Words from an overwhelmed husband to be..

[Evilsports]

Good evening, folks. My name's Kevin and I'm from Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada.

I've been poring through threads and tutorials on this site for the past week or so and I will say that it's far and above the gold standard for the average person looking to educate themselves.

I will admit straight off that I'm somewhat obsessive/compulsive when it comes to informing myself prior to significant purchases. Unfortunately, therein lies my problem. It seems as though my endeavor to become knowledgeable enough to feel comfortable in choosing a diamond, seems to have opened a Pandora's Box of information. Every time I begin to feel as though I'm able to wrap my head around a small amount of knowledge, I click on another thread and an entirely new aspect of diamond criteria is opened up to me.

I'm 38 years old with two beautiful young daughters and a wonderful wife. The time has long since passed for me to put a ring on her finger, and I am looking to do just that. Here's where I'm at:


I'm budgeting $10-15k for a stone.
Research has me leaning towards an SI1-VS2, G-H, AGS Ideal, "Eye Clean", 1.5-1.75ctw diamond.
I have very limited confidence in my ability to accurately interpret IS, H&A, ASET, etc.
I also have very limited confidence in my ability to interpret dimensions, angles, depths, etc of individual diamonds.
I would like for a stone that dazzles my wife, and makes her proud to wear it. Something clean and very well balanced.

Can anybody recommend a trustworthy vendor who has a track record of not just trying to sell the least diamond possible for the price? I mean I can appreciate the fact that these business's have an obligation to make a profit, before they have an obligation to helping me find the perfect diamond. I can respect that. I guess I'm looking for advice as to a company who has proven to be consistently fair in respecting a customers desire to purchase the perfect stone, as a means to maximizing profit.

I've been to some brick and mortar stores and every single one of them has me leaving with the feeling that I was just treated like a fool. I can appreciate my responsibility to perform due diligence, but at the same time in a market as foreign to me as diamonds I would like to at least start my dealings with a business that has a history of promoting a business environment of respect and honesty.

Thanks for any and all advice. I'm hoping to have something lined up by Christmas, but not to the point that I'll rush into something.

Kevin.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Welcome, Kevin! You'll have time if you deal with a jeweler who has stones in-house. I personally have bought from and highly recommend both Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash. They both specialize in top cut quality stones. They provide the information you need to make an informed purchase. I'll take a quick look and see what they both have in stock.

 

[Evilsports]

Welcome, Kevin! You'll have time if you deal with a jeweler who has stones in-house. I personally have bought from and highly recommend both Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash. They both specialize in top cut quality stones. They provide the information you need to make an informed purchase. I'll take a quick look and see what they both have in stock.

It's funny that you mention those two vendors. They are the only two who have made it onto my bookmarks toolbar. I was drawn to them, like you mentioned, by the amount of information they provided compared to a few of the other online vendors.

Thank you for offering to take a look on our behalf. Any time that you spend is much appreciated and will definitely be paid forward by myself, in whatever manner I'm capable. I hate to ask for help but at the same time, I know when I'm in over my head on something. (Most of the time, anyhow )

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Here are some great stones:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11597/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11602/


http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2972964.htm ($13,649 with pricescope discount and wire payment discount)

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2998694.htm ($15,365 " ) (Expert Selection is still and AGS Ideal cut stone, but just not the top of the top as A Cut Above stones are. They are fine.)

I enjoy helping because I once came here looking for a diamond for our anniversary, and I never left (perhaps to my husband's dismay!)! lol! So I am happy I can help others! Both of these are super vendors...honest, helpful, and have these stones in stock. Both have actual stores, too. They both offer lifetime trade-in policies in case you ever wanted to upgrade the stone. But you are looking at a very nice size to begin with!

I should add that you can reserve stones online, but you will want to call whichever one you find the stone from to discuss the settings, etc. I know Good Old Gold is open on Sunday afternoons (eastern time) in December only. WhiteFlash is central time and should be open Monday morning.

 

[luvsdmb]

I also say Good Old Gold. They seem very trustworthy.
The video with Rhino I swear he would have hugged
that first AVC band when he showed it.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I also say Good Old Gold. They seem very trustworthy.
The video with Rhino I swear he would have hugged
that first AVC band when he showed it.

