Buying my girlfriends engagement ring in next few days

[Lula]

Date: 8/9/2009 1:11:02 PM
Author: Big daddy 48
Like I stated earlier, I knew I would get bad feed back from my opinion but I have seen how these guys get ripped off because of a certificate and they have no idea how to buy. A fracture filled stone fits his budget better. You have found him stones that fit his budget, great

Everyone on here is great when it comes to helping out. I was trying to lend a helping hand as well.

Nope, CE stones aren''t well-loved here, but you''re of course entitled to your opinion. And you seem like a nice person, Big Daddy, who is interested in helping out.

I have no problem with someone buying a CE stone as long as they know what it is. What I fear is that some stores aren''t completely honest with customers about these stones and why they''re such a good deal.

 

[Lula]

Date: 8/10/2009 3:26:57 PM
Author: arcticcatmatt
^ I will price check them again tonight for raw diamonds. Thanks!


JA wrote me asking for my name and phone number. They are getting the information I requested and have put the rocks on hold. I will post them when I get them. JA said I will have to pay sales tax since I live in NY unless they can ship to a PA address or a PA fedex location for me to pick up. If/when I order I am going to go that route.


I won''t lie, I am getting a little excited. That, and Amanda got a new job today! She was laid off, then a temp till december (coming december), and now scored a perm job.


I simply cannot wait to put this ring on her finger.


I have been anti-marriage forever, but I don''t think I have been more sure of anything else. Nobody is perfect in life and I have come to accept that and thank god so has she haha. We are a great match together (we have almost nothing in common!) and I cannot wait to make her mine.


I asked her via email what size rock she liked when we were looking. She said

''I would be happy with anything. I honestly do not care about the size of the diamond. I thought that .47 was a great size, if you could/want to get bigger WITHIN your budget then that is awesome too''


I added these to the list



.56 ideal

.52 ideal <-I like that

Amanda sounds like a wonderful woman! It sounds like you''ve found a setting you like from JA and you have found a couple stones that have great potential. The .52 you linked to could also be very nice, and it''s G, VS2, so no worries on clarity or color.

I''ll be interested to see what you choose!

 

[arcticcatmatt]

JA wrote me back and is not supplying anything because I have asked for 5. They are only allowed to supply 3. Stupid IMO.

He wants me to call him so he can help me narrow it down to three.

I also called another local jeweler with a rock he had in stock that is just like one on JA. His price was about 400 dollars more and he gave me a half hour speech about "ideal". He felt that "ideal" cut was overrated.

Done with him before it even started. Look what you guys have done to me haha.

 

[treefrog]

I certainly understand their logic. If everybody requested countless images from them, it would be ridiculous. I think a little leeway on a case by case basis could go a long way, especially when they are fairly certain it will result in the sale of one of their diamonds. Of course, it would be nice if they just supplied the images so they don''t keep getting hassled for sending out images constantly. In reality, one of us could easily request the image and post it here so they''d be doing it anyway.

They said cut is overrated, eh? So they want you to pay more and get less. Interesting strategy. Good luck with that! This is you waving goodbye to them:

Treefrog

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/10/2009 3:26:57 PM
Author: arcticcatmatt
^ I will price check them again tonight for raw diamonds. Thanks!

JA wrote me asking for my name and phone number. They are getting the information I requested and have put the rocks on hold. I will post them when I get them. JA said I will have to pay sales tax since I live in NY unless they can ship to a PA address or a PA fedex location for me to pick up. If/when I order I am going to go that route.

I won''t lie, I am getting a little excited. That, and Amanda got a new job today! She was laid off, then a temp till december (coming december), and now scored a perm job.

I simply cannot wait to put this ring on her finger.

I have been anti-marriage forever, but I don''t think I have been more sure of anything else. Nobody is perfect in life and I have come to accept that and thank god so has she haha. We are a great match together (we have almost nothing in common!) and I cannot wait to make her mine.

I asked her via email what size rock she liked when we were looking. She said
''I would be happy with anything. I honestly do not care about the size of the diamond. I thought that .47 was a great size, if you could/want to get bigger WITHIN your budget then that is awesome too''

I added these to the list


.56 ideal
.52 ideal <-I like that

The reports with the info needed aren''t loaded on these Matt, so you would need to ask JA to provide the basic info, depth, table, angles and so forth.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

OK enough of this screwing around.

