Wow... so I've actually been reading in here a lot for the past several weeks, and haven't posted because I had nothing to ask that hadn't been brought up in a million other threads: "what do you think of this stone?" "should I go for clarity or cut?" "how big is XXX carats?" "what should I spend?" etc. etc. etc.
Needless to say, once I decided I was *going* to propose, the questions just kept rolling. Today I finally made my choice... and I wanted to post my advice to the countless others who come through here in the same position I've been in.... just this morning, I was inundated with copies of GIA certificates, tables of diamond specs, countless references telling me different ideal dimensions for table %, depth %, cutlet size, and so on. It was total information overload, and every time my (uber-helpful and super-knowledgeable) sales rep called me because she found a great diamond - i wanted something different because my focus for what I wanted was different than just 12 hours ago.
I was driving myself insane, and I think my poor sales rep as well. Frustrated with myself, here's what I did:
1) Disconnect from the internet -- you've done enough research already.
2) Hide anything you've printed out... individual specs will just cloud your judgement in #3
3) List what you want and where you'll compromise on the 4 c's... for me, I came up with:
Color: D, E and F -- but I would consider G for a Ideal/Super-Ideal cut and high clarity.
Clarity: VVS1 or IF -- but I would consider VVS2 for E/F color and Ideal/Super-Ideal cut
Cut: Ideal or Super-Ideal -- but I would consider Very Good for high clarity and/or colorless.
Carat: .75 to 1.00 -- this was driven more by budget than anything... going below 0.75 was not an option for me, 1.00 and up was out of reach financially (without taking out loans anyway, which I decided I wasn't willing to do for this purchase... we can upgrade later!)
(NOTE: For me, color and clarity were paramount, followed by cut, then size... within budget, I prioritized as shown above... maybe for you size is most important, and you're willing to compromise clarity and/or color to stay in budget? This is the absolute first thing you must know...)
Writing it all out objectively is what saved me. Not 20 minutes earlier, I was saying I wouldn't consider G, because I was thinking about a VVS2 stone; and that I wouldn't consider Very Good cut, because we were talking about a VVS2 (separate diamonds, separate questions).
With my objective list in hand -- I pulled out the list of diamonds I was interested in; and sure enough only one fit the criteria spelled out above... the very, very first one that caught my eye. I threw out all my other references, and placed the order for the ring immediately. I feel great about the decision, and know it's going to be absolutely perfect.
I hope this advice helps some other poor bastard going through the same hell trying to pick the perfect ring from a list of specs and pictures that -- at the end of the day -- shouldn't make a world of difference when you finally ask.
Good luck
-Java Man (name withheld incase my soon-to-be-fiance is trolling these forums too... even made up a new handle, haha).
Needless to say, once I decided I was *going* to propose, the questions just kept rolling. Today I finally made my choice... and I wanted to post my advice to the countless others who come through here in the same position I've been in.... just this morning, I was inundated with copies of GIA certificates, tables of diamond specs, countless references telling me different ideal dimensions for table %, depth %, cutlet size, and so on. It was total information overload, and every time my (uber-helpful and super-knowledgeable) sales rep called me because she found a great diamond - i wanted something different because my focus for what I wanted was different than just 12 hours ago.
I was driving myself insane, and I think my poor sales rep as well. Frustrated with myself, here's what I did:
1) Disconnect from the internet -- you've done enough research already.
2) Hide anything you've printed out... individual specs will just cloud your judgement in #3
3) List what you want and where you'll compromise on the 4 c's... for me, I came up with:
Color: D, E and F -- but I would consider G for a Ideal/Super-Ideal cut and high clarity.
Clarity: VVS1 or IF -- but I would consider VVS2 for E/F color and Ideal/Super-Ideal cut
Cut: Ideal or Super-Ideal -- but I would consider Very Good for high clarity and/or colorless.
Carat: .75 to 1.00 -- this was driven more by budget than anything... going below 0.75 was not an option for me, 1.00 and up was out of reach financially (without taking out loans anyway, which I decided I wasn't willing to do for this purchase... we can upgrade later!)
(NOTE: For me, color and clarity were paramount, followed by cut, then size... within budget, I prioritized as shown above... maybe for you size is most important, and you're willing to compromise clarity and/or color to stay in budget? This is the absolute first thing you must know...)
Writing it all out objectively is what saved me. Not 20 minutes earlier, I was saying I wouldn't consider G, because I was thinking about a VVS2 stone; and that I wouldn't consider Very Good cut, because we were talking about a VVS2 (separate diamonds, separate questions).
With my objective list in hand -- I pulled out the list of diamonds I was interested in; and sure enough only one fit the criteria spelled out above... the very, very first one that caught my eye. I threw out all my other references, and placed the order for the ring immediately. I feel great about the decision, and know it's going to be absolutely perfect.
I hope this advice helps some other poor bastard going through the same hell trying to pick the perfect ring from a list of specs and pictures that -- at the end of the day -- shouldn't make a world of difference when you finally ask.
Good luck
-Java Man (name withheld incase my soon-to-be-fiance is trolling these forums too... even made up a new handle, haha).
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