what should I do?

[ring shopper]

I have 20k to spend on an engagement ring. I've been to Tiffanys, Cartier, downtown L.A., and looked at prices on the internet. I basically want a well cut round solitaire on a plain 4 prong platinum setting. It seems that I could get a bigger stone if I didn't buy the ring from Tiffany or Cartier. But the setting seems much nicer at Tiffany and Cartier. So basically, if you had 20k, what would you get? Please be specific about the stone and the setting. Thank you so much.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

big nice diamond 19 + branded mount 1k = 20K
Small nice diamond 19 + hande made custom designed mount 1k = 20K
Spend some time getting prices here on pricescope and then you decide what to do about a branded mount.
She may not accept if it does not come in a pale blue box.

 

[ring shopper]

Thank you for your reply.
What is a branded mount?

 

[Monkey7247]

i believe branded means by a company...i.e. a tiffany setting, an 8* diamond etc...i think

 

[Mafia]

Interesting post, I'm in the same boat (I think)... My g/f wants a Cartier setting which is indeed beautiful but I'm having a bit of a challenge finding a perfect stone for it. In my experience, it is a little more difficult to obtain detail specs for the stone cutting at Cartier than at a loose diamond retailer. I'm going back today to discuss some things I'll let you know.

Also, FWIW, in my opinion if your g/f really wants a Cartier ring - it is worth it. Think of it as buying a Ferrari over Porsche. Just make sure you get the right model Ferrari, or in other words look hard enough for the good stone.

- mafia

 

[fire&ice]

Guys, I've said this before - a mastercraftsman can create that exact same (and may be able to improve upon) setting. I would always pick the handcrafted ring over the branded name.

Just my 2cents.

 

[Heyjud]

----------------
On 5/23/2003 12

1:17 PM fire&ice wrote:

Guys, I've said this before - a mastercraftsman can create that exact same (and may be able to improve upon) setting. I would always pick the handcrafted ring over the branded name.

Just my 2cents.
----------------

I agree with Fire & Ice
A custom setting will be very nice

The quality and standards can be higher too
Unless you MUST HAVE that box of blue.

 

[Mafia]

I'm a bit unclear about what you mean by handcrafted vs. brand name. I am under the impression that all Cartier rings are handcrafted... After a couple of weeks of ring shopping I've learned that Cartier relies heavily on their brand name to sell their stuff - in fact CUT is like the least important thing to Cartier. I knew more than their staff and I'm a newbie to the diamond shopping. I still think that their solitaire setting is gorgeous and I do admit that there is a definite appeal to buy a "Cartier" however I was expecting to pay more for the name AND to get a high quality diamond. After looking at a couple of rings it appears that high quality diamond is more of a matter of luck - some are good and some are average at best. I'm going to meet w/ Eightstar dealer to check out their offerings and go from there. I'm a bit disappointed to find a diamond w/ a HCA score of 3+ at Cartier, but another one was <2 so who knows... maybe we all just put too much emphasis on that scale thingie?

- mafia

 

[Mafia]

Oh yeah, Fire & Ice, I forgot to ask if you can recommend someone preferably around Chicago. I'm sure 8* dealer can, but still couldn't hurt.

- mafia

 

[fire&ice]

Hi.

Don't know anyone in Chicago. What I have done in the past is find a jeweler who "creates" their own work. Walk into a few and talk to them.

So, if Cartier's settings are handcrafted - someone has to make them. Why not have someone else "make" it. The only caveat is that it won't have the Cartier stamp. Only *you* know if that is important to your "to be". I'm not a label chaser.......BUT......this is coming from someone w/ a Cartier Tank watch. Good luck.

 

[Mara]

Ooh Cartier tank..now we are talking.

Anyhow..back to business. I would spend the $19k on a huge great stone and then $1k on a custom setting too. Have the Cartier replicated and make it custom. Engrave something in the band. Then it's unique. Forget this Tiffany and Cartier stuff where you end up paying out the wazoo for something that countless other people have. Our ring is custom which means no one else has the same thing. EVER. The only thing I have seen come close is my jewelers wife (whose ring we modeled ours after) but hers is in YG and ours is plat and her stones are bigger. So ours is still unique.

I'm not too sure which Cartier you are talking about, but I wanted a style similar to their eternity pave and my jeweler recogizned it right off as similar.

So I guess my two cents is don't put so much emphasis on the branded setting. Yeah sure it's hand crafted, by Cartier people who are making 100 other ones for Cartier stores. Made by hand but not custom crafted. Custom is amazing, its your ring, your mold, all that jazz. Plus so much fun in the creation. Buy her a Cartier bracelet or watch for the brand, but a diamond e-ring IMO should be more than something just picked off the showroom floor.

BTW with $19k for a stone or around there, you should be able to get between 1.75-2c excellent top of the line superideal cut E-G color VS clarity.

Oh and the 'scale thingie' actually is pretty accurate for the most part. Maybe not down to the milligrain of how great a stone is, but it does help you weed out the duds. So if a Cartier stone was over 3 or 4 on the HCA...step away from the stone. If you find one that scores under 2.0, kudos it may be a keeper. But why bother with the guessing? SuperIdeals or H&A stones will keep your girlfriend staring at the stone long after the Cartier name rubs off the band. You can SEE the arrows when you look at the stone. Now that's fun.

My two big loud late-night cents...

Have fun!

 

[Mafia]

Just got back from and EightStar dealer w/ my g/f she loved it... FWIW, EightStar's prices are very similar to Cartier's. So I basically asked her whichever one she preferred and she said 8*. They do look nice! I'll ask if Cartier would mount my stone in their setting and if not I'll find someone who can make us a custom setting she likes.

- mafia