I spoke with them on the phone. I have officially narrowed it down to 4. I even kicked it up a notch sorta. A few of them would put me at 2 grand total.
I will put them in order of what I want the most
.56 Carat G-SI1 Ideal Cut $1,070
.58 Carat G-VS2 Ideal Cut $1,350
.60 Carat G-SI1 hearts and arrows $1,368
.60 Carat G-SI1 Hearts and Arrows $1,368

I have information for all 4 of those coming and all 4 are on hold for me. It will be one of those 4. I am avoiding god aweful NY tax by driving to PA to pick it up when it comes in. I already pay some of the highest taxes in the country.

You can see information for the hearts and arrows ones online but can't for the top two. I put in the information for the depth and table that fell into the range you provided, I wanted polish and symmetry to be excellent, Ideal or true hearts ideal cut, no color less than G as this is going into white gold and that is what they told me on the phone. Amanda told me last week "I do not like diamonds that look cloudy or yellow". So hopefully I avoid that!

Hopefully Illen at James Allen gets me the information quick so we can get this baby done!

ps.. Possible back up stone - .55 Carat F-SI1 H&A Ideal $1,226

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Where did this come from!? I have been searching every day and now this one pops up


.66 Carat E-SI1 Ideal cut $1,440

It says polish and symmetry are very good. Would I be able to tell the difference between excellent polish and very good? It seems that the cut is a touch off from the numbers given earlier in the thread.

ADvice appreciated! The GIA report is available for that one and loupe image

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/12/2009 10:24:25 AM
Author: arcticcatmatt
Where did this come from!? I have been searching every day and now this one pops up


.66 Carat E-SI1 Ideal cut $1,440

It says polish and symmetry are very good. Would I be able to tell the difference between excellent polish and very good? It seems that the cut is a touch off from the numbers given earlier in the thread.

ADvice appreciated! The GIA report is available for that one and loupe image

Not this one Matt, it is what we call a steep deep and will likely show light leakage, I can see it in the photo. As for VG and ex polish and symmetry the lay person can't normally tell the difference between them with the naked eye.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ Thanks!! you are fast!

I just went over the numbers of this one and they all fall into your range you posted.
.64 carat

What do you think!? THANKS!! I realized I was paying extra for hearts and arrows and I really don't care about that as long as it is an ideal cut. Hearts and arrows does not make a difference to someone who is not looking at it thru a scope.

 

[jet2ks]

Date: 8/12/2009 10:31:27 AM
Author: arcticcatmatt
^ Thanks!! you are fast!

I just went over the numbers of this one and they all fall into your range you posted.
.64 carat

What do you think!? THANKS!! I realized I was paying extra for hearts and arrows and I really don''t care about that as long as it is an ideal cut. Hearts and arrows does not make a difference to someone who is not looking at it thru a scope.

Ask whether it is eye clean, but the numbers and photo are both excellent.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ I now have information coming on that one too! And I asked for an ideal scope and if it was eye clean.

Little story while I (we) are waiting. I went to a big box jewelry shop last night to look at rings. For the heck of it I got a quote. I built the ring I am going to order. 735 for the setting and I picked a .60 G-SI1 round diamond. I asked them what cut it was and she said "round brilliant".. I said "no no.. I mean idea? Premium? Good?".. she said "round brilliant". Well, at least she was an attractive 22 year old hah. It was I.G.I. rated whatever company that is.

Price for the stone - $2,699 and that was with some $300 dollar discount.

Total price of ring - About $3,500.

She wanted to know if I wanted to order it up

 

[stone-cold11]

First one is not traditional safe numbers but the large lower facet could prevent leakage, get an IS if you are still interested in it.

The 2nd looks good from the numbers. Get IS to confirm.

Check if eye-clean for both of them if you are interested.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

geeze it is taking forever for these things. What the heck.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/12/2009 10:54:41 AM
Author: Stone-cold11
First one is not traditional safe numbers but the large lower facet could prevent leakage, get an IS if you are still interested in it.

The 2nd looks good from the numbers. Get IS to confirm.

Check if eye-clean for both of them if you are interested.

The lower girdle facet length in this case is not enough to save it, you can see the leakage in the photograph, it is also on the deep side. Second one looks good.

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 8/14/2009 5:05:54 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 8/12/2009 10:54:41 AM

Author: Stone-cold11

First one is not traditional safe numbers but the large lower facet could prevent leakage, get an IS if you are still interested in it.

