Some time ago, I decided it was time to purchase ''one of those'' rings for a certain someone. So far so good...
I''m not a big fan of all the wedding hype and other baggage that come with mined stones. I have a PhD in engineering, so the idea of a man-made stone appeals to me. She has a PhD in chemistry, I hope it will appeal to her too. So, I had decided on a synthesized stone. So far so good...
Budget... Not sure what to say here. I have more in savings than I think she would feel comfortable wearing on a finger. Don''t really have a rational way to set a budget - need to do that before being thrown to the wolves. Point is, price wasn''t the reason for going synthetic.
Now the complicating factors...
I don''t think either one of us would want a colored stone. Rare they may be, white is for me.
I want her to be a part of choosing the stone/ring, but I still want it to be as much of a surprise as possible.
I live in a small town in CA. She lives in Baltimore MD. Things start getting complicated...
My ''plan'' was to contact some jewelery stores in Baltimore and arrange to have some stones ready to look at when I come to visit (Thanksgiving weekend).
I came up with this some time ago, but have done absolutely nothing to make it happen until today. Hence the hurry...
Now that I''m looking into it, I can''t find a suitable store (that works in synthetics). I don''t know that white synthetic stones matching my hopes exist. Reading online about the individuality of each stone caused by its cut leaves me with much apprehension about buying online (or in person for that matter).
Rather than being pressured into picking a stone after visiting a store or two in an unfamiliar city, I''ve changed the plan a bit.
''Plan B''... Buy a loose stone before traveling to Baltimore. Present it to her and go shopping for settings during T-day weekend.
So, is it possible to do a good job of buying a stone (mined or synthetic) in this time frame?
Given:
1) I live in a small town.
2) My full time job is pretty demanding (> 60hrs/wk)
3) I need stone in hand before boarding the plane Nov 25 early AM
If it is possible, where do I go to find the best selection (and best) synthetic stones?
If it isn''t possible, what do you recommend?
From what I can find, these are the manufacturers:
Apollo - White diamonds, < 0.5ct, sold in jewelery only. No retailers. No details of stones given online.
Gemesis - Colored diamonds, retailers exist - not where I need them.
Other smaller places which sell various colored stones:
Chatham Created Gems
Lucent Diamonds
New Age Diamonds
Thanks.
Rob
I''m not a big fan of all the wedding hype and other baggage that come with mined stones. I have a PhD in engineering, so the idea of a man-made stone appeals to me. She has a PhD in chemistry, I hope it will appeal to her too. So, I had decided on a synthesized stone. So far so good...
Budget... Not sure what to say here. I have more in savings than I think she would feel comfortable wearing on a finger. Don''t really have a rational way to set a budget - need to do that before being thrown to the wolves. Point is, price wasn''t the reason for going synthetic.
Now the complicating factors...
I don''t think either one of us would want a colored stone. Rare they may be, white is for me.
I want her to be a part of choosing the stone/ring, but I still want it to be as much of a surprise as possible.
I live in a small town in CA. She lives in Baltimore MD. Things start getting complicated...
My ''plan'' was to contact some jewelery stores in Baltimore and arrange to have some stones ready to look at when I come to visit (Thanksgiving weekend).
I came up with this some time ago, but have done absolutely nothing to make it happen until today. Hence the hurry...
Now that I''m looking into it, I can''t find a suitable store (that works in synthetics). I don''t know that white synthetic stones matching my hopes exist. Reading online about the individuality of each stone caused by its cut leaves me with much apprehension about buying online (or in person for that matter).
Rather than being pressured into picking a stone after visiting a store or two in an unfamiliar city, I''ve changed the plan a bit.
''Plan B''... Buy a loose stone before traveling to Baltimore. Present it to her and go shopping for settings during T-day weekend.
So, is it possible to do a good job of buying a stone (mined or synthetic) in this time frame?
Given:
1) I live in a small town.
2) My full time job is pretty demanding (> 60hrs/wk)
3) I need stone in hand before boarding the plane Nov 25 early AM
If it is possible, where do I go to find the best selection (and best) synthetic stones?
If it isn''t possible, what do you recommend?
From what I can find, these are the manufacturers:
Apollo - White diamonds, < 0.5ct, sold in jewelery only. No retailers. No details of stones given online.
Gemesis - Colored diamonds, retailers exist - not where I need them.
Other smaller places which sell various colored stones:
Chatham Created Gems
Lucent Diamonds
New Age Diamonds
Thanks.
Rob