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davidv53

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 11, 2008
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I've been reading this forum for a week or so now, and have a general idea of what entails a good diamond. I get the point that both the H&A and ideal cuts from AGS seem to be the diamonds of choice. I also can conclude that buying a ring and diamond online from jamesallen or whiteflash is trusted and actually better than buying from a store.

I'm looking to spend between 6,500 and 8,000 total on the engagement ring. That is not a definite price range either, I could go a bit above or below, but that is really my ideal range. My girlfriend's hands are large, almost exactly the same as my small hands, which when measured from middle finger tip to crease at base of the palm is a little over 7 inches.. she is, however, a petite person, only 5'3" and 110 pounds.

She's stated before that she wants a ring and diamond that don't "look" small on her hand, and was worried about it because of the size of her hands..

She loves my grandmother's ring which is princess cut, but is not absolutely set on that... I gather that the H&A diamonds are not princess cut but round cut.

Now to my questions:
1. I've found some nice H&A round diamonds, is there anything that would compare in princess cut? Do you suggest princess or round, or is that just a matter of personal preference? She has stated that she doesn't really care which one...

2. Is it better to go ahead and get the diamond set in a ring at the online store, or should I just order the diamond and then go to a local retailer to have them set it in an engagement ring? I would think that actually looking at it beforehand would help, but please advise..

3. I basically want something that looks amazing to the unexpert naked eye. I gather that cut is the most important, and I'm guessing anything VS2 or higher, and anywhere from D-G is OK.

4. What is the ideal # carats for her size? I know carat is not actually the size of it, and if you have any advice on the other areas about which I don't know much, as in girdle, table, crown, etc. that would be good for her size, please let me know too.

5. Sorry about posting such a big long list, but I really want it to be perfect for her.. If anyone finds anything in the price range that they think would suit her description, or has any suggestions with a link, I would really appreciate it too.. Thank you so much for your time..
 
I think that the best thing for you two to do is to go out to local stores and try things on. Let her try all different shapes, settings (solitaire/sidestones/pave/channel/etc) and get some idea of what you want. Then start your search for a stone and setting. From what I understand the AGS0 princess is supposed to be a top quality princess. (I am not an expert, so maybe someone else can chime in) In regards to having the stone and setting come from the same place, it''s really a personal preference. If you find a setting you like from an online vendor, and they also have a great stone, then great. If not, you can always get the setting from somewhere else. Just start getting ideas first, and the rest will follow. Welcome to PS and good luck with your search!
 
forgive my ignorance, but I'm assuming when you say to ask if it is "eye clean" you're questioning the clarity..

If I was to go up to VS2 rather than SI1, is it worth it, or if they claim it is "eye clean" then I don't need to worry about it... Thanks for your help!

If I were to go the princess cut rout, would this one be acceptable? Would it be too small for her hand?

http://www.whiteflash.com/aca_princess/A-Cut-Above-Princess-cut-diamond-1499689.htm

PS. The only problem with trying them on is that I am hoping for it to be a surprise. She knows its coming in the next 6 months or so, but I just want it to be a complete surprise...
 
Date: 11/11/2008 9:07:33 PM
Author: davidv53
forgive my ignorance, but I''m assuming when you say to ask if it is ''eye clean'' you''re questioning the clarity..


If I was to go up to VS2 rather than SI1, is it worth it, or if they claim it is ''eye clean'' then I don''t need to worry about it... Thanks for your help!


PS. The only problem with trying them on is that I am hoping for it to be a surprise. She knows its coming in the next 6 months or so, but I just want it to be a complete surprise...
Click to expand...

If it''s eyeclean it shouldn''t matter.
 
Did your grandmother recently get her ring? Because princess cuts have not been around for terribly long.

1. I've found some nice H&A round diamonds, is there anything that would compare in princess cut? Do you suggest princess or round, or is that just a matter of personal preference? She has stated that she doesn't really care which one...

Personal preference. Princess cuts are more modern and trendy than rounds, which are more timeless, in my opinion.


2. Is it better to go ahead and get the diamond set in a ring at the online store, or should I just order the diamond and then go to a local retailer to have them set it in an engagement ring? I would think that actually looking at it beforehand would help, but please advise..

If you order an ideal cut stone, then I think it is easiest to have the diamond vendor set the stone to be sure the stone is covered for breakage during setting. yes, diamonds can and do chip on occasion.

3. I basically want something that looks amazing to the unexpert naked eye. I gather that cut is the most important, and I'm guessing anything VS2 or higher, and anywhere from D-G is OK.

I would say that G-H will be a great value in the near colorless range and you are safe with VS2.

4. What is the ideal # carats for her size? I know carat is not actually the size of it, and if you have any advice on the other areas about which I don't know much, as in girdle, table, crown, etc. that would be good for her size, please let me know too.

We have girls around here with half-carat to 3 carat rings with fingers her size
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, so that is really personal preference and budget. But you should be able to get a round a little over a carat at $7000-8000. I think the round will give you more size appearance than the princess, too.

5. Sorry about posting such a big long list, but I really want it to be perfect for her.. If anyone finds anything in the price range that they think would suit her description, or has any suggestions with a link, I would really appreciate it too.. Thank you so much for your time..

