valleyforge
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2018
- Messages
- 14
Hello! I've been reading a lot here, but would greatly appreciate any advice.
Background: My husband gave me an family heirloom ring when we married 12 years ago. It had three small mine-cut diamonds aligned vertically (kind of like a cross) and a jeweler told us it was worth ~$300 total. The setting was rose gold (not my style) and the ring was from the 1800s. It was a lovely ring, but just not my style at all. I loved the sentiment, but rarely wore it-- the way the diamonds were aligned made it hard to wear with my wedding ring, and my husband wasn't in favor of changing the setting-- so it's been sitting in my jewelry box.
Current Situation: Fast forward 4 kids and 12 years later: We've saved up $30,000 to buy a new ring. I've wanted a ring for years, and keep putting it off because I feel bad spending the money on something that's purely for my own enjoyment. I am pretty low-maintenance in general-- I wear minimal makeup, the only jewelry that I wear is my wedding ring, and I am super tall with very unfortunate large hands (size 8 ring)-- so a 1 carat diamond on my fingers looks small. And I am not dainty (again, unfortunately) so a setting that is simple and classic interests me-- I'm a fan of the Vatche U-113 6 prong setting that I've seen people here recommend. I get that some people might find it boring, but after living for 12 years with a very unique engagement ring, I'm ready for boring!
What I like: I like round, radiant, and cushion shaped stones. I don't think I'm very sensitive to color. I do care a lot about how sparkly the ring is-- my old ring was super dull, and I'd love to get one that I can stare at and see flashes of color. I tried to go to a local jeweler to get an idea of what I was looking for, but all of their stones were CZ and they didn't have any above 1.5 carats so I left feeling like I didn't learn much. I'm way too intimidated by Tiffany or someplace like that to go in, even just to try-- and I do NOT care about brand name. (I'm much more of a Costco girl.)
Does anyone have any recommendations for stones that will look nice when I stare at them? Because I don't have experience with diamonds in real life, I have a hard time knowing what will bug me when I see it-- for example, I think I'd rather have some inclusions and a larger stone than a really small more perfect stone-- just because my fingers are so big. Links to actual stones for sale would be a major plus-- thank you!!!
Addendum:
I love the look of this, but it's double my budget:
https://m.costco.com/Radiant-Cut-4....tinum-Three-Stone-Ring.product.100394470.html
This ring is in my budget (and I love the look of this too)-- but when I run the ring through the HCA (Halloway Cut Advisor) calculator, it tells me that "the total Depth % entered suggests that the girdle is dangerously thin, or the data entered is incorrect"-- but I typed in the GIA number, so I'm thinking that the girdle is bad.
https://m.costco.com/Round-Brillian...latinum-Solitaire-Ring.product.100396327.html
Background: My husband gave me an family heirloom ring when we married 12 years ago. It had three small mine-cut diamonds aligned vertically (kind of like a cross) and a jeweler told us it was worth ~$300 total. The setting was rose gold (not my style) and the ring was from the 1800s. It was a lovely ring, but just not my style at all. I loved the sentiment, but rarely wore it-- the way the diamonds were aligned made it hard to wear with my wedding ring, and my husband wasn't in favor of changing the setting-- so it's been sitting in my jewelry box.
Current Situation: Fast forward 4 kids and 12 years later: We've saved up $30,000 to buy a new ring. I've wanted a ring for years, and keep putting it off because I feel bad spending the money on something that's purely for my own enjoyment. I am pretty low-maintenance in general-- I wear minimal makeup, the only jewelry that I wear is my wedding ring, and I am super tall with very unfortunate large hands (size 8 ring)-- so a 1 carat diamond on my fingers looks small. And I am not dainty (again, unfortunately) so a setting that is simple and classic interests me-- I'm a fan of the Vatche U-113 6 prong setting that I've seen people here recommend. I get that some people might find it boring, but after living for 12 years with a very unique engagement ring, I'm ready for boring!
What I like: I like round, radiant, and cushion shaped stones. I don't think I'm very sensitive to color. I do care a lot about how sparkly the ring is-- my old ring was super dull, and I'd love to get one that I can stare at and see flashes of color. I tried to go to a local jeweler to get an idea of what I was looking for, but all of their stones were CZ and they didn't have any above 1.5 carats so I left feeling like I didn't learn much. I'm way too intimidated by Tiffany or someplace like that to go in, even just to try-- and I do NOT care about brand name. (I'm much more of a Costco girl.)
Does anyone have any recommendations for stones that will look nice when I stare at them? Because I don't have experience with diamonds in real life, I have a hard time knowing what will bug me when I see it-- for example, I think I'd rather have some inclusions and a larger stone than a really small more perfect stone-- just because my fingers are so big. Links to actual stones for sale would be a major plus-- thank you!!!
Addendum:
I love the look of this, but it's double my budget:
https://m.costco.com/Radiant-Cut-4....tinum-Three-Stone-Ring.product.100394470.html
This ring is in my budget (and I love the look of this too)-- but when I run the ring through the HCA (Halloway Cut Advisor) calculator, it tells me that "the total Depth % entered suggests that the girdle is dangerously thin, or the data entered is incorrect"-- but I typed in the GIA number, so I'm thinking that the girdle is bad.
https://m.costco.com/Round-Brillian...latinum-Solitaire-Ring.product.100396327.html
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