Ring Shopping

[dadof3illinois]

I would recommend reading as much about diamonds as you can. Buying diamonds or any stones for that matter is like buying a car. Everyone has a different rating system and it will confuse the heck out of you.

I was lucky and a friend of mine cut stones for a hobby. He had done this for almost 45 years. He helped me pick out the stone then cut and mounted it. Turned out 10 times better than expected. This was 15 years ago and my friend is no longer with us but his work still is.

Most of your better stones won't be mounted in a setting or on display. They keep them loose and stored away in the safe. The stores want to sell you what they have on display because that's the higest profit items, lower quality at a high quality price.
Remember you can haggle the price better for loose stones too.

The best trick my friend showed me was to always look at the diamond while it's setting on something white with the light showing up from the bottom. Most sales people place the stone on something dark and hold a light from the top. All this does is hide all the imperfections. Go to a well lit area of the store, hold the stone about a 1/2" above a white paper and shine a light between the paper and diamond. This way you will see any problems very easy.

Hope this helps and congrats.

[Corona Gigante]

The whole engagement ring thing is such a scam!

$8,500?! Are you kidding me? Who am I, Mohammed Al Fayed?

Put a downpayment down on a decent house and buy her an eternity ring in 30 years time when you can afford to spend that kind of money on something so superfluous.

And yes, I am married, happily, and no, my wife does not have an engagement ring. We got married in our thirties, we both have jobs and we both have other much more important things (mortgage, vacations, graduate school, children's college funds) to spend our money on.

[MaverickAPhiT]

I took a class that was all about diamonds, and here's some of what I learned. First, the thing that affects the cost the most is not color, clarity, or carat weight, it's the cut (different from shape). It's a matter of whether or not it is a quality cut or not.

Something else that will affect cost is the carat weight. A stone that is 1.5 carats exactly will cost more than one that is 1.57 carats. This is because people, for some reason, want the exact carat weights.

Also, it is always better to buy a loose stone. Some shops will cover up imperfections in the stone with the setting.

Other than that get what she wants. I got my wife a .33 carat (yes, I ignored my own advice) heart shaped diamond with almost perfect color and clarity. spent $1500 total on it, and she absolutely loves it.

Finally, congrats man, and good luck.

[Smokey McSmokerson]

Originally Posted by smitdavi

Well I went engagement ring shopping with my G/F........WOW what a shocker. She has expensive tastes. It was cool though. I so can't wait to marry this girl and this just felt like a step in the right direction. So....How much did you guys spend on your engagement rings? Just curious. My G/F fell in love with one that was like 3300!



David

Congratulations smitdavi!

Someone else already mentioned Bluenile.com as a good resource for information on diamonds, and I have to second that. I actually bought my wife's rings from them and have nothing but praise for them. About twice a year they run a 10% discount on top of their already great prices. You can check THIS LINK every now and then if you are interested.

[rumballs]

loose diamonds also here:
http://www.pricescope.com/

[Teninx]

Make absolutly sure you buy at a reputable establishment. Do as much checking on the quality of the merchant as you do on the quality of the stone. Don't be afraid to negotiate price, either. Make a reasonable counteroffer. The price on the stone isn't set in stone

[rumballs]

oh yeah - see here too:
http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=18317

[dadof3illinois]

Originally Posted by MaverickAPhiT

I took a class that was all about diamonds, and here's some of what I learned. First, the thing that affects the cost the most is not color, clarity, or carat weight, it's the cut (different from shape). It's a matter of whether or not it is a quality cut or not.

Something else that will affect cost is the carat weight. A stone that is 1.5 carats exactly will cost more than one that is 1.57 carats. This is because people, for some reason, want the exact carat weights.

Also, it is always better to buy a loose stone. Some shops will cover up imperfections in the stone with the setting.

Other than that get what she wants. I got my wife a .33 carat (yes, I ignored my own advice) heart shaped diamond with almost perfect color and clarity. spent $1500 total on it, and she absolutely loves it.

Finally, congrats man, and good luck.

Good info, the way the diamond is cut along with it's final shape is how they hide the imperfections. That's why you always look at the diamond upside down (from the bottom up) while it's on something white, it makes it easy to see any cracks, porosity or inclusions that the cutter was trying to hide.

Another thing you might want to do is if your going to spend a big chunk of money on a diamond, take it and have it mapped. A jeweler can map your stone which means they will draw a picture of your stone, showing the exact location, size and type of all the imperfections. This way you can get it insured in case it's lost or stolen.

[King James]

well i know I'm a youngster that has seen too many movies. But I thought the guy picks out the engagement ring and its more of a suprise when he asks the girl to marry him? Once again...probably me being a youngin' who has saw too many sappy movies

[rumballs]

if you look for one with a GIA certificate, you'll know what you're getting, and it will have a map like dadof3 mentioned.

[E. Bunney]

Originally Posted by King James

well i know I'm a youngster that has seen too many movies. But I thought the guy picks out the engagement ring and its more of a suprise when he asks the girl to marry him? Once again...probably me being a youngin' who has saw too many sappy movies

Guys don't do that anymore. It's a new time fella. Now they go along and help pick out the ring in a shared experience type of thing.



ps. make sure that you like the ring too, any trangressions and you'll be wearing it through your nose
(j/k - enjoy)

[MaverickAPhiT]

I agree with getting it certified. It's a good idea, and I don't think it is very expensive.

King James - Some people still do that, however, I wanted to ensure that my wife got exactly what she wanted. The only way to do that was to take her along. She knew when she was getting, but not when and how, that's where the surprise is.

[Smokey McSmokerson]

Originally Posted by mmblz

if you look for one with a GIA certificate, you'll know what you're getting, and it will have a map like dadof3 mentioned.

This is the route I went except mine was under 1 carat so it was laser inscribed instead of mapped. I would recomment getting a GIA certified diamond. It's worth the extra couple hundred bucks knowing for sure what you have. Plus, it's like having a serial number in case anything bad should happen.

[rumballs]

Originally Posted by Smokey McSmokerson

This is the route I went except mine was under 1 carat so it was laser inscribed instead of mapped.

d'oh. guess i'm revealing a lower bound on what size I got my wife

[woobie]

Being barely employed at the time I got away with just a simple wedding band, from the sounds of it I saved a fortune . I never shopped for an engagement ring so I had no idea they cost so much.