Help Choosing Engagement Ring

[glennz]

Hey just a guy looking for some opinions on my situation. I'm ready to ask my girl to marry me and I'm looking for the right ring. We have playfully looked at rings earlier in our relationship so I know what she likes. She's in love with solitaires. Specifically the Tiffany classic 6-prong with a round diamond. Also, she says a 1.5 ct. is what she's always dreamed of, great for her not for my wallet lol. Anyway heres my problem. I know that she has her heart set on an actual tiffany. Her family is very materialistic and although she is unlike her family on most things and insists she doesn't care, I know her heart really wants the tiffany. Not to mention dealing with her mother and her sisters. I love her and don't want her to settle or be disappointed. Obviously, this is a problem because I don't have that type of coin. Here's my idea. 1) purchase an authentic tiffany ring used or preowned with a small carat diamond and have a larger stone put in or 2) purchase a knife edge wedding band from tiffany and having a jeweler add a setting and the larger stone. BTW, I have the stone picked out on blue nile already. So what do you guys and gals think? Are my ideas good? Will they work? Help Please Thanks!

 

[JulieN]

You can't do either of those. It won't work.

What it sounds like she really wants is the biggest rock you can get for your budget, something like J SI2 to stretch it out. BGD has an excellent six prong knife edge.

 

[arkieb1]

You can't do either of those. It won't work.

What it sounds like she really wants is the biggest rock you can get for your budget, something like J SI2 to stretch it out. BGD has an excellent six prong knife edge.

+ 1 Brian Gavin do an excellent Tiffany look a like setting;

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/classic-tiffany-style-knife-edge-18k-white-gold-5336w18

On her hand with a nice centre stone, anyone that looks at it will not be able to tell much difference other than it is not stamped with Tiffany & Co on it, which no one is ever going to notice unless she takes the ring off to show them.

I would also vote for buying the largest and nicest stone you can get in your price range.

Someone like Victor Canera makes nicer than Tiffany for less than the cost of a Tiffany product (and before any members want to challenge that theory) I took a Victor pave halo into Tiffany's to compare a few days ago with another P/S member and there is NO comparison, better work, finer quality.... if you purchased a product from someone like Victor I doubt that any of her family could fault it.

 

[sparkle45]

You can't do either of those. It won't work.

What it sounds like she really wants is the biggest rock you can get for your budget, something like J SI2 to stretch it out. BGD has an excellent six prong knife edge.

+ 1 Brian Gavin do an excellent Tiffany look a like setting;

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/classic-tiffany-style-knife-edge-18k-white-gold-5336w18

On her hand with a nice centre stone, anyone that looks at it will not be able to tell much difference other than it is not stamped with Tiffany & Co on it, which no one is ever going to notice unless she takes the ring off to show them.

I would also vote for buying the largest and nicest stone you can get in your price range.

Someone like Victor Canera makes nicer than Tiffany for less than the cost of a Tiffany product (and before any members want to challenge that theory) I took a Victor pave halo into Tiffany's to compare a few days ago with another P/S member and there is NO comparison, better work, finer quality.... if you purchased a product from someone like Victor I doubt that any of her family could fault it.

YES Get her Victor Canera, and her family will be speechless from admiration - won't even think to ask to see a stamp. And even if they do... You can come right back and insist that VC is where choosey jewelry people choose to spend their money. Practice a snooty delivery beforehand, and remember to tilt your head back slightly so you can look down your nose a bit.

I know you want to give her what she wants but... as you've seen here, it's just not doable. That name brand AND that size stone won't fit into your budget. Something has to give. And she's going to prefer having the size to having THAT specific name brand. VC IS name brand, just not in the general populace...

 

[kalomeli]

The previous posters said all I had in mind so nothing to add there... Buying a nice replica from one of the Ps vendors will get much more bang for your buck!
If having something with a Tiffany's stamp is important maybe get the wedding ring from there?

 

[kaoms352]

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.504-i-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104066185013

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/six-prong-solitaire-14k-white-gold-5351w14

Ask for a pricescope discount.

 

[bagelboy]

Glen, I hope you already know that Tiffany rings that claim to be authentic but are good, bad or ugly fakes on ebay. Once in a while there are genuine original rings that do come up, but most are just copies. I believe you can verify an original at a Tiffany store which will take a week or so. But I would not buy anything until I had absolute proof that it is a genuine Tiffany ring. People have done what you suggested but replacing the center stone with a non Tiffany diamond makes the ring not authentic.

 

[LLJsmom]

In this case, with a materialistic family behind your GF, I would recommend introducing her to Pricescope. I know you may want to surprise her, but if that part isn't that important, you will want her buy in on anything you get her that isn't Tiffany. Here are the major selling points with respected PS jewelers, like Victor Canera or Steven Kirsch, if you have to convert her. (SEARCH THE THREADS ON PRICESCOPE AND GO TO THEIR WEBSITES!!)

1. Super high quality. She should read the posts about how exact and perfect the work that these artists do. There are tons of threads with super high quality pictures of their work. That should lead you to the website which has even better videos.

2. Hand-forged, from scratch. Nuff' said. Well, actually, maybe not. You should read about the pros of hand-forged over cast.

3. Customizable - You're working with an individual who probably wants to give you a ring that is more beautiful than you can even imagine.

Often times, I think people think they want a Tiffany setting because, of course, it's beautiful, but ALSO because they DON"T know what is out there. Do your GF a favor and open up a whole new world to her. Now if you've seen all the beautiful solitaire settings out there and she still wants a Tiffany, save the $$, get a replica, and put the money toward a PHAT diamond. Trust me. Her relatives will be WAY more impressed by bling that blinds them than a setting that they cannot tell is NOT Tiffany. And you both should tell them that the ring is not Tiffany. It was 100% hand-forged and custom made. You cannot walk into a store and buy replica.

Don't forget to come back and let us know what you end up going with.

 

[glennz]

If I went with a custom piece by a jeweler that was recommended or any jeweler for that matter, could they create an exact identical setting as the tiffany or is there a patent protecting the exact recreation?

 

[TC1987]

I don't know. Vatche U113 looks good, in case it hasn't been suggested already. Excel Diamonds used to have and maybe still has a nice one.

But I just want to say that there are old discussions on here (multiple times) where people compare cut quality of a Tiffany diamond (one or more) to that of a nonbranded superideal hearts & arrows from PS vendors, and the Tiffany diamonds haven't been cut as well.

 

[glennz]

I don't know. Vatche U113 looks good, in case it hasn't been suggested already. Excel Diamonds used to have and maybe still has a nice one.

But I just want to say that there are old discussions on here (multiple times) where people compare cut quality of a Tiffany diamond (one or more) to that of a nonbranded superideal hearts & arrows from PS vendors, and the Tiffany diamonds haven't been cut as well.

I'm not interested in a tiffany diamond, just the setting.