Okay, here are several from vendors that I have personally bought from and who carry these stones in-house:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/5030/

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-1466986.htm ($7159 w/ pricescope/wire discounts)

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4574/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4940/

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-1467002.htm ($7952)



 
Thank you all so much for the great responses, I really appreciate it. To answer your question about my grandmother's ring, it is actually a ring she wears on her right hand, which was her mother's ring (my great grandmother).. Her mother died when she was 17, so it sounds like it is probably not princess cut. It appeared that way to me because it is a square shape. Its entirely possible it is not even just one diamond, I have never looked at it up close. Its very possible for me to snap a few photos of it and post them on here, so I will do that tomorrow and even if I don't get one similar to that, you all can tell me what it is...My great grandmother was first generation in the US since immigration from Italy, so it may not be a very nice diamond, but it would just be interesting to know the shape and setting, etc.

If I do choose to purchase the engagement ring through the website, what are the advantages/disadvantages of platinum and white gold and which do you recommend?

Thank you all so much again!
 
I can''t wait to see your grandmother''s ring.

have you looked at the Square H&A from Good Old Gold?
 
I hadn''t before, but after just looking at those the only thing that scares me is that it says "please call" for a price for even the smallest one listed in my specifications (1.11 carats) . Sounds like that may be out of my price range!
 
1. If you put it in your shopping cart/checkout, it will show the price.
2. If you limit your price range on the search page, it will just show the stones in your chosen range.

They are priced similarly to round H&A.
 
thanks! If I''m able to get those pictures tomorrow (I should) I''ll post them. Is there any particular way I should take the pictures in order to help demonstrate the scale of the ring? Should I put a penny next to the ring, or a small ruler or something like that?
 
Date: 11/12/2008 1:37:58 AM
Author: davidv53
thanks! If I''m able to get those pictures tomorrow (I should) I''ll post them. Is there any particular way I should take the pictures in order to help demonstrate the scale of the ring? Should I put a penny next to the ring, or a small ruler or something like that?
Click to expand...
Yes you can do David, or a pencil eraser, things like that.
 
OK... minor disaster.. I was not able to get any good pictures. For some reason my camera decided not to focus on anything, and all my pictures are terrible. Only one is in focus, and all of them I took with other objects did not come out. I have posted the one in focus picture, and another that is out of focus but may be a bit of help. The diamond is actually round, and is in a four prong setting. To either side of the diamond are three smaller diamonds, which slant downwards from the setting to connect with the ring.

My grandmother said she got it appraised a while ago for 18K, but was completely unsure about that, she may have been way off. She got the ring modified so she could clip it (or something like that) to get it on and off because it was giving her trouble.. Did not know how many carats it was.. If you all can tell at all by either picture how big you actually think it is, that would be a great help to me, because my girlfriend thinks it is "BIG" so if I can afford the same size that would be great. If you all can''t help, of course I can always bring it somewhere to find out, but you all seem to be just as knowledgable if not moreso, than anyone I could talk to about it!

Also, if you can tell anything about the style, setting, etc. from the sharper sideview image, I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much again, sorry about the terrible picture quality.

DSCN1539.JPG
 
here is the second picture, terrible quality...

DSCN1540.JPG
 
Whew, David, you''re right about the second picture! I really can''t make out the shape of the stone or the size. Are you sure the stone isn''t round and the prongs are giving it a squarish look? if you can measure the top of the stone in milimeters, we can tell you what a comparable round stone weight would be for that diameter.

In any event, platinum has come down in price very close to the price of gold. I don''t know how fast the jewelers prices will come down, but I would go with platinum if possible. And I would want 95%platinum/5% ruthenium or 90% platinum/10% iridium. These are what some of the best custom ring makers around here use. They are more durable and scratch-resistant that some other combinations.
 
I love fishtail prongs!
 
It is definitely round, I was able to tell that myself from looking at it. I'll see if I can get the mm sometime soon and post it..

I assume by this post above that it has fishtail prongs, which I've not ever heard of... is that something I could get while designing a custom ring? I've only ever seen clawed, round and split... are "fishtails" the same as "split"
 
It is a little over .6 cm across... I'm guessing that puts it around 1 carat?

So you all think it would be best to order the diamond from whiteflash or something like that, and then send it off somewhere that makes the antique style rings? Do they do this at any well known retailers or would it be better to send away? The "Aspen" ring you linked to above there looks almost exactly the same as my grandmother's...

I am really appreciating all of your help!!
 
Yes, a 1 ct. round stone is about 6.5mm. If it were me, I''d get the stone from WF or Good Old Gold and send the stone to Cross Jewelers to set in the setting. They also sell high quality diamonds, but I don''t think the prices on diamonds will be as good as these. But Cross has very nice quality settings and there is a person from PS who has one of the fishtail settings from there. I''ll look and see if I can find a link.

What I would do is get the stone and tell Cross that you have a diamond already and want to order one of their settings.
 
OK, thank you all again so much.

I'm ready to buy the diamond now, and I really like the ones posted above, but most are about 500-1000 dollars out of my price range! Since its sounding like the vintage setting I'll be getting may be a bit more than I previously budgeted for a setting, I'm posting 5 diamonds I've looked at over at whiteflash. I emailed about each one to see if they are "eye-clean." If they were to all come back eye clean, any ideas on which one I should choose?? Any other suggestions would be welcome too...


http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-906696.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-737788.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-636622.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-1445150.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-1466994.htm


Also, if I'm just on the verge of something MUCH better than these, but need to throw in just 500 more dollars, please let me know because I might be able to scrounge together the extra. Or if you really think it would be worth it to get the G over the H, or move up to VS2. But from what I understand, the difference between VS2 and SI1 is not too important if they are both "eye-clean" and that F, G and H are all close enough that to the untrained eye its not too easy to tell the difference..
 
David with diamonds of this calibre it isn''t easy to choose, although you could pick one and be delighted most likely...I would ask for one of the WF experts to look at your choices and discuss them with you so you can select the best one.
 
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