Oy....some opinions for a newb, please!

[Herfnerd]

Hi all!

I''ve been lurking for about a week and finally registered - this place is a wealth of information!

I do have a dilemma that I am hoping some of you can chime in with your opinions on. I am in the process of looking for an e-ring to surprise my GF with. I have a limited budget (~$2000) for the stone and setting but am up in the air as to cut and setting. It''s actually giving me a headache, lol! I love diamond solitaires but my GF''s daughter said that she prefers some "bling".

What are your thoughts? Should I go for a single stone with as much sparkle and fire that I can afford, or should I go for a smaller stone with sides or a three-stone?? I guess I''m trying to get other''s perspective on ''bling''.

TIA!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2008 10:13:59 AM
Author:Herfnerd
Hi all!

I''ve been lurking for about a week and finally registered - this place is a wealth of information!

I do have a dilemma that I am hoping some of you can chime in with your opinions on. I am in the process of looking for an e-ring to surprise my GF with. I have a limited budget (~$2000) for the stone and setting but am up in the air as to cut and setting. It''s actually giving me a headache, lol! I love diamond solitaires but my GF''s daughter said that she prefers some ''bling''.

What are your thoughts? Should I go for a single stone with as much sparkle and fire that I can afford, or should I go for a smaller stone with sides or a three-stone?? I guess I''m trying to get other''s perspective on ''bling''.

TIA!

Welcome to Pricescope!

Your best bet could be to go with the best cut round diamond you can and a simple white gold solitaire setting to make the diamond pop, that should give your GF the bling factor! You could get sidestones, but this will eat into the budget more. You can look perhaps at G H I and even J colour grades ( GIA and AGS graded) and a verified eyeclean SI clarity as this will give you the most bang for the buck, as long as the all important cut quality is good! Could you check with your GF''s daughter if she would prefer a ring with sides, or a bit larger single solitaire? It could just be by bling, they mean sparkle rather than more diamonds perhaps, but if you could clarify, that would help!

 

[RxTechRN2b]

I never knew there was a technical description of bling, to me the word conjures up not only "lots of diamonds," but BIG diamonds. The thing is, with your budget, if she wants the "lots of diamonds" look, they will all be small, as in a cluster or very small 3-stone ring. I don''t know what her tastes are, but I would prefer either a solitaire on a delicate low-setting, or an eternity band (half-circle in order to maximize diamond presence on the part of the ring you can see). The eternity engagement ring is gaining in popularity and even some celebrities who sport "bling" have them, such as Jen Garner. I think they look elegant.

 

[Lorelei]

Here is an example of the single diamond you could get for your budget, this could also allow for a simple gold solitaire setting.

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-signature-ideal-cut-i-color-vs2-clarity_LD01227523

 

[Herfnerd]

Wow - thanx for the quick replies!

I guess a nicer stone is prolly the way to go. I found this one on USA Certed - what say ye??

Shape: Round
Weight: 0.72
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: SI2
Certification: EGL Israel View

Depth %: 62
Table %: 54
Symmetry: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Girdle Thickness: Thin --
Culet Size: None
Fluorescence Color: -
Dimensions (in mm): 5.79x5.76x3.58


This one is listed for $1696 and when I ran the numbers in the HCA (hopefully I did it right, lol)

Factor Grade
Light Return Excellent
Fire Excellent
Scintillation Excellent
Spread
or diameter for weight Very Good
Total Visual Performance 1 - Excellent
within TIC range

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2008 11:44:00 AM
Author: Herfnerd
Wow - thanx for the quick replies!

I guess a nicer stone is prolly the way to go. I found this one on USA Certed - what say ye??

Shape: Round
Weight: 0.72
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: SI2
Certification: EGL Israel View

Depth %: 62
Table %: 54
Symmetry: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Girdle Thickness: Thin --
Culet Size: None
Fluorescence Color: -
Dimensions (in mm): 5.79x5.76x3.58


This one is listed for $1696 and when I ran the numbers in the HCA (hopefully I did it right, lol)

Factor Grade
Light Return Excellent
Fire Excellent
Scintillation Excellent
Spread
or diameter for weight Very Good
Total Visual Performance 1 - Excellent
within TIC range

We need the crown and pavilion angles to be able to judge, but EGL Israel are thought to be soft on grading, see this page for more info.

http://diamonds.pricescope.com/grading.asp

 

[JoeNewbie11]

Herfnerd,

Thought I would chime in to help. Here''s a nice stone that is definitely in your budget, take a look. This looks to be a nice eye-clean stone from the image (need to confirm with JA)

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1182643.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131 $1,380 PS Price.

Also, a simple solitare setting will likely run you around $300-400

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/classic-solitaire-settings.asp

With side stones will start around $600

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-sidestones.asp

I''m not represetnting JA or anything, just wanted to give you an example from a respected PS vendor. Hope this helps.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2008 11:59:46 AM
Author: JoeNewbie11
Herfnerd,

Thought I would chime in to help. Here''s a nice stone that is definitely in your budget, take a look. This looks to be a nice eye-clean stone from the image (need to confirm with JA)

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1182643.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131 $1,380 PS Price.

That could be a nice diamond, but check carefully as to whether it is eyeclean and what the clarity grade is based on, the plotting diagram appears to be clean on my monitor, so I would check what the grade setting inclusion is.

 

[Herfnerd]

Date: 7/14/2008 11:52:32 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/14/2008 11:44:00 AM
Author: Herfnerd
Wow - thanx for the quick replies!

I guess a nicer stone is prolly the way to go. I found this one on USA Certed - what say ye??

Shape: Round
Weight: 0.72
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: SI2
Certification: EGL Israel View

Depth %: 62
Table %: 54
Symmetry: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Girdle Thickness: Thin --
Culet Size: None
Fluorescence Color: -
Dimensions (in mm): 5.79x5.76x3.58


This one is listed for $1696 and when I ran the numbers in the HCA (hopefully I did it right, lol)

Factor Grade
Light Return Excellent
Fire Excellent
Scintillation Excellent
Spread
or diameter for weight Very Good
Total Visual Performance 1 - Excellent
within TIC range

We need the crown and pavilion angles to be able to judge, but EGL Israel are thought to be soft on grading, see this page for more info.

http://diamonds.pricescope.com/grading.asp

OK - that''s good to know about EGLI.

The report only had the Crown Height of 15% and the Pavilion Depth of 43%

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2008 1:32:24 PM
Author: Herfnerd

Date: 7/14/2008 11:52:32 AM
Author: Lorelei

OK - that''s good to know about EGLI.

The report only had the Crown Height of 15% and the Pavilion Depth of 43%

Thanks for the additional info. It appears that the diamond could be a decent performer according to the cut advisor, but again EGL Israel is said to be soft on grading, so I would look around some more.