Buying Engagement Ring - Never bought diamond before

[michiganmike1]

I am as new as it gets when buying a diamond, but the time has come. Need to buy an engagement ring. Who knew it would be so dang stressful. I've read all I can, which has only confused me more.

Here is what I am after (gathered from hints and outright suggestions from my GF):
- roughly 2 carat Cushion Cut
- more square than rectangle
- NOT crushed ice style -- she likes the more symmetrical style (I totally made up symmetrical here, hope it makes sense on what I'm saying)

I'm looking at a budget of $12K - $13K for the diamond.

Is it possible to get something nice and eye clean in this range? Seen anything out there that fits the bill?

I appreciate anything you all can suggest. I'm ready to just get this done!

- Mike

 

[tyty333]

Someone on PS had a beautiful non-crushed-ice 1.7 branded cushion they were looking to upgrade. Not sure if that's big enough for
you. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit...darn, I cant find it. I'll see what they have on JA.

 

[anon34985]

i don't know if this is still for sale? but this is a killer deal!

Victor Canera pave 4 prong solitaire size 5 with 2.01 H- VS2 modern cushion solitaire | Loupe Troop

loupetroop.com

I believe this is it: https://www.instagram.com/p/CG-1gVEB_cL/

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

I would talk to your GF and make sure she's OK with a pre-loved ring. I think it can go either way, but better to make sure she's OK with it!

 

[DejaWiz]

You can get a Hearts & Arrows cushion cut from a few places, like Distinctive Gems. The pricing for natural grown can get pretty wild, so prepare yourself for a bit of sticker shock when you get into the 2+ carat weights.

Jon is highly regarded here and will find you what you want.

He also has his own line of custom cut lab grown H&A cushions, and here's a 2ct E VS2 in his private reserve collection:

2.00ct E VS2 Hearts and Arrows Cushion Private Reserve Lab Grown Diamond

Brand new H&A cushions in lab grown. The ASET tells the story BUT MAN ARE THESE SPARKLE BOMBS! Diamond Details Measurements 7.68 x 7.66 x 4.87 mm Cut Ideal Polish Ex Symmetry Vg Fluorescence None Culet none Report Table 62.5% Depth 63.6% Measurements 7.68 x 7.66 x 4.87 mm Cut Ideal...

www.distinctivegem.com

He can also do a custom cut (prices listed are for his deposit amount needed to secure the diamond rough and initiate the cut and polish order):

Your Custom Cut Private Reserve Lab Grown Square Cushion Hearts & Arrows Cut Diamond

At this time we are rolling out our series of lab grown diamonds cut to your specifications. :) This link features the new Distinctive Square Cushion H&A with ideal optics and is one of the most beautifully cut cushions available on the market. Prices below reflect deposits. Final pricing...

www.distinctivegem.com

Head out to YouTube and watch his videos listed under Rhino's School of Rock.

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

Lab diamonds are a great value, but I would make sure your GF is OK with them too!

 

[michiganmike1]

Thank you everyone for this information to this point!! I think that I want to stick with a natural diamond just for future appreciation - the soon to be fiancée would be fine either way. With used jewelry, I know exactly what she wants in a setting, so I'd have to pull the stone to have it reset if I went used.

Thanks all!

 

[holyrock]

Thank you everyone for this information to this point!! I think that I want to stick with a natural diamond just for future appreciation - the soon to be fiancée would be fine either way. With used jewelry, I know exactly what she wants in a setting, so I'd have to pull the stone to have it reset if I went used.

Thanks all!

Future appreciation? I dont want to scare you but your stone will sell for 60% of its value if you decide to sell it in the upcoming years. There is not gonna be any profit or even close to what you paid, unless you buy a fancy blue for 600k.

If you buy a mined 2ct cushion for 15k and then sell it back for 9, you lost 6, if you buy a 2ct LG, you probably lost 4.

Diamonds arent investment, they wont make you money even if the "graph" were to go up (which it wont, because more and more MMDs will be forcing mined prices down). Mineds arent rare or special, there are warehouses full of already cut and ready stones that are slowly being unloaded as to not change the prices. There is no shortage or lack of stones, or mines, they are not rare and if the industry wasnt run the way it is, they would cost 10% of what they do now.

