Engagement Rings (merged)

brilliantdiamond

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply. This one is slightly different but I can't seem to find the other one.

The diamond is round brilliant,
0.42 carat,
colour - d,
clarity - sl1
cut - excellent
polish and symmetry - excellent

h t t p : // w w w .om-barak.com/barak/Output/Certificates/OXT33624.jpg (could only link if i put spaces )

Do you think I should buy one with better clarity?
x

LEJC

the decision is yours over the purchase...its an excellent colour diamond..clarity could be better... thats quite low..but by no means bad but ive no idea of your budget...personally I would drop colour a little and increase clarity but that is my personal opinion (and im not paying!)..that way you achieve a good all round diamomd...however if it is your preference to own a colourless diamond and that is the best clarity you can afford then thats your perogative.
I would always advise you to view stones before purchase.

kriss_boy

Would anyone agree that the jump from £1250 to £1750 gets you wayyyy more diamond for your money than, say, £750 to £1250.

I originally thought I would get an awesome ring for approx £1300 but Im now beginning to think I may need to spend nearer £1800 to get a good quality diamond...

LEJC

diamonds are a variety of prices,sizes quality and cut so hopefully you can get the one thats right for you...as the colour clarity and size size increases so does the price...you can buy lovely rings for much smaller budgets than yours...and you can buy lovely rings for much larger budgets than yours...hopefully somewhere within the 2 extremes you will find the diamond that will be right for you!

roundbrilliant

Hey guys,

LEJC i can assure you i'm not spamming blue nile or anything else. It's just the site i found myself when i originally started looking online.

I actually went in my lunch break yesterday to a small independant jewellers near by to my office and looked at some rings that they had and they also had some loose .72 diamonds they were intending to put into ear rings! Had a look at those and a variety of other diamonds. I cant stress enough how helpful this was. Everyone should get down to a jewellers and have a look at some. They had a ring with a larger .82 D, VS1 in it for 4,000 which is unfortunately a fair bit over my price range but offered to put one of the loose .72s into the setting for me at right on my budget so that's somethign to think about.

I think i may be swinging away from the online option. LEJC do you think i'd be paying significantly more for stones which have been bought in my independant jewellers compared to buying my own on bluenile (or any other wbsite!)? i was going to be using an online site as i thought this would bring me the most value....possibly not true! I think when i head down to Hatton Gardens in a week or two i will probably come across the setting which is perfect and then ask them to put a stone into which is suitable for my budget.

Some observatiosn i made yesterday:

Colour seems to be very difficult to interpret between say an E and an G or I. When next to each other you can probably tell but as the jeweller said to me "she isnt going to kill you for getting her a G clarity; she isnt going to know anything about clarity. She will just think - this is beautiful! (hopefully!).

I also saw a VS2 in the flesh and you cannot see any imperfections in it with the naked eye.

One last question i have. The Jewellers didnt mentioned anythign about cut quality when i spoke to him. He said they pretty much just consider clarity, colour and carot size. Should i be wary of this? The research i have done would suggeest that cut is the most important?

LEJC

glad you went to a jeweller for your information...they really are a good source of knowledge when it comes to diamond buying and a lot less intimidating than people think
Do you get a better deal online...sometimes...howver in my opinion you dont get to see the diamond in the flesh so to speak...with places like Hatton Garden and jewellery quarters able to easily source good diamonds I dont think they are that bad on price compared to online.Buying from a jeweller also does introduce the line"is that your best price?" something that cant always be achieved online...I have been amazed in the past by how well that works!

colour...true there is little difference in the first 6 or so grades of colour and sometimes it is only more apparant when you buy larger diamonds,or in the case of something like a trilogy ring where you have 3 diamonds sat alongside eachother...
when buying a single stone ring you can get quite far down the scale depending on your way of thinking...I actually have a ring that is single stone that has quite a yellow tint to the colour,I dont see it as a poor colour ..more quirky!...again dont discount a diamond without looking at it just because the colour isnt a C grade.

The clarity aspect for me again is quite important but again if the stone is smaller the clarity is not as obvious as in a larger stone..sometimes in stones they appear cloudy or milky but again as you point out this cant usually be seen to the naked eye only a 10x loupe...as the scale runs IF through to SI2 good point to look at would be VS1

Actually the cut again to me is really important although I think this is all down to personal preference so possibly why some jewellers make little reference to it
...my favourite being old or brilliant as it is now called...this one allows the light to bounce off the diamond through many facets giving it a brilliant sparkle and very beautiful...to me it would be important to choose the right cut so that it shows the diamond to its best...This is the bit where I think its best to look at the stone in your hand as you cant see how the light is reflected via a computer screen picture or a set of gem certifications!
the best piece of advice I can give you is dont get too hung up on the colours,cuts etc see the diamond before you buy and choose the one thats right for you...
In monetry terms my engagement ring isnt my most valuable piece..but in terms of sentiment its priceless...having said that my passion for diamonds has now led me to a collection that if I could bear to part with would be a sizable pension fund!
Best of luck with your purchase

verandi

I sent for a ring sizing guage from Samara James when I was thinking of proposing to my boyfriend (still umming and ahhing about it lol) and you automatically get signed up for their buying guide emails, they're actually really interesting! I never knew there was so much to it. Been reading this thread for ages now with all you men asking whether you should propose with a ring or pick one together afterwards and I always thought it was an easy question, I would have said with the ring every time! But now I'm not so sure lol, I spent ages playing on the SJ website with all the different shapes (got a bit carried away oops) and even I didn't know for ages which I liked the most so I don't fancy my OH's chances... I don't envy all you men who are trying to pick with no clues

samarajames

Hi there The Prole, I have had a look at the Diamond Manufacturers website and have seen that the diamonds are self certified (rather than by an independent grading lab like GIA or IGI) so the quality stated can't be guaranteed. There are also a lot of factors that are make a huge difference to the way a diamond looks that aren't mentioned, like polish, fluorescence and symmetry as well as off certificate factors like fire and scintillation. The diamond's price will tell you a lot about these factors, and with a price this low, don’t expect brilliance! If, for example, a diamond has strong fluorescence, it reduces the price dramatically, as it can cause the diamond to look cloudy or milky.
If you would like any more advice or information, please don’t hesitate to drop me a personal message.

jones8892

hi all,

I think I may be making the trip up to Birminghams Jewelery quarter the weekend after next (11th December). I am hoping to get a ring sorted for Christmas time but I think I may have ended up leaving it toooooo late as usual!

Couple of quick questions:

Do anyone have any specific recommendations for places to visit in the Jewelery Quarter as I imagine some places are better than others? Had a quick look online and Aspire seems to have quite a selection.

If I choose to have a ring made with a certain stone etc... how long does it usually take until it's ready for collection?

Cheers,
Michael

picju96

Hi,

We went to the jewellery quarter this weekend. Spent some time in Neweys, very helpful staff who didn't rush you. Some of the cheapest prices for certified diamonds. We went in quite a few others, some were good and some bad, you quite quickly get an idea of which shops will have what you're looking for, they seem to specialise in different pieces of jewellery. We got my ring from Marlow's in the end, really nice diamonds at good prices. We chose the diamond and setting separately, it took an hour and a half to put together on the premises. Can definately recommend.
Friends recommend Victoria Jones as well, but we didn't go in there in the end.
Definately haggle, however we found that several of the shops immediately dropped prices by 20% even without asking, there are definately bargains to be had.