Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

First time ring buyer needs help

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
N

Nater

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 5, 2006
Messages
3
I am beginning the process of finding "the" engagement ring for my girlfriend of 7 years. Im 26 years old, have a decent job and I am definately having a hard time figuring out what Im doing.

I understand the basics of the 7 C''s, girdle, ect but I have no idea what I should really make a priority when Im looking for rings. My search has taken me to all sorts of diamond wholesalers, jewlery stores, even ebay... but I still feel like Im blundering around. So in plain old english, heres what I want.

1. Her friends to say "Oh my god... thats beautiful", because I know thats important
2. A stone that doesn''t break the bank, $7k is the limit I came up with (we are looking at houses now too, so I don''t want to over spend)
3. A good stone for my money. I don''t mind doing the leg work to find one, I just need some guidelines.
4. I plan on proposing in August, so I have some time & I heard pricing comes down in the summer? true or false?

So for my $7k what carat, color, clarity, ect mix should I try to get? Does a 1.3 carat, G, VVS2 provide enough sparkle?

Help a young man from losing his mind
1.gif


Thank you in advance,

Nate
 
Hey Nate,

Welcome!

Well first of all: what shape of stone does she want? Round, princess, etc?
What kind of settings is she intrested in? Classic six prong? Fancy with pave? Or modern?
And of course the most important is cut for sparkle, so... I think the VVS2 might be overkill.

In any case, I did a quick search on round diamonds a 1.3 G VVS2 will run about over $10 000, so you''re going to have to make some adjustements (come down in color or clarity) if you want to make your budget. How much have you set aside for the setting? And is it going to be platinum, or white gold.
 
In my honest opinion, the most typical ladies all they care about is carat size. Obviously most ladies here on PriceScope are more educated and thus more focused on more technical aspects such as cut proportions, angles, etc.

With that said, I would venture as low as a J color so as to permit the biggest stone possible with your set budget - going up to G will sacrifice you a bit of carat weight and I would even venture as low as SI1 - maybe SI2 if I can confirm they are eye-clean. With SI1 stones, most (if properly graded) will look eye-clean as my stone I got for my g/f is SI1 yet eyeclean (I would need a loupe to see anything...but I don''t have a loupe and I''m pretty sure your g/f and most typical girls won''t wield any loupes).
emsmilep.gif


With a J/SI1 you can land a 1.5 carat stone with your budget of $7,000 excluding the setting. You can get it for cheaper (or bigger carat weight) if you get a stone with fluorescence, lower quality symmetry, or lower polish. But, if I had to skimp on anything I would only skimp out on the color, fluorescence (low to medium blue preferred) and clarity down to SI1 or SI2.

Hope this helps!
26.gif
 
Thank you for the response, and listing the things I forgte/forgot
1.gif


1. She likes the round cut stone with the classic 6 prong setting, although she saw some 4 prong that she liked as well. The setting will be white gold. Im keeping the setting separate from my $7k stone budget because it is rather simple.

Is VVS2 overkill clarity for a ring? Ive been scanning the site looking at quite a few S1 rings that seem to literally blowup with light.
 
Hi...welcome to PS
35.gif


I''m guessing you want a Round cut but didn''t specify that above. Have you read the tutorials?
You have a great budget and will definitely be able to get her a beautiful stone/setting with that. I did a quick search on the pricescope my diamond above and found lots of stones but I''ll throw this one out for example. I''m an SI clarity kind of girl but I''m going to link a 1.20 I VS2 clarity. The numbers/IS look good. It''s under your budget but I''m not sure what kind of setting you are looking for. If you want a simple solataire this diamond would fit right in. Now I don''t know how sensitive to color you are...so I guess you pretty much need to decide what color/clarity range you want to look in then we can be of more help to you.

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-6420602#

The HCA rates this a 1.2 on the cut advisor...anything seemingly that scores 1-2 usually contends for good performance.

Good luck.
 
VVS2 is definitely overkill for a ring. search GOG''s site for VVS2, they have magnified pics, and you''ll see how TINY and invisible they are.
 
Nater, Yes it''s overkill. I''m not sure what you mean by SI1 looking blown up by light??? In any case I have an SI1, and it''s clean and you can''t see anything. I think a VS2 is sufficent if you are looking for eye-clean.
 
welcome to ps nate!
35.gif
glad you're here.
1.gif




Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater
I am beginning the process of finding 'the' engagement ring for my girlfriend of 7 years.
Click to expand...
congratulations!


Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater
I understand the basics of the 7 C's, girdle, ect but I have no idea what I should really make a priority when Im looking for rings.
Click to expand...
the cut quality should be your top priority. no doubt. use the 'pricescope your diamond' search at the top of this page and select 'cut quality search'. you will come up with the best of the best there.


Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater
My search has taken me to all sorts of diamond wholesalers, jewlery stores, even ebay... but I still feel like Im blundering around. So in plain old english, heres what I want.
Click to expand...
at least you ended up here! this is the best place you can be.
2.gif



Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater
1. Her friends to say 'Oh my god... thats beautiful', because I know thats important
Click to expand...
a well cut stone, no matter what size, will absolutely stop people in their tracks. once you have seen a well cut stone, you will never want anything else. the sparkle and life is just mesmerizing.
30.gif



Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater

2. A stone that doesn't break the bank, $7k is the limit I came up with (we are looking at houses now too, so I don't want to over spend)
Click to expand...
that is a great budget! you can get a nice size, great cut (6.5-7.0mm) stone for 7k!
3.gif



Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater
3. A good stone for my money. I don't mind doing the leg work to find one, I just need some guidelines.
Click to expand...
use the cut quality search. you will find a great stone without having to do too much legwork at all!
2.gif



Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater
4. I plan on proposing in August, so I have some time & I heard pricing comes down in the summer? true or false?
Click to expand...
not necessarily true at all. the biggest hurdle is finding a stone and grabbing it before someone else does. the best ones go very (very) fast. start looking now. if you find something that fits your criteria...get it! there are lots of diamonds, but it is hard to find exactly what is important to you.


Date: 5/5/2006 3:26:56 PM
Author:Nater

So for my $7k what carat, color, clarity, ect mix should I try to get? Does a 1.3 carat, G, VVS2 provide enough sparkle?
Click to expand...
what are your priorities? is size more important than color? is color more important than clarity? you need to decide what is most important to you.
i think 'g' is a great color. you will never see a hint of color in a 'g' (if it is graded by gia or ags) i would even recommend looking at lower colors if you want to get more size. vvs2 is absolute overkill on clarity, even if you have eagle eyes and a loupe!
4.gif
since you won't be wearing a loupe, i would suggest vs1/2 at the most and would even recommend si1/2. not all si stones are eye clean, but they are definitely out there and well worth looking for.
sparkle does not come from the color or the clarity, it comes from the cut quality. well cut stones will outsparkle the majority of diamonds available. make your main focus the cut and then let the rest fall into place.
2.gif


no need to lose your mind. you've come to the right place.
2.gif
 
Nater, I agree with prior posts, yes, VVS2 is definately overkill. You will get alot more beautiful diamond for the money in the VS2 or eyeclean SI1 range. You should be able to get an amazing stone in you budget if you shop in the aforementioned clarity range.

Good luck, keep us informed
 
Blowup with light = sparkle that hurts my eyes
21.gif


Ive been using the diamond search tool and with some of the suggestions you''ve given me I have a bunch of options as far as stones go.
This stone http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-6420602 looks incredible, thank you for the link.

Im going to take some of this "new to me" knowledge and visit a local jewlery store tonight on the way home. I''ll be posting some links to rings as well to get opinons on them.

Thanks so much, you''ve made my Friday much less stressful!

Nate
 
Date: 5/5/2006 3:57:41 PM
Author: Nater

Blowup with light = sparkle that hurts my eyes
21.gif


Ive been using the diamond search tool and with some of the suggestions you''ve given me I have a bunch of options as far as stones go.

This stone http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-6420602 looks incredible, thank you for the link.

Im going to take some of this ''new to me'' knowledge and visit a local jewlery store tonight on the way home. I''ll be posting some links to rings as well to get opinons on them.

Thanks so much, you''ve made my Friday much less stressful!

Nate
Click to expand...
Don''t forget that the price you see there is without the PS discount. So if you were to decide to go with WF any stone from them just mention PS and you''ll get more money off your purchase.
Arm yourself with as much info as possible and go to the B&Ms looking...best of luck!!! Let us know how you get on with your search
2.gif
 
Date: 5/5/2006 3:57:41 PM
Author: Nater

Im going to take some of this ''new to me'' knowledge and visit a local jewlery store tonight on the way home. I''ll be posting some links to rings as well to get opinons on them.

Thanks so much, you''ve made my Friday much less stressful!

Nate
Click to expand...
Nate
first you need to decide on "the color". ask to see some AGS or GIA stones. G VS2 would be a nice combo. IMO
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top