 

[michiganmike1]

Fair enough, Holy Rock. Probably still want to stay with natural. Thanks!!

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

Thank you everyone for this information to this point!! I think that I want to stick with a natural diamond just for future appreciation - the soon to be fiancée would be fine either way. With used jewelry, I know exactly what she wants in a setting, so I'd have to pull the stone to have it reset if I went used.

Thanks all!

Just one call out, diamonds typically do not appreciate but rather depreciate in the used market. This includes natural/mined stones. I would expect the diamond to depreciate 30-50% immediately after purchase. Just something to keep in mind!

If you want to minimize depreciation, buy used and reset. Another thought is that many diamonds in the market are actually pre-loved, unless you get it custom cut from a rough. Looking at the grading report will help clue you in as it will show when the diamond was graded, but even a pre-loved diamond can be sent for re-grading.

 

[DejaWiz]

I did some searching over at Rare Carat and found the following squared Cushions...these are NOT hearts & arrows cushion, but seem to have more pronounced pavilion facets. Others with more knowledge about cushions will have to chime in and offer their assessments whether or not these will appear as crushed ice.

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/92372613

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/91108357

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/92127452

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/91546793

https://www.rarecarat.com/product/91089868

Here is a search link for PriceScope, limited to 2+ carat, SI1 or better, D-H color, Excellent/Ideal, and $13K max:

Diamond Search Results | Real-time Information on 1,000,000+ Diamonds | PriceScope

PriceScope's Diamond Search is the best place to find the best diamond prices. Search and compare over a million natural, lab and fancy color diamonds.

www.pricescope.com

 

[newco]

Future appreciation? I dont want to scare you but your stone will sell for 60% of its value if you decide to sell it in the upcoming years. There is not gonna be any profit or even close to what you paid, unless you buy a fancy blue for 600k.

If you buy a mined 2ct cushion for 15k and then sell it back for 9, you lost 6, if you buy a 2ct LG, you probably lost 4.

Diamonds arent investment, they wont make you money even if the "graph" were to go up (which it wont, because more and more MMDs will be forcing mined prices down). Mineds arent rare or special, there are warehouses full of already cut and ready stones that are slowly being unloaded as to not change the prices. There is no shortage or lack of stones, or mines, they are not rare and if the industry wasnt run the way it is, they would cost 10% of what they do now.

So what is the solution? Why pay (what is in your opinion) 90% more than what a diamond is worth? If everyone knows they are getting fleeced why put up with it?

 

[lovedogs]

So what is the solution? Why pay (what is in your opinion) 90% more than what a diamond is worth? If everyone knows they are getting fleeced why put up with it?

It's not that folks are getting "fleeced", but that stones lose value almost instantly (like cars, once you drive them off the lot they instantly lose value). Obviously there are some places where people overpay for awful stones, but with the PS vendors that isn't happening. It's just a reality that stones don't hold their value or appreciate.

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

In theory, money could be made by jewelers buying pre-loved at a steep discount and reselling at retail...

 

[michiganmike1]

Well here is an unexpected update. She told me tonight she always thought of moisenite (sp?) when she thought of lab diamonds. She looked at lab grown and was shocked that you could get a 2.5 carat for $6K. She's now fully on the lab kick.

That surely opens up some options!

 

[lovedogs]

Well here is an unexpected update. She told me tonight she always thought of moisenite (sp?) when she thought of lab diamonds. She looked at lab grown and was shocked that you could get a 2.5 carat for $6K. She's now fully on the lab kick.

That surely opens up some options!

Haha well that's great news!! Lab diamonds are a very solid choice imho. If you start a thread in the "MMD" subforum we will happily help you

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Diamonds arent investment, they wont make you money even if the "graph" were to go up (which it wont, because more and more MMDs will be forcing mined prices down). Mineds arent rare or special, there are warehouses full of already cut and ready stones that are slowly being unloaded as to not change the prices. There is no shortage or lack of stones, or mines, they are not rare and if the industry wasnt run the way it is, they would cost 10% of what they do now.

Hello @holyrock and welcome to Pricescope!

I agree in general with your comments, except for the bolded part above (my bold). Prices for MMD will inevitably continue to fall with advances in technology and production volume. And there is no secondary market for synthetic material.

