Engagement Rings (merged)

roseability_2

Ahh I see... so because my OH paid more the insurance value is more? That would make sense- thank you, it has been in the back of my mind!

LEJC wrote: »

The insurance value given to something is usually more than its true value...this is mainly because the insurance value is the replacment value of something.
At the moment if you were to lose your ring you could probably go out and buy exactly the same one for the same price...but say if you lose your ring in 3 years time you may not be able to buy the ring for the same price as you have just bought it for...and it may not even be possible to buy as it has been discontinued...the insurance value given should be enough for you to be able to get a replacement of your ring...basically if your ring is no longer in production then the insurance company in your case will pay up to £2000 for you to buy a like for like replacement...this doesn't have to be from the retailer you originally bought the ring from.

trist86

Hi all, im planning to propose to my gf soon, we've been together for 5yrs and I feel the time is right. I have read this topic from the beginning and the past week I have read everything about diamonds, four c's, what type of band etc. My heads in a whirl with the amount of choices there are.

I have set myself a budget of £700, and she has hinted she'd like a princess cut diamond, white gold.

I live in Birmingham so Jewellery Quarter is quite easy for me to get to, just feeling a bit nervy going into them as I do not know much and what to ask. I am tempted on going online through Bluenile as they seem to offer a lot of rings.

I just want to know what I can get or expect for my budget please?

LEJC

If you have the birmingham JQ near then do head there...it will give you the opportunity to put your reading up of this thread into practice...

You know exactly what you are after..youve just told me...so go tell that to the shop...

go and select no more than a handful of shops and look,feel touch see the rings they have to offer for your price

keep it simple on the first visit as so many shops all selling similar can be a bit daunting ...but you'll soon get a feel for the shops that have a comfortable approach..there are so many...but go with your instinct.

dont be afraid to ask is that the best price and have a haggle if you want....

If you dont see what you are after then by all means research the web...difference being they dont haggle and you cant see the rings in the flesh..so thats why its quite good to go and look at those c's for yourself...!!

Enjoy and come back and tell us how it went!

kylel39

Hello everyone,

I've read a lot of pages of this thread now and seem to have got the gist of it (I think).
I'm only young (21) and am looking into proposing to my girlfriend (of 4 and a half years) for her 21st birthday. Which I sort of kidded on to her, saying I would when we first started going out. She'll not be expecting it anyway.

I don't earn great money about £850/month after tax but I want to get a ring around about the £600-1000 mark, as it's her 21st also. I've looked at a few places online, most notably diamondmanufacturers.co.uk which seems to be the company I want to you's based on the ring I want and price or 365-diamond.com. All though Using diamondmanufacturers.co.uk also gets me 10% cashback through quidco.

I basically want to know, do you think it would be worth paying an extra £200 to go from a G/SL1 to a F/VS1!? What do you think of the price also:- 0.50 carat, G/SL1, 18K White Gold £799 & then the same spec but F/VS1 £999!? As said above I would get 10% discount of both.

Oh and I forgot to mention is there any online site's that offer what jewelers offer, in terms of paying it up interest free!?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks Kyle.

Foofighter

Hi guys could anyone give me any advice on these rings? I'm helping out a good friend. I know she would love any of these rings but is he getting the best he can for his money?
He has found them on Diamond Manufacturers, they seem to be getting a mention a lot here lately lol. Not used them before myself. He was going to go for white gold but would you say this price for platinum and the diamond is good?

1 , 2 , 3 & 4 all £1199 & 5 is £1299
Platinum
round brilliant
0.50
Colour F
VS1
Ideal Cut

Afitos

Hi ,
H2B got my ring from Diamond Manufacturers last Friday !

He got me a yellow gold Round brilliant solitare it was 699 before the quidco (which tracked instantly) , It is 0.5K, Colour G, SI1.
It is lovely, I had researched the '3 C'S' and was a little nervous when he showed it to me as I wasn't sure about the Diamond given the difference in the price with the likes of Samara James etc.. However it really sparkles and compared to the rings I tried on in Ernest Jones the colour and sparkle is amazing. We did look at going up to the better diamond like you say Kyle. We decided that we would order this one and if we didn't like it we would send it back under their 30 day guarantee and get the 'better' diamond. However I love it !

The only thing I will say is , it didn't arrive on the day they said it would and they didn't notify my H2B until it was too late for him to speak to them. When it arrived it has a small scratch on the band. H2B contacted them, told them he wasn't happy and to be fair within the hour they sent return authorisation for him to return it. However I have decided that as you carn't see the scratch when I am wearing it, I am kepping it ! LOL ! I figure that normal wear and tear will result in small marks . Very strange for me !

After everything I have read about Diamonds I am more than pleased with my Diamond. I can clearly see the cut, I can see the sparkle and for the money I think it is lovely.

Hope this helps, Good Luck

Foofighter, Just looked at the rings you posted, Mine is your numer 4 in yellow gold.

samarajames

LEJC wrote: »

congratulations on taking the plunge on purchasing a ring...
I rarely comment on individual rings and if the purchaser is getting value for money or if the price is good...mainly because I see it as an area of personal choice but I usually point people who are intending to puchase online to make sure they research exactly what they want,usually by backing up research on the high strreet to make sure the spec and overall appearance of the ring is right before they buy online...
You make a very valid point about the height of the setting...and yes this can sometimes catch on clothing etc...but again this is a personal preference I have several rings with high settings and to be honest they dont bother me but I dont work in a job where I use my hands to that extent that the ring would catch my clothes etc...and when I went on to have children I rarely wore anything other than my wedding ring when interacting with them so as not to scratch their faces or skin with the edge of a ring etc..without asking your girfriends opinion straight out you could think about the following things
Does she wear jewellery particularly rings with high settings at the moment ie if she does then there isnt a problem?
Does her job mean that she would catch the ring on clothes...or does she work with children whom she may "knock"...or indeed is she working in an environment where she would be forever having to pick bits of playdoh...ot other substances out of the ring?

