Several questions about an e-ring

[fuentes]

So I''m purchasing an e-ring in the next month or so from Whiteflash for sure. It''ll be around a 1ct round stone.
Here are my Q''s:
Is ACA worth paying a little more for?
To the untrained eye, how warm is I/J color?
I like a setting that makes the diamond look big, my gf is probably around a size 5 and has long slender fingers...what settings look best on hands like those?
I like the Legato micro pave, but I feel it''s too thin for her finger...what are some other settings along those lines?

I''ve looked at all of their settings online, but maybe someone may be able to suggest a custom design that WF can easily make, like swapping parts of their existing settings to make a unique one.
My girlfriend hardly wears any jewelry, I know she wants something timeless/classic from her personality. Personally, I''m in love with the WF halo setting...but I''m not sure if I like it more off the finger than on it, not sure how that would look on her long digits...also, is a halo setting timeless? I know it''s classic, but is it also contemporary?
Ah, sorry for all the typing....I''ve been looking for quite a while and am getting burned out, looking for advice...i know I can pick out a good diamond, I just haven''t found a setting that strikes me as "the one".
Looking forward to any help you all can offer...you all have already helped me out immensely with all of the old posts to search through.

FYI: I think this is the most beautiful setting I''ve seen: "the one"
But it''s way out of my budget and the Divisi by whiteflash is not quite as elegant as this one...a little chunkier.

 

[GemView]

Given that you are already taking under consideration the length of her fingers and the overall proportions of the ring, it sounds as if you have fantastic aesthetic instincts. I doubt you can go wrong with that kind of thoughtfulness going into the purchase!

Since you are asking a couple of different questions, this post will address a couple of different topics (hence the length -- but, hey, at least it's thorough!).


As for setting ideas, you can obtain a great deal in the "Show Me the Ring" folder. There's an Eye Candy thread at the top of the list that is presently up to 130 or so pages worth of engagement rings that people from PS have posted (among other types of jewelry).


In terms of places to shop, here are a couple of Internet sites with a nice selection. I can't personally vouch for these vendors because I have not made purchases from them -- but in most cases these sites provide an unusually large online selection:



Knox Jewelers


BillBarnes.com (This site has a ton of engagement ring styles.)


Antique Jewelry Mall


Engagement Rings Direct



Whitehouse Brothers (This site also has a HUGE selection.)



BridalRings.com (This Los Angeles jewelry district retailer offers well over a 100 engagement ring pages.)


Nice Ice.com (Great educational info. found here.)


James Allen


abazias diamonds


The Marlene Harris Collection


Etienne Perret


Solomon Brothers Fine Jewelry


dimend SCAASI


As for your ACA question, I can only say what worked for my FI and myself. What I'm about to describe isn't going to agree with everyone, but may appeal to those who want to buy the biggest diamond with the best cut that they can locate on a strict budget. Before I found PriceScope, my FI and I found an "ideal plus" diamond graded by the EGL USA at a B&M. I fell in love with the diamond before I learned that EGL certed diamonds are not perceived as strictly color/clarity graded compared, for example, to those accompanied by GIA certs. As a result, I would say we stumbled across this approach more than planned on it. We obtained the specs from the EGL USA cert prior to purchase and ran it through the HCA calculator that you can find here under "Tools". It checked out at a 1.5 -- not exactly the top of the scale, but not the bottom, either.

Now you can pay more to locate an AGS or GIA certified diamond that ranks closer to the .8-1.0 range on the HCA, but whether every eye will notice significant visual improvements between, say, an HCA 1.2 vs. 1.5, or a .8 vs. 1.1 is debatable. So that reality, in combination with the fact that I fell in love with the diamond rather than the cert, was good enough to seal the deal for us. If we were doing it all over again, however, I would add one more step, and that would be to compare any non AGS graded diamond against AGS0 parameters as shown on this handy illustration from Cross Diamonds. Theoretically, if you find a slightly less expensive EGL USA certified "ideal plus" stone that seemingly overlaps AGS0 criteria AND checks out on the HCA, then you may be able save a bit by opting for an unbranded diamond without the added premium of an AGS or GIA cert.

