cettesaphir
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2018
- Messages
- 87
Hi all... I'm engaged!! My boyfriend popped the question four weeks ago today on a mini romantic getaway in NH
Scroll to the bottom for photos/videos, otherwise, read on for my saga:
I joined this forum however long ago because I've always loved jewelry, but also because I knew the relationship I was in was heading towards engagement/marriage and wanted to be prepared for when it was time to buy such a meaningful ring! I've been admiring everyone's fantastic bling, learning about ideal cuts, discovering OEC/OMC cuts, etc. I've been saving dozens of links/photos of setting inspirations, not being able to decide between something more vintage/antique, more modern, something in between, white gold or two-tone, 4 or 6 prongs, something off the shelf or something custom made...honestly I love them all. I figured my boyfriend and I would go to jewelry stores to try on a bunch of styles to see what I liked best, or he could propose with a stand-in ring and we go shopping together afterwards.
Much to my surprise...he proposed with an Old European cut diamond set on a simple 18k gold cathedral band with platinum prongs! He didn't consult anyone (ie my sister) and instead used all of the hints that I thought he wasn't listening to. And honestly...I'm glad he made the decision for me, since it's perfect. The diamond's faceting is gorgeous, it looks very white, it's eye-clean, and....that's all I knew about it! I almost died inside when he said the jeweler didn't give him any sort of information about the diamond - no appraisal, no certificate - just one line item on the receipt.
My amazing fiancé is not one to dive into diamond research (my passion, not his!), so I gave him a list of questions to ask the jeweler. We ended up just going to the jeweler together where the salesperson wrote up an appraisal that estimated 1.21, K, SI2, approximately 6.7mm. I was thrilled! I was always hoping to pass the 1 carat or 6mm mark, and had a soft spot for Ks (my .34 ACA necklace is a K) and the slight warmth it gives old cuts - even though this one just seemed so white to me (not a bad thing).
I decided that - for even further peace of mind (and also insurance purposes) - I wanted to have it looked at by an outside appraiser. Not that I didn't particularly trust the jeweler (they're a well-established small chain in the Boston area), but I was (and still am) surprised at the price my fiancé paid for what he supposedly got.
Well...she confirmed that it's not clarity enhanced, it didn't test as a lab diamond, SI2 was accurate (just lucky placement of inclusions - see ring profile photo below), carat/mm was on point...but that the color was wrong. She graded it as an H-I! This made sense to me based on what I thought a K would look like in real life, but I'm still shocked because I would expect a diamond like this to sell for at least 1.5x as much based on what I've seen.
So, here I am, engaged with a beautiful ring (and, of course, my wonderful man) that is somehow even more perfect than I could have imagined. It comes to life in low lighting and of course sunlight, and I can't stop staring at it!
Obligatory photo and video dump below!
Scroll to the bottom for photos/videos, otherwise, read on for my saga:
I joined this forum however long ago because I've always loved jewelry, but also because I knew the relationship I was in was heading towards engagement/marriage and wanted to be prepared for when it was time to buy such a meaningful ring! I've been admiring everyone's fantastic bling, learning about ideal cuts, discovering OEC/OMC cuts, etc. I've been saving dozens of links/photos of setting inspirations, not being able to decide between something more vintage/antique, more modern, something in between, white gold or two-tone, 4 or 6 prongs, something off the shelf or something custom made...honestly I love them all. I figured my boyfriend and I would go to jewelry stores to try on a bunch of styles to see what I liked best, or he could propose with a stand-in ring and we go shopping together afterwards.
Much to my surprise...he proposed with an Old European cut diamond set on a simple 18k gold cathedral band with platinum prongs! He didn't consult anyone (ie my sister) and instead used all of the hints that I thought he wasn't listening to. And honestly...I'm glad he made the decision for me, since it's perfect. The diamond's faceting is gorgeous, it looks very white, it's eye-clean, and....that's all I knew about it! I almost died inside when he said the jeweler didn't give him any sort of information about the diamond - no appraisal, no certificate - just one line item on the receipt.
My amazing fiancé is not one to dive into diamond research (my passion, not his!), so I gave him a list of questions to ask the jeweler. We ended up just going to the jeweler together where the salesperson wrote up an appraisal that estimated 1.21, K, SI2, approximately 6.7mm. I was thrilled! I was always hoping to pass the 1 carat or 6mm mark, and had a soft spot for Ks (my .34 ACA necklace is a K) and the slight warmth it gives old cuts - even though this one just seemed so white to me (not a bad thing).
I decided that - for even further peace of mind (and also insurance purposes) - I wanted to have it looked at by an outside appraiser. Not that I didn't particularly trust the jeweler (they're a well-established small chain in the Boston area), but I was (and still am) surprised at the price my fiancé paid for what he supposedly got.
Well...she confirmed that it's not clarity enhanced, it didn't test as a lab diamond, SI2 was accurate (just lucky placement of inclusions - see ring profile photo below), carat/mm was on point...but that the color was wrong. She graded it as an H-I! This made sense to me based on what I thought a K would look like in real life, but I'm still shocked because I would expect a diamond like this to sell for at least 1.5x as much based on what I've seen.
So, here I am, engaged with a beautiful ring (and, of course, my wonderful man) that is somehow even more perfect than I could have imagined. It comes to life in low lighting and of course sunlight, and I can't stop staring at it!
Obligatory photo and video dump below!
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