If....

[Mayk]

If you had not found PS...what would your enagement and wedding ring look like today.... have you or have you not been heavily influenced by PS...

Me.. HEAVILY!!!! I would still own the original diamond an EGL 1.26 G VS1 (later apprasied as a J SI1) split shank round halo pave' setting... Now it's an AGS 1.3 ct G/VS1 diamond in a cushion halo with a single shank and I have added a silly number of extras to my collection thanks to this place.. that I love so much!!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Well my ering would have been a 1.3 instead of it being a 1.5 if it wasn't for PS. There is a local jeweler I go to that pushes well cut stones but I think I would of paid more for my stone from him. I think PS helps find a great stone for the buck!

 

[sonnyjane]

What a great question!!!

If not for PS, I would with 100% certainty have a ring from either Zales or Kay - no question about it. Before PS, I had no notion of anything else.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

My rings were pre-PS and I had a lovely 1.5 high color and clarity RB and eternity ring....therefore no PS influence at all. Mind you, my father was a jeweller...

cheers--Shaorn

 

[Sakuracherry]

I had a 0.81 ct RB in a channel set band from Tiffany. It was I/VS1/EX/VG/VG. The tint and size bothered me a lot. I also felt like the thick band takes away the beauty of the center stone. I was going to upgrade for another tiffany diamond, but thanks to PS, I bought a beautiful 2.13/H/SI1/triple 0 from WF. I wanted to be able to wear my original wedding band with the new setting, so I went with the Vatche Caroline and I'm very happy

 

[Begonia]

Hell yes.

A year or so ago, I thought EC's were the ugliest dang things in the diamond world .

Now I've got me one (1.01 ct) in a unplated WG bezel (upgrade).

No way would I have gotten there on my own .

 

[madelise]

I would have ended up with 3 carat, crushed ice elongated cushion set in a Harry Winston "The One" inspired halo. It would have looked like $hit, since I would have probably gone with a D color diamond, who knows what clarity.. and maybe graded by EGL. Let me actually pull up my old emails with jewelers!

Okay, so we were searching for a 2.5 to 3 carat D.

Haha, here's one email from a vendor we started to work with:

I have a 3 carat diamond which is a gorgeous diamond and has a look of a 4 carat. It's a D color and the quality is SI2. It has an excellent cut, so it's very shiny.
Any stone compared to this particular stone will look dull or yellow, because it's a D color and the cut is ideal. I strongly recommend that you purchase this diamond, it falls within your price range and it meets all the criteria of what a beautiful diamond should look like.

HAHAHA. Can you imagine? A 3 ct that faces up like a 4 ct being "IDEAL" cut, and "SI2 QUALITY". I remember seeing that diamond, too! It had horrible windowing! It was extremely shallow. Oh, but it must have been the best quality diamond ever, because it sparkled so much under those jewelry store lights


OOh, my old emails reminded me. Let me attach the photo of the ring I wanted by Martin Flyer. I was first in love with "The One", then I loved the domed micropave set look to this bad boy here. Haha. I thought that the domed tiny micro pave would mean my ring sparkled from all angles.. and thus would sparkle more than larger melee in just one row. Yeah. I'm SO glad things did not work out for us that year financially….. I would have ended up with the biggest regret of an engagement ring, EVER!

Oh thanks for bringing this topic up! FUN. I totally went through memory lane with my old emails.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

I still would have ended up with the same engagement ring (1.05ct F SI1 GIA ex/ex/ex) if I hadn't found PS because my husband wanted to use 'his jeweler' regardless of what I had read on the Internet. We would have paid too much for it but at least it is a nice stone.

 

[missy]

Same ER diamond- set multiple times -before I found PS LOL- so cannot blame PS for that.
My search for my last (so far) setting was the impetus in finding PS...and my dh found PS for me!
(and I had pretty much already decided on the setting so in truth I am a PS virgin when it comes to my ER...for now! )

 

[zoebartlett]

Good question! I probably wouldn't have found WF, where we got my engagement ring and wedding band. If I HAD found online vendors, I don't think I would have trusted them. Even once I found PS, I had read a lot of threads before I was convinced that online vendors are very good and they have great reputations. I probably would have worked with a private jeweler to help me choose stones and a setting.

As far as the setting goes, I might have gone with a three stone still, but I probably wouldn't have known about trellis settings.

(My husband wouldn't have gotten his rings either. I doubt we would have found Bruce Boone on our own.)

