Engagement Rings (merged)

samarajames

LEJC wrote: »

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

Hello

It wasn’t my intention to spam the forum and I do apologise if anyone read my post and thought this was the case. I was genuinely trying to be helpful and I thought the information and suggestion might be of use to other members. I would of course be happy to adjust or delete my post to keep within forum rules.

Best Regards, Julian

LEJC

Julian...the information you provided was indeed helpful ....but you have to be mindful that your last sentance of your post is clearly advertising your company...whats the name of it again....

Its a shame really because there are many brides on here who regularly recommend Samara James for the service and Jewellery....you should continue to rely on their testimonials rather than self promotion IMO

samarajames

LEJC wrote: »

Julian...the information you provided was indeed helpful ....but you have to be mindful that your last sentance of your post is clearly advertising your company...whats the name of it again....

Its a shame really because there are many brides on here who regularly recommend Samara James for the service and Jewellery....you should continue to rely on their testimonials rather than self promotion IMO

Hi LEJC


The primary reason for posting was simply to give some more technical information to help explain the differences in diamond cut grade which I thought answered an earlier post and also to encourage people to look to see the differences for themselves.

I do appreciate your comments though and have edited the last line of the post to hopefully prevent any misunderstanding.

Best Regards, Julian.

tanderson001

Hi there, had a read through some of the pages in this thread it became obvious that most people regard GIA cuts etc better than IGI....

Now i had in my head that I was going to avoid IGI, but ive had a couple of diamonds offered to me, one ranked as Hearts & Arrows by IGI, and the other is still a very good GIA diamond, now I cant choose

Would you still rank the GIA higher than the IGI in this case, or with the IGI being a H&A cut, could that be the better cut?

Prices pretty much the same, IGI a hundred more... would prefer to get the better one (not able to see them until Wednesday when I go over, but doubt i will see the diff in quality myself)

· Cut: Round brilliant
· Carat weight: 0.50ct
· Colour: D (Perfection)
· Clarity: VVS2
· Certified by: IGI
· Cut grade: Excellent
· Polish: Very Good
· Symmetry: Very Good

· Cut: Round brilliant
· Carat weight: 0.51ct
· Colour: D (Perfection)
· Clarity: VS1
· Certified by: GIA
· Cut grade: Very Good
· Polish: Very Good
· Symmetry: Excellent

kylel39

Afitos wrote: »

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.

Thanks Afitos,

Think I'll do as you did and go for the lower quality and if I/she doesn't like it or isn't pleased then we'll upgrade.

Kyle

LEJC

tanderson001 wrote: »

Hi there, had a read through some of the pages in this thread it became obvious that most people regard GIA cuts etc better than IGI....

Now i had in my head that I was going to avoid IGI, but ive had a couple of diamonds offered to me, one ranked as Hearts & Arrows by IGI, and the other is still a very good GIA diamond, now I cant choose

Would you still rank the GIA higher than the IGI in this case, or with the IGI being a H&A cut, could that be the better cut?

Prices pretty much the same, IGI a hundred more... would prefer to get the better one (not able to see them until Wednesday when I go over, but doubt i will see the diff in quality myself)

· Cut: Round brilliant
· Carat weight: 0.50ct
· Colour: D (Perfection)
· Clarity: VVS2
· Certified by: IGI
· Cut grade: Excellent
· Polish: Very Good
· Symmetry: Very Good

· Cut: Round brilliant
· Carat weight: 0.51ct
· Colour: D (Perfection)
· Clarity: VS1
· Certified by: GIA
· Cut grade: Very Good
· Polish: Very Good
· Symmetry: Excellent

The best advise would be go and see both diamonds and go with whichever one you like best...there is very little in the specifications on paper to split them so to be honest I would go with the one you like once you see them in the flesh....although you say you would prefer to get the better one...reserve judgement until you see them both....

Afitos

kylel39 wrote: »

Thanks Afitos,

Think I'll do as you did and go for the lower quality and if I/she doesn't like it or isn't pleased then we'll upgrade.

Kyle

You are welcome, let us know how you get on

LankyMoneySaver

Hi,

I'm looking for a platinum solitaire engagement ring for my girlfriend and having researched in the high street and online so now know what style I'm after and have found two rings in the high st I really like.

I've looked on diamondmanufacturers.co.uk and a few other sites online and although they do seem to be £100s cheaper:

* The diamond quality does not seem to be as high as the two I like in high street shops so I'm finding it hard to compare
* The above site does not have any rings in the exact same style setting that I like (4 claw but with the whole side of the diamond visible so the point can be seen)
* I'm not sure I'm happy to buy online without seeing it first


So I'm considering getting one of these two I have found but am wondering if the price is value for money:

Ring 1:
* Cut: Round brilliant
* Carat weight: 0.34ct
* Colour: D
* Clarity: SI1
* Certified by: IGI
* Cut grade: Very Good
* Polish: Good
* Symmetry: Very Good

Label price is £2299. Haven't asked for a best price yet. Date on the certificate is my birthday - sales person tried convincing me this is a sign and I should buy there and then!

Ring 2:
* Cut: Round brilliant
* Carat weight: 0.31ct
* Colour: D
* Clarity: IF
* Certified by: IGI
* Cut grade: ?
* Polish: Very Good
* Symmetry: Very Good

It's £2750 but without any pushing she dropped to £2450 so I suspect there's maybe a little further room for haggling.


After reading this thread I had thought I was only going to go for a F/VS1 diamond but if this is a fair price for a D/IF and not too much above my budget I'm tempted to go for it.

Are these fair prices given the diamond?

Thanks,
Chris

LEJC

Have you asked the jeweller to show you examples of lower spectum rings ie lower down the colour scale...if you can get them to do this you will be able to see for yourself what you get for your money in terms of a lower colour but higher carat weight that way you could get a clearer indication of the type of diamond you could get online....Dropping to an F/VS1 you will certainly achieve a higher carat weight for the money so the diamond would be bigger in size but size isnt everything and personal preference is what you must consider most.

It is very difficult to get IF or D graded diamonds from online stores they dont tend to stock them as standard so that is why you are possibly not getting the option when you search.

The diamonds you have listed are both very good in terms of what they are and as you say there is no reason why there shouldn't be a bit more movement on price its difficult to suggest a ball part reduction as there are lots of things that influence the price but....how about trying to achieve ring 2 for ring 1s price...its challenging...
You may find that if a diamond has been instock for a while then it could attract a higher discount than one that is new in simply because the prices have fluctuated between purchase by the jeweller and now.

For what its worth an IF diamond in my opinion is a truly stunning thing!

london00

They seem a bit pricey to me, mate. I got a round 0.50, excellent cut, F colour, VS2, platinum ring for £1650 from Hatton Garden.

I'd recommend saving money on the colour and the clarity.

You could go for an F or a G and both would look exactly the same as a D, unless you're an expert holding it right next to a D diamond in a lab.

There's also no real point going for the really high clarity grades as you only see the benefits when you use one of those eyeglass tools (I forget the name). Go for one that is eye-clean, i.e. you can't see the flaws with the naked eye, and you'll save hundreds.

The cut seemed to make a big difference to me. I bought one ring that was a 'good' grade and took it back because it didn't sparkle enough at home. The important things to look for are the proportions of the angles within the diamond (google for sites showing which angles give the best sparkle) and cut grade.

I've found that since I gave my fiancee her ring, the things that get the most comments (and thus make her happy!) are the size and the sparkle. Of course, they probably say that to everyone wearing a ring. ;-)

Good luck!