Share your knowledge please

Chasingbling · Feb 2, 2018

Hi ladies,

First let me tell you what a great community you are! I've been lurking here for a while and I am so impressed by your beautiful pieces and how supportive you are to each other. I have joined to request some help from you in the form of advise.

After many years of being together with my partner the time has come for me to chose an engagement ring. I have a very limited knowledge of diamonds in jewelery in general and the amount of information I find on the internet is overwhelming. I honestly dont own any piece of fine jewelery at all and pretty much everything I see catches my eyes. Before I venture into any shop I would like some advice from you:
- our budget is maximum £10k and we live in London
- I would love if possible to get a paved setting with a yellow center stone(Debeers aura collection has the one I find ideal) however I consider white stones too if its a nice looking piece
- As this is my first and most probably will be my only piece of fine jewelery I would love to get something from one of the local shops which will offer aftercare for life. I also happen to work for a luxury retailer and I can get 15% off at the big houses(graff,debeers,cartier,tiffany etc)

I have read many different threads and I saw majority of you got better deals elsewhere and that the big jewelery houses were overpriced for what they were offering. I also saw that some were not offering GIA certificates for stones under 1ct.

The ring I loved so much from Debeers was priced at £19k (1ct) which is way above our budget and to be honest as I was talking to the sale assistant she was very snobby and made me feel small for even enquiring. As I have little knowledge about diamonds I dont know if that is a normal price for a canary diamond ring?
Even after the 15% off I can get at big jewelery houses would I be able to find a better deal elsewhere?
Are yellow diamonds popular?

Thank you,
Chasingbling

tyty333 · Feb 2, 2018

So about $14K USD?

I think even with the 15% discount you'll still be able to do better else ware. I'm in the US so I know nothing about London. I believe Kenny, our local color
stone expert recommends. You might see how much import taxes are and see if you can get a better deal from the US or not.
https://www.leibish.com/
This one is just over a carat however, you can pick your own stone and have them make you a setting for it.
https://www.leibish.com/rings-jewelry/fancy-intense-yellow-cushion-diamond-double-halo-ring-27117
Others
https://www.leibish.com/rings-jewelry/fancy-yellow-cushion-diamond-carriage-halo-ring-26819
https://www.leibish.com/rings-jewelry/fancy-intense-yellow-cushion-diamond-halo-ring-26786

OoohShiny · Feb 2, 2018

Don't forget importing a loose stone incurs 20% VAT, so max budget would be around £8333, which would be around USD11250 (assuming $1.35/£1).

There's also a 2.5% Import Tax on stones set in jewellery, I believe, but I'm not sure if it's incurred before or after the VAT is added...

@Chasingbling - can you post a link to the ring you like from De Beers?

Chasingbling · Feb 2, 2018

The ones from Leibish look amazing! I didnt even know about that website.

www.debeers.com/de-beers-yellow-aura-cushion-cut-ring-j1bw80 this is the one which I find exactly ideal of what I'm looking for

Chasingbling · Feb 2, 2018

OoohShiny said:
Don't forget importing a loose stone incurs 20% VAT, so max budget would be around £8333, which would be around USD11250 (assuming $1.35/£1).

There's also a 2.5% Import Tax on stones set in jewellery, I believe, but I'm not sure if it's incurred before or after the VAT is added...

@Chasingbling - can you post a link to the ring you like from De Beers?

https://www.debeers.com/de-beers-yellow-aura-cushion-cut-ring-j1bw80f0

OoohShiny · Feb 2, 2018

Chasingbling said:
https://www.debeers.com/de-beers-yellow-aura-cushion-cut-ring-j1bw80f0

So single pavé halo, pavé on the shank, platinum shank and halo, yellow gold prongs for the stone.

That's certainly not an unusual design and should be easily replicated / interpreted by other ring-makers - although you will probably want to go with a 'known quantity' who produces excellent work, rather than a local shop that has no evidence of the quality of their work.

Victor Canera and David Klass are often mentioned on here as doing really excellent pavé work, but their work is not cheap...

Are you in London? I have previously recommended Durrants in Hatton Garden for custom work, and others have also used them. (Have a search for 'Durrants' to check.) They claim to do work for the big-hitters in terms of brands, and the pictures on their website illustrate the sort of things they can/will do:
https://www.durrantslondon.com/collections/yellow
and it looks like they have an Instagram page now as well:
https://www.instagram.com/durrantsoflondon/

They are not at all pushy so I would recommend paying them a visit to see what they might be able to achieve in your budget (making sure to state it's a strict budget!).