 

[Tuckins1]

I found PS after I got engaged, so perhaps it would have been a different style, but the quality of stones would be the same. DH schooled himself well before making a purchase.

 

[justginger]

I hate to think of it - but I wouldn't have an antique stone! I had only seen them in small sizes prior to PS, which didn't allow me to really SEE the faceting patterns. I would have probably ended up with a modern cushion or maybe a princess cut. Who knows?

I also wouldn't have discovered colored diamonds, and that would have been very sad indeed.

Thank you, Pricescope!!

 

[Ellen]

I don't know if I'd say heavily "influenced" as much as heavily "educated". In that respect, it's made a world of difference. If I had not found this place, I'm pretty sure I would have ended up with my upgrade being far inferior to what I have, at an incredibly inflated price.

It has not made me want a lot of jewelry, I am totally done as far as expensive pieces go. That includes my 1.4 round upgrade, my (1.16 ctw) diamond studs, and my Aqua recut. No desire for more.

 

[JewelFreak]

Probably I still wouldn't even have one. When we got married we couldn't afford much of anything; I've never been a diamond lover, always adored colored stones. Preferred no e-ring to a little chip of drek -- so 'no e-ring' is what I had for 35 years! If not for PS I would not have learned enough to find something fabulous, nor had any idea how to get a custom setting made. Would always have regretted it. So thanks to you folks, I've got something that thrills my little black heart every time I look at it & DH is glad I'm happy too.

--- Laurie

 

[stargurl78]

After my husband proposed, I wanted to find out more about the quality of the diamond he purchased and I ended up finding PS. I was pleased to find that he did good So my e-ring wouldn't look much different without this website. However, I did have the band of the ring shaved down thinner and I had the tall 4-prong head changed to a 6-prong head with claw prongs and I probably wouldn't have obsessed over the details so much if I hadn't found PS. As far as the wedding band, PS ended up saving me money in that regard. Out of all the bands I tried on, I knew I liked a channel band with my e-ring and the only one that looked perfect was the Tiffany version because of how low it is. But through PS, I found Facets and got a gorgeous low-set 3/4 eternity for a fraction of the price.

I probably wouldn't have any colored stone rings, gorgeous BGD studs, IDJ jackets, a couple of stackers, and a few other things on the wish list if not for PS so it has definitely influenced me to have some "extras"

 

[ame]

Well, my ering stone was a Star129 before I found PS so I probably would still have that either way. My band would probably be similar to what it is now as well.

 

[monarch64]

I'd have the same ring. I came to PS in search of people who shared my love for bling, not to design an engagement ring, so I never really shared my preferences with my husband when he was thinking about proposing. I think I brought it up once, and after he looked at PS a bit he put together the ring he'd had in mind for me anyway. He said he knew my taste well enough not to need much input from me. I was satisfied with that. The only thing I'd change about my ring is the shank because not many bands will sit flush with it.

 

[Autumnovember]

My engagement ring was picked out prior to having seen PS but my band was picked after. I think if it weren't for PS I would have ended up with the matching band. I realized from PS exactly what it is that is pleasing to my eye and that's non matchy bands which is what I ended up with

I gotta say, there are LOTS of RHR and earring ideas on here that have inspired me for when I have money to spend on diamonds

 

[TC1987]

I'm not married anymore, so I have no need of an engagement or wedding ring. But my e-ring diamond was .8ct G VVS1 or VVS2, and cost almost $4000, but didn't perform as well as today's H&A diamonds. And it's interesting to note that an ideal H&A VS1 or VS2 of about the same size and whiteness would not cost substantially more today. So, I could get about the same diameter (3/4 ct. range) with much higher performance for $4k now.


I was ahead of the trends. Back in '95-'96, I craved something different or vintage in a setting, and there wasn't anything to be found, except the illusion head from Stuller and low fishtail head from a couple of others. Platinum was reemerging, and I thought a platinum setting would be great to have, but they were all just boring plain-jane solitaires. I bought a nice white OEC at a pawn shop for a song back in '93, and I didn't know what an OEC was until I had it appraised. It was just "an old round diamond" then, and nobody wanted old-fashioned diamonds.

PS came along at just the right time to give me access to information that I'd been trying to get for years, but it hadn't been available to the general public. The '80s developments in cutting, and the reflector technology just were not public knowledge. Cut, and how to evaluate it remained insider information for a long time.

Pricescope put me into better-cut diamonds than I could ever have found in the area that I live in, and at a lower price than I would have paid for second-rate cuts here. And the PS vendors provide facts, not baffle the customer with bs.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Mine would probably be a lot more dirty than it is right now. I haven't upgraded, but am always careful about keeping my stone clean since reading on PS. (eta - got my stone before PS and lucked out with a gorgeous stone...the one thing is we overpaid by buying locally.)