I would NOT recommend the aforementioned method if you are a stickler for precision, however. The GIA is regarded as the industry leader when it comes to color/clarity grading. So if you purchase a diamond certed by EGL USA, save the money on the assumption that the GIA may apply a stricter standard. In other words, your SI1 EGL may be an SI2 GIA, and your G color EGL may be an H GIA. But again, to the layperson, will one clarity or color grade difference be a deal breaker? Will it even be noticeable to someone without a loupe and/or the gemological training to discern one or two grades difference in color? If you want to save a bit of money but hedge your bets just the same, there's another possibility: Opt for the EGL USA certed stone for the savings, but consider selecting a color and clarity grade above the best cut/clarity/color/carat weight your budget will allow for from an AGS or GIA graded stone. Funky as this strategy sounds, you may still come out somewhat ahead. So in my case, for example, we ended up with an 1.04 carat F/SI1 EGL USA certed Ideal Plus diamond, whereas if we had spent roughly the same amount for a GIA certified stone with similar cut parameters, it most likely would have had to drop to an ~H/SI2 in order to land in a similar price range (and possibly a somewhat lower carat weight). Keep in mind, however, that we made our purchase at a B&M several years ago. Whether or not there would be a significant savings today -- or while shopping for diamonds over the Internet -- remains to be seen. But you can find out whether this approach is worth your while by using the diamond pricing tool on the PS home page to compare EGL, GIA and AGS certed diamonds and their respective prices when compared against HCA scores and AGS0 guidelines.

Although you didn't mention it, there's another consideration that may or may not be a big deal depending on your budget and/or her preferences: the wedding ring. Most PSers seemingly prefer both a wedding and engagement ring, but some women are perfectly content to wear one ring. Among those that prefer to wear two rings, some want the wedding band to be fitted to the engagement ring (interlocking or flush fit). There are wedding sets that serve this purpose, but the vast majority of engagement rings are sold without a matching wedding band and that can make finding one that is a good fit and/or a similar look tricky.

Some women don't mind it if the rings don't sit snugly together, whereas others do not like the look of a gap between the two rings. Generally, engagement rings that have a low prong setting tend to fit best alongside a curved wedding band. And while it is comparatively easy to locate a variety of straight wedding band styles, locating a band with the right amount of curve to fit an engagement ring can be tricky -- unless the designer has already provided a matching band (typically sold separately). If there is no match, however, it may be necessary to custom design a curved w-band to get it to sit flush (if that is the preference). Another consideration to a curved w-band is that it may look a bit odd without its "other half". As a result, some women would rather have a wedding band that stands on its own, while others prefer a wedding band that is primarily designed to compliment the engagement ring. Oftentimes the advantage to a high profile setting is that the head of the ring -- the prongs or "basket" -- sits well above the wedding band allowing a straight band to fit beneath it. Unfortunately, jewelry websites do not always show a side view of their engagement rings, so it may be difficult to tell what kind of wedding ring will compliment the engagement ring without further assistance. So if you do find an e-ring you like, consider asking the vendor what type of wedding band will best compliment the ring. Otherwise you may be in for another ring search, or the unanticipated cost of a custom w-ring.

Although I've given you more than enough to consider, in the end I hope it helps narrow your search. If all this seems too overwhelming, however, one last possibility is to concentrate on the diamond aspect of your purchase with the intent to propose with an inexpensive but nevertheless classic Tiffany-style, six-prong setting. This way, you can take your fiancé shopping for the e-ring and wedding band following your engagement, and let her do the choosing.

Good luck!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/19/2008 12:07:40 AM
Author:fuentes

So I''m purchasing an e-ring in the next month or so from Whiteflash for sure. It''ll be around a 1ct round stone.
Here are my Q''s:
Is ACA worth paying a little more for? It depends - if you want the '' pedigree'' of the ACA and an undisputed hearts and arrows cut, then certainly - I would personally pay extra for one, but it depends on you. You could find a diamond which is perfectly beautiful in the Expert Selection range for example.
To the untrained eye, how warm is I/J color? It won''t be in any way yellow, you may notice a tiny tint from the side in some lights, but these colour grades can face up plenty white in many cases, lots of very happy I and J owners here! As long as the cut is good, any colour grade will be shown to it''s best advantage.
I like a setting that makes the diamond look big, my gf is probably around a size 5 and has long slender fingers...what settings look best on hands like those? In my opinion, a solitaire setting with a thinner band makes the diamond pop, but it sounds as if your GF could wear any ring and it would look great.
I like the Legato micro pave, but I feel it''s too thin for her finger...what are some other settings along those lines?

I''ve looked at all of their settings online, but maybe someone may be able to suggest a custom design that WF can easily make, like swapping parts of their existing settings to make a unique one. Best to speak to WF about that, give them your ideas and see what they can come up with.
My girlfriend hardly wears any jewelry, I know she wants something timeless/classic from her personality. Personally, I''m in love with the WF halo setting...but I''m not sure if I like it more off the finger than on it, not sure how that would look on her long digits...also, is a halo setting timeless? I know it''s classic, but is it also contemporary? Personally I would go for a simple solitaire if you can''t ask her about the halo, or if you aren''t sure if she likes them, then if she wants to, you could change the setting later - halos aren''t for everyone.
Ah, sorry for all the typing....I''ve been looking for quite a while and am getting burned out, looking for advice...i know I can pick out a good diamond, I just haven''t found a setting that strikes me as ''the one''.
Looking forward to any help you all can offer...you all have already helped me out immensely with all of the old posts to search through.

