Engagement ring advice

Can anyone advice me on engagement ring- how & from where to buy? any online stores?

The only advice I can give is the advice I received from my aunt who used to be a manager in the jewelry department of a NY store as well as what their diamond buyer advised when I bought my wife's diamond 10 years ago- buy for clarity and color. A beautiful stone will be obvious regardless of size, but a large poorly colored or unclear stone will just be a bigger eyesore.

They recommended VVS2 as very nice, VVS1 as extremely nice and IF as not worth the price increase and I "eye" to be the lowest color grade to buy.

Good luck.

Go the the local store, figure out the specs on what you like. Then, buy from www.bluenile.com. End of story. Or go to 47th st.

let her pick it. you'll thank yourself.

What are you looking for exactly. I'd say you need to do some basic research on diamonds before you walk into a place and get taken. Then you need to evaluate what's important to you (ie your wife). If she wants a huge rock then you'll probably have to make a sacrifice in the clarity area and so forth. Bluenile was mentioned already; I'd start there.

Originally Posted by scurvyfreedman

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The only advice I can give is the advice I received from my aunt who used to be a manager in the jewelry department of a NY store as well as what their diamond buyer advised when I bought my wife's diamond 10 years ago- buy for clarity and color. A beautiful stone will be obvious regardless of size, but a large poorly colored or unclear stone will just be a bigger eyesore.

They recommended VVS2 as very nice, VVS1 as extremely nice and IF as not worth the price increase and I "eye" to be the lowest color grade to buy.

Good luck.

Of course, with all internet advice, I'll add my contradictory and largely uninformed opinion. In my research and experience, I've actually found cut to be the most important characteristic. A diamond may be big, clear, and have a beautiful color, but the cut is what makes it sparkle.

Originally Posted by Reevolving

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Go the the local store, figure out the specs on what you like.
Then, buy from www.bluenile.com.
End of story. Or go to 47th st.

Do the opposite of this...

Do research online about the diamond. Figure out all about the 4C's through research. Then go out to the stores, making it clear to the owners that you're just browsing and you're a few months away from a purchase. Visit a minimum of 15 stores to determine what places you trust, and what styles you want to go for (hopefully you have an idea of what she wants).

Take your time and do your research. I'd say you should take a minimum of 2-3 months of shopping for the ring before you buy anything (remember that this is something that she's gonna wear for the rest of her life). Find the setting first, then find a diamond to put in the setting.

But bottom line is - buy it in a store. If you find someone you can trust, these guys can give you sound advice. Plus, you'll probably need to tweak something down the road, so you'll have someone to take care of whatever you need, likely for free.

I think some online sources can be great for finding a stone. However, you have to be reasonably well educated to understand what you are getting. I found a lot of value in looking at the stones in person and just going with what I thought looked best. The rating systems are very helpful, but I think people get tricked into thinking a certain combination of ratings will give them exactly what they want. Sometimes you'll just like a stone better than another when you actually look at the two side by side.

Terrible idea.

Originally Posted by jungshoe

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let her pick it. you'll thank yourself.

Also don't get too big or too small for the respective womans finger. My wifes ring size is 4.5 and anything over 1.5 carats would have been too big.

Go to an independent jewelry store, not a chain. One of my buddies works in a department store fine jewelry department at Macy's. All department store fine jewelry department's are owned by one company, Finlay Jewelrs in NYC!!! They mark up diamonds and gold 400% at Macy's. The quality is not that good either.

Look here first. http://www.diamondcellar.com/

I purchased the stone which came GIA certified and had the actual ring designed. Shop around in NYC then call DC to get a quote. Just know the cut, color and clarity.

1. Blue Nile literally gets rejects from the stuff B&M guys don't want. I bought a stone from BN and ended up having to return it b/c it was very visibly flawed, which I was specifically told was not the case. I showed it to a jeweler before I returned it and he was like "yeah I saw this one, passed, and it ended up on BN"

2. the prices on BN also aren't nearly as good as you might think - they are basically in the same ballpark as other reputable online dealers and B&M guys.

3. under no circumstances should you buy from a mall jewelery store, that is expensive

4. there is really no such thing as a great deal, but there are plenty of bad deals

5. I decided to emphasize the characteristics that were easily seen by the naked eye: Carats (size) and Cut (sparkle). these are the 2 things anybody will immediately notice. pay for the stuff you can see.

6. I de-emphasized things that were much harder to view with the naked eye: clarity and color.
- Re: color: When I looked at a D stone next to an I stone, I literally had no idea which was which. Forget the funnel test/measured against a white background - that really isn't a realistic real world scenario.

- Re: clarity: you really need to look at a stone for yourself and make sure it is "eye clean" - no visible flaws. I learned not to trust the certification grading for this. I saw visible flaws in stones that weren't supposed to be, and saw beautiful stones that were Si1.

7. certification. get a GIA or AGS. anything else is likely to be graded looser

I ended up with a beautifully clean SI2, I color, Excellent cut, with perfect symmetry and polish. I got the biggest size I could afford, and have gotten a million compliments from girls and jealous hatred from guys! it was the absolutely perfect combination I think

however, you need to be sure that the stone is really clean, and for this go to a trusted diamond guy...or deal with a reputable online merchant who actually has stones in house. BN does NOT. I would not recommend BN at all.

This topic has been brought up before and if you search I think there are a couple of threads you might find helpful.

One site I found informative is www.goodoldgold.com . There is a ton of information there and I think a few other members here recommended their site in the past. I bought my wife's engagement ring from them in their store. My wife's family has been shopping there for probably 20 yrs now which is how I found them. But of all the places I shopped in, I learned the most from them.

Originally Posted by jmoody15

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Do the opposite of this...

Do research online about the diamond. Figure out all about the 4C's through research. Then go out to the stores, making it clear to the owners that you're just browsing and you're a few months away from a purchase. Visit a minimum of 15 stores to determine what places you trust, and what styles you want to go for (hopefully you have an idea of what she wants).

Take your time and do your research. I'd say you should take a minimum of 2-3 months of shopping for the ring before you buy anything (remember that this is something that she's gonna wear for the rest of her life). Find the setting first, then find a diamond to put in the setting.

But bottom line is - buy it in a store. If you find someone you can trust, these guys can give you sound advice. Plus, you'll probably need to tweak something down the road, so you'll have someone to take care of whatever you need, likely for free.

This is great advice, provided you're willing to pay twice as much for th same diamond.
Or get 1/2 the diamond for the same budget.

Originally Posted by makewayhomer

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1. Blue Nile literally gets rejects from the stuff B&M guys don't want. I bought a stone from BN and ended up having to return it b/c it was very visibly flawed, which I was specifically told was not the case. .
Diamonds are a graded commodity. You get exactly what the certificate says. It has nothing to do with the seller. The above story is called outright fraud, and I had not heard that about BN. And that's quite different. But, one vendor doesn't sell "bad" diamonds while another sells "good" ones You can order whatever you like from BN or from the local jeweler. **** to perfect. And everything in between