If you could do it all again....

[Gypsy]

If you could go back... with the same budget what would you change about your diamond... or your setting?

I love my asscher. And I won't upgrade it, and once it's re-set the whole ring is permanent (my $250 setting was meant to be temporary when we bought it).

But... looking back?

I would have liked to have requested our jeweler bring in a couple of square cushions... or if I'd known about the Jubilee ( I loove Lucida's) .... It would have let me pick a setting that costs less that I would love as much as the baguette halo I'm getting. Or an oval set east-west... gotta love the spread on a nice fat (l/w ration around 1.2 oval. Look at the size of this oval here! It's lighter than mine, cheaper than mine, 1.5mm longer and as wide as mine!!! And it's a D!!!

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&item=834418

I know, this is sacrilege to most asscher owners. But it's been a difficult diamond for me to match with a setting I like.

I know I won't have any doubt about my re-set if it all goes at planned, however.

Still... would you do anything differently?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I have stayed consistent on wanting a RB for my e-ring, but I''d love to have an asscher or cushion as an alternate!

The setting issue makes me crazy, I have had and am sticking with a Tiffany style setting which I love with a diamond band, but I also love the antique look of Tacori, Beaudry, Leon Mege, etc. I''d also love a Mark Morrell. So I really need more than one set!!!

 

[glaucomflecken]

I probably would have gotten an ACA diamond in a lower color with a larger size and put it into a Memoire shared prong set. i love my set but i went through a lot to get it so it would have taken away a lot of mental anguish!

 

[diamondfan]

I love love love my emerald cut, but would consider traps on the side or a split shank...but think the stone might be too big to do that and have it work well proportionally...

 

[Small]

Well my original e-ring is marquise so since my tastes have definitely changed I would have at least not been so set on that and looked at trying on some other cuts.
I have a new RB now...ideal cut and I love it. If my husband wasn''t so sentimental about my marquise then I''d wear the RB full time. As it stands now I wear the marquise every other day to appease him

Soooo if I could go back with all of my knowledge I''d have chosen an ideal cut RB and told him not to trade in the ring he had for his ex. I would have had him try to sell it or maybe I would have set it in a pendant or something. The trade in thing at the mall store really killed us...he had to spend double and my ring is definitely NOT worth what he paid...way overpriced

In any case I have the RB now so I guess I don''t have any complaints!

 

[Scintillating]

Good topic!
I'd have gone with a higher color grade of E and lower clarity SI1.
(I have a H&As G-VS2 - I can see warmth and I don't like it.)
Also, I'd have tried harder to see a few different stones in person - and looked at some Cushion Brillants. I gave up on the cushion search over the internet, it was just too hard.
Lastly, I would have asked for Leon M's suggestions more than just telling him what I thought I wanted.

But, I'm very attached to my ring so it's all okay.

Scintillating...

 

[mia15]

Scintillating, I''m thinking of working with Leon Mege and was wondering you could elaborate? Did you feel like he wanted to make suggestions? I''m curious about how he works. I do love your ring, though, so it''s probably all good either way!

 

[Lorelei]

As I have been married for a long time, I have done this many times since my original e-ring

....I have made some not so great choices along the way, had some different shapes but I just love where I am at now, it was the right choice for me. I was lucky to have so many other chances and the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and ultimately get it right. So would I do anything differently with the same budget? Absolutely not! My large warmer colour round in the double prong basket setting is perfect for me and furthermore it hasn''t shrunk!

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 5/10/2006 6:07:11 AM
Author: emeraldlover
Scintillating, I''m thinking of working with Leon Mege and was wondering you could elaborate? Did you feel like he wanted to make suggestions? I''m curious about how he works. I do love your ring, though, so it''s probably all good either way!

Leon made my ring: many people WORSHIP him..........others have had more difficult experiences. mine was traumatic. Leon does beautiful work but I have observed that if he doesnt like or approve of what you want or thinks it should be different etc it can be sticky. I think the people with the real success have either 1)selected a design based on an existing model of his, 2) selected something very simple (ie, pave''d solitaire and split prongs) or 3) given him carte blanche. In my case, I had a very strong idea of what I wanted and had a photo of an antique brooch to copy components of the brooch in the sides and shank of the ring --and he gave me his version with huge trapezoids instead of tiny ones to blend into the band and a significant alteration to the design. In the end the ring is magnificent and unusual BUT I spent 2000 more than I planned and it had to be sent back for some adjustments. Just make sure you have a good sketch and a solid estimate.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 5/10/2006 6:19:59 AM
Author: Lorelei
As I have been married for a long time, I have done this many times since my original e-ring

....I have made some not so great choices along the way, had some different shapes but I just love where I am at now, it was the right choice for me. I was lucky to have so many other chances and the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and ultimately get it right. So would I do anything differently with the same budget? Absolutely not! My large warmer colour round in the double prong basket setting is perfect for me and furthermore it hasn''t shrunk!

