Seeking advice on 3-stone diamond ring

[alins]

This is my first time buying a dimaond ring and I would appreciate all the help and comment in the world!

My local Costco has a nice looking three-stone round diamond platinum ring, center diamond is 0.7 ctw, total ctw is 0.86, I/VS2 or better (as claimed). Price is $2900.

I''ve looked all over the web and vendors mentioned on pricescope and I cannot "replicate" this combination to see if the Costco price is good, or I can do better
(in terms of diamond quality).

Overall, with three stone settings, what are good weight proportions between the center and sides? Are there sites with better selections? My budget is around $3K.

Many thanks!

 

[Regular Guy]

Alins,

Welcome to Pricescope!

The option you found at Costco is attractively priced, and if you buy it, I understand you can return it forever.

Consider 2 options:

a) pay $25 for an idealscope, check out the Costco option under it, see if it performs well, and if it does, don't look back. It might!

b) James Allen has some options you might want to consider...like this one. He also has similarly priced I VS2s, but you might be better off with an H SI1, especially if it's eye clean. You'd ask Jim to confirm that for you. If you haven't already, consider other options using the search by cut db to locate them. Then, from his DCD site, consider a ring option like this one, but make sure the head would fit the slightly smaller center diamond. In the alternative, I wonder if he can get his people to do a custom replacement of the head? In white gold you're under budget, and platinum, slightly over.

c) do both a & b, and choose the better between them, returning the one not chosen. In the latter case, see if Jim would send you the ring not attached to the diamond while you compare them (also better for having it appraised that way, if you wish to do this), because once they're paired, you'll incur some costs.

Best of wishes!

 

[alins]

Thank you very much for your advice - I will do as you said and compare.

Do you mind looking here as well:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11149861

As with other Costco rings this is also a I/VS2 or better. It looks nice to me.

Now I can also get a I/VS2 three-stone ring, platinum, center diamond 0.5 ctw, total 0.98 ctw for $2600.

And then there is something like this:
http://www.bluenile.com/product_details.asp?oid=487

What I'm wondering is which of the three choices here would be better in terms of look, brilliance, value,
or any other metric you may think of.

Thanks again!

 

[ladykemma]

sams has some stunners too. check the certificates.

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 10/3/2006 6:33:20 PM
Author: alins
Thank you very much for your advice - I will do as you said and compare.

Do you mind looking here as well:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11149861

As with other Costco rings this is also a I/VS2 or better. It looks nice to me.

Now I can also get a I/VS2 three-stone ring, platinum, center diamond 0.5 ctw, total 0.98 ctw for $2600.

And then there is something like this:
http://www.bluenile.com/product_details.asp?oid=487

What I'm wondering is which of the three choices here would be better in terms of look, brilliance, value,
or any other metric you may think of.

Thanks again!

Not sure what you're looking for...though you could have picked examples like from Blue Nile of their 3 diamond options...either pre-set, or build your own, the pictures you've presented from both Cotco & Blue Nile were 5 stone. Was that intended? I think a 5 stone is more an anniversary look, but anything works.

Blue Nile pictures look nice, either for their preset...or I tried to build one for you...not sure if the link will work to capture the pieces...but here it is. Either the preset or "build your own" both work out to about $3500. The advantage with a build your own, or the option in my post above, which is still probably the best deal, is that you don't have to depend on the vendor doing a good job for you, re the cut of the diamond...you can look on the stats yourself of the crown and pavilion angles, and see for yourself how they work together to help provide a beautifully center stone, particularly. That's the metric I would think of, reviewed in the tutorial.

Likely, though, both Costco and BN do nice jobs with their presets. That maybe easier overall, and depending on your time frame, you might just compare those too, use something like an idealscope to make a smarter comparison, and you may find that's a satisfactory enough selection.

(edited to add)...Check out the algorithm Blue Nile uses for matching stone sizes on their build your own...I like their proportion set, generally, better than that represented by Costo, I think.

 

[alins]

Thank you again for your time and advice! I am looking for an anniversary ring, and still have some time. So I will read the tutorial once more and try to come up with a design. I know next to nothing about proportions, but hopefully Bluenile does a good job in matching.

Once again my sincere thanks.