Looking for advise for 1st ring purchase

[KevinB]

Okay so I am looking to purchase a ring in the next month. I have been all over town with the girlfriend looking at rings and figuring out what she really wants. She has settled on an Emerald Cut Center stone with 2 princess or emerald cut stones on the side and then baggettes or small princess cuts in a channel setting down the sides. She also wants the band to be etched so that it has an antique look to it. Kinda like the Tacori style but not quite that ornate.

I have seen some local rings but the pricing from the local stores has been rather high compared to some of the stones etc that I have seen online.

I have some basic knowledge of stones now and the 4 c's but with the emerald cut stone it is pretty important to get good color and clarity because you can see right through the stone. I have seen a few stones in person but I'm scared to spend $2k on a stone without even seeing it in person. Although i really dont think I could tell quality with so little experience. I might be a little more concerned about they rest of the ring so I was thinking of getting the center stone and maybe the 2 side stones online and then have a ring made locally.

I would like some advise on this idea or if it would be just better to deal with someone locally who will warranty the ring and offer free cleanings and inspections over the life of the ring. Or if anyone has had good luck with having a ring made from an online store that would be great to get some references from.

Attached is pretty close to what she wants.

My budget is around $3500 total.
I was thinking of a .62-.72 Emerald Cut, Color F-H, VVS1-VS1.

I found this center stone on BlueNile but I dont know much about Flouresence and how noticable this will be.
Price - $1900
Carat weight: 0.68
Cut: Very Good
Color: F
Clarity: VVS2
Depth %: 59.1%
Table %: 64%
Symmetry: Very good
Polish: Very good
Girdle: Medium
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Strong blue
Measurements: 5.80x4.82x2.85 mm
Length/width ratio: 1.20

 

[Todd07]

some thoughts to consider


read up on using an independent appraiser. It enables you to buy over the internet with confidence. You can often send a stone to a local appraiser to view and discuss before you buy (the appraiser keeps the stone until you pay)




purchasing the setting is frequently seperate from buying the stones.




look through the show me the ring folder to get ideas and see the work of various PS vendors.

 

[ame]

id go w/ slight-med blue flour. Strong can make it look cloudyy.

 

[lugerxu]

That is a beatiful setting - who is ther designer of it/where did you see it?

 

[yowahking]

The ring style you posted is very nice. A couple of tips to evaluating how nice it is. One, the engraving on the sides are often cast in a mold and then just touched up by hand. This process is about $10 labor compared to doing it all by hand which is about $150 labor. The latter looks much bettter, but not always in the budget. Often the engraving is hiding pits in the ring from bad mass castings, look for tiny pin holes in the gold. Second, the center stone is a nice quality, don't worry about the flouresence, most strong blues are very pretty, not cloudy, and in sunlight will look great. The size may be a bit small too do the style that you selected. With the 5.8mm length, the princess cuts will be very small down the channel to give you the sam effect. The picture is probably for a 7mm center at least. The smallest princess cuts you probably want to do is 1.8mm. 2mm is really better.
Don't give up on locals, there are many who can do a great job and match any deal you find. Many just don't want to. Many forget that you may not know how to compare a finely made ring to a poorly made ring. Mass produced and custom can be either good and poor. I tell people just because the guy has a tall white hat does not mean your meal will taste great.

 

[KevinB]

That setting was one i found on Ebay. I have read through the forums and hadn't seen anyone purchase from that Ebay vendor so I would rather play it safe and go with one of the PS Vendors.

I think the thing i didnt like about that ring was that the band does look like it was cast rather than something that looks more unique and original.

The Center stone i posted above is not the center in the picture. I just found that one on BlueNile and was thinking of trying to find my own Center stone and then have the rest built.

My concern would be to get a center stone and the 2 side stones to go together well. I found that for a good quality Emerald I am going to have to stay under .75ct in order to stay at that $2000 dollar figure.

Here is the info I have gathered in regards to finding an emerald cut stone. Please correct me if you see any blatent errors or things i missed.

Length to width ratio: 1.3-1.5 (she prefers a matchbox look)
Table: 59 to 68%.
Depth: 60 to 69%.
(Ideally 65% table and 64.4% depth)
Crown angles from 32 to 36 degrees.
Girdle 'thin to thick'.
The polish and symmetry 'good to excellent'
Flr: None