neutralaegis
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2012
- Messages
- 4
Hello all!
I've been lurking on this site for the past few months while playing with ideas regarding an engagement ring for my girlfriend and figured it was probably time to jump in and get some advice from the experts.
A bit of background: my girlfriend is German, and like many Germans is not so into the giant ring thing. Engagement rings aren't really a part of the culture here (changing a bit with globalization though), so the whole thing seems a bit nuts to her. And its probably because of this that I know any ring I get her above 0.1c will probably make her faint. Which just makes it even harder for me to resist.
A bit more background: we both met in New York during my first year of work when she was interning for our company. After seven months or so, she moved back to Germany and joined the company full-time (different departments). After some wrangling, I was able to eventually get a temporary 18 month assignment here in Germany, and we were finally together in the same place. Thus, it was a not-so-wonderful twist of fate when the company decided to temporarily relocate her to Hong Kong for the last 7 months of my assignment. We visit each for about one week out of every four during this time (she is still there now), but also realize we can't keep up all this insanity.
And that is why my girlfriend took it upon herself to apply for a permanent transfer to our office of New York. She will be arriving just prior to my scheduled return date in March (still different departments, it's a very big company). After three years of back-and-forth trips, skype calls, and general uncertainty, we finally have a set-up where we can stay together without any worries one of us is going to be sent to Timbuktu the next day.
This is the amazing girl I will ask to be my wife after we get to New York next year. And that is why I now spend my evenings after work lurking on your forum trying to figure out exactly what ring I will make that proposal with.
A few general thoughts about the ring:
-My girlfriend loves sapphires (and the color blue), so incorporating those is a must
-She also only wears white jewelry, so platinum or white gold setting
-I'd still like to get her a central diamond
-It seems like with a sapphire/diamond mix, the color of the diamond would be more important than usual. Namely keeping it D/E/F. Any thoughts?
-With the sapphire sidestones and her not caring much, if at all, about size probably better to go for higher quality and a bit smaller stone rather than the reverse.
-Probably nothing with more than a bit of pave if at all, as that much "bling" wouldn't fit her personality
-Altogether probably thinking Round 1.5-2.0 carats, Ideal cut, D/E/F, VS1 or higher for the center jewel, and either a 3 or 5 stone setup in total. If 5, probably alternating diamond/sapphire/diamond
I've done a lot of searching and have come up with a few options online to give you an idea of what I'm thinking. For those with three diamonds, imagine the outer stones being rather sapphires (assume this is easily possible with these companies).
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Blog/elegant-new-custom-wedding-set
http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/three-stone/3-stone-butterflies-diamond-engagement-ring-230.htm
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/three-stone/crossed-trellis-platinum-5460p
Any thoughts on these sites? NSC is located in New York, so I can easily stop by there to talk to them about the setting on a trip, but would need to buy the diamond from somewhere else. I've seen many positive reviews for the quality of WF and BGD on this forum, and looking at their designs I can see why. As WF and BGD are both in the Houston area, do you think it would be best for me to take a trip out there to take a look, or might I be okay shipping things back and forth? Or are there enough reputable dealers in New York (at similar price levels to Houston), that I could find everything I'm looking for there?
One last question. BGD's site mentions their blue fluorescent diamonds as well. These seem fascinating, as my girlfriend really does love the color blue. And having a center diamond that matched the sapphire accents under a blacklight would be kind of awesome. My only concern is that I've heard slightly mixed comments regarding the ability to see the blue under day-to-day lighting conditions (fluorescent lights in an office for example?). But if this is really only something to show-off at a party, it would be a rather nice, and fairly unique, way of accenting the overall ring.
So to anyone who made it through this lengthy initial post, I thank you in advance for any feedback or advice you might have.
(Note to admin: please let me know if this should be moved to a different forum! Given the array of different questions, I wasn't quite sure where it belonged)
I've been lurking on this site for the past few months while playing with ideas regarding an engagement ring for my girlfriend and figured it was probably time to jump in and get some advice from the experts.
A bit of background: my girlfriend is German, and like many Germans is not so into the giant ring thing. Engagement rings aren't really a part of the culture here (changing a bit with globalization though), so the whole thing seems a bit nuts to her. And its probably because of this that I know any ring I get her above 0.1c will probably make her faint. Which just makes it even harder for me to resist.
A bit more background: we both met in New York during my first year of work when she was interning for our company. After seven months or so, she moved back to Germany and joined the company full-time (different departments). After some wrangling, I was able to eventually get a temporary 18 month assignment here in Germany, and we were finally together in the same place. Thus, it was a not-so-wonderful twist of fate when the company decided to temporarily relocate her to Hong Kong for the last 7 months of my assignment. We visit each for about one week out of every four during this time (she is still there now), but also realize we can't keep up all this insanity.
And that is why my girlfriend took it upon herself to apply for a permanent transfer to our office of New York. She will be arriving just prior to my scheduled return date in March (still different departments, it's a very big company). After three years of back-and-forth trips, skype calls, and general uncertainty, we finally have a set-up where we can stay together without any worries one of us is going to be sent to Timbuktu the next day.
This is the amazing girl I will ask to be my wife after we get to New York next year. And that is why I now spend my evenings after work lurking on your forum trying to figure out exactly what ring I will make that proposal with.
A few general thoughts about the ring:
-My girlfriend loves sapphires (and the color blue), so incorporating those is a must
-She also only wears white jewelry, so platinum or white gold setting
-I'd still like to get her a central diamond
-It seems like with a sapphire/diamond mix, the color of the diamond would be more important than usual. Namely keeping it D/E/F. Any thoughts?
-With the sapphire sidestones and her not caring much, if at all, about size probably better to go for higher quality and a bit smaller stone rather than the reverse.
-Probably nothing with more than a bit of pave if at all, as that much "bling" wouldn't fit her personality
-Altogether probably thinking Round 1.5-2.0 carats, Ideal cut, D/E/F, VS1 or higher for the center jewel, and either a 3 or 5 stone setup in total. If 5, probably alternating diamond/sapphire/diamond
I've done a lot of searching and have come up with a few options online to give you an idea of what I'm thinking. For those with three diamonds, imagine the outer stones being rather sapphires (assume this is easily possible with these companies).
http://www.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/Blog/elegant-new-custom-wedding-set
http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/three-stone/3-stone-butterflies-diamond-engagement-ring-230.htm
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/three-stone/crossed-trellis-platinum-5460p
Any thoughts on these sites? NSC is located in New York, so I can easily stop by there to talk to them about the setting on a trip, but would need to buy the diamond from somewhere else. I've seen many positive reviews for the quality of WF and BGD on this forum, and looking at their designs I can see why. As WF and BGD are both in the Houston area, do you think it would be best for me to take a trip out there to take a look, or might I be okay shipping things back and forth? Or are there enough reputable dealers in New York (at similar price levels to Houston), that I could find everything I'm looking for there?
One last question. BGD's site mentions their blue fluorescent diamonds as well. These seem fascinating, as my girlfriend really does love the color blue. And having a center diamond that matched the sapphire accents under a blacklight would be kind of awesome. My only concern is that I've heard slightly mixed comments regarding the ability to see the blue under day-to-day lighting conditions (fluorescent lights in an office for example?). But if this is really only something to show-off at a party, it would be a rather nice, and fairly unique, way of accenting the overall ring.
So to anyone who made it through this lengthy initial post, I thank you in advance for any feedback or advice you might have.
(Note to admin: please let me know if this should be moved to a different forum! Given the array of different questions, I wasn't quite sure where it belonged)