Someone throw me a lifejacket

[marcusuwm]

I''m drowning here. I''m a newbie on PS, but I think it''s great. My girlfriend and I are ready to get married. We''ve been talking about it for the last year, but now is our time. We''re travel nurses so we''ve never been anywhere long enough to settle down and actually plan a wedding. Now we''re in Chicago for another 8 months and we are finally doing it, but our window is narrow. We''re finding ourselves planning a lot and we can and want to choose a site as soon as possible. The only problem is I have proposed and still don''t have a ring.

We''ve decided on the Tacori 2628 RDP, but we need a center stone. We''ve done a bit of looking here in the city. I think I notice color more and I don''t want to go over H and SI 1 is our target clarity. I''m looking in the 1.25ct range give or take. My budget is around $6000 for the center stone, and of course I''d like an Ideal cut. I''ve been searching the last few days one here, but feel like I''m getting increasingly frustrated. Abazias has some seemingly great deals, but I''ve read mix things on them and the accuracy of the EGL ratings. Also, WF has some potential winners, but the 1 or 2 star ratings (due to the lack of details) makes me a little nervous. I''ve been buying online for 12 years and I''m convinced it''s the way to go, but I''m just overwhelmed at this point. I am greatful for any help. I''m my expectations for my budget are a little high, please feel free to tell me. In the meanwhile, I''ll continue to do my homework and keep price searching. Thanks!

 

[stone-cold11]

About being color sensitive, are the stones you looked at personally graded by GIA or AGS? If not, for example most stores have stones graded by IGI or EGL, consider more lax in color and clarity grading here, the H color grade you are looking at might be a J/K stone instead.

 

[JulieN]

Your expectations (1.25/H/SI1) for 6000 is a little off. I would expect something closer to 1/1.1 cts.

 

[swingirl]

Here is a stone a bit smaller than what you are looking for but within your budget. GOG carries Tacori, too.

1.12ct E SI2

1.235ct H SI1 This fits your specs but is over budget.

1.111ct H SI2 Another stone in your price range.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/19/2009 2:56:08 AM
Author:marcusuwm
I'm drowning here. I'm a newbie on PS, but I think it's great. My girlfriend and I are ready to get married. We've been talking about it for the last year, but now is our time. We're travel nurses so we've never been anywhere long enough to settle down and actually plan a wedding. Now we're in Chicago for another 8 months and we are finally doing it, but our window is narrow. We're finding ourselves planning a lot and we can and want to choose a site as soon as possible. The only problem is I have proposed and still don't have a ring.

We've decided on the Tacori 2628 RDP, but we need a center stone. We've done a bit of looking here in the city. I think I notice color more and I don't want to go over H and SI 1 is our target clarity. I'm looking in the 1.25ct range give or take. My budget is around $6000 for the center stone, and of course I'd like an Ideal cut. I've been searching the last few days one here, but feel like I'm getting increasingly frustrated. Abazias has some seemingly great deals, but I've read mix things on them and the accuracy of the EGL ratings. Also, WF has some potential winners, but the 1 or 2 star ratings (due to the lack of details) makes me a little nervous. I've been buying online for 12 years and I'm convinced it's the way to go, but I'm just overwhelmed at this point. I am greatful for any help. I'm my expectations for my budget are a little high, please feel free to tell me. In the meanwhile, I'll continue to do my homework and keep price searching. Thanks!

Welcome Marcus!

Would you consider I or J colour? This grade will look very white in a great cut and will help you go a little larger for the budget. Here are some suggestions -

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-636630.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-179749.htm#

Also with SI clarities check carefully that they are eyeclean to your standards. Also EGL USA are said to be the strongest EGL lab, so it isn't always a case of colour or clarity grades being 2 or 3 grades off, however GIA and AGS are considered the gold standard of grading labs. The page below explains how the grading labs rank.

http://diamonds.pricescope.com/grading.asp

 

[marcusuwm]

Thank you for all the guidance here. It seems the ACA 5 stars from WF are worth a little sacrifice in size from some of the suggestions. I''ll have to do a little balancing here. I have no problem going down in size to maintain the quality, I just haven''t been able to see the Tacori 2628 in person except with a 1.5kt in the center. I''m having trouble tracking it down even here in Chicago. I''m nervous about loosing some of the awe factor at 1kt. My other option was to do white gold band and use that extra $1500 for a bigger, better diamond. Maybe I''ll end up going this route.

