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Buying a 25th anniversary ring

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Alouette

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 10, 2014
Messages
14
My husband and I are planning our 25th wedding anniversary, and included in that celebration is a diamond ring for me. Yay! We began our married lives with matching gold bands. We both lost ours. At one point I had a 1 ct emerald (the green one) that splintered and was replaced with another emerald in a vault-like setting. Not pretty, but I love being married and love displaying that symbol of our union. Now I just want a beautiful ring to wear proudly for the next 25 years, and to pass on to another family member.

My style is pretty minimalist. I don't wear any jewelry other than diamond studs (which are at the moment CZ as I've lost one out of my best pair) and a white gold tank Americiane. I thought a three stone ring might be the best option, but trying several on, they were just chunky on my finger and the stones didn't have much of a personality. (Is that crazy?) I have a 4.5 ring size with medium/long fingers. We have visited Tiffany's in a couple of different cities recently to get a feel for what looks best on my finger and to gauge the carat size that would give the pretty, unobtrusive but gorgeous look I'm hoping for. No way we're paying a Tiffany premium, but there aren't many places to try on rings without the hard sell. After perusing all of the styles, I came back to what I have always liked the best: an emerald cut. The first location only had a 1.5 carat; too small and delicate. Our local store had a very nice 2.15. Perfect to overshadow my wrinkly hands! I don't like any Tiffany settings, but the stone was very nice. As we settled on that as an approximate size, the salesman commented that we should be looking for an E or F color, and a VVS. The actual ring was G VS1, for a cool 37,000.

I'd been hoping to keep it to 25k, given the anniversary and all. We might creep up to 30K.

So here's where I need loads of your advice and assistance in optimizing our budget and preferences. I've looked at all of the major online jewelers. James Allen seems to be great, right? Do I understand correctly that Blue Nile can be beaten by others with access to the same stones? I stumbled upon Leon Mege. There are a couple of videos of his previous work that send a shiver down my spine. Oh my goodness!

https://leonmege.com/index.php/portfolio/engagement/401-emerald-cut-engagement-ring-detail

https://leonmege.com/index.php/portfolio/engagement/solitaire-emerald-cut-pave-ring-detail

On his website he promises to offer a better price for those who buy the diamond and the setting from his atelier. BS?

My major concerns: I really cannot buy anything like this sight unseen. I can get to NY pretty easily, so whatever vendor I use I want to lay eyes on the rock. Second, I'm worried about getting bogged down with a custom order. I haven't seen any settings quite as beautiful as those from the links above, so if there are other options out here I'd love to explore them.

Looking forward to you wise counsel!

Alouette
 
HI:

If you can travel easily to see LM--then, why not? No need to buy anything "site unseen" if that is out of your comfort zone...

Incidentally, LM has jewellery/rings/items for sale or "ready to go" ....perhaps you can contact him to find out what you can before you travel. Caveat, stone over 2 ctw at LM might be like Tiffany ($$).

Naturally that begs the question, if you can travel to NYC...then what else can "we" recommend? :)) Is Estate (Tiffany, Cartier, VCA, etc...... :saint: ) out of the question??

cheers--Sharon
 
Hi Sharon,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, if LM is going to have a Tiffany-range price point I'm not interested. The accompanying music with his videos is pretty seductive though. :angel

My aim is to buy the best diamond for the price; the parameters are the 4 Cs and that ephemeral beautiful quality about which I'm completely unqualified to judge (other than by seeing). That's where y'all come in!

I'd also like to get a feel for the best setting. My preference is a simple but elegant band. A plain band feels a little naked for me, but I really don't want side baguettes. I thought pave on the shank only would be as understated as possible, but maybe it's too youthful?

And, I'm asking which vendors would accommodate a request for a a personal session to view two or three stones that meet my criteria.

Thanks!
 
Brilliantly Engaged is also highly recommended for hand picking fancy shapes including EC's. They also make high quality settings, both cast/cad and hand forged. I would include them in your vendors to contact.

http://www.brilliantlyengaged.com/

Good Old Gold will call in diamonds and make video's for you, along with other light performance reports.

Many on here have bought from both vendors.
 
Thanks to you all and especially Canuk gal. I'm in the U.S. Hockey mom.

I did study that thread and felt emboldened to post here because of it. It's amazing to me that there are people here willing and able to cut through the statistics to find the beauty. If I can, I'd like to to tap into that expertise.

So, our budget is 30k. I'm thinking I want an emerald that is in the range of 1.35 to 1.5 L/W. Clean, white, and austere. With a zip of sparkle on the side.

Alouette
 
HI:

:wavey: I thought someone posted welcome...that said... :wavey:

Do you have a specific timeline--I know you have a 25th anniversary ( :dance: ) but is that exact day important to meet/with the criteria with the perfect ring?

