Overwhelmed and need help!

[JessaMac1]

I need help from anyone who can give it! I''m a SAHM and I have a small budget to work with...only about 1500-2000. I don''t want to go with a local jewelery store because of everything I''ve read but I''m scared to purchase online. I really like pear diamonds but when I look at everything on BlueNile I just get completely overwhelmed. I''m 23 and have a 10 month old baby boy so that''s why money is tight. I am really girly and love glitz and I just want the biggest bang for my buck but I don''t know where to start. Another thing I''m worried about is no lifetime warranty when you buy online. Is it common for stones to fall out? How much would it cost to insure my ring and what does that usually cover? If someone could give suggestions about what a good pear would have in my budget I would love it! If you think there is anything else I should know please feel free to tell me

)

On a sidenote, if you know of a different style that would be pretty and unique not just the pear cut I''m open to suggestions.

 

[hihowareyou]

I need help from anyone who can give it! I''m a SAHM and I have a small budget to work with...only about 1500-2000. I don''t want to go with a local jewelery store because of everything I''ve read but I''m scared to purchase online.

You''ll need to decide which is the better option for you. If you stick with pricescope vendors then you can be safe knowing that there are hundreds of people who have been down the road before you and that there are thousands of people who will hear about it on these forums if you have issues. The vendors featured here really do bend over backwards sometimes to help customers and I''m sure that is partly because they are can get free publicity on these boards when they do well and risk negative feedback if they have problems.

I really like pear diamonds but when I look at everything on BlueNile I just get completely overwhelmed.

BlueNile isn''t a great place to look for fancy cut stones. Generally if you are interested in getting the best cut stone then you need to ask the vendor for additional images. BlueNile doesn''t provide any images of the stones so it is very difficult to know what you are getting. It could be great, it could be average, it could be poor.

I''m 23 and have a 10 month old baby boy so that''s why money is tight. I am really girly and love glitz and I just want the biggest bang for my buck but I don''t know where to start.

Congratulations on your son . You''ve picked a great place to start here as most of us were also interested in getting the biggest bang for our buck too. You''ll need to decide exactly what that means for you though. Sparkle vs. size vs. colour vs. clarity vs. shape, etc are all factors in getting the biggest bang but it is also up to personal preference.

Another thing I''m worried about is no lifetime warranty when you buy online. Is it common for stones to fall out? How much would it cost to insure my ring and what does that usually cover?

I''m not certain that lifetime warranties are all that they are made out to be. They don''t cover loss or theft which you would need to insure for anyway and are much more common than large stones falling out. Small stones like you see paved in bands are relatively inexpensive to replace and if you treat your rings well and buy from a reputable dealer with good settings it likely won''t be an issue.

If someone could give suggestions about what a good pear would have in my budget I would love it! If you think there is anything else I should know please feel free to tell me)

I''m sorry I don''t know a lot about pear cuts except that they usually look large for their size. Hopefully someone who knows more about them can help you.

On a sidenote, if you know of a different style that would be pretty and unique not just the pear cut I''m open to suggestions.

Have a peak at the fancy cut tutorial and see if anything takes your fancy: https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/fancy-shape-diamonds If you are fond of the pear then you may also like the Marquises

 

[spoogenet]

Since you said you love glitz, my first suggestion would be to focus on cut above all else. Naturally pick whatever shape you love, such as pear, and then seek the best cut stone you can find. It can be overwhelming at times, so sit back, relax, and take your time to learn and enjoy the process, it really is quite fun. Go to some stores and look at stones in person to get an idea of what your tolerance is for different color/clarity grades, it will also give you an idea of some of the variety in the cuts and help you correlate the information you see online back to real-world experience.

Do not worry about purchasing online if you go with a reputable vendor, such as the PS vendors. These vendors have been filtered by so many more people who are knowledgeable in the trade and craft than almost any B&M store you will find. That''s not to say you won''t or can''t find a good deal overall at a B&M, it''s just that these vendors are the store equivalents of GIA/AGS graded stones versus an unknown lab.

Head on over to JamesAllen.com as a decent starting point, you can easily put in your budget and other ranges and filter their stones down. For example, pears under $1680, F-I color, VS1-SI1 clarity whittles it down to 44 stones.

It is not very common for the main stone(s) to fall out, it is more common in melee stones in rings. You''ll have to decide for yourself what type of ring you prefer and how much of your budget to apply there vs. the center stone.