 

[daintyG]

I was already married when I found PS. If I had found it before getting engaged, things would have been different. We had a small budget, though, so I imagine that finding PS would have made me unhappy with that. Even before PS, I wanted a bigger marquise. I chose a marquise diamond because I always liked them, but now that I've been exposed to PS, I prefer cuts with larger facets. I have no regrets about finding PS after the ring, though. I'm not going for a re-do of my ER or a larger marquise, but I will start a little collection instead!

 

[Laila619]

Well I would have had the same diamond either way. DH had no knowledge of diamonds but luckily he bought me a well-cut Leo diamond that scores under 2 on the HCA (though I still cringe at how much he overpaid by buying retail). If I hadn't discovered PS, I probably would have just had a simple 6 prong solitaire, since that was always what I loved and wanted. I never used to like any other settings since I thought they either cluttered up the center stone or were impractical. PS turned me on to the idea of 3 stone rings for the bling factor, and once I did that reset, I was sold!

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

I suspect I would still have my sapphire and EC diamond three stone, which I got before finding PS. But really, who the heck knows.

 

[pandabee]

hmmmm well I am not engaged yet, but I do remember wanting the Tacori 2620 even before I was here, so that wouldn't have changed. I definitely would not have ended up wanting an AVC though, and probably just have a RB or even worse, a generic cushion. On the other hand, I might have ended up with a classic RB solitaire too. Or the Tiffany Novo. meh. Lots of ideas! It's hard to discern them all separately since I'm still kinda at this stage..

 

[diamondringlover]

Ha mine would look the same...mine was bought way before I found PS, we bought it back in 2001, however my current purchase are heavily influenced by PS

 

[Enerchi]

My engagement ring is 28 years old --- so PS wasn't even born yet! I bought myself a princess solitiare in 2005 and did what I considered a lot of research then - even buying it off an internet site - how risque of me!! but still had not yet discovered PS. I did base that solitaire setting on 2 that I liked from Whiteflash, tho.

Now, discovering PS last Oct 2011, I have learned a TON and have really come to appreciate diamonds, and jewelry in general, a whole lot more. Definitely PS has been a heavy influence on me interms of what I learned I *NEEDED* and what I have purchased in that past year (and not in a good way, if you are my bank account talking! )

I would never have known about OEC's, for one, and I sure do love my new OEC RHR! I wouldn't know what I know now and I would not have made a point to visit the Diamond District when I was in NYC --- and then I would never have met the wonderful people at LJN, DBL and IDJ! ... and there wouldn't have been those lovely eye candy threads and I wouldn't have met some of the sweetest people I so look forward to 'chatting' with on PS!

Bottom line - I'm so happy I found PS and my bank account is just going to have to learn to adapt

 

[Rhea]

My engagement ring would look the same. I was a lurker on PS back then, but I wanted a pre-loved ring and PS had no information about OMC, OEC, and trannies back then. We also had a smaller by PS standards budget and really needed to get a used ring to maximise it. The previous board owner ruled with an iron fist and information about used rings was non-existent.

 

[Dandi]

I would have the same style ring, it's still my all time favourite. The only difference is that since finding PS I have upgraded the B&M stones to H&As, same size stones, same setting. I definitely wouldn't have my beautiful studs, tennis bracelet and eternity band if not for PS, though!

 

[AprilBaby]

I would still have my original .38 solitaire.

 

[Circe]

Like a lot of the ladies, I found PS AFTER I bought my e-ring - I actually found it when I was trying to figure out why my diamond did what it did! Prior to that, I'd always been a colored stone girl, and when I fell in love with my ring, I fell HARD ... so I stuck around, even though I hadn't been planning on making any more big diamond purchases.

::skips a beat, sound of screeching record::

Yeah, about that ....

If I had found PS before making my diamond purchase ... I may or may not have been pulled into ideal cuts, since I sort of regarded them as unnecessary then, and on a certain level, still see them as overkill (and this is after buying some). At that point, I think I was one of the bigger proponents of vintage on the board, and I didn't even know that much! But if the timeline were different, and I was an innocent young thing getting engaged today, with AVC/R's in existence, and you all available to tell me about old cuts? I think I probably would have gone for the biggest low-color strong-blue I could get my hands on.

Of course, since that's what I did anyway for my anniversary ring ....