The 2nd looks good from the numbers. Get IS to confirm.

Check if eye-clean for both of them if you are interested.

The lower girdle facet length in this case is not enough to save it, you can see the leakage in the photograph, it is also on the deep side. Second one looks good.

Seems to me more like a case of bad cutting of the lower facet than facet size not big enough. Leakage at 5 and 11 o''clock right?

 

[arcticcatmatt]

I emailed and called them asking what was the hold up. Hopefully the images come today.

My buddy has a ring to sell. He paid 5,000 dollars for it from local place. Here is the stone details per his email (the setting has 10 small diamonds down the side, kinda sounds like the setting I am ordering for 600)

Its EGL cert. Shape and cut is Round Brilliant.
Very Good is the finish.
Percentages -
Depth 63.1
Table 60
Crown 15
Pavilion 43.6
Girdle - thin to medium faceted
wt. 0.74 ct.
clarity SI1
color E

I feel bad for him.

 

[stone-cold11]

ya, me too.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/14/2009 7:13:15 AM
Author: Stone-cold11

Date: 8/14/2009 5:05:54 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 8/12/2009 10:54:41 AM

Author: Stone-cold11

First one is not traditional safe numbers but the large lower facet could prevent leakage, get an IS if you are still interested in it.

The 2nd looks good from the numbers. Get IS to confirm.

Check if eye-clean for both of them if you are interested.

The lower girdle facet length in this case is not enough to save it, you can see the leakage in the photograph, it is also on the deep side. Second one looks good.

Seems to me more like a case of bad cutting of the lower facet than facet size not big enough. Leakage at 5 and 11 o''clock right?

Yep thats what I am seeing, this coupled with the angle combo and variance makes me wary.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/14/2009 10:04:44 AM
Author: arcticcatmatt
I emailed and called them asking what was the hold up. Hopefully the images come today.

My buddy has a ring to sell. He paid 5,000 dollars for it from local place. Here is the stone details per his email (the setting has 10 small diamonds down the side, kinda sounds like the setting I am ordering for 600)

Its EGL cert. Shape and cut is Round Brilliant.
Very Good is the finish.
Percentages -
Depth 63.1
Table 60
Crown 15
Pavilion 43.6
Girdle - thin to medium faceted
wt. 0.74 ct.
clarity SI1
color E

I feel bad for him.

Oh goodness....

Thritto that.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

I got an idealscope. Lets see if I can do this right. They did not let me know if anything was eye clean and they forgot to send 2. So they said I have to wait till next week now. I am hoping this is good. .64 is better than a .50 for just a few hundred more
.64 carat G-SI1 Ideal

 

[arcticcatmatt]

.60 Carat G-SI1 H&A Ideal

 

[arcticcatmatt]

.60 Carat G-SI1 H&A Ideal

Those are all I got right now. Why do these pictures on these last two look nothing like the idealscope on the website?

 

[Lorelei]

Both diamonds have definite potential.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ Both or all three?

THANK YOU!! .64 carat is getting my vote so far

 

[stone-cold11]

I like the 0.64c stone.

The 2 H&A stones'' hearts images are good but not the best out there.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Date: 8/14/2009 1:38:05 PM
Author: arcticcatmatt
I got an idealscope. Lets see if I can do this right. They did not let me know if anything was eye clean and they forgot to send 2. So they said I have to wait till next week now. I am hoping this is good. .64 is better than a .50 for just a few hundred more

.64 carat G-SI1 Ideal

Ok they got the real diamond image up! I received everything else but the real diamond image of this and all the other aspects have me picking this stone.

Please give me feedback about this stone and if it passes you guys, I will make the purchase this afternoon!!
.64 carat G-SI1 Ideal .64 should be a very good size diamond in that ring I think! .4 was too small, .5 was ok. .64 should be great. Need opinions on this rock

 

[stone-cold11]

Nice 0.64c image.

 

[jet2ks]

Looks good to me, too.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Lorelei you are last but not least! percentages look good? GIA look good? Everything seems to be in check for this rock finally! I don't mind the little extra dough.


Thanks for the other replies!!

 

[arcticcatmatt]

Couldn''t wait. I talked with Darin at JA and ordered it up. Finalizing the order tonight at 6 p.m. (had to get it shipped 2.5 hrs south into PA to save on tax. Going to go pick it up on my motorcycle and take 1/2 a vacation day to enjoy the ride.