questions about buying a ring

[infin]

ok first off i have never bought jewrely in my life, im am going to buy my gf an engagement ring, and have no clue where to start. What grade? cut? i have about 5k to spend. Im located in So California if there are any good shops to go to? im just looking for a standard round ring, not a emerald, pear.. thanks!

 

[hoorray]

Since you don't have a relationship with a jeweler locally, I would recommend buying online from a reputable vendor. Online give you a wider choice of great quality at good low prices. (Some brick and morter jewelers can match the online prices, but not all do, so it might be simplier to just go online.)

On process, my recommendation is:
1. Read the tutorials on this site and some of the others such as www.goodoldgold.com and www.niceice.com etc to get yourself up to speed.
2. Focus on cut first, size, color clarity in that order, within your budget.
3. Going out to some high end stores and looking at stones will help you understand the color and size issues. Make sure they are ideal cut stones in order to see the impact that has.
4. Start doing some searches on the web sites of vendors and/or the pricescope search engine here.
5. contact a few vendors with stones you are interested in and start a dialog.
6. come back here and ask for more advice and opinions. we love to do that....

 

[infin]

i probably rather buy the ring from a store rather than an online store, just because i can see the ring in person, and get more ideas about settings. Im mainly interested in what grade i should buy, also if i should extend my budget some more to get a nicer ring.

 

[bisou]

Hello,

My engagement ring was recently made by Sixty East in Pasadena. My fiance and I were very pleased with the outcome of the e-ring. The person who helped us was very friendly and informative. Just a FYI, we bought the diamond from a broker in NY but had the ring made at Sixty East so I can't tell you how they are with their diamonds.

They have a website...I believe it is www.sixtyeast.com

Hope that helps.

 

[just-ice]

Congrats on your upcoming engagement.I have always had a passion for beautiful jewelry and have finally reached the point where I can now play. The info here is absolutely phenonmenal.I go to B&M's to get a visual but I will eventually make my purchases from the online vendors. I have had nothing but exellent communication with them through e-mail or phone.
I have had clerks be so condescending I could hurl...
there are also less then reputable online vendors. REASEARCH! So much info is at your fingertips..
Be comfortable with whom you are dealing with.Trust is vital and there are good sources for appraisals here also.
By the way.....do not go into a store and tell them you don't know "anything" about rings. Don't tell them your exact amount you have to spend.Tell them between this $ and that $ and make sure you understand what/why there is a price difference. Even if you have no desire to become a diamond "guru" it is essential to learn the basics.

 

[foundnemo]

So you have 5k and want a round diamond, solitaire, I presume?

Look at the tutorial, it's got lots of good info.

There are a lot of factors, and it all depend on what your priority is. Cut is very important and determines how sparkly the diamond will be. Do you have to have a certain size - 0.5 carat, 1 carat, etc.? Or do you want the diamond to be the whitest possible or want it to have warm color?

Even though you don't want to buy online, you can still look at the "price stats" here and have a rough idea of how much a ring of your specs would cost.

When you go to the store, see a few rings and pick out the two or three that you think sparkle the most. Then ask to see GIA reports and post the stats here and maybe some experts here can help pick out the ONE ring for you.

Good luck!

 

[infin]

thanks for the replies still, ive been reading alot, man theres alot to know about purchasing a diamond!

how noteacable are imperfections from the naked eye? im leaning more twoards an online purchase now, ive been reading all the great stories that people have got, including service from places. there is such a big selection out there i still am kinda clueless what diamond is my best bet to get for the price. I want to get as flawless diamond as possible, and clarity is my next concern, I migh have to overextend my budjet alittle more but that can be done if in the long run its worth it thanks! just want to make a good purchase any recomendationd for a 4-6k$ diamond?

 

[limey]

Read about my experiences, I was like you a couple months ago!

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-diamond-buying-experiences-a-must-read-for-budding-fiances-and-beginners-long.14907/

Buying a diamond is all about compromise, with $5k to spend you need to compromise in several places, either color, clarity, carat or cut. After seeing hundreds of diamonds in tens of stores I began to focus on the C's that I could see.
- Carat - You would usually want as big a size as possible for your busget and that can be achieved by...
- Color - Look at diamonds under diff lighting conditions and try and see the difference between D, G, J and in between. You might find that H is perfectly acceptable
- Clarity - Similarly look at diamonds thru the jewelers loups and try and find inclusions, you will quickly find that flawless or VVS is not necessary and you can not even see many inclusions in VS or SI stones. The key is eye-clean.
- Cut - Focus on this! A better cut diamonds will return more light, sparkle more, look whiter and look bigger.

I found that ALL the stores in my area tried to sell everything on carat weight and color in a predictable clarity range (VS2-SI2) with no regard for cut! When I eventually saw a well cut stone I noticed the difference immediately.

A few things - do you know if you gf likes square vs round diamonds, gold vs platinum, likes size more than "quality."??

Best of luck
The L-Word

 

[infin]

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A few things - do you know if you gf likes square vs round diamonds, gold vs platinum, likes size more than 'quality.'??

Best of luck
The L-Word

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she likes round diamonds, platinum, quality over size she kinda wants a special cut different than others, buti have no clue where to even start for something like that.

 

[verticalhorizon]

You may very well like the Regent, which is 12 sided. While many call it a modified square, I had a hard time buying it. However, for a unique round alternative it's quite nice.

I've also seen a few ovals that I really like too, but apparently they're harder to come by.

Here's some info on the Regent. They are far superior when it comes to cut quality, but of course this comes at a bit of a premium too. The larger the stone, however, the less round/cushion it will look.

There aren't that many different ways to cut a round stone, despite what other companies claim. Some have more facets, some arrange them differently, but to the casual observer, they will all seem similar. So you should concentrate of cut quality to make sure whatever you get, shines like the dickens!

If you go with a round brilliant, I recomment that you turn your attention to the setting in order to make a unique statement.

Have fun!

 

[infin]

yea im definitely going for a round diamond. are the different cuts of a rund that much unique like the linz diamond from bbb? for the setting she only wants something simple and clean? any suggestions? thanks!

 

[verticalhorizon]

Personally, I don't think the extra cost of a branded Rb is worth it. You can do your homework, get a BLAZING non-branded H&A RB that will be bigger and brighter than what you will get for a proprietary cut.

It's plain and simple, the RB has been around for bajillion years... it's pretty close to perfect. Seek and ye shall find an awesome RB without the name.

 

[foundnemo]

Check out the "price stats" and you'll see that for around $5K you can get a 1 carat H&A H VS2 - which is eye clean - stone. It should be quite sparkly!

For uniqueness, perhaps you can look for that special SETTING, maybe even design one yourself.