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TrousseauHorse

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
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Hi! I have combed through the archives and found some really helpful information! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the choices online though, so I was hoping to get some opinions on what might be the best combination of attributes for my soon-to-be engagement ring. I am currently looking for an emerald cut diamond in the $7500 (+/-$500) range. The total budget for the stone plus setting & wedding band is $10k.

I found a style of setting that I like in a local store. It is really similar to the Tiara style at Brilliant Earth (http://www.brilliantearth.com/Tiara-Matched-Set-Platinum-BE150BD12R8-BE251BDE-19087/) I don't know where we're going to get it yet though, since the price the store quoted us was 3x the Brilliant Earth price. White gold gives me a horrible allergic reaction, so we're looking at platinum, although I'm sort of worried about that too. Stupid body! So intolerant of nickel! About the only thing that gets me worse is dust mites, so it's a good thing we don't make jewelery out of those :mrgreen:

The biggest problem is none of the stores I've been to have anything to show me. The closest I came to seeing an emerald cut was last weekend when I found my settings they had a rectangular cz they were using to simulate it for me. That was store #3 too! Blah!

I'm guessing I'm going to just have to find a store that's willing to order some things for me to look at, so I'd like to be able to specify what I want rather than having to say a price point and letting them tell me "oh yeah, this one is totally worth that much..."

Thanks in advance!!
 
James Allen has this setting. http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/vintage/14k-white-gold-antique-bezel-and-pave-set-engagement-ring-item-7100

I remember having similar experiences as you when I was shopping for my asscher. We couldn't find a store that carried any and when we finally did, they were small and not well cut. My local jeweler was able to call a few in for me, which was super helpful, but in the end we purchased online because the pricing and benefits were so much better.

A couple of things that I learned along the way. You can't judge EC's by their numbers, you have to either see them or work with someone who can provide ASET images for you. Look for stones that have strong clear faceting and nicely clipped corners. Clarity counts....a lot! EC's show inclusions more than other cuts, so you will want to keep the clarity grade up, anything VS and up should be fine, but I'd have a VS2 confirmed eye clean. Color is different in step cuts too. Brilliant cuts perform differently and can help mask color, this isn't the case with step cuts, so if you are particularly color sensitive I wouldn't go below an H. I'm ok with a slight body color so I was fine with an I, but I wouldn't have wanted to go lower.
 
Hi

I think buying the diamonds & settings online is more effective these days, the kind of prices that online stores can give
are stupendous, I know one of the store even provide "Try for Free" option meaning you could get the look a like setting
which is in Silver metal, you can order from them for only $1 to view it and once you see it, you can order it, I found
one of the setting which is very close to what you are looking for, below is the link you can check :

http://www.b2cjewels.com/Diamond-Accent-Settings/Heart-Shaped-Diamond-Accent-Engagement-Ring-Platinum-%281-8-cttw.%29-8194-1.aspx

If you like the setting, before purchasing you could ask them for Try for Free option for you to view it in person.

I like the below two diamonds, may suit your requirements:

http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-3578424-1.52-carat-Emerald-diamond-H-color-VVS1-clarity.aspx?cid=DiamPS&utm_source=pricescope.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pricescope.com

http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-3578408-1.51-carat-Emerald-diamond-H-color-IF-clarity.aspx?cid=DiamPS&utm_source=pricescope.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pricescope.com
 
Thanks so much for the responses! I looked at the links to the three stones you guys recommended. I see that they are all in the 1.5ct range. I had been looking at around 1ct and trying to stick to criteria I found on http://www.diamondpriceinfo.com/ I used the Diamond Affordability Tool on there and it suggested I look for:

Shape: Emerald
Color Grade: G or H
Clarity Grade: VS1 or VS2
Depth: 63% to 68%
Table: 61% to 69%
Symmetry: Very Good or Excellent/Ideal
Polish: Very Good or Excellent/Ideal
Length to Width Ratio: 1.30 to 1.40
Fluorescence: Faint

The only thing that changes when I tell it I can spend more money is that it suggests a higher carat, which is what it looks like you guys did too. I don't know if you all agree with the other criteria it suggests.

Here is where I still need help: my SO's brother just got engaged in December and I hear his whole family going on and on about how her stone is an E color and that's so great and he must love her so much and blahblah. I don't want everyone to see my ring and be like "omg did you see that cheap tacky ring he got her! It's only an H. Jessica's is an E!" I know I shouldn't care, but my family is super small and his is super huge and I am not used to having a big group of strangers talking about me behind my back. It's giving me flashbacks to junior high school, which I did NOT enjoy.

So then when I start looking, I enter in my G/H criteria at first, but then when I take them out I see that I *could* maybe get an E for just slightly more or if I get a smaller stone. Could someone explain to me why it makes sense to stick with the lower color and go up in carat weight instead?

What I've always dreamed of was having a diamond that would make people think "Omg! That's huge! How could she even afford that!" when they see it. Not to make them jealous or anything, I LOVE telling people how I managed to get nice stuff for cheap. But I want that WOW factor. Not "oh, that's pretty" but WOW, look at that thing!

Although at the same time, I do not currently wear flashy jewelry. I am normally a pearl earrings/diamond studs kind of girl. But I don't think 1ct or 1.5ct will look enormous, right?
 
Many people are uneducated about diamond. BM stores have done a great job convincing people that high color and high clarity equal a beautiful diamond. THE most important aspect of a diamonds beauty is it's cut. It's the cut that determines it's light performance, a well cut diamond will appear whiter and brighter than a poorly cut diamond, thus a well cut G can look every bit as white and bright or even more so than a less well cut E. The lab that grades the stone also makes an enormous difference. We recommend using GIA and AGS only because they are the most accurate and consistent in the world, however there are labs such as EGL that grade very loosely, therefore it's possible to purchase an EGL E color that GIA would have graded a G,H or even lower.