Lorelei:

If this too nosy just say but how many times have you changed your ring since the original? and I am not familiar with your ring--is there a picture anywhere?

 

[mrssalvo]

I''ve been thinking along these lines as I prepare for my own upgrade. I found PS while searching for a new setting and look where it''s talken me

. Anyway, I know what I choose now is going to have to tide me over for a loooooooong time. Hubby''s actually come around and said this doesn''t have to be it if I want to change again sometime down the road but I know there are so many other things I want to do in life than save up a bunch more $$ for a bigger/better e-ring. So, I trying to get exactly what i want so I wil hopefully be very content. It also seems the grass is always greener, that no matter what you have there is always going to be something else out there that you like or want. Every time a new Leon ring, or MM, or latest 3-stone, or antique setting shows up on here, I start second guess my choices.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 5/10/2006 8:08:47 AM
Author: mrssalvo
I''ve been thinking along these lines as I prepare for my own upgrade. I found PS while searching for a new setting and look where it''s talken me

. Anyway, I know what I choose now is going to have to tide me over for a loooooooong time. Hubby''s actually come around and said this doesn''t have to be it if I want to change again sometime down the road but I know there are so many other things I want to do in life than save up a bunch more $$ for a bigger/better e-ring. So, I trying to get exactly what i want so I wil hopefully be very content. It also seems the grass is always greener, that no matter what you have there is always going to be something else out there that you like or want. Every time a new Leon ring, or MM, or latest 3-stone, or antique setting shows up on here, I start second guess my choices.

so--i cant remember: what do you have and what do you want?

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 5/10/2006 8:09:49 AM
Author: windowshopper

Date: 5/10/2006 8:08:47 AM

Author: mrssalvo

I've been thinking along these lines as I prepare for my own upgrade. I found PS while searching for a new setting and look where it's talken me

.

so--i cant remember: what do you have and what do you want?

It's a long story in various places on here but a quick summary. My old stone was damaged and i turned it into insurance. I began looking for new stone and decided it would be a good time to upgrade. I've been all over the map in setting choices and had been set on another round until seeing the Daniel K cushion split crown setting in person. It quickly went to the top of my list along with a Michael B pave setting. And I still haven't decided but am very, very close

 

[windowshopper]

a round brilliant?

 

[Gonzodogg]

I would have waited to find a higher color and lower clarity.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 5/10/2006 8:21:14 AM
Author: windowshopper
a round brilliant?

yes

. it''s hard to give up the spread difference.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 5/10/2006 8:29:11 AM
Author: mrssalvo

Date: 5/10/2006 8:21:14 AM
Author: windowshopper
a round brilliant?

yes

. it''s hard to give up the spread difference.

its funny. we have a close friend with a 4 plus round and my husband said why dont you just get a round.......................sometimes i think it would be so much easier! my 2 cents on whatever setting you go with is to do something super simple but with detail--like the michael B . i ve always been into elaborate settings myself BUT as i get older I just want a great stone..................and i want it to be asy to wear.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 5/10/2006 8:33:21 AM
Author: windowshopper

Date: 5/10/2006 8:29:11 AM

Author: mrssalvo

Date: 5/10/2006 8:21:14 AM

Author: windowshopper

a round brilliant?

yes

. it''s hard to give up the spread difference.

its funny. we have a close friend with a 4 plus round and my husband said why dont you just get a round.......................sometimes i think it would be so much easier! my 2 cents on whatever setting you go with is to do something super simple but with detail--like the michael B . i ve always been into elaborate settings myself BUT as i get older I just want a great stone..................and i want it to be asy to wear.

Thanks WS. That is the direction I''m leaning. I love, love the daniel K, but having owned a RB for 5 years, worry that over time, I''ll wish I''d gotten another round. If I do the MB, i''m going for one-sided pave and i''ll probably do pave on the the prongs. I actually prefer the look over the 3 sided on me. The 3-sided rings are pieces of ART and stunning and it''s hard not to do it but I think in the long run I will be happier with one sided.

sorry for the threadjack gypsy

 

[Sundial]

I have upgraded a number of times over the years, but with the latest one if I could do it all again I would have kept from husband from overpaying for a Hearts on Fire ring and bought online. However I absolutely love my ring and the workmanship has been excellent and the diamonds are breathtaking so I have made my peace with it. It was nice that he got involved in the upgrade.

 

[rainbowtrout]

I think I would have pushed FI more towards a plainer die-struck setting instead of the cast one he purchased. It''s just so fragile..

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/10/2006 8:01:15 AM
Author: windowshopper

Date: 5/10/2006 6:19:59 AM
Author: Lorelei
As I have been married for a long time, I have done this many times since my original e-ring

....I have made some not so great choices along the way, had some different shapes but I just love where I am at now, it was the right choice for me. I was lucky to have so many other chances and the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and ultimately get it right. So would I do anything differently with the same budget? Absolutely not! My large warmer colour round in the double prong basket setting is perfect for me and furthermore it hasn''t shrunk!

