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Looking for some help finding a comparable...

J

jskatt21

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 11, 2012
Messages
39
I am looking for someones expert help and advice on finding a comparable ring to this one:
http://www.kay.com/product1|10101|10001|-1|80108800|15051|
080108800_sv_pd.jpg 080108800_mv_pd.jpg

My gf picked this one out and we went to the store to check it out and she is in love with it. Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated!
 
Thanks I cheked the site and had problems navigating. I am really not sure how to go about doing this.

Is this a pretty standard setting? And cut?

Do i just buy from the big box store or do I buy online?

Just need direction. I have seen in the past that people have located the settings and diamonds and usually get more bang for the buck.
 
What exactly are you looking to purchase? The ring you are showing has a very small center stone with quite larger melee stones in the halo, and the workmanship is not spectacular. This is one instance where I believe that mall jewelers are ripping people off by selling halo'd rings for their "total carat weight" while hiding a small, poorly cut, lower-color stone at the center of the ring.

Many younger women are looking for a blingy ring, often at the expense of the center stone. IMO, that priority is misplaced, for several reasons. First, I think the setting should enhance the center stone. Yes, you can halo to add size, but it's still about enhancement of the center stone.

Second, these kinds of pave rings are just unlikely to hold up for a lifetime of marriage. Or your GF will need to resize the ring, which may not be doable with all the pave. Or in 10 or 20 years, you're going to have more money and want to "upgrade." If you spent most of your money on the setting, not the diamond, then there's nothing to upgrade, really, you need a new stone and new elaborate setting.

So, having said that, here are my questions:

1. Is your GF set on an emerald cut center stone? If so, has she tried on rings with just emerald cut stones (solitaires) to confirm that she likes the light performance of this cut, and to get a sense of her color tolerance? Is she open to other shapes with a halo setting? Keep in mind that squarish shapes tend to face up smaller for the same carat weight as rounds.

2. What does she like about the ring above? Is it the shape of the halo? The sparkle/shimmer of a pave setting? The size it adds to the center stone? (She'll be tempted to say "the complete package," but it's good to really think about what about is appealing in this ring for her).

3. What's your budget, total?

4. Would she consider getting a solitaire now and a halo setting at some point in the future, maybe before the wedding, for the first anniversary, etc.? I ask because most mall pave settings are poorly-executed. A well-crafted pave setting is expensive. A really finely-crafted one is VERY expensive. Your budget will go further if you'd don't try to do it all at once. Most women (especially those on PS) do not get elaborate designer settings when they get engaged, they get them as re-sets down the line.

5. Would you and she be open to pre-loved/vintage?
 
Just to give an example, for the same price you'd pay for the Kay ring, you could get a larger emerald-cut stone in a higher-quality setting (the Kay ring's melee are I1-I2 clarity, you'll likely see carbon spots).

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Very-Good-Cut-Emerald-Diamond-1463015.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/pave/14k-white-gold-pave-halo-diamond-engagement-ring-17303w14.html (less elaborate halo, better quality)
http://www.gabrielny.com/engaged/style/ER8020W44JJ
http://www.gabrielny.com/engaged/style/ER3918W44JJ (Vintage vibe, would need to boost budget a bit)

ETA: I guess what I'm getting at re: the Kay ring is that it's too good to be true. A complete ring with center diamond and pave halo for $2,500 is too good to be true. There are shortcuts to drive down the cost. They are in the quality and size of the center stone, the quality of the melee, and the quality of workmanship in the ring.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, this is why I came here. But I will be honest as well i do not know much about these things either.

To answer your questions:
1. She is not set on the emerald cut stone. She has tried a few rings on, this one caught her eye.

2. The things she likes is mostly the shape of the stone, it is more rectangular, and she felt focused on the diamond. Others we tried took away from the diamond, she likes the engagement look of it if that makes sense. Appears bigger than what it is, then still pops to her with the bands as well. I think she is open to anything to be honest, this just spoke to her.

3. Well this is our other area. I was previously married so I have my ring, as well as my exes ring. Kays is trying to lure us in by stating I can get full paid value if buying at least double that amount. So i would have $1000 total to spend, however I would rather not do that there, just do not know where or how to sell old rings. I would like to spend 2-3k if possible. The 3k was with their trade in or me selling.

