Diamond Buying Advice

[ls430FL]

Hi all, sorry for the long post I am new here. I am getting married in a few months and I am now looking to buy an eternity band. My Fiance is a size 6 and I am looking to get somewhere between a 4-5 carat eternity band. I didn't even think to look into diamond forums when purchasing her engagement ring but came across this forum while searching for information about eternity bands. Is there an understood or industry size ratio for engagement ring to eternity band? Her engagement ring is a 2.56 carat and is a pear shape in a solitaire setting. Most jewelers tell me it looks like a 3 carat.

My philosophy when I bought this ring was that it will be a forever piece. It may be upgraded at large anniversaries but we would then use it in another piece of jewelry never sell or trade it. My attitude was that it was not big enough size wise to ever been collection or investment quality so as long as it was eye clean to me I didn't feel the need to pay big $$ for a VVS2 or VS2 diamond so I went with SI clarity. Is this a good opinion for a novice buyer to have or should I be changing my tune and spend more serious $$ to get better quality. Some of my friends did pony up more money than me, some at big box stores and some private jewlers for much better clarity but same color and paid a lot more and got much smaller diamonds.


Finally a completely separate topic but didn't think I should post twice. I would like to get a set of diamond studs as a gift for our wedding day. I am hoping for a carat each ear or slightly under. I like to think outside the box but I may be totally wrong on this as like I said I am a novice. It seems as though buying studs already done is the more expensive way to go. This includes at jewelers and some of the online diamond dealers. It seems much less expensive to find two second hand engagement rings or loose stones that are same color and clarity and pull out the stones and make your own studs. Why would this be and is this a popular thing to do?


Any and all opinions are welcome.

 

[Lschneids01]

I personally think the S1 is fine for your eternity wedding band. I have a S1 clarity engagement ring and can’t tell the difference from my friend’s engagement ring that’s higher clarity and same carat size as mine. We both have a F color as well. Mine sparkles just as much and I see no inclusions with my naked eye. I think it would be even harder to see them on a wedding band cause the stones are smaller on a wedding band than an engAgement ring even though they maybe the same weight in carats.
As far as rules for matching up the E ring to the W band; they say both bands should be typically around the same width. So my E ring setting has a 3.3mm wide band cause I have long fingers and big knuckles I told my fiancé I preferred a thicker E band to a thinner one. So when I go looking for my diamond pave or shared prong wedding band I will look for a band that is 2.5mm at least in size to - 3.5mm so they balance each other out when you look down. So a 1.5mm E ring band won’t be considerably thinner than a really thick W band. What is your fiancé’s E ring band width? But I always say there are no rules, it’s what you prefer. Some people say they also want their band to sit flat against their E ring with no space between. So that would mean making sure the W band fits under her diamond pear. If you plan on buying a 4-5 carat W band it might be to high to sit flat against the Pear diamond. But it will look nice that both rings are both going to be large in carat sizes for a nice balance.
Here is a pic of a 3-4 carat wedding band with a 3 carat Pear diamond E ring to get an idea. I think that looks nice cause both rings’ diamonds compliment one another Carat size wise. But the W band doesn’t sit flush next to the E ring band. There is a gap. And in this case since the carats match up size wise I’m both rings I don’t think it matters how thin the E ring band is to the W band.

 

[ls430FL]

Lschneids01, thank you very much for your thorough reply. I am just thinking it really isn't worth the premium and there appear to be some good deals on SI eternity bands. I figured it was more important to match color. I am not sure what the setting is called but they did make the pear sit slightly up in the setting so that a wedding band could slide under but I bet if I go with 4-5 carats it will probably be too large to fit together tightly. Her band is thicker than the pear engagement ring you showed above and it has diamond going 3/4 of the way around the band.

 

[MRBXXXFVVS1]

A few things to consider:

1) Does your fiance want the ring to fit flush with her ER or is she OK with a gap? A 4-5ct tw eternity band is going to be sizeable and will likely have a gap. I personally love the look of larger diamond bands, but opted for a smaller one for it to sit flush with my ER. I have another 7-stone band to wear on its own when I want the larger diamond band look.

2) Is your fiance used to wearing rings and/or is she sensitive to having diamonds between her fingers? She will likely feel a 4-5ct tw eternity band between her fingers, but could get used to it.

3) Does your fiance's finger size fluctuate? Eternity rings cannot be resized, so if her ring size fluctuates, it may not fit correctly in the future. Just something to think about. My rings are tighter now than when I received them. If she is on the borderline, it may be worth sizing up especially for thicker rings and stacked rings.

4) SI diamonds are probably fine due to the diamond size, as long as they are eye clean. But at the 4-5ct size, you may want to consider VS. I think it's more important to match the color of the ER.

In regards to the diamond studs, if you're considering earth mined they will probably be around $10-15K. A great value option is to reset 2 Lightbox lab diamond 1ct pendants. I recently did this and love the earrings, I spent $2500.

Lightbox 2ct. tw. Solitaire Studs in Platinum Setting

I'm so excited to finally share my Lightbox 2ct. tw. Solitaire Studs in Platinum 4-Prong Basket Settings (with Protektor backs)! I ordered 2 of the Lightbox 1ct. Solitaire Gold Pendants in 10K White Gold and had them reset. I louped the earrings and they look to be very good/excellent cut...

www.pricescope.com

 

[ls430FL]

MRBXXXFVVS1 thank you for your reply. We decided to go and try on eternity bands between 4 and 5 carats. Both sizes fit fairly flush against the engagement ring but it wasn't a deciding factor. They had eternity bands where the diamonds were set more lower profile which was nice because it made it so the ET as not so thick where your fingers have trouble meeting if that makes sense.

It's interesting to hear you say that an ET cannot be sized as some online ads claim they can resize them? maybe they add something to the inside of the ring? I am not sure.

Thanks for the information about the diamond studs. I was just using blue nile as a price reference. I can get 1 carat SI2 stones with H or I color for about $2800 each. Making them in a 4 prong stud setting for about $650 or less I would be all in at about $5500 which seems way cheaper than complete sets out there?? Am I missing something? Eye clean SI2 stones seem fine for earrings as they are so far from the viewers eye.

 

[OoohShiny]

Eye-clean SI2 can be hard to find - caution is also needed when Clouds are the grade-setting inclusion.

'eye-clean' is also subjective - my 'eye-clean' will not be your 'eye-clean', so you will need to inspect stones to make sure you (and the recipient) are happy with them.

 

[gregchang35]

pls post a picture of the ER that you have. it wil help us understand what you have to guide you....
Also more details- like the colour of the stone.