The magic 1 number

[BubbleGumPlant]

well...I wouldn't worry too much about what other people think. What is your budget, we can help you find a really great stone in your budget (maybe you can get to the 1-ct mark if you look for an eye-clean SI1/SI2?)

I appreciate the offer in help. The time will come when I'll express my need for everyone's expertise but I want to put that on hold for now since I don't have the liquid funds and I know that what's available today may not be the case 2-3 weeks from now. I also don't want to ask a particular vendor to hold a diamond for me since I'll be choosing my vendor depending on the setting. Thanks though!! I'll start another thread when the time comes.

As for trading up I think my gf would definitely be ok with that 5-10 years from now if she could get a significantly larger diamond.

 

[slg47]

OK sounds good...have you started looking online or in stores any? do you know what type of setting she likes?

 

[betty6333]

FWIW
here is my 2 cents.
When I first married I didnt think it was that big of a deal, but after a few years "I knew" what the weight was and it nagged at me. so after that original size error I only purchased diamonds that were the size I was shooting for.
When I bought the 1 carat it was 1.00 carats exactly. because .99 to me would have mattered. I just couldnt round up and feel good about it so when people asked I wanted to honestly be able to say it was 1 full carat.

When I upgraded for our 10th anniversary, I bought a 1.51 carat because it was important to ME. No one can tell and most people dont care or notice, but I notice. I like looking at it and saying that it is gorgeous and OVER 1.5 carats. Weird I know, but for me buying a stone that was just under a certain number I knew would bug me because it just wouldnt be the same in my mind.

 

[clgwli]

I am so with slg47. First do not care what other people think. I will say this again that most women in the US have significantly smaller stones. I do not even own a 1 carat stone myself (93 points) and only 1 friend owns larger than 1 carat. So unless you live in a rich area or one where the average size is skewed to being much larger, you won't need to feel bad if you can "only afford" 90 points.

That is NOT a small diamond by any means!

And I personally would feel rotten if my SO went broke just to buy me a diamond.

Buy what you can afford and don't feel bad about it at all. Heck I got engaged with a gemstone ring. Sadly it became damaged (both stone and setting) to the point where we just scrapped it But still it was the thought, not a diamond that mattered.

I have to admit it disturbs me that people really think there should be so much focus on size. Again just under a carat is not small by any means to the general public in the US.

 

[BubbleGumPlant]

FWIW
here is my 2 cents.
When I first married I didnt think it was that big of a deal, but after a few years "I knew" what the weight was and it nagged at me. so after that original size error I only purchased diamonds that were the size I was shooting for.
When I bought the 1 carat it was 1.00 carats exactly. because .99 to me would have mattered. I just couldnt round up and feel good about it so when people asked I wanted to honestly be able to say it was 1 full carat.

When I upgraded for our 10th anniversary, I bought a 1.51 carat because it was important to ME. No one can tell and most people dont care or notice, but I notice. I like looking at it and saying that it is gorgeous and OVER 1.5 carats. Weird I know, but for me buying a stone that was just under a certain number I knew would bug me because it just wouldnt be the same in my mind.

That makes total sense. My gf has mild OCD so although she claims that a 0.9 carat would be just fine I know that down the line, it might bother her and she would want to upgrade.

 

[BubbleGumPlant]

OK sounds good...have you started looking online or in stores any? do you know what type of setting she likes?

Yeah I pretty much know exactly what he likes and have narrowed it down to the WF Harmony or BG fishtail pave. They are a little higher in price (especially for platinum) but I know that the setting is not a place to compromise, thus leading to this thread in which I wanted to get people's opinion about compromising I'm carat size.

I've also looked at JA settings but their pave stones seem to be a little further apart thus revealing more metal than I would like. I live in Canada and shipping is a pain so I would much prefer getting the setting and stone from the same vendor.

 

[bright&shiny]

I think size can matter - but it depends. I love big stones, but I've seen so many that are big, but dull. I just saw someone's rings that had a total of 5 carats, but they were poorly cut and were not eye clean. For me, if it doesn't have the fabulous side effects of a great cut, I'd rather go small(er). Case in point:

My fiance (now husband for almost 2 whole months ) was planning on a 1.5 carat stone. After looking at the paltry stones at many BM in our state (Rhode Island), we found this site and went to visit GOG. There, we found an array of stones and chose a beautiful 1.32 carat stone that I love. It was - hands down - the most beautiful of all the wonderful stones we saw including some larger than 1.5. The cut was fabulous (of course) but with all the element together, it outshone the others, so in this instance, size did not win.

As an aside, my stone, because of its cut, looks bigger and has a better 'bling factor' than the much larger stones several of my friends received this year. I'm happy and we think when we upgrade, we'll turn this one into a pendant, and look for a 2+ carat - but who knows. Maybe we'll find a stunning 1.8...

 

[Dreamer_D]

At least now I know that all you ladies are liars when you say that SIZE DOESN"T MATTER!!!!!!

Seriously. If the tradition was that women had to buy men engagement rings, I bet they would totally change their tune!!!

Maybe we'd get actual rocks because they're sooo rugged.

Size matters to me, I have always said that. So I am clearly not a liar. I also started with a .80ct and upgraded over the years. Maybe this is something to consider.

 

[Dreamer_D]

OK so now that we know the situation...I would go for option 3. I would not be comfortable if I knew my BF spent ALL of his savings acct on a ring. Initially I thought you were looking at a 1.2 ct and then wanted to save money, but now it seems that your budget really allows for a 0.9 ct, so I would go for what your budget allows.

And ditto this. It sounds like you can afford the .90 and not the other sizes.

And also ditto the notion that .90ct is not small at all in reality! Especially in Canada (canuck here too). I think the average diamond is under half a carat in most places. I rarely rarely see anything even close to a carat.