Looking for an upgrade. Thoughts on these RBs?

[sara_mm]

Hello!
I am new to PS and very excited to have found such a wonderful forum. You have all been so helpful (and I haven''t even posted yet!)

My husband and I got married this summer and we are on the hunt for an upgrade. "Already?" you say?

Well we actually got engaged 3.5 years ago while we were still in college...and now that we have been working for a bit we want something a little more representative of our lifestyle.

My current ring is .33ct RB solitaire and we are looking to get a 1ct RB solitaire. Cut and size are my priority and I am comfortable with H-I, SI1. I have visited the B&M store where my husband bought the original ring, I have looked online, and this week we went to a local wholesaler type shop. The diamonds at the B&M were mostly EGL non-US which makes me uncomfortable and I felt like they were reluctant to give me all the info I wanted.

The wholesaler has sent me 2 diamonds that look pretty good (to me...but clearly I am an amateur) and are reasonably priced. But I would love to hear any thoughts on them and see if there is something better online. I have yet to see the below diamonds in person, but will likely check them out out next week.

Any concerns?

 

[milton333]

Of the two, I like # 2 better. To give you an idea of some other options, or for price comparison, some of these might be interesting:

1.04 I SI1 ACA, AGS Ideal, should be $5,187 with the Pricescope discount, and should be stunning.

1.02 I SI1 H&A AGS Ideal, $5,085 with wire transfer (this looks super clean)

.95 H SI1 H&A AGS Ideal, $4754 (yes, it's a hair under the "magic carat weight," but it faces up at 6.36 mm).

These also look nice:

1.023 I SI1 Expert Selection, $4557 with wire transfer. This seems to be pretty comparable to your option #2, and it's cheaper.

1.01 I SI1 H&A, $5,042.50 with wire transfer

Since you're upgrading, and a future upgrade might be in the cards, I'd consider only dealing with a vendor that will allow you to upgrade and give you full credit for what you paid. Also, be aware of what the upgrade policy says - there was one place I was looking at that had an upgrade policy, but in the fine print, it only applied if you were going to spend at least 50% more than the original purchase from them. That's not totally unreasonable, but if you find you only want to adjust color or clarity and not so much size with an upgrade, you could be stuck not able to reach the 50% without spending more than you want to.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Those 2 look pretty good! Just look at them with a loupe and see which one appears the cleanest (that is assuming their face up appearance is equivalent, of course). But I agree with Milton about upgrade policies.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 12/29/2007 4:35:36 AM
Author: milton333
1.023 I SI1 Expert Selection, $4557 with wire transfer. This seems to be pretty comparable to your option #2, and it''s cheaper.



Since you''re upgrading, and a future upgrade might be in the cards, I''d consider only dealing with a vendor that will allow you to upgrade and give you full credit for what you paid. Also, be aware of what the upgrade policy says - there was one place I was looking at that had an upgrade policy, but in the fine print, it only applied if you were going to spend at least 50% more than the original purchase from them. That''s not totally unreasonable, but if you find you only want to adjust color or clarity and not so much size with an upgrade, you could be stuck not able to reach the 50% without spending more than you want to.

I like the one above Milton posted. I liked working w/WF and having the option to upgrade in the future.

The ones you listed look nice but buy an ideal scope just in case. Yay for a new diamond!

 

[sara_mm]

Thanks so much milton for finding those diamonds for comparison! I am glad to see the prices the vendor is giving me are in-line with online diamonds.
That 1.023 Expert selection does look nice. Do you think the price difference is because it lacks the AGS Ideal and H & A label?

Thank you also Skippy and diamondseeker. I have been thinking about getting an ideal scope and I hadn''t even thought about asking what the upgrade poilcy is! Thanks for reminding me! We are keeping the original e-ring for sentimental reasons....but I might be willing to trade this new one in at a later date.

Thanks again for all the help!