Hi all. I posted for advice a few times here as I went through the e-ring purchase process, so I figured I'd post a follow up.
After reading the countless posts here about the importance of cut, I decided to check out Whiteflash, who seemed like the most reasonably priced of the favorite vendors here. My now-fiancee was waffling between a princess cut and a round. I was waffling on the budget. And my fiancee wasn’t entirely sold either on making a big purchase online or on the need to spend more on an ACA when the diamonds she’d seen at the local stores in NYC all looked pretty nice to her. We got a lot of flak from our families for the idea of buying a diamond online. Everybody we know was trying to send us to some guy their friend’s sister went to who “was nice.”
I’m happy to corroborate the standard wisdom here that Whiteflash is a great company. I exchanged literally dozens of emails with them, primarily Becca but also Brittany and Vera and they were nothing but prompt, professional and extremely helpful at all times. We ended up deciding to have them ship a stone to a local appraiser before the purchase, which they quickly did. It was a round 1.657ct H VS2 ACA.
Seeing the stone in person definitely helped. I would say that looking at it in the appraiser’s office, I still don’t think she fully “got” the whole ideal cut thing — I think it looked perfectly nice to her, just like all others had. It also turned out to have faint fluorescence, which she wasn’t crazy about, and although neither of us is color sensitive, I was a little hung up on the H color. Still, she liked it a lot, knew that the cut thing mattered to me, and I think to a large extent she just wanted me to stop shopping and buy something already! So the decision was made.
From there, we needed a setting. I couldn’t get my fiancee on board with having Whiteflash set the stone — she needed to deal with someone in person who could physically show her samples of what she was getting. Of course, there are thousands of places in NYC that can sell you a setting to mount a diamond in, but I wanted to work with somebody reputable who could be entrusted with an ACA. Of course, many vendors will only work with their own stones, which makes things tricky. I ended up at another PriceScope-recommended vendor, Brilliantly Engaged.
We worked with Chris at BE. He patiently helped my now-fiancee sort through a hearty collection of samples and decide on a design she would like. I was a little concerned about what it’d cost go go custom — especially given that the design she wanted was fairly standard and similar to lots of pre-made settings out there. But the price Chris quoted was very reasonable, only a few hundred dollars more than I'd been quoted for a pre-made setting by others, and I believed I would get a better quality product from him compared to something that was mass-produced.
In the end, I think I was right, as Chris and BE did a terrific job for us. The renderings came as promised, and when I gave the OK, the ring was finished promptly. You can tell that the pave stones and the workmanship are excellent, and the appraiser was quite impressed with the product and with the price paid.
And I can’t quite explain it, but once the diamond was placed in this setting, it just came alive. The entire ring sparkles like a disco ball. The color is not an issue for us at all — even if we stare at it trying to focus on the color, we can’t do it because the sparkle is in the way! You can completely see the difference compared to an “ordinary” diamond or ring, and my fiancee is now very grateful that all the research I did — which drove her a bit crazy at the time — led me here to PriceScope and to these special vendors. She is showing that ring to everybody she runs into and telling them all about the hearts and arrows that were meaningless to her a few weeks ago.
For the newbies showing up here like me wondering if this stuff really matters or is really worth the extra effort: it is! Do your research, ask your questions here, and work with the right vendors. There’s something to be said for listening to the wisdom of one’s elders, but our parents bought their engagement rings 30 years ago, and we live in a different world today. We’re lucky to have access to so much more information than was available in years past, with grading reports and ASET images and the like. Take advantage of it!
Thanks to all for making this a great community.
After reading the countless posts here about the importance of cut, I decided to check out Whiteflash, who seemed like the most reasonably priced of the favorite vendors here. My now-fiancee was waffling between a princess cut and a round. I was waffling on the budget. And my fiancee wasn’t entirely sold either on making a big purchase online or on the need to spend more on an ACA when the diamonds she’d seen at the local stores in NYC all looked pretty nice to her. We got a lot of flak from our families for the idea of buying a diamond online. Everybody we know was trying to send us to some guy their friend’s sister went to who “was nice.”
I’m happy to corroborate the standard wisdom here that Whiteflash is a great company. I exchanged literally dozens of emails with them, primarily Becca but also Brittany and Vera and they were nothing but prompt, professional and extremely helpful at all times. We ended up deciding to have them ship a stone to a local appraiser before the purchase, which they quickly did. It was a round 1.657ct H VS2 ACA.
Seeing the stone in person definitely helped. I would say that looking at it in the appraiser’s office, I still don’t think she fully “got” the whole ideal cut thing — I think it looked perfectly nice to her, just like all others had. It also turned out to have faint fluorescence, which she wasn’t crazy about, and although neither of us is color sensitive, I was a little hung up on the H color. Still, she liked it a lot, knew that the cut thing mattered to me, and I think to a large extent she just wanted me to stop shopping and buy something already! So the decision was made.
From there, we needed a setting. I couldn’t get my fiancee on board with having Whiteflash set the stone — she needed to deal with someone in person who could physically show her samples of what she was getting. Of course, there are thousands of places in NYC that can sell you a setting to mount a diamond in, but I wanted to work with somebody reputable who could be entrusted with an ACA. Of course, many vendors will only work with their own stones, which makes things tricky. I ended up at another PriceScope-recommended vendor, Brilliantly Engaged.
We worked with Chris at BE. He patiently helped my now-fiancee sort through a hearty collection of samples and decide on a design she would like. I was a little concerned about what it’d cost go go custom — especially given that the design she wanted was fairly standard and similar to lots of pre-made settings out there. But the price Chris quoted was very reasonable, only a few hundred dollars more than I'd been quoted for a pre-made setting by others, and I believed I would get a better quality product from him compared to something that was mass-produced.
In the end, I think I was right, as Chris and BE did a terrific job for us. The renderings came as promised, and when I gave the OK, the ring was finished promptly. You can tell that the pave stones and the workmanship are excellent, and the appraiser was quite impressed with the product and with the price paid.
And I can’t quite explain it, but once the diamond was placed in this setting, it just came alive. The entire ring sparkles like a disco ball. The color is not an issue for us at all — even if we stare at it trying to focus on the color, we can’t do it because the sparkle is in the way! You can completely see the difference compared to an “ordinary” diamond or ring, and my fiancee is now very grateful that all the research I did — which drove her a bit crazy at the time — led me here to PriceScope and to these special vendors. She is showing that ring to everybody she runs into and telling them all about the hearts and arrows that were meaningless to her a few weeks ago.
For the newbies showing up here like me wondering if this stuff really matters or is really worth the extra effort: it is! Do your research, ask your questions here, and work with the right vendors. There’s something to be said for listening to the wisdom of one’s elders, but our parents bought their engagement rings 30 years ago, and we live in a different world today. We’re lucky to have access to so much more information than was available in years past, with grading reports and ASET images and the like. Take advantage of it!
Thanks to all for making this a great community.
300x240.png)