Have setting and want online diamond. Where to have it set?

[DiamondCorn]

My long-term girlfriend is really particular about her engagement ring setting, so we've already picked it out together and I've purchased it at a local store (Helzberg). It's up to me to put the appropriate bling in it though.

If I order the diamond online, what's the best way to have it set? I'm looking into mailing my setting to the diamond site and have them set it, although I'm worried about not seeing the diamond in person before it's set. (I assume it'd be harder to return/exchange if it didn't meet my expectations?). The advantage could be a free/discounted fee for setting it, and perhaps a cheaper appraisal?

Does anyone have any experience or recommendations with this? Thanks!

 

[slg47]

Re: Have setting and want online diamond. Where to have it s

what style setting is it? do you know what size diamond it needs? usually it is best to buy the diamond /first/ and then the setting so you can make sure that the setting fits the diamond.

ask the diamond vendor what their policies are on setting the diamond.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Have setting and want online diamond. Where to have it s

I would definitely want the diamond vendor to set the stone, but you likely will pay a setting fee since you are not buying the setting there. I also would have bought the stone first, but hopefully you bought a stone for an exact carat size such as 1 ct. (6.4-6.5mm). I see no issue with buying a diamond unseen as long as you are going for ideal/excellent cut and are not going too low in clarity so that eye-cleanness is not an issue.

 

[DiamondCorn]

Re: Have setting and want online diamond. Where to have it s

It's a fairly standard clean solitaire setting with a few peek-a-boo diamonds. We bought the setting with the intent of getting slightly below a 1 ct diamond, and the salesperson said it would be a perfect match for that. I'm currently looking at ~.91 ct, so I assume the size will be okay.

The JamesAllen chat support rep said that if I send them the setting, they'll set it for $100, with potentially additional charges if they need to modify it. If I don't like the diamond and decide to exchange it they'll set the new one for free. I'm planning to get an ideal cut VS2, so hopefully the first one will be fine.

@diamondseeker2006, just curious, why is it preferable to have the diamond vendor set the stone (e.g. instead of me bringing both the setting and diamond to a local shop to set it)?

Thanks!