Insurance can be affordable, for example Jeweler''s Mutual has policies starting around $25/yr for a $2k plan.

Happy hunting!
b

 

[E B]

Date: 2/2/2010 3:19:18 PM
Author:JessaMac1
I am really girly and love glitz and I just want the biggest bang for my buck but I don't know where to start.

Hi Jessa!

Have you considered a pear-shaped sapphire (or another durable gemstone) in a diamond halo?

 

[Todd Gray]

Admittedly I''m apparently out of touch because I literally had to Google "SAHM" to find out that it stands for Stay At Home Mom - I hope I''m not alone on that

There are quite a few well known vendors here on PS who take a more hands on approach in their selection process who will be happy to assist you in your quest to find a gorgeous pear shape diamond, all you have to do is drop them an email and provide them with the details and I''m sure they will be happy to help regardless of what your budget is... Most of the PS vendors who I''ve come to know personally over the course of my time in the industry only consider the budget to be important in terms of whether the customer has reasonable expectations in terms of what their price range will accommodate in terms of cut quality, carat weight, color, clarity and such.

In my experience, the "lifetime warranty" offers which are actually a kind of (weak) insurance policy sold under the table by some brick and mortar stores (policy is priced into the price of the item being sold) are rarely worth the paper they are written on and rarely actually cover an item when lost due to a missed inspection, or "this loss was due to wear and tear", etc. and people would be much better served by obtaining an insurance policy from their homeowner''s / renters insurance company which will cover the item for mysterious loss, theft, fire, damage, etc. without all the games. The cost to insure a $2K ring would probably be quite reasonable (based on what it costs to insure my fiance''s ring with State Farm - Chubb and Jewelers Mutual also offer good policies...

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 2/2/2010 3:48:10 PM
Author: hihowareyou

I need help from anyone who can give it! I''m a SAHM and I have a small budget to work with...only about 1500-2000. I don''t want to go with a local jewelery store because of everything I''ve read but I''m scared to purchase online.

You''ll need to decide which is the better option for you. If you stick with pricescope vendors then you can be safe knowing that there are hundreds of people who have been down the road before you and that there are thousands of people who will hear about it on these forums if you have issues. The vendors featured here really do bend over backwards sometimes to help customers and I''m sure that is partly because they are can get free publicity on these boards when they do well and risk negative feedback if they have problems.

I really like pear diamonds but when I look at everything on BlueNile I just get completely overwhelmed.

BlueNile isn''t a great place to look for fancy cut stones. Generally if you are interested in getting the best cut stone then you need to ask the vendor for additional images. BlueNile doesn''t provide any images of the stones so it is very difficult to know what you are getting. It could be great, it could be average, it could be poor.

I''m 23 and have a 10 month old baby boy so that''s why money is tight. I am really girly and love glitz and I just want the biggest bang for my buck but I don''t know where to start.

Congratulations on your son . You''ve picked a great place to start here as most of us were also interested in getting the biggest bang for our buck too. You''ll need to decide exactly what that means for you though. Sparkle vs. size vs. colour vs. clarity vs. shape, etc are all factors in getting the biggest bang but it is also up to personal preference.

Another thing I''m worried about is no lifetime warranty when you buy online. Is it common for stones to fall out? How much would it cost to insure my ring and what does that usually cover?

I''m not certain that lifetime warranties are all that they are made out to be. They don''t cover loss or theft which you would need to insure for anyway and are much more common than large stones falling out. Small stones like you see paved in bands are relatively inexpensive to replace and if you treat your rings well and buy from a reputable dealer with good settings it likely won''t be an issue.

If someone could give suggestions about what a good pear would have in my budget I would love it! If you think there is anything else I should know please feel free to tell me)

I''m sorry I don''t know a lot about pear cuts except that they usually look large for their size. Hopefully someone who knows more about them can help you.

On a sidenote, if you know of a different style that would be pretty and unique not just the pear cut I''m open to suggestions.

Have a peak at the fancy cut tutorial and see if anything takes your fancy: https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/fancy-shape-diamonds If you are fond of the pear then you may also like the Marquises

Ditto to all of this. Get your own insurance, either as a rider on your home insurance or as an individual policy. For $10k I pay $130 per year, so I imagine that $2k is substantially less. You can usually get $5000 coverage automatically with homeowners insurance without paying extra, but you usually have a $500 deudtable with that type of policy.