Please help with value on engagement ring ? i go tomorrow :)

[dk168]

If the ring as seen in the original post's link is being sold for the price stated, then I would jump on it myself if I had the money to spare, as the centre stone looks bigger than my 1.19ct E VS1, and it cost a lot more than 2k GBP over 10 years ago!

DK

 

[Austina]

A friend of mine’s son and future DIL went ER shopping in Hatton Garden (they didn’t subsequently buy, got a better deal elsewhere), but what they did learn, a lot of sellers told them that they lower their prices in the third week of the month when sales are down and people are waiting to get paid.

 

[Bron357]

The ring in the online example photo is bound to be the “3 carat total” version which is 17,000 pounds!
The “1.20 carat total” version will be considerably smaller.
The visual appearance will also be quite different to the online example photo if the carats are .30 - .50 - .30. All 3 main diamonds will all look much more like a similiar size as the size difference between the centre and sides isn’t as pronounced as the example photo.
So that’s a bit misleading in my opinion if they are really liking the “look” of the example photo.
Do confirm what the ordering procedure is.
Are they happy to order in the ring as specified with no deposit or a fully refundable deposit if the ring that comes in for you doesn’t meet with your approval? Or are you committed to take “that” ring regardless? Or committed to allocate your deposit to another ring ie non refundable deposit?
Here on Pricescope, as experienced and well practiced consumers we expect to deal with vendors who will call in diamonds for us to view and consider with “no obligation to buy”. We might ask to call in 4 or more gems. Other times we deal with vendors who have a 7 day viewing period with a no questions asked return policy.
However, with your local jewellery store they may not have access to the thousands and thousands of diamonds available to purchase around the world. They may deal with just 1 Diamond broker, 1 manufacturing jeweller and what he/she provides is all there is in “their world”.
They might be surprised that there is even an expectation that you want to “call diamonds in to view” - 99% of diamond purchasers just take what they are offered if the price seems good and the diamond sparkly.
And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that except these days with the benefit of the internet, the benefit of secure payment portals and international couriers you can buy a better diamond for less.
Start reading up on all things diamond so whether you budget is 1,000 pounds or 10,000 pounds, you can buy the best diamond for your money.
And if time is of the essence, please don’t buy the first ring you see because you need it by next Saturday, there is absolutely nothing wrong with proposing with a “stand in ring” while you and your fiancé search and research for the perfect engagement ring.

 

[LetLoveRule]

And if time is of the essence, please don’t buy the first ring you see because you need it by next Saturday, there is absolutely nothing wrong with proposing with a “stand in ring” while you and your fiancé search and research for the perfect engagement ring.

Hi, another newbie here
My fiancé proposed with "an interim ring" as the ring that he bought took longer to arrive than he was willing to wait to propose. I'm glad he did because the actual ring wasn't what I had in mind for a ring that I'm going to wear for the rest of my life.
Are you sure this is still the style she wants? Apparently I have suggested something a few years ago that my partner based his purchase on, but it wasn't what I wanted now.
We ended up buying a diamond from James Allen (with lots of help from PS-ers) and I designed my ring while wearing the interim ring.
The above suggestion is a great back-up plan, just to keep in mind.

I'm located in Australia so I understand your being hesitant to buy from the US. Unfortunately there's really not that much choice in diamonds here, plus we didn't want to pay a lot more (even with the currency conversion it was a lot cheaper in the US). We also fell in love with this particular JA diamond so we went ahead and haven't regretted it for a second.

If you decide to try in UK, get as much information on available diamonds (specs/photos/videos) and the setting first and post it here. There are many people willing to help and they have so much knowledge & experience, you'll be in good hands.

Good luck and have fun

 

[Ryancope123]

Hi guys just to let you all know.

I ended up going with Marlows in Birmingham's Jewellery quarter. I had received advice to visit there before, and i must say the lady who dealt with us was SUPERB.

She helped make a ring for my budget and i ended up with around 1.3 GIA Certified diamonds and VS2. in a 3 stone ring, VERY similar to the one pictured, obviously proportions are smaller than the £15,000 ring that was used as a stock photo ( found this out this morning) but it looks very nice, it was also 10% cheaper, overall super impressed and very happy..

Would highly recommend.

 

[LJsapphire]

I wasn't around yesterday but I'm local to Birmingham and we visited the Jewellery Quarter earlier this year to look for a ring for my birthday. I found Diamond Heaven to be overpriced and quite high pressure.
Glad you found a better one!

 

[Snowdrop13]

Well done, be sure to post photos when you get it! All the best with your engagement.

 

[sledge]

Sorry I'm late to the game. It sounds like this may not be useful to you, but here are a few places. With both these you'd have chance to also see a CBI super ideal stone, which are gorgeous.

Also @Durham Rose participates in this forum. And recently, Best Diamonds helped another PS'er here with an insurance replacement and was top shelf.

I will echo the others -- make freakin' sure the style, size, color, etc are still HER preferences. If you aren't sure, try a romantic approach where you propose with a temp ring of sorts. While I actually had a ring in the works for my girl, things happened one night and I proposed ahead of schedule. A piece of ribbon was laying near us and I used that as my "temp ring". She loved the proposal and was enthralled with the ribbon. Amazing really. Once her custom ring was finished I then did a more grandiose proposal where I presented the real rock and her custom setting.

Many girls like to be a part of the buying process. Mine happened to be the type that wasn't sure what she wanted and couldn't have pulled off lots and lots of details. So I took the info she gave and covertly worked on a custom piece for her.

Durham Rose
Mr Manu Bhardwaj
http://www.durhamrose.com/
14 East Bay Lane, Plexal, E15 2GW, Stratford

England (United Kingdom)
Tel: +44 337 422 4600

Best Diamonds
Ms Céline Gouwy
www.bestdiamonds.co.uk
2 Royal Exchange London EC3V 3DG

England (United Kingdom)
Tel: +44 777 0381 882

 

[Hounddog]

Congratulations on finding/creating your ring, great news, I hope once you see it in person you’re both delighted with it.

Hi Sledge, lovely post, I hope you don’t mind if I add some of your info to the thread on ‘recommended UK jewelllers’ that I’m trying to create. If you do mind please say and I’ll edit it out later, Thanks

 

[sledge]

Congratulations on finding/creating your ring, great news, I hope once you see it in person you’re both delighted with it.

Hi Sledge, lovely post, I hope you don’t mind if I add some of your info to the thread on ‘recommended UK jewelllers’ that I’m trying to create. If you do mind please say and I’ll edit it out later, Thanks

No worries at all. Please add.

 

[Ryancope123]

Hi all,

Thanks again for the additional advice its appreciated.

I will take some pics when it arrives.

Kind regards,