Chasingbling · Feb 2, 2018

OoohShiny said:
So single pavé halo, pavé on the shank, platinum shank and halo, yellow gold prongs for the stone.

That's certainly not an unusual design and should be easily replicated / interpreted by other ring-makers - although you will probably want to go with a 'known quantity' who produces excellent work, rather than a local shop that has no evidence of the quality of their work.

Victor Canera and David Klass are often mentioned on here as doing really excellent pavé work, but their work is not cheap...

Are you in London? I have previously recommended Durrants in Hatton Garden for custom work, and others have also used them. (Have a search for 'Durrants' to check.) They claim to do work for the big-hitters in terms of brands, and the pictures on their website illustrate the sort of things they can/will do:
https://www.durrantslondon.com/collections/yellow
and it looks like they have an Instagram page now as well:
https://www.instagram.com/durrantsoflondon/

They are not at all pushy so I would recommend paying them a visit to see what they might be able to achieve in your budget (making sure to state it's a strict budget!).

Wow thank you so much OohShiny for breaking the design down in technical terms. I will check Durrants they look promising and their instagram page has some gorgeus pieces.

OoohShiny · Feb 2, 2018

I'm no expert! so hopefully some of the more knowledgable forumites will be along shortly

Make sure to check out the Show Me The Bling section of the forum - there should be lots of photos in there of different ring designs and different ring-makers' work, which will be good to review and see if anything jumps out at you

RetroTreeGal · Feb 3, 2018

diamondseeker2006 · Feb 3, 2018

Diamonds by Lauren makes the exact ring you want. There are two or three that are great prospects! If you don't see exactly the size you want, I am sure he can get more yellow diamonds and set one for you.

I adore this one, but it's an emerald cut:

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/ind...yellow-vs1-emerald-cut-diamond-ring-gia-r5239

Chasingbling · Feb 3, 2018

Thanks guys! Anyone had any rings bought from Diamonds by Lauren? If I buy a ring from them how much will the tax be on top of the displayed price?

After I read your messages went straight to measure my finger lol. As I never had any rings I had no clue what my size is.

I think I am us size 7, the length of the paper which I wrapped around my finger came to 5.5 cm that is size 7 right?

leukolenos · Feb 3, 2018

Chasingbling said:
Thanks guys! Anyone had any rings bought from Diamonds by Lauren? If I buy a ring from them how much will the tax be on top of the displayed price?

After I read your messages went straight to measure my finger lol. As I never had any rings I had no clue what my size is.

I think I am us size 7, the length of the paper which I wrapped around my finger came to 5.5 cm that is size 7 right?

Lots of people here have things from DBL, and I have bought from them as well. I was going to suggest you look there but everyone else beat me to the punch! I think you'll only pay import taxes. You shouldn't owe anything locally since you don't live there.
Hopefully some of the UK PSers can comment on the import process. We split our time between the US and UK so I never personally have had to import anything.

I would get sized locally and look up the conversion. On a big purchase like that I wouldn't trust the paper method! You need to show us what you decide on!

doberman · Feb 3, 2018

If you like yellow diamonds, know that small differences in color result in large differences in price, just like "white" diamonds. The more saturated the more expensive the stone. If you are happy with a fancy light yellow stone there are ways of making the stone color appear more saturated when set. The stone can also be made to look larger by adding a halo of yellow diamonds. I would look at the different colors online. I believe DBL has an educational video out there which describes the various shades.

rockysalamander · Feb 3, 2018

You could also look at "low colors" in the white range...P, Q, R, S, T. They are often less than a fancy colored diamond and like doberman said, there are ways to increase their color.

leukolenos · Feb 3, 2018

Ditto Doberman and Rockysalamander. If there had been a lower alphabet stone or even fancy light available when I was looking, I would’ve gone for that over my fancy yellow. Would’ve saved me a pretty penny!

Sunstorm · Feb 4, 2018

I own a lower color cushion halo ring. I never thought I would as I am a yellow freak and my other yellows are all fancy to fancy vivid. I actually think that lower colors are extremely charming with such a personality.

I think they are really fun for the trade because due to "tricks" in the setting one can intensify how saturated the color looks by a lot. It is amazing to see their transformation. Using a bright lighter yellow gold tone around and under the stone will reflect the yellow color in making it more even in the stone itself.
In addition, the lighter yellow tones seem to match most skin stones better than very saturated yellows.

