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Small budget needs big help

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You have a lot of great choices. I personally LOVE the idea of an eternity band... mine is from WF and the small 5 point stones are all ideal-cut ACA H&A''s... to me, it is amazing to see those precise - but SO VERY TINY - arrows! Absoluet perfection, I would say!
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There''s a charming symbolism there.

I have never seen a solasfera in person, but believe me -- I would LOVE to! But from people who HAVE seen them, I have heard that in sizes below 1 or 1.5 carat they can look to some people to be somewhat "chaotic" and too "busy". But like I said, I don''t know that from first-hand experience!

Please keep us posted!

Lynn
 
I agree with sjz. Being that your FW is a nurse, I think an eternity band, or 5 stone band would be the best way to go. That is a classic ring and she'll be able to wear it everyday at work. You can always get her a solitaire sometime in the future for an anniversary.

But if you know she must have a solitaire for an engagement ring, then go for it. Belle is right though, the Solasfera does look better in bigger stones. Reason is because of the extra facets. I've heard from people on PS that it makes the diamond look too busy, but some people like the busy look. Just make sure you see this stone in person first. It's not for everyone.

Edited to add: Lynn beat me to the post first! I'm just repeated what she said. Hee
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Alrighty...considering all the help that was offered I have taken it on as my responsibility to give a little update in my search...Thanks again for all the suggestions...I really liked the eternity band idea, but she has been leaning toward a "channel set" design for a wedding ring...so I stuck with the solitaire idea

After conducting more research than I ever would have for a college term paper, I ended up with these results...

I decided on a Solasfera stone from GOG...this one to be exact

http://www.goodoldgold.com/0_40ct_f_vs2_solasfera.htm

Rather than get a platinum band as I had earlier planned, I decided to invest more money in the stone and go with white gold. I worked with GOG (who by the way were absolutely fabulous in every respect, especially considering the "small" ammount I was spending) in tweaking an Ingwer setting to my liking...It is similar in many respects to this Cartier setting...

http://www.signedpieces.com/item.cfm?item_id=2390

4 prong, space between the stone and band

Now, since I ended up shooting a little lower than my original 2000 budget I decided to try and up the element of surprise in my proposal.

My FW is expecting me in Hawaii (to spend time with her and her family) in a little over two weeks. We''ve talked about marriage so much that my hunch is she is expecting me to propose during this time...Because of this I decided to up my flight by one day. The plan is to use her friends there in Hawaii to get her on the beach at a certain time, and surprise her there, with the ring, one day before she''s expecting me...

So, I think that about covers it. Thanks again for all the ideas and direction...This website and "community" has been an amazing experience for me...Thanks!
 
That''s great! The stone looks beautiful. What a lovely choice. Good luck with your proposal.
 
That sounds wondeful! What a sweet/romantic idea!
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Absolutely beautiful choice! Best of luck to both of you!
 
Congrats on your purchase. It should be gorgeous! And your proposal idea sounds great.
 
Good choice and sweet proposal idea, she will be floored! Goodluck!
 
Congratulations on finding a great ring and i think your proposal sounds perfect!!! Good luck to you!!!
 
I just read your story about your search for the ring. I think it sounds great- and the extra surpise will be really special! Congratulations!
 
I find this thread very interesting and quite a contrast to the one started by Texada. In Texada''s thread, he had a much bigger budget so all the size enthusists gang up on him and almost forced him to back down on his desire to buy a better quality stone verse a bigger size stone. In constrast, when the budget is really low and 1ct can''t be reached even going with J/SI2, then the size enthusists will tolerate the buyer purchasing for color and calarity. That''s kind of interesting for me to observe.

All else being held constant, I would always advocate whiter color and cleaner clarity over larger size. A diamond--especially an engagment diamond--is really only between the guy and the gal being married. It''s not a status piece to show off and brag about. If the gal is only interested in the size of the diamond--especially an engagment diamond--then she''s quite superficial and the guy marrying her should really reconsider.

I wish the same kind of optimism and enthusiasm offered in this thread was likewise offered for Texada with his much bigger budget.

Size does not and should not matter at all. That goes equally for diamond size, penis size and breast size. Do all you bigger size proponents support men''s love and attraction towards huge female breasts? Whenever you think of wanting a bigger size diamond, then ask yourself if you''d like your BF/husband to long for a bigger set of breasts on your body.
 
Date: 8/12/2005 2:10:06 PM
Author: TimeTraveller
I find this thread very interesting and quite a contrast to the one started by Texada. In Texada''s thread, he had a much bigger budget so all the size enthusists gang up on him and almost forced him to back down on his desire to buy a better quality stone verse a bigger size stone. In constrast, when the budget is really low and 1ct can''t be reached even going with J/SI2, then the size enthusists will tolerate the buyer purchasing for color and calarity. That''s kind of interesting for me to observe.

All else being held constant, I would always advocate whiter color and cleaner clarity over larger size. A diamond--especially an engagment diamond--is really only between the guy and the gal being married. It''s not a status piece to show off and brag about. If the gal is only interested in the size of the diamond--especially an engagment diamond--then she''s quite superficial and the guy marrying her should really reconsider.

