Hey everyone, just found this site and it has proven very helpful so far in my search for an ERing. First I should say my budget is about $7k. I could push to $8k if necessary. She wants a Princess cut for sure.
I started my searching online and of course I started with Blue Nile and learned about the 4C's and whatnot. I wasn't too impressed with what they had as far as settings where concerned. Then I found Brilliant Earth and I really really liked what I found there. I loaded up about 20 choices for my girlfriend to browse and there were several I could tell she really likes. Prices for diamonds seemed right also. Then I come on here and also find James Allen as well as tons of other smaller outfits. I really like with James Allen how you can see the actual diamond and most have the AGSL Light Performace map which is really nice. And my girlfriend loves loves loves the settings.
I get an iffy feeling with the 3D CAD models of the rings and for some reason I feel like JA stuff would look cheap in real life compared to the models they show but that could be just me. I was searching through the diamonds there and found this one I really liked:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.04-carat-h-color-vvs2-clarity-sku-258635
Light map on it really struck me as very symmetrical compared to anything else I had ever seen on the site. But before I did anything online so yesterday....
I went and visited every store I could think of and looked at hundreds of diamonds. Frankly I was repulsed by the salespeople and products I was looking at. I walk in, tell them my budget, and they would immediately start showing me things about $3k-$4k above what I wanted, just so I could get a feel for their product...
And then of course every store claimed they had the most perfect cut in world. And then worse of all the lady at Helzberg literally told me more about their company and Warren Buffet than she actually tried to talk to me about diamonds. "Mr. Buffet wants it this way...Mr. Buffet does this"...blah blah blah I don't really give a you-know-what!!
The best experience I had by far was a local outfit that has been in business a long time. They carried Hearts on Fire as well as some custom made stuff. HOF was nice but the settings weren't very impressive and rather average. Also for $9000 you only get a 0.75 carrat stone which is rather sad.
So now I guess I just need some advice and moreso some direction. Is James Allen stuff worth the money? Am I gunna really get what I pay for concerning their True Hearts Cuts? I really like being able to see the stone before I buy, and would almost go on that alone for piece of mind. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
I started my searching online and of course I started with Blue Nile and learned about the 4C's and whatnot. I wasn't too impressed with what they had as far as settings where concerned. Then I found Brilliant Earth and I really really liked what I found there. I loaded up about 20 choices for my girlfriend to browse and there were several I could tell she really likes. Prices for diamonds seemed right also. Then I come on here and also find James Allen as well as tons of other smaller outfits. I really like with James Allen how you can see the actual diamond and most have the AGSL Light Performace map which is really nice. And my girlfriend loves loves loves the settings.
I get an iffy feeling with the 3D CAD models of the rings and for some reason I feel like JA stuff would look cheap in real life compared to the models they show but that could be just me. I was searching through the diamonds there and found this one I really liked:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.04-carat-h-color-vvs2-clarity-sku-258635
Light map on it really struck me as very symmetrical compared to anything else I had ever seen on the site. But before I did anything online so yesterday....
I went and visited every store I could think of and looked at hundreds of diamonds. Frankly I was repulsed by the salespeople and products I was looking at. I walk in, tell them my budget, and they would immediately start showing me things about $3k-$4k above what I wanted, just so I could get a feel for their product...
And then of course every store claimed they had the most perfect cut in world. And then worse of all the lady at Helzberg literally told me more about their company and Warren Buffet than she actually tried to talk to me about diamonds. "Mr. Buffet wants it this way...Mr. Buffet does this"...blah blah blah I don't really give a you-know-what!!The best experience I had by far was a local outfit that has been in business a long time. They carried Hearts on Fire as well as some custom made stuff. HOF was nice but the settings weren't very impressive and rather average. Also for $9000 you only get a 0.75 carrat stone which is rather sad.
So now I guess I just need some advice and moreso some direction. Is James Allen stuff worth the money? Am I gunna really get what I pay for concerning their True Hearts Cuts? I really like being able to see the stone before I buy, and would almost go on that alone for piece of mind. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
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