Please Help! Another Advice Needed for E-ring Purchase

[Bdb]

I''ve been lurking here on and off for awhile and I want to first thank all the contributors here for all the great information that is provided daily on this forum. I hope to propose to my girlfriend soon and she has dropped several specific hints. First she wants a very low profile setting without prongs because she is a hair stylist and doesn''t want a ring catching her customers hair, and second she wants white gold or platinum.

I have a budget of about $5500- so i am thinking no more than $1700 for the setting. I think a beautiful setting is as important as the diamond. I have found a few nice settings online, Whiteflash Heavy Bezel Champaign, and a few others. But I like the idea of having a local jeweler available for resizing, maintenance, etc. But local jeweler diamond prices are high and the selection somewhat limited. I found a nice low profile setting at a local jeweler but the diamond prices were very high. Here is my main question:

1. How feasible is it to buy a diamond online and bring it to a local jeweler to purchase a setting and have them set it? Would they be upset? Would they do it? Would I pay extra fee''s?

2. I think this might be a dumb question so I apologize, being a newbie, How do I know that they don''t switch online purchased diamond out with some other diamond? A similar yet inferior one?

All help is appreciated!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/15/2008 10:18:19 PM
Author:Bdb
I''ve been lurking here on and off for awhile and I want to first thank all the contributors here for all the great information that is provided daily on this forum. I hope to propose to my girlfriend soon and she has dropped several specific hints. First she wants a very low profile setting without prongs because she is a hair stylist and doesn''t want a ring catching her customers hair, and second she wants white gold or platinum.

I have a budget of about $5500- so i am thinking no more than $1700 for the setting. I think a beautiful setting is as important as the diamond. I have found a few nice settings online, Whiteflash Heavy Bezel Champaign, and a few others. But I like the idea of having a local jeweler available for resizing, maintenance, etc. But local jeweler diamond prices are high and the selection somewhat limited. I found a nice low profile setting at a local jeweler but the diamond prices were very high. Here is my main question:

1. How feasible is it to buy a diamond online and bring it to a local jeweler to purchase a setting and have them set it? Would they be upset? Would they do it? Would I pay extra fee''s?

2. I think this might be a dumb question so I apologize, being a newbie, How do I know that they don''t switch online purchased diamond out with some other diamond? A similar yet inferior one?

All help is appreciated!

Welcome to Pricescope!

You could still have Whiteflash do the whole ring and probably get your local jeweller to maintain it such as prong setting, cleaning etc. After all it is good business sense as that way you are far more likely to consider purchasing from them at some time with other jewellery pieces. So I doubt they would be upset, but if so find another! There may be a small charge for checking and cleaning, but this depends.

Also swapping out diamonds is a serious offence, not many jewellers would be willing to risk their reputation and livelihoods by switching diamonds, so I wouldn''t worry too much, but some jewellers will check the diamond with you on acceptance and point out and make notes of any inclusions to be able to identify the diamond. Also you could buy a 10x loupe and get to know your diamond yourself, many clarities may have a distinctive inclusion you may be able to find in this way, which you can use as a birthmark!

 

[MMT]

I just wanted to say that I love that champaigne bezel set. Good luck!!!

 

[JulieN]

I think bezels are supposed to be slightly trickier than prongs...definitely have WF do all of the work.

 

[bagelboy]

Welcome to Pricescope, If you buy a setting locally, please inquire on their policy of setting a diamond into your setting. Some charge a fee, some for free, some refuse to set any diamond that they did not sell! A diamond can be chipped while it is being set and should be insured while being set. However I bought my diamond and the store set it for free without any insurance on the stone. So yes it can be done. A good setter should have no problem with a round diamond with a medium to slightly thick girdle. The GIA diamond I bought has the cert number on the girdle too. Do your research and shop around. My wife never wears her ring to work, she just wears a simple gold band that can take alot of abuse and may be replaced easily.She is happy her sparklie doesn''t get hurt. Just to give another idea of how to solve the setting that work when she is working. Diamond swapping is more myth than anything else now. Maybe in the 1920''s to 1950''s. Any jewelry store can steam clean your diamond ring for free, just ask. There really isn''t any maintence on a diamond, other than checking the diamond to see if came loose in the setting. Generally a ring is just sized once, and any local store can size a white gold ring for under a hundred bucks. Those gurantees and diamond maintence packages are just ways to get you to buy their diamonds at a higher price. I would simply get it all done at once at Whiteflash or another Pricescope dealer. Pearlmans has tons of setting and Good Old Gold has lots too.Just keep in mind to get what your girl likes and not what you think she wants or needs. Questions? Try the search box first but Pricescope welcomes all questions. Have fun shopping!!!

 

[Bdb]

Thanks for all your help! I think I am going to get it all done online.

I went to a local jeweler today and saw some beautiful diamonds. I was thinking about something around .9 to 1.05 carats, saw some they seemed nice but i''ve seen much better deals online Then they brought out .75 carat Star 129 and Solasfera diamonds. I didn''t have any idea as to .75 carat prices since I''ve been looking for about .9 to 1 carat diamond and pricing things online. They were very beautiful--especially the solasfera-- and seemed like a good deal until when I went home and searched online at James Allen and a .75 AGS H & A is $2700 so the Star 129 and Solasfera was about a $1500 to $2000 premium. Anyone think that is a fair premium for these cuts? I do have to say they really popped, especially the Solasfera.

It seems so crazy that .75 of a mm diameter, which seems to be the difference between one carat and .75 carats, would cause a diamond to go up so much in price.

Again thanks for your advice!

 

[jstarfireb]

Good Old Gold sells Solasferas and Star129s. I''d check them out if you''re seriously interested in those stones. The problem with these branded cuts is that they usually carry a pretty high premium over non-branded H&A cuts. All 3 (Sol, Star, and H&A) will be beautiful cuts, but with a different kind of sparkle. If you prefer the sparkle of the Sol/Star cuts, go with one of those, but definitely look into getting it at GOG instead of a local store, because they''re bound to be a bit less expensive there.

 

[Bdb]

Thanks for all your help! I think I am going to get it all done online.

I went to a local jeweler today and saw some beautiful diamonds. I was thinking about something around .9 to 1.05 carats, saw some they seemed nice but i''ve seen much better deals online Then they brought out .75 carat Star 129 and Solasfera diamonds. I didn''t have any idea as to .75 carat prices since I''ve been looking for about .9 to 1 carat diamond and pricing things online. They were very beautiful--especially the solasfera-- and seemed like a good deal until when I went home and searched online at James Allen and a .75 AGS H & A is $2700 so the Star 129 and Solasfera was about a $1500 to $2000 premium. Anyone think that is a fair premium for these cuts? I do have to say they really popped, especially the Solasfera.

It seems so crazy that .75 of a mm diameter, which seems to be the difference between one carat and .75 carats, would cause a diamond to go up so much in price.

Again thanks for your advice!