Shopping for my Wedding Ring

[Stink Pink]

Hello everyone. My name is "Stink Pink" because my favorite color is pink! I stumbled across this forum while doing a search on eloping and destination weddings. I said to myself "wait a minute, they talk about diamonds on here." So I can kill two birds with one stone. No pun intended.

Here''s the story: Me and my man plan on getting married this summer. I have full control over shopping for the ring. I have a $8000 budget to stay under. I was wanting atleast a carat for the center stone and maybe .5 to .75 ctw surrounding. I thought I knew enough about diamonds to do my own little shopping but after reading some of the posts here, I see there is more to buying a diamond than the 4c''s. My parents have a jeweler in Orlando and that was the 1st person to introduce me to VS and E and F colors. So I know a lil something but when you have 8 grand on the line for something that will last a lifetime I get a lil nervous. I see Tiffany''s 1 ct starts off at $9500 based on their website. Thats too much. Then I was checking out www.shaneco.com but I found out their stones are I color S1.

My question is can I get an E-F color 1 ct stone within my budget or am I being naive? What do you all recommend? I''ve been told to buy the stone wholesale and have it set but I am worried about that for some reason. I have an Aunt that lost her stone from a faulty prong setting. Plus I am a P.E. teacher and I need something very sturdy. Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

BTW...You all have some gorgeous pieces of jewelry. I am amazed!

 

[jldunn]

I''d look at http://www.whiteflash.com/ . Their expert select and A Cut Above diamonds are all very nice, and you should be able to get something nice within your price range. They''ll also custom make a setting if you''ve seen one you like somewhere else (Tiffany''s) for much less than they''d charge at a luxury retail store (Tiffany''s).

 

[ChooChoo]

Definitely focus on buying the right stone first. What style of setting do you like? You said you want some diamonds in it - were you thinking two side stones, channel set or baguette accent stones, or a mix of the above? How much you spend on the setting will determine how much you have left to spend on the center stone.

That said, you can absolutely get a 1 carat E of F color stone for your budget! Focus on finding an ideal cut above all. I would consider SI1 stones if a reputable vendor told me it was eye-clean (I have an SI1, and I love it). I would also stay just under 1 carat to avoid the 1.00 premium you see when you buy a stone that's just over. Here's one very affordable stone that fits the bill:

http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=9511974

And one for about $6K which is VS2, if you still want to avoid SI stones:
http://www.exceldiamonds.com/diamond/3284.html

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/1/2006 7:31:57 PM
Author:Stink Pink

Here''s the story: Me and my man plan on getting married this summer. I have full control over shopping for the ring. I have a $8000 budget to stay under. I was wanting atleast a carat for the center stone and maybe .5 to .75 ctw surrounding. I thought I knew enough about diamonds to do my own little shopping but after reading some of the posts here, I see there is more to buying a diamond than the 4c''s. My parents have a jeweler in Orlando and that was the 1st person to introduce me to VS and E and F colors. So I know a lil something but when you have 8 grand on the line for something that will last a lifetime I get a lil nervous. I see Tiffany''s 1 ct starts off at $9500 based on their website. Thats too much. Then I was checking out www.shaneco.com but I found out their stones are I color S1.

My question is can I get an E-F color 1 ct stone within my budget or am I being naive? What do you all recommend? I''ve been told to buy the stone wholesale and have it set but I am worried about that for some reason. I have an Aunt that lost her stone from a faulty prong setting. Plus I am a P.E. teacher and I need something very sturdy. Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

BTW...You all have some gorgeous pieces of jewelry. I am amazed!

SP
what clarity are you looking for?
no such thing as wholesale at our level.
have you check out the PS vendors here?

 

[TnT80]

Hi

There are lots of companies that sell diamonds online.

Did you try to Google it ("buy diamonds" and/or "wholesale diamonds")?
I am sure you can find the stone you desire within your budget in no time.

Good luck

 

[atroop711]

Stink Pink

I was you about 6 months ago. I had a budget that my husband gave me and I thought I knew what I wanted. Let me just tell you read read read the tutorials on this site. I thought I knew something about buying a diamond but I knew squat.

I had an 11k budget but I wanted a 2ct vs1-2 F-H color stone....well once I started looking at prices I knew this was just a dream. So I read everyones posting and found out quickly that if you get an EYE CLEAN stone (SI1-SI2), that knocks off a lot off of the price. Also that You don''t have to have a D color because an H can look just as nice (personal preference). I also found out the most important thing to get the most BLING is the CUT. You want an amazingly cut stone.

