college guy needs help *price range inside*

[Nickfb76]

Hello everyone,

I am looking at buying an engagement ring for my girlfriend of 3 years. My price range is $1500 - $2000. I know you can get a better deal buying online but really am unsure about it... this is where you can possibly help me? Or tell me a good store ( I live in minnesota) I have a real hard time buying something (especially of this value) without seeing it.

I need some ideas for rings, she and I both like circle and square cut. She does NOT like the 3 stone rings. I would prefer to get something a little more than a solitare, but realise im not working with a huge bugdet. Size does matter, but I don't want a diamond of low color, clarity, cut qaulity.

any help, ideas? or maybe some random advise to help me out?

edit: I forgot to mention, i know a little bit about the grading for quality as in the color (d, e, f being the best) clarity (fl & if being best) ... one lady at a jeweler gave me a sheet with some explanations of pretty much what was "good" and "bad".
With that being said, i dont need to have the "best" but would like a diamond that doesn't have blemishes to the eye... I dont care if it has something small wrong with it when magnified 100X by a microscope

 

[neatfreak]

Well Knox Jewelers is great and is in the Twin Cities.

You'll want to focus on cut to get the sparkliest diamond possible. Other places to check out are Whiteflash and Good Old Gold. Both are fantastic vendors and do diamonds and settings. Knox has some great settings in your pricerange as does Pearlman's Jewelers.

You can get a beautiful .5 carat stone for about $1000 and use the rest towards the setting. That is probably what I would do. Try to stick with an eyeclean Si1 to get the most bang for your buck.

 

[Regular Guy]

Neatfreak''s given great advice.

If internet, maybe something like this...

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/23/2008 12:09:01 AM
Author: Regular Guy
Neatfreak's given great advice.


If internet, maybe something like this...

Nice find RG. That would be a great choice. You could also drop the color a bit if you want to get a bit more size and/or save a bit of $. In an ideally cut round stone of that size it would be safe to drop to a J as long as you aren't color sensitive.

ETA: And some of these vendors offer a discount for being a PS member and/or paying by bankwire, like Whiteflash. Make sure to ask about it!

 

[swingirl]

If you decide to shop internet the stone regularguy picked is a very good choice and set into something like this Tapered Diamond Ring would give you an upgradable stone, "something extra" setting, within your budget and leave a little for the band.

Some others http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-1148637.htm

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4688/

 

[Nickfb76]

Thanks everyone, like mentioned above an SI 1 and a color around a I-J seems to be about ideal... I''m checking out Knox Jewelers as we speak, they have a couple rings that cought my attention!