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Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1m

V

VictorsValiant09

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Messages
5
First time poster here, please don't bite! I'm looking for an engagement ring for around the Christmas timeframe to pop the question to my girlfriend of 8 years. Admittedly I'm a bit late to the game and I wish I would've started this process earlier. However, at this point, I still feel like I have a reasonable amount of time to both get a great ring and also doctor a great deal for it. I've done a decent amount of preliminary research about the 4 C's and I consider myself an extreme bargain hunter (so I'm certainly not strolling into the mall to buy something haphazardly).

That being said, I'm still new to this. And pardon the inner-economist in me, but I'm wondering how to optimize the 4 C's and also score a great deal.

Here are some of my broad thoughts up to this point:

-I'd like to spend around $3500-$5000, ideally. I'd be willing to flex upward to $7000, but I would need a pretty compelling reason/deal.
-I'm looking for an engagement ring >1 karat.
-I'm looking for a fairly simplistic setting arrangement that's either white gold or platinum.
-I have no reservations about purchasing a "pre-owned" stone/ring. [I've looked at idonowidont.com and I still can't get a good gauge on whether they're reputable. Please provide your impressions/experiences. Could I go this route and be guaranteed to get it before the Christmas timeframe?]

I'll be monitoring this thread pretty regularly and absolutely value any and all advice/input/recommendations. Thanks all for creating an excellent user community in a very noise-filled industry =)
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

Welcome VV!

I've never dealt with I do now I don't, but maybe some of the others can chime in.

As for the stone you are seeking, have you given thought to color/clarity parameters? That will play a big role in where you end up on the budget spectrum. And are we talking about a round stone? Is the ability to "upgrade" in the future with your vendor a consideration? If you can give us a little more info, we can try and suggest some possibilites for you.

ed 2x sp:)
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

I know more experienced posters will weigh in but welcome and if you don't mind pre-owned, check out Pearlmans. They have some GORGEOUS merchandise!
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

Thanks for the warm welcome! I guess one of the things I'm looking for is advice as far as the color/clarity parameters go. I'm leaning toward a round stone right now as well, but, again, that's not totally a firm thing yet. The ability to upgrade is not imperative.
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

It might help to look in person to see what your personal preferences for color are. You can definitely get a larger stone if you go with a J SI1/SI2 (look for one that is eye-clean to your requirements).
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

slg47|1289793347|2766266 said:
It might help to look in person to see what your personal preferences for color are. You can definitely get a larger stone if you go with a J SI1/SI2 (look for one that is eye-clean to your requirements).
Click to expand...

Good point. Have you had a chance to see any stones in person yet? I know many recommend going to Jared's and looking (just looking) at their Peerless collection of AGS 0's (ideal cut) stones. They have round and princess, I think.

If that's not a possibility, most people would recommend G-H color, VS2-SI1 clarity, as the "safe zone". That said, some swear by their colorless VVSs and others by their I-J SIs. The most important thing for sparkle is cut. Make that the first priority. After that, try to figure out what the next priority would be, factoring in the 5th C, cost. If you'd like to max out around $5000, I'm thinking a 1ct I SI1, or a slightly under a carat G-H SI1 might be a good choice. If you can kick in a little more, I would maybe go for a G SI1 myself.

Some ideas:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2219620.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2531871.htm
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/7642/
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1218732.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2531874.htm top of budget
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1262690.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131 lower end, and an F color

You would need to check if the SI1s are eyeclean, and again, upgrade policies vary by vendor, so that is something else to look into.
I guess I went with the round assumption here. If she hasn't expressed a preference, it is a classic choice. That said, I'm pretty sure she does have a preference either way, and it may not be a bad idea to find out what it is. ;)

HTH-good luck!
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

:wavey: Hello, inner-economist! I am an exterior statistician, so perhaps we can talk data.

I did a regression this summer on loose, ideal cut (AGS0 or H&A diamonds) RBs. That is, I held cut constant across the 1300 diamonds that I was comparing. What I found:

The sweet spot for color is H (higher than H, you pay a premium for each higher color grade, lower than H, you pay proportionately less). For an RB, I'd not go lower than an H because I'm personally color sensitive.

The sweet spot for clarity is VS2 (higher, you pay more in a non-linear fashion for the increase, lower, you pay less for the decrease). If you can stand an SI1, that would mean that you'd still pay less than VS2 clarity per carat,

Controlling for cut, color, and clarity, the price of the diamond was proportional to the carat weight, but there is a big variance around the price, depending on the merchant's overhead (upgrade policy, inspection period, buy-back period, etc) and other things not reflected on the paper characteristics (e.g., whether it's eye-clean, actual light performance, etc).

If you are willing to go pre-owned, you will likely not be able to evaluate the cut, color, or clarity of the diamond that you're buying without unmounting the diamond and getting an independent appraisal. This matters for you deal-hunters because you could buy an E-VVS2 and think you were getting a great deal, but if it turns out to be an H-VS2, that same diamond turns out to be not a great deal. You have to know what you're buying and how much it is worth. Also, just because the pre-owned diamond comes with a cert does not mean that the cert matches the diamond that you're actually getting -- again, you need an appraiser to tell you that.

