might suggest you look at this one, and call the folks at G0G about pairing that with the other components you''re looking for.

But, yes, Julie''s right, some clarification about your budget, and what you want it to include would only help.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Knowing your budget would be pretty important! But regardless, you can get the best deal on an ideal cut, terrific stone by shopping at vendors recommended on this site. I like the stone Regular Guy (ira) posted from Good Old Gold, and the other place to look would be WhiteFlash. I also think you could look at H color if you want to gain a little size but stay white.

 

[jasper11]

I''ve just started to look so I am not 100% sure of exactly what I want - but I''ll give some idea.
D - H color, .50 - .85 carat center stone, clarity: not sure but probably SI1 - VS2 (?).
I like a radiant square or slightly oblong, but then I saw some princess or cushions and Aschers that I liked - so now I''m really confused.
Side stones - I like pave'', a ring that has it on the sides (what is that - the shoulder?) so you can see it on the sides (I hope that makes sense).
I also like reg sides stones like princess, round and baguette.
Whew!

 

[kristy_lyn]

You''ll probably get a better deal/value for something with regular side stones, versus pave. Seems like it would be better to not have pave than to have cheap pave.

I had a pretty small budget (relatively) and decided to put as much as possible into the center stone - .81, ideal cut, G color, VS2 clarity - with a very simple 6 prong setting.

My breakdown was around $3500 for the stone, $550 for the setting. The setting would have been cheaper, but I opted to switch out the head to get a 6 prong platinum one.

I got an ACA diamond. Honestly, I probably would have been just as happy with one of their Expert Selection stones.

 

[kristy_lyn]

Oh -also - go take a look in some B&M stores to compare sizes. Pay attention to the millimeter sizes... because the size of a certain carat weight can fluctuate a lot depending on the cut.

And, I found that there were certain cut-off measurements that looked bigger vs. smaller for me. For example, 6mm looked a lot bigger than 5.9 to me for some reason. Probably mental.

 

[coda72]

Well, you kind of left your budget open, so here''s some possibilities I liked in radiants.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=962676

This is probably my favorite of the ones I picked. Very good numbers and seems like it should be a very good stone. It is slightly rectangular.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=976700

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=937700

These two are larger and seem to be pretty similarly cut. I would go with the G since it''s a few hundred cheaper.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=958508

This is my personal sweet spot for radiants, an F, VS2 (that''s what mine is), and a medium girdle. It''s also just slightly rectangular like mine is. But it will probably appear square more than rectangular.

As far as side stones go, pave rings look very good with radiants. I have a 3 stone ring (pear sapphire sides) that I like, but it isn''t what most normal people would pick! Radiants tend to look good with trillion sides, or maybe princess cut sides, but probably not round. Baguettes would probably also look good as they tend to look good with most shape stones.

I hope this helps a little bit anyway.

 

[kenny]

Best deal on an engagement ring?
Wow, what an open question!

One easy given is cut.
The finest cut is the ONLY diamond you should consider buying.
Cut is more important than any of the other Cs.
Cut determines how much fire and brilliance a diamond has.

I like ACA cut from Whiteflash for rounds.
It is my opinion after seeing other super ideals like Solasfera, Eighternity and Eightstar that ACA is a top quality cut.
Plus unlike these others it has that blessed Internet Pricing Transparency.
The price for every ACA is published on Whiteflash's website.
Unfortunately the price for all the other brands I listed is only available in private, so it is not set based on the competitive price pressure that results from Internet transparency.
That scares me.

If you like the Princess cut then just get an AGS 0 cut.
They did all the work for you.
If you want any other cut you have to learn a ton of stuff and do your work.

I'm going to say G VS2 is the best deal.
G is white enough to look white to just about everyone in every situation, but not priced too high.
VS2 is high enough in clarity to almost certainly be eye-clean if from GIA or AGS but not priced too high.

So get an ACA G VS2.
For size I'd try to find an ACA just under important milestone weights.
0.48, 0.98, 1.48 carat are smart buys because the price per carat jumps up at milestones like .5, 1, 1.5 carat.
Keep in mind these are very difficult to find since there is a financial incentive for cutters to try to reach those size milestones.

Next the ring.
To me it is all about the diamond, so the ideal ring would be invisible and free.
Plus I'd rather put the maximum money into the stone.
I'd get either the $210 18K white gold solitaire or the $420 platinum one from Whiteflash.
I would not put a white diamond in yellow gold since the stone will pick up the gold color and look lower in color.

 

[jasper11]

wow! What great answers!
I wish I were more diffinitive with my likes. It''s a toss up with the center stone at this point.
I don''t really like a solitaire, just not me.

My price range is probably $2,000 for the stone(s) and the end result being about $3-3,500.
(My bf, who knows nothing about the pricing, was hoping for $1,200 - so you can see how I''m trying to be as fair minded while trying to not sacrifice the entire ring''s integrity).

White gold, as I''ve heard both stories about that and platinum, and I''d rather place the money on the stones.

I like the G VS2 idea probably the best - I don''t mind a slight ''warm'' look to a stone, and I am interested in the center stone being rather predominant.
Here are some that I''ve found online that are similar to ones I''ve seen that I''ve kind of liked (you''ll see I don''t say "that I''ve loved" etc)
(I only saved the images for what they look like and don''t have the prices on them):

 

[jasper11]

Hi
After doing a little research I think the look I like is vintage.
I found a few on the natalie k site offered here thru resources...

 

[jasper11]

also - what is B&M?

 

[Bunnifer]

B&M = bricks & mortar (as opposed to internet stores)

 

[kristy_lyn]

It also looks like you like these features:
engraving, fillagree, granulation, and millgrain.

Try to do a search on those words, you might find some pictures!

 

[Olive Oil]

Date: 1/4/2007 12:35:28 PM
Author: jasper11
Hi

After doing a little research I think the look I like is vintage.

I found a few on the natalie k site offered here thru resources...

If you like vintage, I think there are some beautiful, affordable rings/settings at antiqueengagementrings.com. I have never bought anything from them, but I''ve read some nice reviews on here. And I drool over the things on the website almost daily.

Here is a thread with a princess cut in a setting from them:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-gfs-engagement-ring.14119/

 

[jasper11]

The filigree, etc... terms did help in searching, and the pricescope princess is close to the rings I was looking at!
Thanks.
I''m still working and will have more more more questions!