I will have to say, Jonathan absolutely LOVES what he does! And yes, they are absolutely trustworthy.

 

[m-2-b]

Add Brian Gavin Diamonds to the list--I have bought quite a few superideal MRB's from them! They have their signature hearts and arrows line and then their "blue" line. Ask for their Pricescope discount, too!

 

[heididdl]

Here are some great stones:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11597/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11602/


http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2972964.htm ($13,649 with pricescope discount and wire payment discount)

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2998694.htm ($15,365 " ) (Expert Selection is still and AGS Ideal cut stone, but just not the top of the top as A Cut Above stones are. They are fine.)

I enjoy helping because I once came here looking for a diamond for our anniversary, and I never left (perhaps to my husband's dismay!)! lol! So I am happy I can help others! Both of these are super vendors...honest, helpful, and have these stones in stock. Both have actual stores, too. They both offer lifetime trade-in policies in case you ever wanted to upgrade the stone. But you are looking at a very nice size to begin with!

I should add that you can reserve stones online, but you will want to call whichever one you find the stone from to discuss the settings, etc. I know Good Old Gold is open on Sunday afternoons (eastern time) in December only. WhiteFlash is central time and should be open Monday morning.

I completely respect ann agree with DS selections all four of these stones are winners. I also love size so I would select the WF 1.7 as it is gorgous a little larger ......But honestly you couldn't go wrong with any of these stones. Lucky Lucky women great husband Happy holidays

 

[Tekate]

Hello Kevin, I"m new here myself as far as educating myself on purchases (I have amassed a bit of diamonds and they are probably junky but hey they are paid for and mine!). But I wanted to say she will love whatever you purchase, don't angst too much.. get the stone she would like; as in round, or emerald style and if she likes halo etc.. your budget is great I think.. does she like yellow or white gold/platinum better?.. you all seem to be happy already !! two kids.. congrats.. you are both in for the long haul.. so this is for real and heartfelt.. the people here will help you pick but I just wanted to chime in as somebody who could almost be your mom.. congratulations! on a wonderful life.. post pix of the ring if you would and the wedding if can!!!

congratulations!!!

 

[yennyfire]

I'd also add Yekutiel from ID Jewelry to the list. They don't offer some of the bells and whistles that some of the other vendors do (in terms of ASET, IS images, etc.), but he is a master at finding a great stone at the lowest price possible. Tell him you are from PS (that will tell him immediately that you want a stone with a great cut and that you are very picky, which in this case, is a good thing). I'm guessing that you're looking for a round stone?

www.idjewelryonline.com

I did a search and pulled up quite a few that have potential. Give them a call and see what they recommend. Good luck! I think it's very sweet that you're doing this for your wife...she's going to be thrilled to have a ring that you spent so much time and care selecting!

 

[Bailey_Lou]

Hi I understand what you mean about having so much information to learn in regard to diamonds. I also went through the same thing when I was helping my husband choose my diamond. I will personally vouch for Victoria from Whiteflash as she was very sensitive to my wanting a beautiful diamond at my budget The entire staff at WF has been wonderful and patient with my questions and concerns. I am currently working on an upgrade with them as I initially started with a 0.83 ACA beauty but we're bumping it up to 1.14. I also found Good Old Good to be a great vendor to work with.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

A consideration about GOG--I am Canadian and unless their policy has changed recently, they do not take Canadian credit cards--so your $$ transaction would have to be completed by wire transfer.

Incidentally, please factor in the Canadian Dollar exchange into your budget--as it is not very strong right now against the USD.

incidentally I have purchased from GOG, WF and IDJ--all the vendors listed above and would recommend them all.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Andelain]

Whiteflash is just awesome to work with. See the pendant in my avatar? 3 years ago, it existed only in my ming. Going on just a drawing I did on a sheet of paper, and several emails back and forth, they brought it to life. Their diamonds are gorgeous!

 

[packrat]

I would third Good Old Gold. Jonathan is fun to work with and talk to, and he is very passionate about diamonds. I love my AVC's tremendously.

