first time diamond buying

[mmisl]

Hello,

I’ve been lurking ever since I first stumbled across Pricescope a couple of years ago (although my usual hangout is Show Me the Ring!). I’ve now summoned up the courage to post my first message because my boyfriend asked me to marry him last week so I’ll finally be looking for a diamond ring!! I hope this is the right forum to ask the question – Show Me the Ring didn’t seem quite right as I don’t have a ring to show yet.

I’m based in the UK and have looked in a few B&M shops, both on the high street and in Hatton Garden (London’s jewellery quarter). I originally thought I wanted an emerald cut, but - after trying several on - I’ve reluctantly decided that (on my finger) an EC less than about 1 ct is going to look silly. A 1ct stone is not possible with my budget so I think I’m going to go for a round brilliant. I’d like to get a ring with side stones, although I might also be tempted by a very slim band with pave or a similar look.

I found a ring that I really love in a shop in Hatton Garden– it’s a RB with tapered baguette side stones set in white gold. The centre stone is 0.51 and the baguettes are 0.22 combined. The stones are not certified and the lady in the shop estimated that the centre stone was a G or H and VS2 or SI1. However, this ring is out of my budget and seemed overpriced to me – they were charging approximately $5600 (£3000). I found a similar ring that had a GIA certified stone E, SI2 .61 with .22 baguettes (although 4 smaller ones rather than 2 of .11 each) set in platinum that was approximately $3737 (£2000) - I don’t know why there was such a difference in price between the two rings.

I am wondering if I can recreate the first ring by buying a diamond and setting from the States, but I have some questions...

1) In the ring I really liked, the tapered baguette side stones seemed to be set into the band, whereas in similar settings that I’ve seen online the baguettes are raised up and have a very noticeable line of metal at the ends. I’ve (hopefully!) attached an image of a setting (possibly from Whiteflash – I saved it some time ago so I can’t be 100% sure) and have circled the line of metal that I’m talking about. So can anyone advise me of a place to buy a setting that has the baguettes set into the metal of the band? Or even tell me what that would be called – is it channel set?

2) Also, I’m slightly nervous about the whole procedure of ordering a stone blind! Are there any posters who live in the UK who have done this & would be willing to share their experiences with me?

Many thanks in advance for any tips!

mmisl

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Congratulations on your engagement!!! I really see no difference in you buying from the UK other than the shipping cost being higher. I think the key is that you'd need to pick great stones so that you know you'd be happy with them! Look around and be sure about color and clarity, and then look at only ideal cut stones.

Both of those rings sound overpriced to me, but especially the first one. I think you'd get a nicer quality for the same money by ordering from one of these reliable vendors.

P.S. Just saw something about duty paid on ring sent to the uK. Do you know anything about that? It might pay to just fly over here and buy one!

 

[mmisl]

Hello!

Wow, thanks for replying so quickly! I was just having yet another look through the under 1 ct diamond thread on Show Me the Ring!

I am getting more convinced that ordering from the US from one of the vendors mentioned a lot on Pricescope is going to get me a much better value ring (and probably better quality too). I''m looking in shops to get an idea of what suits my hand and whether or not I can tell any difference between a G and an I etc.

It just seems a bit scary to spend so much money on something that we haven''t seen in person. But it is so exciting too - definitely a nice kind of scary!

mmisl

 

[mmisl]

Hi Virginia,

I saw that setting before and really liked it, but it seems to be for centre stones of 1ct+ and I don''t think my centre stone will be as big as that... Perhaps I should email and ask if it is suitable for a smaller stone too.

I also think I need to go back and look at the one in the shop as it may have had the metal bits too, perhaps I was just so dazzled by the sparkly diamonds that I didn''t notice them!

Thanks for your help!

mmisl

 

[mmisl]

Hello again,

Don''t think I''m using this right - there''s probably a better way to reply than posting over and over!

Anyway, thanks for mentioning the tax - I''d heard about that already, but even with that it''s probably still cheaper to get it from the States than to get it from somewhere in London. If I flew over to collect it then I think I''d still be liable for the import duty (or else I''d have to smuggle it in, but I''m too chicken to do that!). All important things to bear in mind before I make a decision either way though.

My fiance (!!) and I are taking a day off work to visit more diamond shops, so I''ll see how I feel after that. My OH just wants me to have a ring on my finger as people keep asking about it!

mmisl