So, even though you're looking for a deal, I would suggest buying the diamond loose and the setting separately.
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

Here is a quick search for all cut grades of round. Ideally most reccomment staying at a HCA score of 2.0 or less for the most sparkle. If you are looking to max out carat size for your budget of 3,500 to 5,000- you could also be looking at the excellent and very good cut stones instead of ideal or the branded Hearts and Arrows and AGSO stones.


https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-...&type_search=1&InHouseSearch=&InHouseSearch=0

Does that budget include the setting? If you are looking for a simple solitaire setting- and not wanting to break the bank you can go with either white gold or platnium.... here are some ideas for you...

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagemen...ffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-582.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagemen...ffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-587.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagemen...avy-tiffany-solitaire-engagement-ring-463.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/lilly-diamond-solitaire-58.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/hand-over-hand-diamond-solitaire-902.htm

here is a search for more http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/search.htm?t=solitaire

simple bands with small accent diamonds...

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagemen...pen-cathedral-diamond-engagement-ring-626.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/diamond-settings/flush-fit-diamond-engagement-ring-42.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagemen...pen-cathedral-diamond-engagement-ring-569.htm


now that was only a search through whiteflash, I can pull some from other vendors such as jamesallen, brian gavin, IDjewelry, etc...
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

more setting ideas....

Now personally I would max out the budget on the stone and get a simple less expensive setting now- always leaving the option for an anniversary down the road to upgrade the setting...


http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5342

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5351

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5550

more settings from 675 and up..

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/solitaires/



some more simple diamond settings...

least expensive accent stone setting-
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/home/ring-details/?product_id=5484
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

Thanks very much for posting some of these links! This is very helpful and I'll indeed be going to a few local stores to do an eyetest.
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

@antelope: Thank you very much for posting this. Very informative and right up my alley for sure. Did you find out anything else pertinent from this study you ran? Do you have any other recommendations or sweet spots?


antelope1|1289842584|2766738 said:
:wavey: Hello, inner-economist! I am an exterior statistician, so perhaps we can talk data.

I did a regression this summer on loose, ideal cut (AGS0 or H&A diamonds) RBs. That is, I held cut constant across the 1300 diamonds that I was comparing. What I found:

The sweet spot for color is H (higher than H, you pay a premium for each higher color grade, lower than H, you pay proportionately less). For an RB, I'd not go lower than an H because I'm personally color sensitive.

The sweet spot for clarity is VS2 (higher, you pay more in a non-linear fashion for the increase, lower, you pay less for the decrease). If you can stand an SI1, that would mean that you'd still pay less than VS2 clarity per carat,

Controlling for cut, color, and clarity, the price of the diamond was proportional to the carat weight, but there is a big variance around the price, depending on the merchant's overhead (upgrade policy, inspection period, buy-back period, etc) and other things not reflected on the paper characteristics (e.g., whether it's eye-clean, actual light performance, etc).

If you are willing to go pre-owned, you will likely not be able to evaluate the cut, color, or clarity of the diamond that you're buying without unmounting the diamond and getting an independent appraisal. This matters for you deal-hunters because you could buy an E-VVS2 and think you were getting a great deal, but if it turns out to be an H-VS2, that same diamond turns out to be not a great deal. You have to know what you're buying and how much it is worth. Also, just because the pre-owned diamond comes with a cert does not mean that the cert matches the diamond that you're actually getting -- again, you need an appraiser to tell you that.

So, even though you're looking for a deal, I would suggest buying the diamond loose and the setting separately.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

Again, thanks all for contributing to this. On to a few more questions:

It seems like the most economical approach is to buy the stone separately. What is the general consensus with Bluenile.com? Are there other sites similar to Bluenile that are cheaper and equally reputable?
 
Re: Help! Advice Please! $4-7K Budget, Engagement Ring in ~1

I think if you want a good value for your money (note this does not mean a "deal" because there are no true "deals" in diamonds, they are priced according to their fair value on the market) then looking for a diamond in the H color and SI1 clarity is the way to go. I also think you should skip the H&A premium and opt to find a well cut stone with GIA Ex cut grade that passes muster for the proportions -- you will not notice the difference in appearance compared to a true H&A unless you are *very* familiar with dimaond cut.

If you REALLY want good value then go for a J color ;)) , there is a huge drop in price for that color and unless you are a true diamond afficionado or have cultural preconceptions about the meaning of diamond color, you will likely be more than happy with a J colored stone. I am a bargain hunter and opted for a J color stone for this reason to maximize carat for my dollar.

Regarding Bluenile, they are a drop shipper and thus do not have the diamond in front of them and thus cannot tell you if a diamond is eye clean or not. If you are willing to potentially return a stone OR stick with VS2 and above this is less of an issue. But their prices are not any better than many other PS recommended vendors.

For non H&A stones I really like James Allen because their database is easy to look through and also they have easy access to the diamonds they offer and can provide pictures and ideal scope images to consumers quickly. They also have a good reputation on PS. Other vendors can also call in non H&A stones, but it will take longer than with JA I think.

Here are some vendors with excellent PS reputations for customer service and excellent diamonds:

Branded H&As
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com
http://www.goodoldgold.com
http://www.whiteflash.com
http://www.highperformancediamonds.com

Branded and non-branded:
http://www.jamesallen.com

Good deals, diamonds not in house:
http://www.idjewelryonline
http://www.exceldiamonds.com
 
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