New member, would love help

[Phaness]

Hey everyone, stumbled on this website a week ago and need some guidance. Need an engagement ring by next summer so time is not an issue. My budget is $8k-10k

My girl likes http://www.tacori.com/Engagement-Rings/2620OVLGP Tacori offers that ring in the 2620OVSMP which would hold a 1.00ct oval diamond in 18k white gold for $2960. I believe the matching wedding band is around $3k as well. That seems HIGH. Am I reading that wrong?

For the diamond I have seen the following I like:
http://www.billbarnes.com/diamondproduct.asp?product=8352&subproduct=8352&diamondID=42870834
http://www.billbarnes.com/diamondproduct.asp?product=8352&subproduct=8352&diamondID=42791616
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?track=head#diamonds_pid=LD01212772
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?track=head#diamonds_pid=LD01229691

Am I on the right track? I am literally clueless. So far with this Tacori brand I am over budget. Any advice or help would be great.

 

[LJL]

I haven't looked into specifics of the prices of those settings but youre not reading those prices wrong. Tacori rings are EXPENSIVE. I have looked into a lot of their settings and many are over $5000. Part of the problem with Tacoris is they often take up a large part of a person's budget and there are few if any suitable replicas. As for the 2620, it is incredibly hard to find subtle halos like that - and you are truly paying for the quality of the intricate details on the shank and basket. They can charge high prices because they know people can't find cheaper alternatives for many of their beautiful rings. .....Damn magazine ads making all of us crazy

As far as diamonds, I'm not going to be of any help on ovals - other than saying that fancy cuts are things you have to see to appraise their cut quality so you will be better off looking at sites that have pictures of the stones so you can see if you like the faceting, make sure there is no bowtie, etc.

Good sites would be: jamesallen.com and goodoldgold.com - I know goodoldgold sells tacori too so that might help.