Help Needed - Getting the Right Engagement Ring!

[wesli]

Hello all,

Let me first thank you all for the useful insights and resources! I’ve recently started looking for an engagement ring for my gf, hence a complete newbie (a very nervous one), and this forum has helped me kick start my search tremendously. So THANK YOU!!

Here is my story:

I originally started my research at Tiffany store, although I have no intention/money to buy there, just to get an impression of carat/clarity/shape of what I should expect and narrow down to the following criteria:
Shape: round/princess
Cut: excellent/ideal
Clarity: VS2 or better
Carat: >1.2 carat (round) or >1.3 carat (princess)
Color: ideally D-F (about to go in store again to check out G and H to see if there is significant difference)

Are these a solid criteria?

Initially I searched solely on bluenile but the lack of images left me unease and so I move onto whiteflash and jamesallen based on recommendations on this forum, where both of them seem to offer much more info than bluenile so that’s good.
And now, here comes another problem:

It looks like when comparing similar diamond of WF and JA, JA usually offers better pricing. Does anyone have any insights on this? Also, I’d love to offer the bling-est ring to my girl and would like to know the difference on WF’s ACA vs. Expert selection and on JA’s True Hears vs. Excellent.
And my final question is, after all a very important question, are WF and JA trustable? Obviously if you google their reviews, you’ll always find some horror stories to pick on. But please understand it really spikes my blood pressure when I need to spend 5-figure on an online store without seeing the diamond in person.

Thanks everyone in advance for your advice!
W

 

[JulieN]

Re: Help Needed - Getting a Right Engagement Ring!

The almighty question: is your budget reasonable for a 1.2 D-F VS2? I would expect to spend at least 10-15K.

Tiffany really pushes high color/clarity, IME. I personally wouldn't pay for D/E color.

 

[wesli]

Good question – it’s within the budget but of coz there’s no need to spend unnecessary money just to play a letter/number game.
I check out some comparison on youtube to see if I could spot any difference. Nope. D to F look exactly the same to me. G doesn’t look any worse side-by-side while H starts to look kinda yellowish to me. Hitting the store to compare in real person tonight.

 

[msop04]

Good question – it’s within the budget but of coz there’s no need to spend unnecessary money just to play a letter/number game.
I check out some comparison on youtube to see if I could spot any difference. Nope. D to F look exactly the same to me. G doesn’t look any worse side-by-side while H starts to look kinda yellowish to me. Hitting the store to compare in real person tonight.

Hi wesli
A few questions for you...

1. What is your budget for the diamond alone?
2. Do you know what type setting she wants/you'll get?
3. Was the video on youtube showing GIA stones? (just curious, since you felt the H looked yellow... an excellent cut GIA H should NOT look yellow at all)

Here are two JA stones that meet your criteria exactly:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...g-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-159095 HCA 0.9 $11,630 (7.02 x 7.09 mm)
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-e-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-213726 HCA 0.7 $13,560 (7.05 x 7.07 mm)

If you were willing to consider an H color:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-201430 HCA 0.7 $14,240 (7.44 x 7.48 mm)
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...arat-h-color-vs2-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-202817 HCA 1.9 $14,070 (7.43 x 7.45 mm)

FWIW, I think you should consider an H... they will be white and the size difference will be noticeable.

 

[msop04]

Don't know if this stone would be out of budget, but if you could swing it -- it's beautiful!

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...ls/1.553-f-si1-round-diamond-ags-104054186010 (7.40 x 7.44 mm) HCA 1.7 $15,811 (wire price)

 

[wesli]

Thanks everyone for the links and suggestions!

Just came back from the jewelers…definitely learnt a lot when comparing diamonds side by side and understand better under magnifiers. I found that G would be a good starting point since I was able to spot the yellowish color from H and lower (surprising given that I don’t have good eyes… )

1. I am hoping to pay $15K ex. sales tax for the diamond alone (given I am in CA, buying from JA, WF & BGD will save me sales tax)
2. 4 prong solitaire setting – she has this minimalist style. She rarely wears lots of accessories.
3. Sorry I am not sure. I think it’s from a guy called diamondguy or something. When looking from the top, it’s indistinguishable. But from the side, yes, it’s actually noticeable.

Wow msop04!! Your suggestions look great! I forgot to mention though – My gf is quite petite and her finger size is 4…guess a big one might look disproportional??

I think I am going to continue my research on the above mentioned website. Although I find it really overwhelming that they seem to have different grading systems and their trademarked system…and I simply don’t know which one to believe.

Anyone can shed some lights on this?

 

[AprilBaby]

Yes, JA and WF are reputable! I have several ACA and I love them! I would stick with G or above and eye clean. Give your vendor your budget and ask them what they can do for you. WF has always been more than helpful and I'm sure JA would be too. The "diamond guy" has a kinda shady reputation if I remember right. Google about him and see.

 

[wesli]

I’ve spent a few hours on each website so far and WF’s given the best impression, although generally they are a bit more expensive than JA. BGD is the priciest one among all.

Being “eye clean’ is really important indeed! And while little crystals or spots don’t bother me much, feather and needle are def no-no. (slight OCD on my part haha )

Is it even possible to ask the customer service to send me addition pics? For example, under different lightings? I’d love to see the brilliance and fire of some but the pictures sometimes don’t show them…

So far, I have my mind set on a few H&A ones. Brilliance still trumps carat in my heart (although I know some ladies would disagree, but hey I am a dude! I really can’t tell the 0.2 carat difference!! )