I can however tell you about the hearts and arrows cut...but again its your choice as to spending the extra money on it...it is a special cut that I delieve originated in US whereby each diamond is cut so that when you look through a jewellers loupe magnifying glass you can see tiny hearts and arrows...the US company Diamonds International do a similar cut called hearts on fire...again it can only be viewed via a 10x loupe...so it is unlikely that you will notice anything visible to the naked eye when looking at the diamond naturally...most of the differences in this type of cut will only be seen under magnification..some people say the diamond sparkles more because of the extra cut...but in truth unless you really know your diamonds I suspect you may not be able to tell!
H is a near colourless diamond and very nice...you can go higher up the scale and pay more ...you can go lower down the scale and pay less....sorry to keep rpeating myself but again the choice is yours..the beauty of diamonds is that they really do come in all shapes sizes and prices...
If you have read the tread you will know that I am a great believer in lots of research and will always suggest that you take a trip to the high street at least for fact finding....go and handle some rings in your price range and you'll be able to see the settings,stones and overall appearance...an online shop is great if you know exactly what you want ...but there is nothing like looking at the real thing...
Best of luck with your search

Hi Guys,

Hearts & Arrows is an interesting one. You are right that with a hearts and arrows stone, eight hearts and eight arrows can be seen on the loose stone with a special viewer. However, this isn’t all that hearts and arrows means. In order for a cut stone to have hearts and arrows, the stone needs perfect optical symmetry. When a stone has perfect optical symmetry combined with perfect proportions and angles, it will have optimum Fire, Brilliance and Scintillation which gives superior light performance. The problem with just having an 'Excellent' cut diamond is that this grade is given by taking an average of the angles on the diamond. This means that many of the facets will have different angles from the optimal which do not therefore perform as well.
In order to cut a Hearts & Arrows stone, a polishing company needs to invest in special equipment and be prepared to employ the most skilled diamond polishers in the world and well as spending the extra time it takes to cut the diamond. Not only that, but they get a much smaller yield from the rough.
Therefore you find that the companies aiming to achieve this standard are recognized in the diamond industry as being amongst the finest in the world. Certainly we know that the companies who supply our Hearts and Arrows stones also supply some of the finest and highest quality jewellery brands in the world.
The other important factors to bear in mind when buying a diamond is that there are big differences in the 'off certificate' factors of a diamond. Factors such as the luster to the stone and whether the diamond has a milky or hazy look are just two examples. So for example, a diamond mined from Zimbabwe will often have poor off certificates factors making it much cheaper to buy than say a Canadian diamond from the Ekati or Victor mine.
As an aside, if you want to see the differences in price caused by these factors try one of those diamond websites which allows you to choose your exact diamond. Select a given carat weight, colour and clarity e.g. 1 carat, F colour, VS2 clarity, GIA certified, Excellent cut, no fluorescence and look at the ‘cheapest’ vs. the ‘most expensive’. You will normally see a 30 - 40% difference for what is apparently the same specification of diamond. This really shows the effect on the value of the diamond caused by the off certificate factors.
A polishing company specialising in perfectly cut Hearts and Arrows, XXX diamonds will normally be selling to jewelers who know exactly what they are buying. Because of the reputation that these polishing companies aim to maintain, it doesn’t make sense for them to spend so much time and effort polishing a perfect diamond for it to be undermined by using cheaper rough which had poor luster etc. Therefore you find that by choosing a diamond with Hearts and Arrows cut by one of the very best polishing company you also get the benefit of the best off certificate factors as well.
So in my experience I think the visual differences are quite apparent. However, the best way to judge is to visit a jeweller who has the diamonds in stock and who can show you a comparisonn so that you see for yourself.



Hope that is of use.
Best Regards, Julian.

LEJC

Julian...thank you for your indepth tutorial on thre hearts and arrows cut...however you really should know better than to promote your showroom in shepperton as a place for people to visit...as you should be aware self promotion is sometimes refererred to as spam on this site and it would be a shame to have to request the removal of your informative post because you have self promoted

LEJC

Afitios...your ring is beautiful...hope you're getting used to it on you finger...and getting excited about the wedding...can't be long now....

Afitos

LEJC wrote: »

Afitios...your ring is beautiful...hope you're getting used to it on you finger...and getting excited about the wedding...can't be long now....

Thank You !

I love it and yes I am getting used to wearing it. I have had it on for 3 whole days this week as I carn't wear it at work and I am off, LOL!

I was worried that it was quite dainty on my finger (which I hate , cause I think they are short and dumpy!) But H2B keeps saying that by the time I have my wedding band and eternity ring on there wouldn't be any room if it were any bigger! Not sure when I am getting the eternity ring but he has said it now !


I really think it is better than all the others I was considering, sometimes it is good to let them have a say. I would never of picked it on my own

Getting very excited, feel sick ! Only 32 days till we go to Florida and 40 until the big day !