 

[CathB]

Hi Kevin. Greetings from Sydney, Australia and a huge congratulations on this milestone.

My quick answer to your question is “Wink Jones from High Performance Diamonds”, http://www.highperformancediamonds.com, out of my vague ramblings he made our dream ring, my avatar Buttercup, a reality.

I understand what you mean about the information overload. I myself have recently undergone this dilemma, and even though Pricescope is one of the best thing ever for someone looking for the most suitable diamond for their own preferences, it was also a minefield. Just when I thought I knew what I wanted, I’ll open up another thread that will make me question my decision, and on it goes.

Then I found Wink of High Performance Diamonds, and as the name of his business suggests, he’s a master at finding you only the best performing diamonds around. Whether it’s a Crafted by Infinity stone, one of his own Select few or straight from one of his myriads of personal contacts. For myself, he created my Buttercup out of a Crafted by Infinity center stone and 2 sides that he sourced from his contacts. Wink guided me through all the information I had collected, advised what was applicable to my vision and what wasn’t, asked me the right questions to make sure I was giving him the correct information, informed me of other options I would have never thought of, and sent me personalised videos of everything. All these were done in a timely manner, which is very important to me considering the time difference. I really cannot think of anything that would’ve made this a better experience for us, Wink anticipated everything, even our infamous Australian Customs GST procedures.

I had this ring scrutinized when it arrived in Sydney, and out of all the positive comments I received, one in particular comes to mind. A very reputable & highly trained local jeweler asked me politely to message the jeweler who made my ring to check that their bench have actually set the correct side stones. He was convinced that the stones are at the very most “G-H” and not the “M” colour stated in the description provided and he felt that Wink should be advised as a professional courtesy. Wink explained that this was caused by the extremely well cut proportions of the side stones and that these are the correct M coloured stones.

Oh my, I do get carried away! In short, please drop Wink a line and he will not disappoint.

All the very best Kevin!

 

[dk168]

I have yet to buy a diamond without seeing it in the flesh. However, if I were to buy from an internet vendor, then I would choose from Good Old God, White Flash, Brian Gavin or James Allen.

Good luck with your purchase, and your wife is a very lucky lady to receive such a lovely and thoughtful gift.

DK

 

[backwardsandinheels]

Did you check out the PS Preloved? The wonderful and particular SB has a 2.04 MRB in a pretty and classic setting. I think it could fit your bill...good luck!

 

[Evilsports]

I've sent messages to Whiteflash and GoodOldGold. Thank you for the recommendations, folks.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I've sent messages to Whiteflash and GoodOldGold. Thank you for the recommendations, folks.

Are you able to call them? I don't know if that is practical or not from Canada, but I would call if you can since you are trying to accomplish this by Christmas. They may have hundreds of new emails to get around to today. GOG will connect you to someone in the diamond department like David or Matt, and I really like Sheerah at WhiteFlash.

 

[Artquest]

Good luck with your search! I love GOG as well, in the end process right now of getting my beautiful ring They were great to work with!

 

[Evilsports]

I've definitely let go of the pre-Christmas notion. To be honest it was somewhat self-serving anyhow, in the sense that it cut down my Christmas shopping work load.

I will be calling GOG and/or WF, for sure. I suppose I'm giving them both a shot at our business. I'm probably still vetting them a touch. I'm typically of the belief that if somebody lacks the time or resources to contact me prior to being a customer, things won't likely improve once they have my money. That said, I've read enough here to understand that they're both reputable dealers and any lack of response can be attributed to the time of year.

As for what my wife is looking for in a diamond, she's pretty much left it up to me.

This is the setting she fell in love with from Union Diamonds:



Aside from that, it's up to me to pick the center stone for her.

 

[msop04]

I don't know if you've had a chance to look at James Allen, but I thought this looked nice and checked all the boxes.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-252791
7.54 x 7.53 mm
HCA: 1.3
$14,780

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Both of them normally reply within 24 hours, but at this time of year, I am sure they are 10 times more swamped than usual! That's just why I call.

 

[Evilsports]

Both of them normally reply within 24 hours, but at this time of year, I am sure they are 10 times more swamped than usual! That's just why I call.