Mined diamonds do have stored value and a robust (but not optimal) secondary market. Also, many natural diamond vendors have buyback and trade-up policies that offer certain future assurances to buyers.

However, synthetics are clearly NOT driving down the price of natural diamonds - not in nicer quality certified stones anyway. They may be impacting certain segments of diamond market such as melle used in fashion jewelry, but not in higher end single stones. Pricescopers who have been shopping for an engagement ring here in the last year or so can probably attest.

 

[holyrock]

However, synthetics are clearly NOT driving down the price of natural diamonds - not in nicer quality certified stones anyway. They may be impacting certain segments of diamond market such as melle used in fashion jewelry, but not in higher end single stones. Pricescopers who have been shopping for an engagement ring here in the last year or so can probably attest.

Greetings,

Its still quite shocking when i get replied to and its from people like Garry H or ceo's of companies that i own stuff from, i immensely respect whiteflash so it feels strange just getting a reply on a forum from their VP.

About what i said before, i didnt clarify that that is just my opinion. In my opinion as mmds will be getting more and more popular, even more labs will start popping up, more labs -> unregulated stones, suppliers will be undercutting heavily and prices will be dropping. This is already happening but not as much as i think next 5 years will bring. As that happens, more and more of diamonds sold worldwide will be mmds, cutting into miners profits. What i think mining companies will then decide to do is to maybe lower 50% of all new stored to 30% and they will let out more stones. More stones will get to more jewelers, jewelers with bad connections will start getting better packages, more stones to sell with less markup per stone , and all that will make the price to go down. If the industry heads dont decide to do this, they will be slowly forced into that decision, again my opinion.


I also think as millenials are becoming purchasing power slowly, this mindset of trading up and value retention will disappear, average young couple wont think about what will the stone be worth in 5 years IF the stone isnt 15k$, which is above the means for most people in the world. They will buy it as if it was anything else, theres people that have mediocre paying jobs and they spend 2000 on hoodie that they never even think about reselling. As mmds will start eating heavily into the profits of mined trade, and as both sides have practically unlimited supplies, there wont be another way. They will have to stop artificially squeezing so much, and let the market readjust. And this will be happening every few years or so, until theres new laws, restrictions, sanctions figured out, or a massive breakthrough in the technology. One that would significantly lower the time it takes to grow, but as far as i know that would require a completely new system. So very much highly unlikely.

One theoretical question, when $4000 would get you a 3ct E VVS1 with super ideal cut in 2028, and mined prices were the same as now, what demographic would still buy mineds? And this is very simplified too, take in the amount of ethical and ecologically focused marketing in the future years, the fact there are companies that buyback mmds ( for instance i do, it is worth for me to buy the stone and risk holding it to forge a relationship with someone whos bought an mmd before), stuff like that.

 

[Texas Leaguer]

Your prediction seems logical. But there are historical analogs which clearly demonstrate that synthetic gems do not put a significant downward pressure on their natural counterparts. For example, synthetic rubies and sapphires have been on the market for over a hundred years. Big and beautiful, they sell for pennies per carat. Meanwhile the market price for gem quality natural rubies and sapphires has continued to increase over that time.

As the price of MMD continues down the path of descending price, it further underscores in the minds of consumers that it is a separate product - not simply a less expensive version of the natural. Sellers of MMD have done their best to blur that line, for instance by artificially setting prices relative to RAP. But as that line continues to come into better focus as the prices diverge, the two products will eventually settle in to different places, each with different market segments and audiences.

Fashion jewelry is where MMD is headed. Engagement rings will continue to be dominated by a demand for natural diamonds.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Future appreciation? I dont want to scare you but your stone will sell for 60% of its value if you decide to sell it in the upcoming years. There is not gonna be any profit or even close to what you paid, unless you buy a fancy blue for 600k.

Not true!. I bought my wife a 3.34ct RD in 2005 and I can assure you that I would make some money if I decided to sell it today.

As for MMD? My guess is that it'll drop at least 30% within the next few yrs.

 

[PearCraze]

I think you can get something in that range if you are open to fluorescence. I like this one below, it will not look like crushed ice:
https://www.b2cjewels.com/dd/18760726/Cushion-Diamond-H-Color-VS1-Clarity

 

[acezarra]

Did you find a stone? I was the one with the 1.7. I did trade it in and it is now listed again with BGD if that helps