Fly Girl
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2007
- Messages
- 7,312
Of course, she said yes!
Over Christmas my son said it was time to take the relationship with his girlfriend of five years to the next level.
Naturally, he came to his jewelry loving mom for advice on purchasing a diamond ring. 
We reviewed his budget and what he knew about her wishes. She wanted a classic solitaire with no additional diamonds in the setting and a silver-colored metal. A round shape would be fine. He knew her ring size. Any small diamond would be fine with her, but it was important to my son to get her a diamond of a respectable size, color and clarity.
I pulled out my 0.63 ct E VS2 ring and a 0.42 ct J SI1 stud earring for a quick tutorial on carat, color and clarity. We inspected them from the top for size, and from the side for color. He loved the size of the 0.63 and he could see color in the J. He definitely wanted the diamond to be completely eye-clean. As a result, we targeted a modern round brilliant with ideal cut and a diameter as close to 5.5 mm as he could get. Color would be in the G-H-I range and clarity would be VS. The ring setting would be a Tiffany solitaire replica in 14kt white gold, but if funds remained, he wanted to upgrade to platinum.
She was out of town for only a few days, so he wanted to move quickly to be sure to keep his shopping a complete surprise. I previewed diamonds in his target range from my favorite vendors. Pickings were slim in his preferred range, having already been picked over for Christmas and New Year's Eve proposals. I eliminated Crafted by Infinity and Good Old Gold due to lack of viable prospects in our narrow target range, and ended up sending him to Whiteflash and Brian Gavin Diamonds. I noticed that near colorless SI1s were totally picked over, so it was just as well he preferred VS clarity.
He reviewed the diamond inventory and after several e-mails back and forth between us, he narrowed it down to a lovely 0.61 G VS2 Expert Selection from Whiteflash and a 0.61 H VS1 Brian Gavin Blue. He put both diamonds on hold and had discussions with the sales associates over the next couple of days. The G VS2 was just over budget, but we figured it was worth a call to see if Whiteflash could work with his budget. The H VS1 Blue came in right at budget. Comparison with a similar Brian Gavin Diamond Signature stone indicated, in this particular instance at least, a cost savings by going with a fluorescent stone.
His only concern with the Brian Gavin Blue was the very strong fluorescence, and whether his girlfriend would like it. He finally decided it was such a cool effect that he should proceed with getting that diamond. All that was left was to decide if the setting would have four or six prongs, and whether it should be 14kt white gold or platinum. Budget concerns dictated 14kt white gold, and he chose six prongs for additional diamond protection as well as the more classic Tiffany look. The order was placed and the wire transfer was sent.
The ring arrived 10 days later, and this period included the New Year's holiday. We inspected the ring and checked out the cool fluorescence. Brian Gavin Diamonds thoughtfully provided the disposable white cotton gloves that you see him wearing.
Over Christmas my son said it was time to take the relationship with his girlfriend of five years to the next level.
Naturally, he came to his jewelry loving mom for advice on purchasing a diamond ring. We reviewed his budget and what he knew about her wishes. She wanted a classic solitaire with no additional diamonds in the setting and a silver-colored metal. A round shape would be fine. He knew her ring size. Any small diamond would be fine with her, but it was important to my son to get her a diamond of a respectable size, color and clarity.
I pulled out my 0.63 ct E VS2 ring and a 0.42 ct J SI1 stud earring for a quick tutorial on carat, color and clarity. We inspected them from the top for size, and from the side for color. He loved the size of the 0.63 and he could see color in the J. He definitely wanted the diamond to be completely eye-clean. As a result, we targeted a modern round brilliant with ideal cut and a diameter as close to 5.5 mm as he could get. Color would be in the G-H-I range and clarity would be VS. The ring setting would be a Tiffany solitaire replica in 14kt white gold, but if funds remained, he wanted to upgrade to platinum.
She was out of town for only a few days, so he wanted to move quickly to be sure to keep his shopping a complete surprise. I previewed diamonds in his target range from my favorite vendors. Pickings were slim in his preferred range, having already been picked over for Christmas and New Year's Eve proposals. I eliminated Crafted by Infinity and Good Old Gold due to lack of viable prospects in our narrow target range, and ended up sending him to Whiteflash and Brian Gavin Diamonds. I noticed that near colorless SI1s were totally picked over, so it was just as well he preferred VS clarity.
He reviewed the diamond inventory and after several e-mails back and forth between us, he narrowed it down to a lovely 0.61 G VS2 Expert Selection from Whiteflash and a 0.61 H VS1 Brian Gavin Blue. He put both diamonds on hold and had discussions with the sales associates over the next couple of days. The G VS2 was just over budget, but we figured it was worth a call to see if Whiteflash could work with his budget. The H VS1 Blue came in right at budget. Comparison with a similar Brian Gavin Diamond Signature stone indicated, in this particular instance at least, a cost savings by going with a fluorescent stone.
His only concern with the Brian Gavin Blue was the very strong fluorescence, and whether his girlfriend would like it. He finally decided it was such a cool effect that he should proceed with getting that diamond. All that was left was to decide if the setting would have four or six prongs, and whether it should be 14kt white gold or platinum. Budget concerns dictated 14kt white gold, and he chose six prongs for additional diamond protection as well as the more classic Tiffany look. The order was placed and the wire transfer was sent.
The ring arrived 10 days later, and this period included the New Year's holiday. We inspected the ring and checked out the cool fluorescence. Brian Gavin Diamonds thoughtfully provided the disposable white cotton gloves that you see him wearing.
beautiful classic ring... 
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