There are many many threads on PS about EC's and their "perfections/advantages". Yet, fancies, beg an IRL view. Hence, It can take a while...to get it. Right.

cheers--Sharon
 
I second, Good Old Gold is a great choice, Diamonds by Lauren, other places like James Allen and Blue Nile if you can get ASETs from them and everyone here will assist to help you pick a stone. For the setting Victor Canera, Steven Kirsch (who used to work for Leon) for something similar without the drama or Brilliantly Engaged's Bench.
 
Welcome to PS. :wavey:

Did you go through this thread?

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/emerald-cuts-asschers-a-collection.113993/

And I'm just going to take the liberty and post some of my favorite stepcut rings (EC's and Asschers).

https://www.victorcanera.com/rings/engagement/the-evelyn-solitaire-with-2ct-emerald-cut

I know you're not in the market for a halo setting but I love this one. It really is this amazing IRL too.

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...sary-upgrade-2-52-emerald-cut-diamond.187820/

This is a Steven Kirsch setting. I know you're looking for an EC, but look at the amazing proportions on the tapered baguettes. Sooooo flatters the center stone.
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...ch-square-emerald-w-tapered-baguettes.197237/
 
Thanks for the welcome. And thanks for the referrals. I did get part way through that thread..need to finish it!

Anniversary not until May, so I should have plenty of time to explore a fair amount of stones. As soon as I narrow them down, I'll post their pictures. I'll be looking for settings as well.

Thank you again!

Alouette
 
Sorry for bringing back my post from several months ago. Well it's May and our anniversary is almost here. I've been looking for a while and really don't have a feel at all of what to discern between the relatively few emerald cuts out there with 2.2-2.5 c, d to f, vs2 or better. i guess I'm not patient enough.

Anyway, our plan is to order this ring:

http://www.costco.com/.product.100138141.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance-_-categorypageHorizontalTop-_-PersonalizedClickCPInCategory&cm_vc=categorypageHorizontalTop%7CPersonalizedClickCPInCategory

Now I know there is no love at all for Costco on here. But I want a ring to hold in my hand to either love or take right back. I can do that with this ring, and if it's not great I'll be a little more educated. And my husband loves to think he's cutting out a middle man somewhere (even if he isn't).

So, my request for advice from all the generous posters :

Is there any thing in the GIA reports that flags a potential problem with this diamond. I know it would be better to have pictures but does the ring have potential to be a winner?

Will I be able to see the diamond well enough even though it's already set? Are there jewelers in DC anyone recommends for an evaluation of its performance? I'll be needing a jeweler for sizing or resetting anyway. Ring size 3.75.

Am I missing some great diamonds out there? If so, could you point me in the right direction? Of course I'm willing to do some leg work if there are more diamonds to look at that aren't 5-10k more than we want to spend.

I do care about the 4 c's, as that is the way I measure bottom line quality. But I want it to be beautiful too. Ultimately, my wish for this ring is that I love looking at it, and, even if it becomes hopelessly old fashioned, perhaps one day a granddaughter might be willing to put it to use.

Thanks in advance. I welcome your thoughts.

A
 
Hi op,

It's hard to select or recommend fancy shapes like emerald cut without is or a set images, or at the very least dynamic video like James allen. However, I've heard many people recommend GOG or BE, I might try IDJ or B2C jewels too just to compare, possibly get a bigger stone for the same budget. I know B2C had 2 or 3 good options for you, but u would need to get images.
your Costco option might be a little deep ft for excellent cut, but probably still pretty.
 
Thanks luvdajules!

Just got off an online chat with Brian Gavin staff. Very helpful but at the end of it I realize they don't actually specialize in emerald cuts. She did recommend some lower priced stones and then this one:

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?reportno=1166087364&childpagename=GIA/Page/ReportCheck&pagename=GIA/Dispatcher&c=Page&cid=1355954554547..

There was only one image available which I can't copy but she said it looked to be a good cut. But they won't take any images until I've actually bought the stone. So complicated.

It's a little too pricey but really gets to my need for quantifiable quality.

I will be in touch with Whiteflash tomorrow.

I'll contact other vendors luvdajules and others have recommended as well. JA I know has great videos but there just always seems to be one or more elements that don't match my wants. I've tried to learn as much as possible but without any experience with this, I feel kind of inadequate.

Any other comments?
 
No Brian Gavin for emerald cut, definitely no Costco for anything besides toilet paper.

I second the idea of contacting Good Old Gold (they specialize in emerald cut and other fancy shapes) and having them source you stones in your spec range.

With your kind of budget you should have no nervousness. Trust in the right diamond expert and have the right stones picked out for you. With high definition video, ASET, Sarin, expert analysis etc to help justify the quality of the stone.
 
Thanks Daniel. Already sent an email to GOG and I'll try to go to NY to actually see some possibilities.

Obviously I'm a slow learner.: :twirl:
 
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