Hello Everyone,
I''m searching for a diamond engagement ring for my girlfriend. I''m probably going to by in the 0.7-0.8 F/G VS1 range. I''ve done quite a bit of online research and have visited many jewelers in the area (Virginia suburbs of DC.) At any rate, I feel like I''m nearing the end of my search and have some questions just to ease my mind - possibly just going through everything will help me answer my own question....
1.) Online vs Local: First off, do you pay sales taxes when you buy online? Secondly, how do you deal with getting the ring sized if your guess isn''t quite perfect? Also, what do you do about cleaning, inspections, and repairs? How much do all those things cost? Would you suggest buying the stone online and getting it set locally? Do jewelry stores get upset that you didn''t purchase the diamond from them? I''m not sure whether I really save money by buying online - mainly I would be reassured by the extra info like brilliancescope and sarin measurements that I''m getting a great diamond.
2) Certifications: I understand that AGS and GIA are the best certificates to have. How much can I trust EGL, though? There''s a local jeweler that I like very much - he''s very straightforward, seems to be honest, and has excellent prices. Anyways, 99.9% of his diamonds are GIA certs, but the one that I like the best has an EGL. Here''s the line on it:
0.8 E VS1 Depth: 60.4 Table: 57 Girdle: N-N F
Culet: N Polish/Symmetry: EX EX Flour: M
Price: $3200
The jeweler lets me use whatever lighting I want: bright, dim, flourescent, halogen, sunlight at the window. This stone looks great in all of them - I couldn''t see any noticeable difference in "sparkliness" from an AGS Ideal that I was comparing it to (0.83 F SI1 with a black (yuck!) inclusion visible from the bottom.) As far as I can tell, it is definitely more clean than all the GIA SI1s I''ve seen, so I doubt that the clarity rating would ever rank lower than VS2. Color is hard for me to judge in the D/E/F range, but it was definitely whiter than a couple of G color GIA stones that I looked at.
I guess my question is: do I trust what I see and trust the EGL cert to be accurate, or do I go with the peace of mind of buying online from someplace like goodoldgold or superbcert? I do plan on getting it indepentently appraised and the store does have a return policy......
One last thing: anyone have any sneaky suggestions of how to find out my girlfriends taste in settings?
Thanks in advance!
Paul
I''m searching for a diamond engagement ring for my girlfriend. I''m probably going to by in the 0.7-0.8 F/G VS1 range. I''ve done quite a bit of online research and have visited many jewelers in the area (Virginia suburbs of DC.) At any rate, I feel like I''m nearing the end of my search and have some questions just to ease my mind - possibly just going through everything will help me answer my own question....
1.) Online vs Local: First off, do you pay sales taxes when you buy online? Secondly, how do you deal with getting the ring sized if your guess isn''t quite perfect? Also, what do you do about cleaning, inspections, and repairs? How much do all those things cost? Would you suggest buying the stone online and getting it set locally? Do jewelry stores get upset that you didn''t purchase the diamond from them? I''m not sure whether I really save money by buying online - mainly I would be reassured by the extra info like brilliancescope and sarin measurements that I''m getting a great diamond.
2) Certifications: I understand that AGS and GIA are the best certificates to have. How much can I trust EGL, though? There''s a local jeweler that I like very much - he''s very straightforward, seems to be honest, and has excellent prices. Anyways, 99.9% of his diamonds are GIA certs, but the one that I like the best has an EGL. Here''s the line on it:
0.8 E VS1 Depth: 60.4 Table: 57 Girdle: N-N F
Culet: N Polish/Symmetry: EX EX Flour: M
Price: $3200
The jeweler lets me use whatever lighting I want: bright, dim, flourescent, halogen, sunlight at the window. This stone looks great in all of them - I couldn''t see any noticeable difference in "sparkliness" from an AGS Ideal that I was comparing it to (0.83 F SI1 with a black (yuck!) inclusion visible from the bottom.) As far as I can tell, it is definitely more clean than all the GIA SI1s I''ve seen, so I doubt that the clarity rating would ever rank lower than VS2. Color is hard for me to judge in the D/E/F range, but it was definitely whiter than a couple of G color GIA stones that I looked at.
I guess my question is: do I trust what I see and trust the EGL cert to be accurate, or do I go with the peace of mind of buying online from someplace like goodoldgold or superbcert? I do plan on getting it indepentently appraised and the store does have a return policy......
One last thing: anyone have any sneaky suggestions of how to find out my girlfriends taste in settings?
Thanks in advance!
Paul