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Help, I am having doubts

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BluePea

Rough_Rock
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My boyfried got me a beautiful .94 G IF Ideal EX/EX RB, and I have ordered a yellow gold lucida style setting for it, but I am having second thoughts. I chose that because almost all the jewelry I own is yellow gold, and I think it complements my skin tone. But now I am not sure anymore for several reasons:
- I see all these beautiful platinum settings everywhere
- I am afraid it will look cheap; I didn''t care about an engagement ring, and my bf insisted, and now that he is spending so much on it I want to make sure it will look great. All the upscale stores have only platinum on display, and then I see the other corner jewerly stores with the windows full of gold.
- I am not sure whether the yellow gold will do as good of a job as platinum showing off the diamond.
Any thoughts? If you own a yellow gold setting, please post.
 
Almost all of my jewelry (with the exception of a platinum band I bought just for fun) is yellow gold because I think it compliments my skin tone better than white metals do. In fact my ancestors wore 24K yellow gold jewelry (no 18K or 14K for them).

Platinum is hot right now because the Platinum Guild is doing such a wonderful job promoting the metal. However it is about twice the price of gold at about $862 per ounce today. So of course jewelry stores are going to push platinum, because they make more money that way. Platinum does have a nice heft to it that 14K does not.

Gold was popular in the 1980s-90s when the World Gold Council was promoting that metal just like PGI is doing for platinum today. Today's price for gold was about $431 per ounce.

Buy what you like and don't worry about what everyone else has.
 
Date: 3/3/2005 12:29:57 AM
Author: cflutist
Almost all of my jewelry (with the exception of a platinum band I bought just for fun) is yellow gold because I think it compliments my skin tone better than white metals do. In fact my ancestors wore 24K yellow gold jewelry (no 18K or 14K for them).

Platinum is hot right now because the Platinum Guild is doing such a wonderful job promoting the metal. However it is about twice the price of gold at about $862 per ounce today. So of course jewelry stores are going to push platinum, because they make more money that way. Platinum does have a nice heft to it that 14K does not.

Gold was popular in the 1980s-90s when the World Gold Council was promoting that metal just like PGI is doing for platinum today. Today''s price for gold was about $431 per ounce.

Buy what you like and don''t worry about what everyone else has.

Clutist...

Keep in mind that the amount of material in a platinum ring is somewhere between 90% to 95% pure platinum for most items offered for sale.

Gold has more alloys in it. These are approximate pure material percentages for gold

10 K 37.5% Pure gold
14K 58.3 % pure gold
18K 75% pure gold
24K 100% pure gold.

Since the "most common" gold ring is is 58.3% pure gold in this instance a 900 plat ring ( 90% pure Platinum) the money difference for material alone is about 4 times that of 14 karat gold. Further platinum takes more labor and a special casting machine to make it so the labor costs of a platinum item costs more in that department as well.

Hope this helps.

Rockdoc
 
I think you wear what you like. If you like gold, go for it. I do think diamonds, especially colourless ones, are better set off in platinum or white gold. However, it''s personal preference and choice. You go with what makes you happy and not what everyone else is wearing.
 
RocDoc, thanks for pointing that out. I forgot to mention that part. Even more reason then why jewelers are pushing platinum right now.
 
Date: 3/3/2005 12:45:45 AM
Author: Sashabella
I think you wear what you like. If you like gold, go for it. I do think diamonds, especially colourless ones, are better set off in platinum or white gold. However, it''s personal preference and choice. You go with what makes you happy and not what everyone else is wearing.
I agree, it is personal preference and choice. However, I believe that colorless diamonds do look nice in yellow gold too. I had a 2.05 D-VS2 Oval that was set in yellow gold, and now have a 3.01 F-SI1 Pear that is set in yellow gold.

I have also seen J and Ks set in platinum where to my eye I can see the slight tint of color when compared to the white metal.
 
I'm confused. Wouldn't jewelers make more money selling gold then?

For the same ring, Platinum materials cost 4 times more than Gold. Platinum also requires more extensive labor than gold. Yet, Plat. rings are only double the price of Gold rings? Shouldn't it be a lot more considering it costs more to make?
 
I prefer platinum on myself. Having said that, I truly think you should pick the metal that you feel looks good on you, and that you enjoy. Yellow gold does not equal "cheap" by any means!!! It really is a matter of personal preference. Have you seen Scott Kay''s new line of 19KT gold settings? Breathtaking. I think the diamonds look gorgeous in them.

One other reason some people push platinum is allergies. This hearkens back to RockDoc''s post. Since gold has alloys mixed into it, some people have reactions to it. Platinum, being pure, does not do this as much (at all??).
 
ForteKitty, I didn't say that a platinum ring cost twice of what a gold ring would cost. I said the cost of the raw platinum was twice that of gold. Please read what rockdoc posted.