Lorelei:

If this too nosy just say but how many times have you changed your ring since the original? and I am not familiar with your ring--is there a picture anywhere?

Yikes, I will count up.....I don''t have a pic of it anywhere yet, almost done with our camera probs but when it is working I will post it.

Lets see....seven times...

 

[windowshopper]

Lorelei:

dont be embarassed...........I think that the engagement ring is largely meaningless. In my opinion its a beautiful piece of jewelry that makes us happy for a variety of reasons. i love my husband very much but i am simply not a sentimental person about this stuff. I keep locks of my son''s hair in a little box in my dresser and i have a wedding photo of me and my husband with a date engraved on it---the first day we ever met. those things mean far more than my e-ring. i think us diamond and jewelry nuts share things like romance, perhaps an artistic bent, perhaps some of us our glamour girls (not I)--anyway my point is that a gorgeous diamond ring makes us happy and feel special..........................for all sorts of reasons.

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks WS

I know what you mean, I was lucky enough to be able to keep all the rings rather than upgrade

but my first 20 pointer diamond means a lot to me, that is my e-ring, the others are lovely with 2 in particular being my faves, but the others I am not sentimentally attached to, they were a nice step on the journey to what I have now.

 

[windowshopper]

holy cow---you have quite the jewelry box. i have very little jewelry (and i wouldnt keep an existing "e-ring" if i could..............) i''d never wear the old one. I wear the same stuff every day..................i am very boring. do you wear all the rings?

 

[lumpkin]

In the end I don''t think I would ever be satisfied completely. Not that I''m greedy, but I like so many different styles and cuts. I''m not sure I''d have done anything differently than I have, but I''m sure that if I allowed myself and had the money, I''d change what I have, then change it again, and change it again.

However, if I had it to do over again, I had found a beautiful platinum ring with a nice large pear with baguettes on either side, Harry Winston style. We ultimately ended up spending more money than that ring cost, but we did it in increments. It was a G, VS 1.73 pear, but it actually faced up larger than mine. My husband just does not like pears and we went through a few other stones before I got this pear. I sometimes wish we had gotten that ring.

 

[Lorelei]

I wear 2 mainly, one on my wedding finger and one as a right hand ring when I go out, but the others not really.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 5/10/2006 10:23:16 AM
Author: lumpkin
In the end I don''t think I would ever be satisfied completely. Not that I''m greedy, but I like so many different styles and cuts. I''m not sure I''d have done anything differently than I have, but I''m sure that if I allowed myself and had the money, I''d change what I have, then change it again, and change it again.

However, if I had it to do over again, I had found a beautiful platinum ring with a nice large pear with baguettes on either side, Harry Winston style. We ultimately ended up spending more money than that ring cost, but we did it in increments. It was a G, VS 1.73 pear, but it actually faced up larger than mine. My husband just does not like pears and we went through a few other stones before I got this pear. I sometimes wish we had gotten that ring.

spoken like a true addict --i can relate.........................

 

[Kaylyn]

I love my ring and have no intention on upgrading, but if I could do one thing...I''d get something like a Niwaka. For the longest time I thought I wanted Tacori, but I''m afraid it would have been too fussy on me. Then I saw Niwaka. My goodness, so similar to my ring but yet...they just have something more.

I want this one:

Just my style.

 

[FireGoddess]

The only thing I wish is that I had found PS before upgrading my stone. I love everything about my setting and my stone except for the fact that the stone is deeper than desired and therefore faces up smaller than it should. This is somewhat countered by the fact that it is a pear so it already faces up bigger than a round, but knowing it could and should look even bigger is sometimes nagging. But finding the stone was a somewhat serendipitous event, thought I was calling in a G, it was a D, and it was love at first sight. Sometimes the number thing just nags at me, and then I realize I'm being somewhat PS-obsessed ridiculous and I snap out of it.

Plus the halo makes the ring kinda honkin, which also makes up for it.

 

[windowshopper]

Date: 5/10/2006 10:59:12 AM
Author: FireGoddess
The only thing I wish is that I had found PS before upgrading my stone. I love everything about my setting and my stone except for the fact that the stone is deeper than desired and therefore faces up smaller than it should. This is somewhat countered by the fact that it is a pear so it already faces up bigger than a round, but knowing it could and should look even bigger is sometimes nagging. But finding the stone was a somewhat serendipitous event, thought I was calling in a G, it was a D, and it was love at first sight. Sometimes the number thing just nags at me, and then I realize I''m being somewhat PS-obsessed ridiculous and I snap out of it.

Plus the halo makes the ring kinda honkin, which also makes up for it.

Firegoddess--your ring is just about my favorite on pricescope..........while i love a gorgeous cushion with micropave........there are a lot out there now! yours is fabulous! may i ask the carats?