That said there are two factors against them objectively. One is that I noticed in certain lighting conditions mine appears more ivory than yellow even when set. That said this does not happen often as in most lights there is not much difference when set between a lower color or a fancy visually. Also, I personally appreciate this personality within the stone. In addition, mine is not quite at the end of the alphabet. A U-V is not likely to do this as much.

The second factor against them is value. Lower colors are of course "budget" stones as compared to fancies. The advantage of that is price while having almost the "same" look, the downside conversely is that it will be worth less in the long run.

Bron357 · Feb 4, 2018

You won’t go wrong with Diamonds by Lauren.
“Name” jewellery is lovely, but you a paying a significant premium for a hallmark that will be on the inside of the ring, which no one will see.
Some people just love the “brands” but others, like me, prefer value for money any day of the week!
The Debeers ring is beautiful, but their “most expensive version” of it is nearly twice that of similiar ring Diamonds by Lauren (first link).
It’s a significant piece of jewellery and a significant sum of money so look around and shop wisely.
And don’t worry about International shipping (I live in Australia and buy frequently from the US) - yes you’ll pay taxes / customs but it still works out much better value.
Looking forward to hand shots in due course

doberman · Feb 4, 2018

On the DBL site there are examples of XYZ stones that when set appear to be fancy yellow and beautiful. Worth checking out if price is a consideration. Leibish is another good place to look for colored diamonds.

SimoneDi · Feb 4, 2018

I second DBL and Leibish recommendations. I have purchased from Leibish and visited their NYC office and can say that they are very nice to work with.
I also remembered this ring: http://www.jewelsbygrace.com/1-26ct...amond-double-halo-ring-by-brilliantly-engaged

redwood66 · Feb 4, 2018

I will also recommend Diamonds by Lauren. @Karl_K and @Rockdiamond are extremely helpful in working within your budget and will deliver a high quality piece.

Rockdiamond · Feb 5, 2018

leukolenos said:
Hopefully some of the UK PSers can comment on the import process. We split our time between the US and UK so I never personally have had to import anything.

I'm blushing!! Thank you for the wonderful compliments!!

Regarding taxes and duties: It varies greatly by country and even locality- so we always advise clients to check " on the ground" with local officials.

msop04 · Feb 5, 2018

This has a double halo, but gives you a 2.27 ct center! ...and it's LESS EXPENSIVE @ $12995.

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/227ct-y-z-vs2-cushion-diamond-ring-gia-r5900

Bron357 · Feb 5, 2018

msop04 said:
This has a double halo, but gives you a 2.27 ct center! ...and it's LESS EXPENSIVE @ $12995.

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/227ct-y-z-vs2-cushion-diamond-ring-gia-r5900

That’s stunning and fabulous value for money.

OoohShiny · Feb 6, 2018

msop04 said:
This has a double halo, but gives you a 2.27 ct center! ...and it's LESS EXPENSIVE @ $12995.

http://www.diamondsbylauren.com/index.php/jewelry/227ct-y-z-vs2-cushion-diamond-ring-gia-r5900

Wow. That is seriously nice and the quality of the work on the ring looks excellent.

SimoneDi · Feb 6, 2018

I love the DBL double halo ring! Stunning and the coverage!

Chasingbling · Feb 22, 2018

Hey everyone thanks so much for your replies. We have decided to go for this one in the end
https://www.leibish.com/rings-jewelry/fancy-intense-yellow-cushion-diamond-double-halo-ring-27117 hence the "reserved" sign under it.

I have seen the exact same design in Tiffany's and I fell in love with it.

ac117 · Feb 22, 2018

Chasingbling said:
Hey everyone thanks so much for your replies. We have decided to go for this one in the end
https://www.leibish.com/rings-jewelry/fancy-intense-yellow-cushion-diamond-double-halo-ring-27117 hence the "reserved" sign under it.

I have seen the exact same design in Tiffany's and I fell in love with it.

Beautiful choice! Please come back with hand shots!

SimoneDi · Feb 22, 2018

Chasingbling said:
Hey everyone thanks so much for your replies. We have decided to go for this one in the end
https://www.leibish.com/rings-jewelry/fancy-intense-yellow-cushion-diamond-double-halo-ring-27117 hence the "reserved" sign under it.

I have seen the exact same design in Tiffany's and I fell in love with it.

Beautiful ring!

leukolenos · Feb 22, 2018

Gorgeous! Show us when you get it!

Chasingbling · Apr 12, 2018

Hi guys,

I am back and got the ring!! Yay! Please see the photos below:

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