I've heard back form Whiteflash already and chatted on the phone with Liza earlier this evening. She's sent us some renderings from previous custom setting they've done to set our minds at ease with the CAD process. (To us laymen, the idea of conjuring up an identical ring out of thin air seems more complicated).

I'm assuming that since my wife's favorite setting isn't a "designer" piece, they are able/willing to copy it. I did ask about any artistic infringement and was assured that it wasn't an issue. I double checked their policy and noted that they will not reproduce designer settings. I suppose that's the caveat.

Anyhow, we're both comfortable with the process, having seen before and after pictures of a few projects WF has done. I just need to confirm that I won't be paying a premium, only to have the setting reproduced. If that's the case, we'd likely be better off ordering the original setting from Union Diamond, and ordering the diamond from WF or GOG.

So yes, we are making headway and I owe a lot of it to the people here who have taken the time to help get us pointed in the right direction. Thank you for your continued help and advice. I mean that sincerely, I would be (was) lost coming in to this.

Our next step will be approving the setting design process and selecting the diamond. The diamond selection seems to be downplayed atm, but I feel as though it will regain it's throne at the head of the decision making process, in short order.

I'm currently leaning towards just picking a few "A Cut Above" stones from WF, within my budget and parameters and running them by the folks here. Liza has also mentioned that she will be happy to pull any of the diamonds and give me her honest opinion on them. I realize that not visually seeing the diamonds is far from optimal, but living in the frozen tundra of Saskatchewan does have it's limitations. (As appealing as I'm sure it looks from the outside )

 

[Evilsports]

Aside from that, I'd appreciate a few opinions on the setting. It's 2.1mm wide all the way around. Is that a decent size for a setting like this? I've got my calipers out and a 2.1mm ring seems a bit on the small side to me.

I fully acknowledge the likelihood that I have no idea what I'm talking about, hence the question.

 

[packrat]

Did she try that setting on? I think the shank of my ring is about 2mm and it's perfect. Not too thin as to be flimsy, but thin enough that it fades into the background and lets the stones take center stage.

 

[Evilsports]

Did she try that setting on? I think the shank of my ring is about 2mm and it's perfect. Not too thin as to be flimsy, but thin enough that it fades into the background and lets the stones take center stage.

No ma'am, she wasn't able to try the setting on either. She has tried on a pile of settings locally, so she does have a good idea as to what she wants. We'll go try on a few more tomorrow with comparable width shanks.

Good grief, ordering a setting she's never tried on, to carry a diamond we'll have never laid eyes on. We must be the poster children for how not to by an e-ring?

 

[packrat]

hahahaha lots of people do it that way, I promise!

What kind of things is she drawn to in the settings she's tried on? The reason I asked if she'd tried it on is b/c sometimes things look different on *us* that they do in pictures/internet. I love intricate/vintage-y settings..but they just don't look right on me, so I stick w/more modern looking jewelry, that kinda thing.

 

[Evilsports]

hahahaha lots of people do it that way, I promise!

What kind of things is she drawn to in the settings she's tried on? The reason I asked if she'd tried it on is b/c sometimes things look different on *us* that they do in pictures/internet. I love intricate/vintage-y settings..but they just don't look right on me, so I stick w/more modern looking jewelry, that kinda thing.

That's a really good question. To my understanding, she is also drawn to the vintage type setting but found that they didn't wear as well as she'd hoped.

To be fair to her, the rings she's tried on were all under the context of "looking for the one". I feel as though when we re-visit some of the stores with the criteria of finding comparable rings to the online setting she likes, she will be able to say one way or the other if it's going to work for her.

This is my naive husbandly hope.... The reality likely involves much more walking through shopping malls than I'm ready to commit to at this point.

 

[packrat]

Has she looked online at settings at all? That might help too, see what she's drawn to. Accent stones/side stones/solitaire/three stone etc. Might help cut down on some of your mall-walking! I have a tendency/habit/compulsion to make things harder than what they are/should be so I proooobably am not one who should be replying. My saga took months and months to complete and is probably the reason why my husband has so much gray now.