Cherokee1979
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2011
- Messages
- 246
Hello all. Let me first say a big THANK YOU to the PS community for all of your sage wisdom. Everyone has been incredibly helpful and kind, and I am SO grateful for your guidance and advice! 
Also, I owe a special thank you to diamondseeker2006 and mrssalvo; you ladies are so kind and knowledgeable, and I hope that life brings you the very best. Well, I apologize in advance for the long post (I research and write for a living and cannot seem to help myself).
Initially, since I was very, VERY pleased with the savings offered by the secondary market (I purchased both the ER and WB from a private seller online at a very reasonable price), I created a thread in RT detailing my experience, if anyone is interested (see [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-secondary-market-experience.174708/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-secondary-market-experience.174708/[/URL]). Although my experience with diamonds and jewelry shopping is not even a scintilla of the knowledge that the average PS’er has, I had thought it prudent to post my experience just in case it might be helpful to another newbie PS’er out there.
The proposal:
I rented for the weekend a charming, old log cabin, which was perfect for the occasion, as it was quaint, romantic, and most importantly, private. We are both rather private people, and I knew that my fiancée would want only the two of us present for the proposal, as it is a rather intimate moment. Accordingly, I made a fire in the stone fireplace and proposed to her right there (after, of course, fortifying my nerves with some “liquid courage”, a/k/a, cabernet). Also, I am not ashamed to say that, me being a bit emotional for a guy, I started to well up halfway through my little “speech” prior to popping the big question. She seemed to love it though, and she loved the ER!
The stone: .81 RB, AGS0 ideal cut, E color, VS1, 0.9 on the HCA, negligible fluorescence.
Although the below pictures don’t do a great job of showing this, the fire and light return on this stone is really impressive. I am SO happy that I went with an AGS0 (a big thanks to PS on that one)!
As many here have said, it is really nice to have the reassurance of an AGS0 when buying sight-unseen! Also, the E color faces up incredibly white, which was very important to us.
I had initially wanted to get a larger RB (slightly over a carat) and buy it new. However, early into my ER search, we discovered that she was pregnant, thus making money even more of a consideration!
In any event, my fiancée had expressed that she was not too concerned about size (as she is not “blingy” whatsoever) and she would much rather have high clarity (VS2 or better), & very high color, as she is VERY color sensitive. Also, I of course used my knowledge gained from PS to stress to her the importance of cut (I can imagine that she was getting really tired of hearing me use the term “AGS0” all of the time.)
The setting & band: Platinum Ritani EL halo & matching platinum WB. I knew my fiancée liked the bezel halo style (which is really nice considering her active lifestyle) and I thought that, if I could find a nice setting within our budget (hence the secondary market search), it would be a great way to maximize finger coverage (she wanted a delicate setting and has rather small fingers – size 4.25). The E color center stone seems to mesh perfectly with the F-G melee, and it is nice how the center stone is higher in color than the icy-white, delicate one-pointers.
Well, I apologize about the lackluster pics, but here goes!
Also, I owe a special thank you to diamondseeker2006 and mrssalvo; you ladies are so kind and knowledgeable, and I hope that life brings you the very best. Well, I apologize in advance for the long post (I research and write for a living and cannot seem to help myself).Initially, since I was very, VERY pleased with the savings offered by the secondary market (I purchased both the ER and WB from a private seller online at a very reasonable price), I created a thread in RT detailing my experience, if anyone is interested (see [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-secondary-market-experience.174708/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-secondary-market-experience.174708/[/URL]). Although my experience with diamonds and jewelry shopping is not even a scintilla of the knowledge that the average PS’er has, I had thought it prudent to post my experience just in case it might be helpful to another newbie PS’er out there.
The proposal:
I rented for the weekend a charming, old log cabin, which was perfect for the occasion, as it was quaint, romantic, and most importantly, private. We are both rather private people, and I knew that my fiancée would want only the two of us present for the proposal, as it is a rather intimate moment. Accordingly, I made a fire in the stone fireplace and proposed to her right there (after, of course, fortifying my nerves with some “liquid courage”, a/k/a, cabernet). Also, I am not ashamed to say that, me being a bit emotional for a guy, I started to well up halfway through my little “speech” prior to popping the big question. She seemed to love it though, and she loved the ER!
The stone: .81 RB, AGS0 ideal cut, E color, VS1, 0.9 on the HCA, negligible fluorescence.
Although the below pictures don’t do a great job of showing this, the fire and light return on this stone is really impressive. I am SO happy that I went with an AGS0 (a big thanks to PS on that one)!
As many here have said, it is really nice to have the reassurance of an AGS0 when buying sight-unseen! Also, the E color faces up incredibly white, which was very important to us. I had initially wanted to get a larger RB (slightly over a carat) and buy it new. However, early into my ER search, we discovered that she was pregnant, thus making money even more of a consideration!
In any event, my fiancée had expressed that she was not too concerned about size (as she is not “blingy” whatsoever) and she would much rather have high clarity (VS2 or better), & very high color, as she is VERY color sensitive. Also, I of course used my knowledge gained from PS to stress to her the importance of cut (I can imagine that she was getting really tired of hearing me use the term “AGS0” all of the time.) The setting & band: Platinum Ritani EL halo & matching platinum WB. I knew my fiancée liked the bezel halo style (which is really nice considering her active lifestyle) and I thought that, if I could find a nice setting within our budget (hence the secondary market search), it would be a great way to maximize finger coverage (she wanted a delicate setting and has rather small fingers – size 4.25). The E color center stone seems to mesh perfectly with the F-G melee, and it is nice how the center stone is higher in color than the icy-white, delicate one-pointers.
Well, I apologize about the lackluster pics, but here goes!
Ritani is beautiful and expensive, so it was terrific you were able to find that set pre-owned! 
300x240.png)