Engagement Ring Assistance

penniesforme

Rogar wrote: »

My idea of her ring..

Carat: 0.4ct
Colour: H/I +
Clarity: SI1 +
Cut: Ideal/exzcellent

ring: yellow gold.

Thanks again!!

for the above, you may be able to get the ring for around 700-800. Round cut stone with a YG setting will cost around that region.

if you are thinking abour a square/princess cut, then it should cost you around 600-700.

are you really particular with the cut? for me (lay person) - i am unable to actually see the difference between an excellent cut and a very good cut, apart from the difference in price. and believe me - I have picked countless diamonds up and inspect them from all possible angles..it is hard to tell the difference. not the the naked and untrained eye.

in any case, the cut will affect the light and 'fire' that the diamond gives off. If you have a very good cut with a setting that allows lots of light to get to the diamond (IYSWIM) it should still be fine.

As i have said earlier; i would not personally get a stone below G colour.

the difference between a G colour and H/I colour is more apparent than the difference between Ideal/EX and VG cuts.

having said that, at the end of the day, it is your choice.

good luck with the proposal.

btw, personally I would avoid Quality Diamonds. My friend has had a very bad experience with them. I have not used Blue Nile myself, but quite a number of my friends did and they are good.

penniesforme

JP diamond is good and helpful as well

CG77

Hi there,

Of the Carat, Colour, Cut, Clarity, which is/are most important for you? I think you could get quite a decent ring for the price you mentioned (I helped my bro get one online for my sis-in-law-to-be), but you kind of need to juggle with the 4C's a bit. If you let me know, I'll try to dig out a few of the places I looked at for my bro.

CG. x

Frith

My ring came from the Jewellery Quarter in Brum! It was £150 and to be honest I would have felt quite embarrased if I'd have thought someone was spending hundreds and hundreds of pounds on a ring for me.

AbFab

penniesforme wrote: »

are you really particular with the cut? for me (lay person) - i am unable to actually see the difference between an excellent cut and a very good cut, apart from the difference in price. and believe me - I have picked countless diamonds up and inspect them from all possible angles..it is hard to tell the difference. not the the naked and untrained eye.

I can't even tell the difference between real diamonds and imitation (unless they are deliberately OTT costume jewellery). I'm not about to test my ring by scratching sandpaper or glass with it though.

penniesforme

this is what i was told: blow onto a stone and see if the vapour stays on the surface.

real diamonds disperses heat quickly and the vapour on the surface should not stay there more than 4 seconds.

Note: i have not tried doing this with a CZ so i dotn know if it really work.

another thing: i dont know if you can actually tell the diff btwn a lab created diamond (not CZ) and the real thing...which is why it is a good idea to get a certified stone if money is not an issue and you want to be sure.

jcartlidge

ljbnotts, thanks for the tip. By chance I was looking at a ring on bicknells website that is ideal. I think I will be making a trip there soon to have a look.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Rogar wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering if someone could help me.

I am looking at buying an engagement ring for my girlfriend but unfortuatly don’t have a lot of cash to buy a nice decent one…

Could anyone give me ideas on where I can but a nice inexpensive engagement ring? – My budget is between £600 - £800 (maybe 1k if the ring is a bargain!).

I would like the diamond to be a minimum of 0.4ct and would like there to be no inclusions that can be seen by the naked eye.

Most importantly I don’t want to get ripped off and buy something cheap and tacky when I can get something much better for equal price…

Does any one have any suggestions on where to look and also inexpensive ways to pop the question :P

Thanks for taking the time in reading this and I appreciate any input/help given.

Best regards,
Rogar

You will be able to get exactly what you want in the jewellery quarter in birmingham for that sort of money. It is worth a bit of a journey there as the savings are normally good, you get great quality often for just half the price you would pay in a high street chain.

I'd suggest having a look in SP Green on Augusta Street or Cirrus, I can recommend both having bought my wedding and engagement ring from them. But there are loads of great shops offering loads of choice and lots of price competition. Most of the shops will price match what you see elsewhere and you can often haggle too!

Have a look on Diamond Dealer Direct website, this is the web trading arm of cirrus and will give you an idea of what you can afford but they generally have better deals in the shop and you can see the actual diamond. I thought from looking online that I'd struggle to get 0.5ct for under £1k but by going in was able to get 0.6ct for under £1k and it is a lovely stone that has been commented on by other jewellers.

If you aren't looking for a traditional diamond solitaire SP green are amazing they have some lovely things and can design specifically for you. The assitants there are very knowlegable and have bags of time to help you, where some of the shops can be a bit impersonal.

Good luck!

Katie-Kat-Kins

penniesforme wrote: »

this is what i was told: blow onto a stone and see if the vapour stays on the surface.

real diamonds disperses heat quickly and the vapour on the surface should not stay there more than 4 seconds.

Note: i have not tried doing this with a CZ so i dotn know if it really work.

another thing: i dont know if you can actually tell the diff btwn a lab created diamond (not CZ) and the real thing...which is why it is a good idea to get a certified stone if money is not an issue and you want to be sure.

You don't need a certified stone to be sure that it is real, a reputable jeweller would not sell a CZ as a diamond it would finish them, as it would be found out very quickly. Any jeweller will provide a detailed receipt setting out what you have bought, certification is only really necessary if you are spending big bucks or buying for investment purposes, by getting an uncertified diamond you can save a lot of money as the certification process is expensive, and often the diamonds are just as good.

Go to a nice jeweller and look at the stones and pick one you like the look of, you will know when they are side by side. You won't necessarily know which of the 4Cs it is that is good or bad with an untrained eye but you will see a stone that you like!

ljbnotts

jcartlidge wrote: »

ljbnotts, thanks for the tip. By chance I was looking at a ring on bicknells website that is ideal. I think I will be making a trip there soon to have a look.

Glad to be of assistance! they have some lovely stuff and the staff are really friendly! Good luck in your search!:j