4. So what you are saying is get the solitaire for engagement and then upgrade later? This is new to me just from what we looked at. So do people add bands or what is recommended with the solitaire? I like the solitaire option first as it will showcase the what she wants, which is during the engagement. The question is what to do after? Advice?

5. Possibly, not sure.
 
Just to add to this, I want to thank you once again for how you laid this all out.

You took the time to educate and inform me, and this is what I was looking for. Upon stumbling on this site I have found it useful in that very way. We found something she liked in the store, and I have an idea of going into other stores what she will like, and no matter what I get she will love it. I just want to get the best my money can buy, and I think she will appreciate what I have done (or others have done :D ) in getting this.
 
Just a suggestion, but you and your girl should cruise through the Show Me the Bling forum. I'm pretty sure that you guys can find lots of inspiring rings there. If your girl likes a rectangular shapes, be sure to check out Good Old Gold. I like the AVR cushions. Emeralds to me just don't have enough sparkle, plus you need the higher clarity and higher colors to do them justice. Like milton, I would get a larger center diamond with smaller stones on the band. It just looks right to me as that show cases the center stone. Of course there are million variations, you just need to figure which one she loves. I would not use Kay's this time, start fresh with a Pricescope vendor.
 
Okay, so everyone works with a budget. Yours is going to be a bit of a stretch to get a good-quality, decent sized emerald cut in a halo. There's nothing wrong with making every dollar stretch, but be aware that you're going to need to make careful choices to maximize your budget.

You say that your GF likes the shape of the Kay ring. Does she actually like the faceting pattern of emerald cuts, which are different from the light performance of cuts like rounds? Or would a rectangular/squarish halo satisfy the "shape" need, while freeing you up to look at different shaped center stones? Here, for example, is a round stone in a squarish halo [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-pre-wedding-e-ring-reset-by-sareen.160853/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-pre-wedding-e-ring-reset-by-sareen.160853/[/URL]

I've heard a lot of young women say that round brilliant cuts are "boring." But they are the easiest to shop for with a limited budget. There's tons of selection, there are respected laboratories that directly grade light performance (the whole point of a diamond), and you can use tools like the HCA and Idealscope to evaluate light performance yourself. By way of example, I was looking for an emerald cut from a vendor that offers pictures, and really only found one decent looking one in your budget. And that would have to be evaluated by the vendor for light performance, it may turn out to be a dud. There are probably hundreds of round diamonds available in your budget. Probably hundreds of princesses (though this shape will face up smaller than a comparable carat weight round).

Moreover, it's easy to get a setting for other shapes (rounds and square shapes in particular) because they are uniform in size. For example, it's easy to make a 4-prong setting for a round shape, since it's basically the same diameter all around. But emeralds can vary substantially in their length-width ratio, so finding an off-the-shelf setting option for an emerald is more challenging. If you could open up to other shapes, you'd have a lot more options for both stones and settings. There are far more options for halos for "standard sized" rounds. There are lots of vintage and pre-loved setting options for rounds. Looking for emerald cuts on a tight budget is likely to be frustrating, and to get a good-quality setting for an emerald you're likely to get into more expensive settings. If you want a halo, you'd basically need to custom make one to fit the particular emerald. Kay is mass-producing that ring and using a single, calibrated size center stone, which is part of how they can do it cheaply (though the diamond quality and workmanship on the ring are cheap, too).

But a custom setting can be pricey. James Allen makes their halo settings to fit the particular diamond, as does Gabriel & Co. and Beverly K, some other options that have been mentioned to you. But the JA setting I linked is really the rock-bottom least you can spend on a decent halo setting (and your options for settings that fit emeralds are going to be very limited). Even for more of a budget, "semi-custom" setting from somewhere like Gabriel or Bev K, you really need $1,500-2,000 for the setting to get a decent quality halo, and that's what you'll need at JA to get a halo with diamonds on the shank. It's not unusual to spend $3,000-5,000 to get a truly well-crafted custom halo. This is part of the problem with the halo setting - the mass market mall jewelers latched onto this style as a way to sell smaller, lower-quality stones as part of complete rings (you really have to dig to find out the size/color/clarity stats on the Kay ring stone), but this is really a higher-end style that deserves a healthy budget to get right. Otherwise, you'll have dull, low-quality melee (Kay's is I1-I2, which is terrible) that falls out a lot.