 

[swingirl]

Is this the setting you are looking at? Price ranges from $4300 to $7450?

Tacori 2628RDP

It is quite a beautiful setting!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/19/2009 11:28:16 AM
Author: marcusuwm
Thank you for all the guidance here. It seems the ACA 5 stars from WF are worth a little sacrifice in size from some of the suggestions. I''ll have to do a little balancing here. I have no problem going down in size to maintain the quality, I just haven''t been able to see the Tacori 2628 in person except with a 1.5kt in the center. I''m having trouble tracking it down even here in Chicago. I''m nervous about loosing some of the awe factor at 1kt. My other option was to do white gold band and use that extra $1500 for a bigger, better diamond. Maybe I''ll end up going this route.

This explains the star ratings.

http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds_info/t/all_about.aspx?articleid=349&zoneid=21

 

[:)]

Since you said budget was about 6K, I assume you can swing an extra $30.

Drop to si2 and call to make sure eyeclean to your standards...
Inquire about these two. The second may not be eyeclean (not sure about the black spot), but is worth asking. Don't get scared by the pics of the twinning wisps on the first one - it also looks like the actual diamond pic itself is just a bit fuzzy. Call and ask for more info on them, then can ask for more pics. The vendor has these stones in hand so will be able to look at them for you.

$6030 1.22 E si2
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1197797.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131


$5450 1.24 F si2
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-939086.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131
(if this one is eyeclean, ask for an idealscope pic too)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Is the setting more important to her or a larger stone? I'd certainly recommend going with an ideal cut stone such as the WF ACA's. But you're not going to get what you want at $6000 as others have mentioned.

Some people choose to look at similar settings from other sources since Tacori is terribly expensive. That might allow more money for the stone. Some people here look at Knox for antique settings:

http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=203

Another idea is Beverley K from Pearlman's Jewelers. Call for pricing.

http://www.pearlmansjewelers.com/

 

[marcusuwm]

After a six hour drive, I have finally tracked down the Tacori 2628 in WG, and I''mefinitely going this route. And the price difference is giving me an extra $1500-2000 to put towards that stone. I''ve seen a lot of stones in person over the last few days and this it''s just so fascinating. Still haven''t come across anything in the stone department that I feel is a good price for the quality. A lot of these B&M stores are knocking the GIA and cut which has been a turn off to buying from them. Hopefully this extra $$ I''m saving I can get into the 1.25 range. Thanks everybody. I''m still reading so if anybody come across something I''m open to more suggestions.

 

[NeverEndingUpgrade]

winkjones.com has a nice looking 1.03 ct. I/VS2 H&A priced at $6,056. No worries about the I color. I have an Ideal cut I color and it is plenty white.

Photo: http://com.pricescope.com/photos/wink_jones/picture3761.aspx

This diamond is listed on this page toward the bottom under the section of diamonds that are H&A but not Crafted by Infinity:

http://www.winkjones.com/specials/diamonds.php

He does have this 1.18 ct. I/SI2 from Crafted by Infinity priced at $7288, if you go the white gold route.

http://www.craftedbyinfinity.com/index.php?pid=63&lang=eng&sid%5B%5D=477&src=loupe

He also has an 1.11 ct. I/SI2 EightStar priced at $6444.75 that might be cool. You would have to ask for a photo.

You might also want to price that Tacori setting at Collections Fine Jewelry 1-800-779-3207.

 

[motownmama]

I think WG was a good move. Call whiteflash and see what they can do with your new budget - good luck!