So my search started. I wrote down the parameters of what made up a good cut and my search started. I also went to a local dealer (I live in NYC so I went to a private dealer in the diamond district) to see what an H color stone looked like..also to see what EYE CLEAN SI1or SI2 stones looked like next to a VS stone. I also wanted to see the difference between a 1.50ct, 1.75ct and a 2ct. Going with a stone under 2ct was much less $$ but not a lot of difference in the way it looked. So I did all of my comparisons with this dealer.

With my information in hand I called Whiteflash. I could have gone with GOG here in Long Island but honestly I wanted to save on taxes and put that money toward a custom made setting. I spoke with Denise at Whiteflash told her my budget, told her what I wanted and what I didn''t want. She got back to me via email with some stones. Within 2 days I picked a stone, they had it shipped to them for inspection. They gave me their thumbs up and we bought it. I also had them make me a setting according to my design.

The moral of my long post (sorry for this) is that with your nice budget and a handful of knowledge, you can get an amazing diamond!

We are all here for you!

GL
Annette

 

[atroop711]

Hey again..

Here is a stone (Round) from WF expert selection that is within your budget, has nice numbers, scored a 1.5 on HCA. You can call them and ask in they can tell you if it is eye clean or not.

Honestly...if your stone has a flaw but you cannot see it with the naked eye then no one will know it is there. That is completely personal preference.

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-1137368.htm#

 

[atroop711]

Here is another...this one is within the color that you wanted but it is an SI2. Also the HCA is 1.7

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-714361.htm

 

[f0rbidden]

I''m sorry pink, i didn''t see what shape stone you were looking for

 

[Stink Pink]

Thanks for all the info. To answer the questions:
1. How much to spend on the setting: I don''t know. It has to be real sturdy because I''m going to be teaching gym and aerobics and I am very active. I''m thinking 2 grand. I would like pave or chanel set round stones. I prefer that style over having 2 side stones.
2. Clarity that I want? I have no clue. I thought VS was the clarity. If thats not it, then I don''t know.
3. Shape...I want round.

I''ll take you alls advice on going under a carat for the center stone and I will check out some S1 stones in person. The forums are about as far as I''ve gotten on the website. I will read the tutorials and learn as much as I can.

Also, I hear that SamsClub and Costco''s have nice diamond jewelry. Any thoughts on those 2 stores?

 

[valeria101]

Quick note..

Lots of sellers advertise 'wholesale prices' - but how the Hell? unless they have a mine in the backyard. C'mon. That's just cheap talk. They still buy low and sell high for a living.

Dunno Costco or anything, but sure have heard of cut grading - unless you feel inclined to go through a bunch of research to DIY, AGS's cut grades and the 'Hearts and Arrows' (H&A) standard enforced and proven by some sellers should help. Aside a couple of branded H&A rounds (say, Eight Star and Hearts on Fire are such brands), there is no huge price difference ... some...

E-F/VS is quite high. It may help to see what G and SI look like at face value. Perhaps in larger diamonds the difference is quite visible. Around 1 carat & with the stones mounted, it is not possible to tell grade from grade anymore. They count on paper allot more than in person. Cut shows more, IMO.

Otherwise, well... I am sure no matter what I write cannot count nearly as much as what you will find out in person.



Just one more : about settings.. it may help browsing a couple of websites with designer or in-house made jewelry.

Pearlmansjewelers lists a dozen different designers

Mark Morell (mwmjewelry.com)
David Keeling (davidkeelingjewelry.com)
Art of Platinum (artofplatinum.com)

Are of the other custom kind.



Your mention that the ring will have to withstand harsh wear, bring a half-bezel to mind. Like this one:

Adding some accent diamonds...

 

[Small]

Hi..welcome!

I was just in Sams club today. I''m not sure I''d buy my ring there but they do have some other items that I might consider buying.

As the others said...read the tutorials and start reading posts and watching the trends of the ''experts'' when they recommend stones. You can learn so much in a short time and then start your search. I am getting an amazing stone from Wink (Winfields)...I was searching for something right under 1.0 to avoid the premium in the ideal cut round and found a stunner. It does have an inclusion that makes it not eye clean but Wink was honest from the start and where it''s placed...it''s totally going to be covered and I''ll never even be able to see it.

You have an awesome budget though and could easily get a nice RB ideal with that.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-714361.htm

This is the one posted by atroop and it looks like a beautiful stone as long as it''s eye clean!

Listen to these wonderful people on here, learn all you can, and then narrow your choices and ask for opinions. Ultimately the decision will lie with you but this site is an absolute wealth of knowledge.
Good luck!