So, yes, if you're going with emerald cut, I'd generally recommend a solitaire now with the plan to save for an upgraded setting at some point in the future. But, having said that, if $2,000-3,000 is a stretch now, how likely is it that you'll be able to save nearly that for a setting, when you have "marriage expenses" in the future? Cars, houses, fence repair, car payments, kids, etc.? Be realistic - if it's unlikely that you'd be able to really save this up, and she has her heart set on a halo, I'd suggest a budget halo with plain shank, like the JA option I linked (or there are some sub-$1,000 options from Gabriel) and just get it done now. I'd also suggest whether financing part of the purchase (maybe just the setting) would be an option for you. I don't recommend financing $15,000 worth of ring, but maybe $1,500 worth of setting could be an option.

If you want to sell your current rings, there's pawn shops, forums like "I do now I don't," Diamond Bistro, eBay, etc. My original e-ring was from Kay, and I have an anniversary band from there, and I'd strongly advise you to stay away from Kay. My e-ring stone was sold to DH uncerted, but as some fantastic branded awesome ring, and it eventually appraised at a J-K in color. My anniversary band has visible carbon specs in half the small diamonds. DH was taken advantage of at Kay's.

I'd recommend looking at some more diamonds with your GF and really talking with her about the budget. You're going to have more options with a non-emerald cut, so if she's open to that, we can make recommendations. Or if she's definitely set on an emerald, we can make recommendations.

We can help you pick a winning stone and setting combo in your budget, just get us some final thoughts on what it's going to be, and we can go from there.
 
I think that your GF may like the emerald ring because it's unique. I think that's great. But, I would avoid Kay...everyone will tell you that. How about this setting:
http://www.gabrielny.com/engaged/style/ER7839W44JJ

With this Good Old Gold "steals and deals"
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/7798/

Since GOG is a Gabriel dealer, they should be able to give you a discounted price on the setting if you get the diamond through them. It may still be over your $3000 budget, but you will not pay sales tax, which is a plus. You may also want to look at Radiant, Asscher or Cushion cuts because they are also fancy cut diamonds but they tend to have more flashy faceting than an emerald.

I sold my original engagement ring on Craigslist. It was from ShaneCo, so I just met them at the store and did the exchange. I listed my engagement ring and wedding ring separately. Sold within a week. Diamond Bistro is also another good suggestion.
 
mandasand|1346857223|3262594 said:
I think that your GF may like the emerald ring because it's unique. I think that's great. But, I would avoid Kay...everyone will tell you that. How about this setting:
http://www.gabrielny.com/engaged/style/ER7839W44JJ

With this Good Old Gold "steals and deals"
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/7798/
Click to expand...

This is the EXACT pairing I posted above! :lol:

rubybeth|1346783130|3262243 said:
What is your budget for stone and setting? What are your parameters for color/clarity? Do you want an emerald cut? Can the setting be white gold (14k, 18k) or does it need to be platinum?

What about this combo:

http://www.gabrielny.com/engaged/style/ER5822W44JJ (Good Old Gold carries this line of settings)
http://goodoldgold.com/diamond/7798/ (this is a larger center stone with MUCH better color/clarity)
Click to expand...
 
Diamonds by Laura has some comparable rings around your target budget. Not exactly the aame but very blingy Especially if you can go up just a tad
 
I think we are making some progress now. I talked with her tonight and we are getting away from the emerald style. The diamond is too plain, not sparkly enough. I showed her all of the pictures posted and it really spoke volumes to what is out there and how they compare to the Kay one. I will not be buying from there.

She likes the halo, and that I think is the key. Whether rectangular or square halo, she is not liking the round halos. She likes the rounds and princess cuts, if that helps. The emerald it definitely out, to flat and boring. I think she was fooled at the store into thinking it was bigger that what it is, and after comparing she saw how little the diamond was and how big the halo was.

So I think that I need more help in understanding what to get now, vs what to get in the future at the time of the wedding. I want something I can build onto, whether as the wedding nears or is there, or at anniversary dates. What is the path to take.

Also the band she likes some details. I think all the options shown have been great, just not a plain band.
 
Re: Looking for some help finding a comparable ...

On a modest budget, rounds are the way to go, there are so many well cut ones out there. A half carat in a well made halo setting will (hopefully!) make her happy for good long time.

Unfortunately, halo settings are not conducive to adding/building up at a later date.
 
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