ENGAGEMENT RING ADVICE ---- PLEASE HELP ---- ON A BUDGET OF APPROXIMATELY $4,500 ---- WHAT IS THE BI

[Asscher102]

Title: ENGAGEMENT RING ADVICE ---- PLEASE HELP ---- ON A BUDGET OF APPROXIMATELY $4,500 ---- WHAT IS THE BIGGEST AND BEST I CAN GET FOR THAT????

LOTS TO READ BUT PLEASE DO SO!

Hi Everyone! How are you all doing? First off, please let me just compliment you on this site because it is, by far, fantastic and the greatest! I am always coming to this site to read your amazingly helpful advice, as well as view all the beautiful pictures of your stunning jewelry! Now, I am coming to you in need of my own engagement situation! I will give you the story....
I am 22 years old. My boyfriend is 23. I met him when I was 12 years old. I liked him so much. He became my best friend. We started dating at around the age of 13 or 14 and dated up until about the age of 18 or so. We broke up and barely had any contact for almost 4 years. I had always missed him. He was my first love and my one and only true love. We started talking again in 2006, started dating, and have officially been back together ever since. I love him so much and we are so happy. We really consider eachother our soulmates. We have this amazingly incredible relationship, not only from dating, but because we've known eachother for so many years since we were children and have been through alot together. I know that I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him. We are always talking about marriage and everything. I told him that it's always been my dream to be proposed to on either Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning, or New Years Eve. Now he wants me to pick out my dream ring so that he could have it for me by December which I am absolutely thrilled and ecstatic about. I am so happy and excited.

Now the reason I am coming to you advice is below, LOL.......
Lots of questions! I hope you can answer them all! LOL My boyfriend is on a budget of $4,000 to $4,500. He could go up to $5,000, he would like to stay below that, but that would be the absolute maximum. What is the biggest and best I can get for that price? I live in New York and was wondering if any of you could please help me out by telling me where and who to go to get the best deal for that price? I've been to jewelry stores in the nearby malls but they overprice and the quality isn't good. I went to the diamond district in Manhattan that is located on Bowery, between Canal and Hester (I believe). I fell in love with a particular setting at "May-Bo Jewelry" that was a wannabe imitation of a the Verragio ENG-0262 setting (WHICH IS MY DREAM SETTING) but it has no certification and he says that the diamond is a 1.02 G/VS2 diamond on a wide pave band. He is only asking $3800. Is it fake? They say that if it is too good to be true, then it usually is. Should he get it? Or don't take the chance? My actual dream engagement ring would be to get the VERRAGIO Style # ENG-0262 in Platinum with a Round Center Diamond (like a 1.00ct G/VS2) but for $5,000 or less. People are telling me it is not possible. Is it? Like maybe at the Diamond District in Manhattan that is located on 47th Street and 6th Ave? Any recommendations on who to go to and why? Or what CAN I get for that budget? I can't understand why the mall would charge something like $4,790 for that Verragio setting in platinum (without a center stone) but www.JamesAndSons.com is only charging around $2600 for it. Is the mall over-charging? Or is the website a fake? And I believe the website of Richter & Philips is only charging $3900 for the Verragio setting AND the wedding band, both in platinum. Ok, I know that I have practically written a book here and have asked a million different questions. LoL. If you can please go through them and try to answer them all, as well as give me your advice, it would be sooo greatly appreciated, more than you could ever imagine! I thank all of you so, so much for taking the time read this and I thank all of you in advance for all of your wonderful responses. God Bless You! I look forward to hearing from all of you! TTYS

 

[Deelight]

Hi Asscher102 ,
Being in NY I would set up appointments with Engagement rings Direct both are reputable vendors that should be able to help you with your search . You can also email them with your specs and budget and see what they can find for you .

ATM the largest stone I could find in your budget was this one http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4415/

GL with your search

 

[arjunajane]

Hi Asscher, I ditto Dee''s advice above - this will be your best and safest bet to get a great ring in your budget, and also have a fun and educational experience while you''re at it.
One thing I would suggest is not to focus on getting plat for your setting - its going to eat up waayy too much of your budget at the current prices. Unless you have a Reaally good reason for wanting plat, imho white gold is a better alternative. If you''re curious about the pros and cons of each you can search here for a ton of threads on the subject.
Also, maybe I missed it in your post but I''m guessing you want a round brilliant?

 

[honey22]

Double ditto Dee! I really love that stone Dee suggested too!