A well cut G H or even I appear very white face up....and there is nothing tacky about a well cut emerald cut, they are very sophisticated and rich looking in my opinion. :love:

Also, as I said before, your guideline is fine, but don't feel as though you have to restrict yourself to stones with exactly these proportions....it's impossible to determine a fancy cuts potential based on these numbers alone. Working with a vendor that can provide ASET images is going to be very important!
 
How can I know whether the cut is good or not? I think I had read that there is not an accurate grading system for fancy cuts? I definitely do not have a jeweler I trust, so I'm afraid of being ripped off badly at the store. This has gotten so stressful. It's almost as bad as buying a car!

We are venturing back out tomorrow and I want to be prepared!!! Is there anything I could say right off the bat that will make it sound like I know what I am talking about? I guess we have been pretty passive at the other stores, but I think we are ready to make this thing happen, so I kind of just want them to show us what we want and then pay for it.
 
I might look into these two:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/1.51-carat-f-color-si2-clarity-sku-195262

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/1.51-carat-g-color-si2-clarity-sku-178102

I'd check with them on the clarity and make sure that the feather's aren't detrimental to the integrity of the stones. But, how you tell if step cuts are cut well (other than picking a cut that's pleasing to your own eye), is requesting an aset image. This will show you how the stone performs. You can put any stone from JA on hold and request an aset image...
 
Okay, you do have a slight dilemma and I understand it. But the good thing is, it is temporary because the attention over an engagement ring is only there for a short time. What kind of stone does the brother's fiancee have and what size is it? I think most people are more impressed by size and a beautiful stone than a small one with high color. An emerald cut is classic and elegant, but they don't stand out as blingy as rounds do. A 1 ct. emerald cut stone is going to be relatively small, so I'd for sure go to G-H color to get a larger size.
 
Cut grade: The aset image shows any leakage and how well the diamond reflects light. As for picking an emerald cut "by the numbers," it's hard to do. But PS does have these AGA/NAJA tools
https://www.pricescope.com/tools/AGA_NAJA_Cut_Class_Grader
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/emerald-cut-diamond

I confess to not having studied that cut grade system or step cut diamonds. But in a round brilliant, a cut class 2A probably translates to a premium cut GIA and is still an attractive stone. You might be able to use the %s on that chart as a rough guide to, say, pick a "virtual" EC that falls somewhere in the top three cut grades. Or that face up larger.

I have always found the tinted emerald cuts in the K-L-M range to be fascinating light yellow stones. They have an classic antique look. The step cuts and other deep cuts tend to concentrate tint, so you might find that a slightly yellow but beautifully cut stone will get you larger diamond than going for an E color.

K asscher [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/asscher-in-rose-and-white-gold.28101/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/asscher-in-rose-and-white-gold.28101/[/URL]
J, K, L asschers [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/j-color-ec-with-yellow-gold.131933/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/j-color-ec-with-yellow-gold.131933/[/URL]
K emerald [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ec-2-03-k.185282/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ec-2-03-k.185282/[/URL]
 
Just wanted to add that it is necessary to have pictures of diamonds because measurements do not tell the whole story. An ASET image is a great help as well. When I recently was looking for an asscher, I chose Good Old Gold because they do pictures and ASETs and take video of the stones for you to compare. They just called in a few good ones for me and I was able to choose the one that I liked best.
 
We finally got a store to show us a bunch of stones! It was interesting... they showed me a 1 carat F SI1 with a GIA certificate that was really pretty. They let us take it outside with an escort and even without the jewelry store lights it was so sparkly it was shooting little glittery light beams all over everything. I could only just barely see some little feathers off to the sides with the loupe. They want $4500 for it.

The problem now is I think it looked super small on my hand. I don't know if I've just been looking at too many images online, but I couldn't believe how small it looked. I was really disappointed.

They are going to bring in a 1.2 for me to look at this week that's about $6000, but that's not going to look much bigger, is it? And $7500 for the stone is really the top of our price range. I'm not sure what to do. I can't justify spending a ton of money on a ring if it's just going to look to most people like we spent a third of that. If I spend a lot, I want it to look big!

Are there any tricks for getting a stone to look bigger, other than a halo? I did originally think I liked the look of halos, but I tried a few on and I don't think an emerald cut with a halo is going to be my personal style.

Thanks for all the help!! You guys are much more helpful than anywhere else that I've found :bigsmile:
 
So how low could you go in color? Some ladies here have K and L emerald cuts.
 
I'm not completely sure yet on the color. They showed us something they said was an H and it looked really, really yellow to me. However, I do know that they have a lot of EGL stones in that store, and they were not differentiating to us when they showed them to us. So if I understand correctly, that could have been the same color as a GIA J, right? I would tend to think I could go down to I though. I looked at the rings at my local Costco, which were all I's, and they looked fine to me in their settings.
 
TrousseauHorse|1365394203|3422415 said:
Are there any tricks for getting a stone to look bigger, other than a halo? I did originally think I liked the look of halos, but I tried a few on and I don't think an emerald cut with a halo is going to be my personal style.
Click to expand...

A bezel or half bezel might help make the stone look larger. I don't know if you've seen woofmama's sleek Sholdt semi-bezel. Her's is a 1.11 ct K color emerald cut and it looks really white in the white gold setting: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ec-in-sholdt-semi-bezel-pearlmans-pics.180994/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ec-in-sholdt-semi-bezel-pearlmans-pics.180994/[/URL]

I don't know if bezels are your thing though.
 
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