Sterling808
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2019
- Messages
- 10
Hello- I am sure you get 100 of me every day, so thank you in advance for the help and support!
I recently have spent around 10 hours and 5 trips at Shane Co. looking for the perfect engagement ring. I found my setting in the first 10 minutes, so no issues there, it is perfect.. but have ran into major issues with the center stone.
I originally was looking for a 1.35-1.45 stone that is GIA rated, eye clean, an ideal cut, I or better in color, and of course sparkly. My budget for the diamond was $8,000 w/tax, and while online prices were lower, I did not like the idea of not seeing the stone in person. I came to find that Shane's selection was extremely limited in that 1.35-1.45 range, especially when it came to my price and requirements. They had lots around the 1.25-29 mark, which was slightly to small for my setting, and lots in the 1.5+ mark that was above my budget.
After 5 trips I ended up with GIA 1288657223, 1.31 SI2/J Ideal Cut. The stone is surprisingly eye clean for an SI2, but does have a knot, which I now realize is not a great feature. I was most concerned about the J color, it was just a hair too yellow.. but ended up being the best I could really find even after searching other stores and having them send diamonds to my local store. Also ended up throwing the stone in the HCA calculator... and the results were not good. I was able to talk them down to a little under $8000 with tax for the stone.
After mounting, it is a pretty diamond, but seems to go dull in a lot of light settings. It is just is missing something, I am not quite sue what. In warm lighting the diamonds color looks more yellow then it is, while the setting stones are bright and white. Overall just not blown away, and not sure I will really be able to do much more in my price range at Shane Co.
I have now started to look online and am finding the stones I was originally looking for at a much more reasonable price. I am now torn between just staying with my current stone, then upgrading in a few years when I have a little more money.. or just getting the final stone that would ever go in the ring from an online retailer (likely James Allen) and save thousands of dollars.
I have found a 1.44 VS1 I Ideal, with what seem to be much better proportions and a much larger diameter 7.34 vs. 6.99. The stone looks very pretty, but I am not sure how to tell from the online view if it is really a good stone. Shane Co did what I assume is a normal tactic and pulled out an "online" stone and compared it against a similarly graded "shane" stone, and the online stone was extremely dull. Link to the stone I am looking at https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6009894
While the price is above my budget, I am willing to spent a little more money to get a better stone, plus no taxes online for my state.
So I guess a few questions:
1. Does Shane Co. really get the cream of the crop while the online retailers get their reject stones as they claim, or am I safe to get a equally beautiful stone online?
2. What do you all think of the stone I linked above?
3. Am I just overthinking this to much, and should just stick with the current stone?
4. Shane has a 60 day return, does anyone know if I can return just the Diamond after mounting and get another stone mounted (I know I would have to pay per point to mount another stone)
Thank you!!
Sterling
I recently have spent around 10 hours and 5 trips at Shane Co. looking for the perfect engagement ring. I found my setting in the first 10 minutes, so no issues there, it is perfect.. but have ran into major issues with the center stone.
I originally was looking for a 1.35-1.45 stone that is GIA rated, eye clean, an ideal cut, I or better in color, and of course sparkly. My budget for the diamond was $8,000 w/tax, and while online prices were lower, I did not like the idea of not seeing the stone in person. I came to find that Shane's selection was extremely limited in that 1.35-1.45 range, especially when it came to my price and requirements. They had lots around the 1.25-29 mark, which was slightly to small for my setting, and lots in the 1.5+ mark that was above my budget.
After 5 trips I ended up with GIA 1288657223, 1.31 SI2/J Ideal Cut. The stone is surprisingly eye clean for an SI2, but does have a knot, which I now realize is not a great feature. I was most concerned about the J color, it was just a hair too yellow.. but ended up being the best I could really find even after searching other stores and having them send diamonds to my local store. Also ended up throwing the stone in the HCA calculator... and the results were not good. I was able to talk them down to a little under $8000 with tax for the stone.
After mounting, it is a pretty diamond, but seems to go dull in a lot of light settings. It is just is missing something, I am not quite sue what. In warm lighting the diamonds color looks more yellow then it is, while the setting stones are bright and white. Overall just not blown away, and not sure I will really be able to do much more in my price range at Shane Co.
I have now started to look online and am finding the stones I was originally looking for at a much more reasonable price. I am now torn between just staying with my current stone, then upgrading in a few years when I have a little more money.. or just getting the final stone that would ever go in the ring from an online retailer (likely James Allen) and save thousands of dollars.
I have found a 1.44 VS1 I Ideal, with what seem to be much better proportions and a much larger diameter 7.34 vs. 6.99. The stone looks very pretty, but I am not sure how to tell from the online view if it is really a good stone. Shane Co did what I assume is a normal tactic and pulled out an "online" stone and compared it against a similarly graded "shane" stone, and the online stone was extremely dull. Link to the stone I am looking at https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6009894
While the price is above my budget, I am willing to spent a little more money to get a better stone, plus no taxes online for my state.
So I guess a few questions:
1. Does Shane Co. really get the cream of the crop while the online retailers get their reject stones as they claim, or am I safe to get a equally beautiful stone online?
2. What do you all think of the stone I linked above?
3. Am I just overthinking this to much, and should just stick with the current stone?
4. Shane has a 60 day return, does anyone know if I can return just the Diamond after mounting and get another stone mounted (I know I would have to pay per point to mount another stone)
Thank you!!
Sterling