FYI: I think this is the most beautiful setting I''ve seen: ''the one''
But it''s way out of my budget and the Divisi by whiteflash is not quite as elegant as this one...a little chunkier.

 

[John P]

Date: 6/19/2008 5:31:06 AM
Author: GemView

As for your ACA question, I can only say what worked for my FI and myself. What I''m about to describe isn''t going to agree with everyone, but may appeal to those who want to buy the biggest diamond with the best cut that they can locate on a strict budget. Before I found PriceScope, my FI and I found an ''ideal plus'' diamond graded by the EGL USA at a B&M. I fell in love with the diamond before I learned that EGL certed diamonds are not perceived as strictly color/clarity graded compared, for example, to those accompanied by GIA certs. As a result, I would say we stumbled across this approach more than planned on it. We obtained the specs from the EGL USA cert prior to purchase and ran it through the HCA calculator that you can find here under ''Tools''. It checked out at a 1.5 -- not exactly the top of the scale, but not the bottom, either.

Now you can pay more to locate an AGS or GIA certified diamond that ranks closer to the .8-1.0 range on the HCA, but whether every eye will notice significant visual improvements between, say, an HCA 1.2 vs. 1.5, or a .8 vs. 1.1 is debatable. So that reality, in combination with the fact that I fell in love with the diamond rather than the cert, was good enough to seal the deal for us. If we were doing it all over again, however, I would add one more step, and that would be to compare any non AGS graded diamond against AGS0 parameters as shown on this handy illustration from Cross Diamonds. Theoretically, if you find a slightly less expensive EGL USA certified ''ideal plus'' stone that seemingly overlaps AGS0 criteria AND checks out on the HCA, then you may be able save a bit by opting for an unbranded diamond without the added premium of an AGS or GIA cert.

Actually Gemview, you will be happy to learn that diamonds under 2.0 are all considered EX in HCA terms. So your 1.5 a 1.2 and a 0.8 are equal as far as that basic metric is concerned. It''s a rejection tool and not intended to predict any diamond under 2.0 as preferable over another.

(very thoughtful post by the way)

 

[angeline]

Date: 6/19/2008 12:07:40 AM
Author:fuentes

So I''m purchasing an e-ring in the next month or so from Whiteflash for sure. It''ll be around a 1ct round stone.

Here are my Q''s:

Is ACA worth paying a little more for?

To the untrained eye, how warm is I/J color?

I like a setting that makes the diamond look big, my gf is probably around a size 5 and has long slender fingers...what settings look best on hands like those?

I like the Legato micro pave, but I feel it''s too thin for her finger...what are some other settings along those lines?


I''ve looked at all of their settings online, but maybe someone may be able to suggest a custom design that WF can easily make, like swapping parts of their existing settings to make a unique one.

My girlfriend hardly wears any jewelry, I know she wants something timeless/classic from her personality. Personally, I''m in love with the WF halo setting...but I''m not sure if I like it more off the finger than on it, not sure how that would look on her long digits...also, is a halo setting timeless? I know it''s classic, but is it also contemporary?

Ah, sorry for all the typing....I''ve been looking for quite a while and am getting burned out, looking for advice...i know I can pick out a good diamond, I just haven''t found a setting that strikes me as ''the one''.

Looking forward to any help you all can offer...you all have already helped me out immensely with all of the old posts to search through.


FYI: I think this is the most beautiful setting I''ve seen: ''the one''

But it''s way out of my budget and the Divisi by whiteflash is not quite as elegant as this one...a little chunkier.

My thoughts...

An ACA is worth paying more for if you are into knowing you have the highest precision cut available. Experts argue on whether that extra precision is visible unaided by the human eye. (Note I am comparing the Super-ideal to an Ideal). So to me it depends if you will get that extra kick out of knowing your diamond is super-duper-looper ideal, not just ideal. It is worth it to me for example.

Re color: I compared a WF Ideal cut E to an ACA I, the E was 2ct, the I was 2.4ct. I could barely tell the difference. Like barely. That said the ability to tell color is one thing, the personal reaction to that color is another. You need to check out Ideal cut stones in different colors for yourself.

If your gf has looong, slender fingers (lucky thing!) she could wear wider settings. However a lot of people believe that the thinner bands make the diamond ''pop'' more and appear bigger. She can always fill up the extra space on her finger with the wedding band, an eternity, stacking bands....

