Frakncylons
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2012
- Messages
- 2
Hello all,
I've been lurking for quite some time now and its about time I say hi! I can't say how much PS has helped me these past months. My first experience with diamonds was in a generic mall store and I was overwhelmed to say the least. I nearly pulled the trigger on what I thought was a nice engagement ring. I'm SO glad that I didn't but that thing. Overpriced and low quality.
Up until recently, I had pretty much decided on what I wanted. As you can imagine, one of my first priorities became cut. An ever present mantra here on PS. My desired color fell into the H or above range. Any clarity considered eye-clean would be fine with me. With my projected budget, this puts me in the 0.5 carat or less range. I'm fine with that and I know she would be too. She'd say yes if I put an onion ring on her finger.
That said, not only do I want her to have something nice but I appreciate things of quality.
A little back story. As of now, we've been together about 4 years. She put up with me going back to school while I acquired an associate's degree. She agreed to be as frugal as possible to save money to move to a different state where I will finish my bachelor's degree next year. Now we've moved and she is employed but I'm still searching away. The money that I had stashed away for the ring has slowly dwindled in the time being. I would consider it irresponsible to drain my account or go into debt over a ring.
So, fast forward to last week. I was visiting with my parents and mentioned my dilemma. That would be the fact that I very much want to marry her but can't afford to propose with something that I feel comfortable giving her. My mother leaves the room only to come back with a diamond ring in her hand to give me. I was blown away to say the least! It seems that this ring was a gift from her mother that was purchased while she was in South Africa.
While I don't know much about the stone, I do know a little. First off, it is actually a diamond.
I had a salesman at a jewelry store test it (thermally AND electrically). From what I could compare it with, the color seems good but it surely is no D. Clarity seems very good as well, certainly clean to the eye internally. The salesman considered it to be a very nice diamond but he didn't seem too horribly knowledgeable. Either way, it is indeed beautiful to my eye and I know she would love it. I measured the width with my calipers and it is right around 6.50mm across without much variation. Height was harder to determine as it is mounted but I would say its near 3.85mm. This would lead me to believe it in the 0.9-1.0 carat region?
There is one thing I'm uncertain of. In the pictures you will see two small frosty spots 180 degrees apart. They are not nearly as obvious in person and they don't seem to enter the interior of the diamond much if at all. I can't feel them with my fingernail, but I can with fine tweezers. Ammonia and a toothbrush wont remove them, nor will steam. Any idea what they are? Perhaps they can be hidden under a prong when I have the stone put in a different setting? Perhaps it needs a recut or repolish?
My tentative plan of attack is to first remove the stone and have it appraised and then have it put in a setting. Sound about right? Still not sure of the setting but the BGD split prong grace in rose gold is really classy!
Aren't moms the best!?!
I've been lurking for quite some time now and its about time I say hi! I can't say how much PS has helped me these past months. My first experience with diamonds was in a generic mall store and I was overwhelmed to say the least. I nearly pulled the trigger on what I thought was a nice engagement ring. I'm SO glad that I didn't but that thing. Overpriced and low quality.
Up until recently, I had pretty much decided on what I wanted. As you can imagine, one of my first priorities became cut. An ever present mantra here on PS. My desired color fell into the H or above range. Any clarity considered eye-clean would be fine with me. With my projected budget, this puts me in the 0.5 carat or less range. I'm fine with that and I know she would be too. She'd say yes if I put an onion ring on her finger.
That said, not only do I want her to have something nice but I appreciate things of quality. A little back story. As of now, we've been together about 4 years. She put up with me going back to school while I acquired an associate's degree. She agreed to be as frugal as possible to save money to move to a different state where I will finish my bachelor's degree next year. Now we've moved and she is employed but I'm still searching away. The money that I had stashed away for the ring has slowly dwindled in the time being. I would consider it irresponsible to drain my account or go into debt over a ring.
So, fast forward to last week. I was visiting with my parents and mentioned my dilemma. That would be the fact that I very much want to marry her but can't afford to propose with something that I feel comfortable giving her. My mother leaves the room only to come back with a diamond ring in her hand to give me. I was blown away to say the least! It seems that this ring was a gift from her mother that was purchased while she was in South Africa.
While I don't know much about the stone, I do know a little. First off, it is actually a diamond.
I had a salesman at a jewelry store test it (thermally AND electrically). From what I could compare it with, the color seems good but it surely is no D. Clarity seems very good as well, certainly clean to the eye internally. The salesman considered it to be a very nice diamond but he didn't seem too horribly knowledgeable. Either way, it is indeed beautiful to my eye and I know she would love it. I measured the width with my calipers and it is right around 6.50mm across without much variation. Height was harder to determine as it is mounted but I would say its near 3.85mm. This would lead me to believe it in the 0.9-1.0 carat region?There is one thing I'm uncertain of. In the pictures you will see two small frosty spots 180 degrees apart. They are not nearly as obvious in person and they don't seem to enter the interior of the diamond much if at all. I can't feel them with my fingernail, but I can with fine tweezers. Ammonia and a toothbrush wont remove them, nor will steam. Any idea what they are? Perhaps they can be hidden under a prong when I have the stone put in a different setting? Perhaps it needs a recut or repolish?
My tentative plan of attack is to first remove the stone and have it appraised and then have it put in a setting. Sound about right? Still not sure of the setting but the BGD split prong grace in rose gold is really classy!
Aren't moms the best!?!
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