If you are happy to drop in colour and clarity, you may be able to go up a tad in size.

Definately go the white gold, plat is super expensive at the moment apparently, so you can maximise your stone budget if you stick with wgold.

Also, have you considered buying the best stone you can afford and have it set in a simple wgold setting. You can always have it re-set later into your dream setting when you have some more play $$$$

Good luck! It''s such an exciting time picking your own ering - enjoy every minute of it!!!

 

[Asscher102]

Hi Everybody!

DeeLight, thank you so much for doing that research on a diamond for me. It was very sweet of you and I really appreciate it. The diamond is beautiful. I will definitely look into those websites now for sure. Thank you for the terrific advice!

Arjunajane and Honey22, thank you both for your excellent advice! I was only looking for platinum but due to your very wise and helpful advice, I will now definitely consider white gold.

I will keep you all posted and if anything else comes up, please let me know. Thank you so much!

P.S. My finger size is about 3.75 or 4. I just found a 2.00ct. tw. engagement ring that caught me eye. It is a 3-stone round diamond engagement ring of a 1.00ct center and 0.50ct diamond on each side. Do you think that will be too big for me or that it will just look big and beautiful? Do you have any pictures of those carats on a small finger like mine?
It is set in platinum and all 3 diamonds are H color and SI quality. The price they are asking for platinum is $4,700. In person, is H/SI good quality and pretty looking or eh? I have no idea because I am new at this and have no experience with diamonds, LoL. With those details, do you think that is a good price for it? Supposedly, the website has a 30 day money-back guarantee just in case, LoL. The website is www.WorldJewels.com and I am giving you the link here= http://www.worldjewels.com/_e/Engagement_Rings/product/e-400/2_00_ct_tw_Diamond_Engagement_Ring.htm
If you have any problems viewing this link/ring, please let me know.
Please let me know what you think of the ring looks-wise, quality-wise, and deal/price-wise. Thank you again! TTYS

 

[purrfectpear]

First of all, not all online websites are equal

The online vendors that were suggested here are vendors that hundreds of PS members have dealt with and trust explicitly.

Secondly, SI is not exactly a description. There is SI1 and SI2 and then you have the issue of what that particular company has "decided" to call SI? Is it SI1 or Si2 graded by an established and respected lab like AGS or GIA, or is it just what they decided to call it like "ideal" cut. Ideal by whose standards? Even an SI1 by GIA may not be eyeclean. That''s why you either need to see the stone in person, OR utilize a trusted vendor like GOG, Whiteflash, ERD, or James Allen.

Let''s assume for a moment that the ring you posted is in fact an eyeclean SI1, H color. It STILL doesn''t mean much because now you need to consider CUT. A stone that isn''t cut well could be a D VS1 and still be a dog.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 5/28/2008 8:12:57 PM
Author: purrfectpear
First of all, not all online websites are equal

The online vendors that were suggested here are vendors that hundreds of PS members have dealt with and trust explicitly.


Secondly, SI is not exactly a description. There is SI1 and SI2 and then you have the issue of what that particular company has 'decided' to call SI? Is it SI1 or Si2 graded by an established and respected lab like AGS or GIA, or is it just what they decided to call it like 'ideal' cut. Ideal by whose standards? Even an SI1 by GIA may not be eyeclean. That's why you either need to see the stone in person, OR utilize a trusted vendor like GOG, Whiteflash, ERD, or James Allen.


Let's assume for a moment that the ring you posted is in fact an eyeclean SI1, H color. It STILL doesn't mean much because now you need to consider CUT. A stone that isn't cut well could be a D VS1 and still be a dog.

I have to ditto Purrfectpear on this one carat weight is not everything and not all Si, H stones are the same. For me to even consider this I would want to know who certified the stone, the depth, angles, table etc. All this things will make the difference between a beautiful sparking diamond and one that is not.


Can you get any of that information about the stones?


ETA: and your welcome happy to help

 

[coda72]

Well, no one else has outright said it, but I don''t think it''s possible to get what you want for $4500 or less. What I would do if I were you, is get a stone close to a carat, and get the setting you want.

Like this stone from Good Old Gold:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4365/

They also sell Verragio settings, so you might be able to get the one you want and still be reasonably close to your budget. I think you will still go over, but maybe not by that much. I personally would rather have an AGS0 stone under a carat than a not so well-cut stone that''s a carat.