Having just proposed with a 'dummy' ring, my fiance and I are looking to pick up a solitaire diamond ring.
She would like it to be 'silver' in colour which seems to generally mean either platinum or white gold. The extra cost of platinum is bringing us to think that she would be better with a 14ct white gold band with the extra money spent on the diamond - with the intention of possibly upgrading the band in the future if wanted. On Blue Nile there is over £100 difference between 14 and 18ct white gold. Would anyone argue that it is worth spending 100 more for the 18ct and 100 less on the diamond? Or is 14ct the right way to go considering the budget?
Moving on to the diamond, we would be interested to know what you think the best balance is to get the most sparkle for the buck so to speak!
Would I be right in thinking that round diamonds are the most brilliant. The pear and princess cuts that she also likes seem to be cheaper in £/ct terms. The amount of sparkle is important and she thinks she would prefer a bit more sparkle in a smaller ct round diamond than a duller (but larger) pear/princess cut. Any views on the trade-offs between round vs princess vs pear are appreciated
I am buying from the UK have VAT (and in some cases import duty) to contend with and include in the budget. We've been searching mainly on Blue Nile since after taking into account VAT (and no visible import duty) the prices seem good. We would however buy from elsewhere providing the ring can reach us fairly quickly.
Could you please advise on the search criteria I am using - and whether you think these are good figures considering the budget and other information above.
Price:
Shape: Round
Colour: G and upwards
Cut: Ideal and upwards
Clarity: VVS2 and upwards
Then I have been adjusting the carats upwards (normally around 0.43) to get a 'shortlist' and sometimes ordering by 'date' since I would imagine that the best 'deals' don't last for long on the site. Here is an example of one that came up in such a search - what do you think?:
http://www.bluenile.co.uk/build-your-own-diamond-ring?forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP&track=tab#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOR|pid=LD01891557
Is girdle a significant factor in your opinion? Several have medium-thick.
I realise the most important thing is personal satisfaction, and thus what is 'best' for us is somewhat subjective... But if you had this budget to buy a diamond for a solitaire ring in the next 5 days or so - what would you be getting? Should I revise any of those factors down in favour of more carats? Do any of them need to rise? (Clarity perhaps?)
If push came to shove, we could be tempted to increase the budget from £850ish to £1000 (excluding VAT) which would it seem buy a few 0.1 of a carat should you think that it would be money well spent with the increase in size making a difference to the overall ring proportions. But perhaps a 0.1-2 of carat is effectively unnoticeable?
Any help, suggestions or recomendations to places that can better Blue Nile (remember I'm in the UK) will be very much appreciated
Thanks!
She would like it to be 'silver' in colour which seems to generally mean either platinum or white gold. The extra cost of platinum is bringing us to think that she would be better with a 14ct white gold band with the extra money spent on the diamond - with the intention of possibly upgrading the band in the future if wanted. On Blue Nile there is over £100 difference between 14 and 18ct white gold. Would anyone argue that it is worth spending 100 more for the 18ct and 100 less on the diamond? Or is 14ct the right way to go considering the budget?
Moving on to the diamond, we would be interested to know what you think the best balance is to get the most sparkle for the buck so to speak!
Would I be right in thinking that round diamonds are the most brilliant. The pear and princess cuts that she also likes seem to be cheaper in £/ct terms. The amount of sparkle is important and she thinks she would prefer a bit more sparkle in a smaller ct round diamond than a duller (but larger) pear/princess cut. Any views on the trade-offs between round vs princess vs pear are appreciated
I am buying from the UK have VAT (and in some cases import duty) to contend with and include in the budget. We've been searching mainly on Blue Nile since after taking into account VAT (and no visible import duty) the prices seem good. We would however buy from elsewhere providing the ring can reach us fairly quickly.
Could you please advise on the search criteria I am using - and whether you think these are good figures considering the budget and other information above.
Price:
Shape: Round
Colour: G and upwards
Cut: Ideal and upwards
Clarity: VVS2 and upwards
Then I have been adjusting the carats upwards (normally around 0.43) to get a 'shortlist' and sometimes ordering by 'date' since I would imagine that the best 'deals' don't last for long on the site. Here is an example of one that came up in such a search - what do you think?:
http://www.bluenile.co.uk/build-your-own-diamond-ring?forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP&track=tab#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOR|pid=LD01891557
Is girdle a significant factor in your opinion? Several have medium-thick.
I realise the most important thing is personal satisfaction, and thus what is 'best' for us is somewhat subjective... But if you had this budget to buy a diamond for a solitaire ring in the next 5 days or so - what would you be getting? Should I revise any of those factors down in favour of more carats? Do any of them need to rise? (Clarity perhaps?)
If push came to shove, we could be tempted to increase the budget from £850ish to £1000 (excluding VAT) which would it seem buy a few 0.1 of a carat should you think that it would be money well spent with the increase in size making a difference to the overall ring proportions. But perhaps a 0.1-2 of carat is effectively unnoticeable?
Any help, suggestions or recomendations to places that can better Blue Nile (remember I'm in the UK) will be very much appreciated
Thanks!
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