So for example, lets take a plain 6 prong Stuller Solstice mounting for a 2 carat diamond:
In 14K, if that mounting cost the jeweler about $100 and he sold it for $200 (normal keystone markup), he would make $100 plus maybe a labor setting charge.

In Platinum, that mounting would cost the jeweler about $350 and depending on how much profit he wanted, could sell it from $500 - 600 on up, so he would then make at least $150 dollars. And then if you add the extra labor costs to set the stone like rockdoc talked about, then the jeweler is making more money by selling platinum than gold.
 
Date: 3/3/2005 1
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8:56 AM
Author: cflutist
I didn't say that a platinum ring cost twice of what a gold ring would cost. I said the cost of the raw platinum was twice that of gold. Please read what rockdoc posted.

So for example, lets take a plain 6 prong Stuller Solstice mounting for a 2 carat diamond:
In 14K, if that mounting cost the jeweler about $100 and he sold it for $200 (normal keystone markup), he would make $100 plus maybe a labor setting charge.

In Platinum, that mounting would cost the jeweler about $350 and depending on how much profit he wanted, could sell it from $500 - 600 on up, so he would then make at least $150 dollars. And then if you add the extra labor costs to set the stone like rockdoc talked about, then the jeweler is making more money by selling platinum than gold.
I didn't say you did.

My jeweler generally charges for Plat. double what he would charge for 18k gold, which is why it doesn't make any sense that he's making more on plat. than gold, considering his costs for plat. is much higher. Perhaps he needs to charge more?

Last I checked, he was charging $200 for a 18K Lucida setting, and $425 for the Platinum version.
 
For me it's just a personal preference...I do not like gold jewelry at all and I only own one pair of gold earrings, given to me by Greg and so I keep them (he didn't know I didn't like gold when bought them for my birthday, 2 months into our relationship)...I only like white metals...this includes silver, white gold, and platinum...I'm not necessarily picky. I don't think YG looks cheap, it just isn't my cup of tea. Though it's a private joke with friends that 'yellow gold is tacky'. However, I have seen some amazing YG settings and some if done right can really make the white of a diamond *pop*...but some people like that all over white/silver look of a diamond in a platinum or WG setting..so it really is a preference. Also, YG has made a comeback in fashion mags over the last 2 years...so it's hardly just the stuff of corner stores.

In the end...get what YOU want and what you will want to look at day in and day out...this is going to be your ring! Who cares what anyone else thinks really. Except hubby to be who is paying for it of course...he gets some say.
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A suggestion: Select a setting with a platinum head and yellow gold shank.

The platinum head keeps the diamond looking as white as possible, but the yellow shank gives the yellow gold look you prefer on your skin tone.


I, too, am a YG wearer, but I didn''t want the prongs on my diamond to give a yellow cast to the stone, so this was my solution.


DSWF3stone1.jpg
 
Yup - you could do a mix of white and yellow gold. That''s what my current e-ring has and was all the rage in the mid-90''s when I got it. I also like that I feel like it allows me to mix metal colors for other jewelry I may be wearing - earrings, necklace, other rings. But when I get my new platinum e-ring I think I''ll still mix anyway. It works for me.
 
I thought most yellow gold rings used platinum heads as a matter of course? Or perhaps I just haven''t paid attention to yellow gold rings!

My best friends looks best in yellow gold so that''s all she wears. I''m the opposite, so I wear silvery colors. Go with what you like and don''t be swayed by marketing. That message changes, so it''s important to be true to your own tastes.
 
"Classy" and "tacky" are in the eye of the beholder and are very much subject to trends. What is classy or popular today may be tacky 10 years from now. Try on a bunch of different rings and get what you like.
 
White prongs might be a good idea to show the colorless-ness of the diamond. Lucida style rings have the crossed prongs attached to the shank, so it can't be that hard to make them of a different metal. Same goes for the seat of the stone.

Otherwise, I don't think you should change to platinum just because.
 
Yes, definetly get what YOU like. Styles will change. There's no stopping this! Many of the popular styles now are just *too popular* that they inevitably will fade from the spotlight.

If you don't mind possibly switching out your stone to a new setting some years down the road, then the concept of trends shouldn't matter.

My rings are yellow gold with a platinum head. Yellow gold looks better with my skin tone, BUT still, I do have some platinum earrings and necklaces because I do like to have some current styles to wear
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I like platinum for myself, but my daughter-in-law (age 25) has a gorgeous princess cut diamond w/ trilliants on each side. The head and prongs are platinum and the ring, which is 18K YG, is truly beautifu and looks lovely on herl.

Actually, I have seen quite a few younger women recently going with YG... I guess it all just goes round and round!

Lynn
 
If you are having second thoughts now, then don''t get the yg setting. You will hate it after you get it. If platinum is out of your budget, why not white gold? I love white gold. I don''t think yg compliments my skin tone. I think platinum and white gold look richer(color). Having said that, I see nice yellow gold settings too.
 
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