I wish the same kind of optimism and enthusiasm offered in this thread was likewise offered for Texada with his much bigger budget.

Size does not and should not matter at all. That goes equally for diamond size, penis size and breast size. Do all you bigger size proponents support men''s love and attraction towards huge female breasts? Whenever you think of wanting a bigger size diamond, then ask yourself if you''d like your BF/husband to long for a bigger set of breasts on your body.
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LOL!!!!
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I doubt that anyone forced Texada to do anything!

TheLittleGuy, congratulations on your purchase! It sounds lovely. Good luck with the proposal. Be sure to post hand shots when you can :)
 
Timetraveller .... IIIIIII find it interesting that somehow you seem to think valuing SIZE is more "shallow" than valuing QUALITY or CLARITY. As a very tall, curvy lady with size 10.5-10.75 fingers, maybe my valuing size isn''t so much about "showing off" , but more "suiting my hand" - and I''m lucky my b-friend is concerned with how the ring I''ll be wearing for life LOOKS ON ME. It is a symbol and I can see your point about if one ever suspects the other member of a relationship is greedy or self-absorbed to a fault, or too concerned with status that it might be a red-flag, or at least an issue to discuss further. I''m pleased that more and more couples talk about the engagement ring and both''s expectations of what it will be & what it will represent to each other & say about both of them to the world BEFORE it''s purchased. If you read these boards carefully you''ll see that many, many men seem to be as obsessed about what the ring "says" about them & their status & their "love" of their woman -- sometimes without much consideration of her desires, or what would suit her hand & lifestyle. That''s no bargain either - even if there''s a 3 ct. rock involved.
 
Date: 8/12/2005 2:10:06 PM
Author: TimeTraveller

In Texada''s thread, he had a much bigger budget so all the size enthusists gang up on him and almost forced him to back down on his desire to buy a better quality stone verse a bigger size stone. In constrast, when the budget is really low and 1ct can''t be reached even going with J/SI2, then the size enthusists will tolerate the buyer purchasing for color and clarity.
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Oh well, it is weight that has is the most impact on cost - after all. The larger the weight, the more expensive is to get a visible larger size so at some point it ''pays'' to turn to the other Cs that would yield better tradeoffs. These choices seem to be secvential anyway, and in some cases turn up with some constraints (as it was on this thread where the initial prefference came to be for higher grades anyway).

It doesn''t sound any more logical to me that once someone decides on a size than he should spend all the allowed budget on maximizing grades - at some point that doesn''t make any difference anyway. For the sake of spending, it is enough to think ''fancy color'' and allot of value gets summarized into a very small space indeed.

On the other hand, if size does not count everyone might just get D-IF, and that does not sound any less right or wrong than any other such rule. I think there even was a thread asking exactly this question - why isn''t every buyer looking for the top grades only! I don''t remember how it was sorted out - run a serach if you wish. If you can ever make sense of these choices, I''d be happy to learn about it - until now it didn''t quite work for me.
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To everyone who helped in my search and to the Pricescope community as a whole...thank you so much for the guidance...you helped make buying a diamond not only easier, but extremely enjoyable…

I’d also like to especially thank the folks at Good Old Gold. I never expected the amount of time and personal attention given to me, considering the small dollar amount I was spending. From stone selection, to setting selection, to follow up phone calls and emails, I have never dealt with a company as solid as GOG.

Here are the stats

.4 F VS2 Solasfera in an Ingwer WG setting…

A couple more days it it’ll be on her finger…
 
oh that's just wonderful. Please come back and post some pics. i would love to see the ring.
 
I wish my camera had the ability to focus better...sorry bout that

solasfera1326.jpg
 
So much light...and taken in the shade!

solasfera14562.jpg
 
GOG Pic...

solasferaGOG6542.jpg
 
That is one gorgeous ring--excellent choice!!!!!!!!

Good luck with the proposal....
 
another GOG pic...

solasferaGOG5468.jpg
 
It''s just gorgeous, great choice!!!!!
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OOOOh, Thelittleguy, you did a GREAT job!!!!! GORGEOUS!
 
it''s beautiful!! who needs a huge budget? she''ll love it!
 
Love the ring and pics...the one in the ring box looks sooooooo sparkly!!
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Date: 8/24/2005 4:17:10 PM
Author: thelittleguy
Here are the stats


.4 F VS2 Solasfera in an Ingwer WG setting…


A couple more days it it’ll be on her finger…
Click to expand...

That''s great to hear thelittleguy! Best of luck with your proposal and long live your marriage!
 
Wow, beautiful ring! You did well
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I had read your initial posts and must say that I found the thought processes that went into your (hers soon
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) ring to be quite touching.

Good luck with the proposal and please update us with hand pics and her reaction when you come back from Hawaii!
 
Looks perfect! You did a great job! Please come back and update us on how everything went and dont forget the hands shots!
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I think i said this before, but ill say it again, i love how you are doing your proposal!
 
My FI did something similar when he purposed to me and I thought it was perfect. My sister took pictures of the whole event which I love to look at now so maybe you can have her friend do that.
Good luck and I am sure you will make her very happy.
 
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