So I think a halo wouldn''t look out of place at all.

About whether a halo is contemporary, I''m not sure. They certainly are popular currently, does that make them contemporary? Contemporary to me is a ring with modern, sleek look.

Is this a total surprise? Can you go trying on settings with your girl to see what she likes and what looks good on her? Or propose with the basic temporary setting and shop together for a permanent setting?

Otherwise gemview has given you a great list of places to look at. I would also add Pearlmans (pearlmansjewelers.com) to that list, they have a huge selection and great pricing and great service. Don''t forget to tell them you''re from PS if you do go there to get pricing.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[rickpiwo]

hey rough rock

I understand the process involved in buying a diamond according to "our" standards! HAHAHA I just finished the process and think our future wives owe us a ton more than the average joe hahahaha....anyway, to get to your questions:
Is ACA worth paying a little more for? I do not really know, I would imagine it is not needed, as long as you know the dimensions.
To the untrained eye, how warm is I/J color? In my opinion, NO difference, unless were talkin 2.5+ carats. Mine, actually hers lol, is an I and I could not tell.
I like a setting that makes the diamond look big, my gf is probably around a size 5 and has long slender fingers...what settings look best on hands like those? Get a thin, 2mm band, six prong, higher than average setting, it will make that stone pop like no other.
Good luck!!!

Rick

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

Hi fuentes,

I am by no means an expert on diamonds, but I always put a lot of effort into buying things like this and have just been throug hthe process. Thought my experience as a lay-person and the things I have learned along the way might help.

One, use whiteflash - I ahve not yet received my (partners) e-ring, but have to say that the one thing I did right was to use them - they were fantastic and made the process so much easier that I had every thought - basically, they broke it down to two parts for me - the stonte and the setting. The stone selection involved me choosing a few from their website (after learning lots on this forum) and them selecting stones they thought also might be in myu budget/specs. we then narrowed it down to a few and chose one!!

Diamonds - you ask whether you should go with the ACA.....whilst I''m sure they are all awesome, I ended up with a stone that was initially listed as 2 star (out of 5) in the whiteflash rating.....I foulnd out that 2 star stones are not necessarily 2 star because they are rubbish, but because csometimes WF don''t know enough about them to give them a higher rating.....

I got a piece of paper and used Holloway Cut Adviser to find spec for a perfect stone, and trolled throug hthe WF ''other stones'' section to find a few that matched up that were in my price range. WF then got me the certifiates and I used HCA to compare..........my process was quite amazing (to me) because I started with a 2 star rated dimaond with no info (along with about 6 other similar staones). ONce I got the certifiates I noted that it was rates EXCELLENT for cut, symmetry and polish, when I entered the numbers into HCA I got a score of 1, with EX, EX, EX, EX for fire, scintillation, light return etc......so it looked like a winner.....next, I got the vendor to confirm it was eye-clean (which it was)......

WF pulled the stone in an examined it for me, sent me SARIN, idealscope, photo etc......and its a WINNER!

The setting - I was really unsire of.....I wanted something like you, a simple, elegant solitaire, timeless but not boring. I had some in mind. WF gave me prices for the ones on their website, and then I fould some pictures of a ring I liked and WF (within about 24 hours) provided me with a price - it was a sorta semi custom thing with the band of one ring and the basket of another put together......interestingly, the custom was only $250 more than the stnadard one (both less than $1000). In all honesty, I got to the point where I loved both of them and couldn''t decide which was the best (totally opposite to when I started where non of the settings seemed quite right!). I think also viewing photos on pricescope helped, because a setting looks much different on a finger than on an image a website...

I ended up going with the SLEEK LINES SOLITAIRE LEGATO from Whiteflash...... there is a post somewhere called DREAMERS LITTLE BEATY which was the post which convinced me that was the right setting...

The post is here:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/dreamers-little-beauty.82376/

I selected it because its elegant and timeless, a simple solitaire with a plain band - plain band will allow us to choose a more patterned wedding band and, in time,. and eternity band that will sit side by side without being too ''over the top. Also, my girlfriend has very small fingers (size 4) and I was concerned that a substantial e-ring woudl not leave much room for 2 other rings on the same finger (if you have a 2.5mm e-ring, a 2.5mm wedding band and a 2.5 mm eternity band then it could cause some issues on a small finger (draw band 7.5mm wide on a piece of paper)

Also, the band ''tapers'' toward the diamond and, from my viewing of rings in jewellers, makes the diamond appear larger... even if only slightly!

Hope that these thoughts help - I know that peoples opinions and ideas certainly helped mne a great deal during the process.


Anyway, good luck with your search, I am just waiting for my ring (well, not really mine as such is it!!) to arrive!

All the best