Looking at engagement rings and diamonds - Help!

[Mr. Moo]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

They generally have terrible taste. The rings are mostly vomit-inducing.

Yes. I stayed away from a lot of their settings recommendations, and went with Sholdt.

There is also an over-abundance of women casually asking if such and such 5 carat diamond is a good deal.

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Moo

Yes. I stayed away from a lot of their settings recommendations, and went with Sholdt.

There is also an over-abundance of women casually asking if such and such 5 carat diamond is a good deal.

They all "upgrade," which I generally think is disgusting. I remember one woman who had a collection of engagement rings, each at least two carats.

 

[Mr. Moo]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

They all "upgrade," which I generally think is disgusting. I remember one woman who had a collection of engagement rings, each at least two carats.
Yeah... I had that chat with my wife. She said she would never upgrade, as that ring means the world to her. Instead, she said, I could get her a right hand ring that's twice as big.

 

[Augusto86]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

They generally have terrible taste. The rings are mostly vomit-inducing.



A novel insight. I'm glad someone has it all figured out.

Don't you find it the slightest bit interesting/odd/frustrating that this industry has managed to convince a wide swath of the population to invest large amounts of money in a (relatively) common commodity and spend long hours researching, haggling, and obsessing over it, to the point of being maniacally fixated on prissy, nearly invisible differentiations in a single consumer item?

 

[clevertrees]

Originally Posted by Augusto86

Don't you find it the slightest bit interesting/odd/frustrating that this industry has managed to convince a wide swath of the population to invest large amounts of money in a (relatively) common commodity and spend long hours researching, haggling, and obsessing over it, to the point of being maniacally fixated on prissy, nearly invisible differentiations in a single consumer item?

I can tell you that people like myself spend long hours researching things like diamonds so we can learn as much as we can about what we are buying and shop around to see what is appealing that fits in our budgets. Not doing any research is like buying a new computer without ever having used one before, or buying a car without a test-drive or knowing anything about it.

And, while some of the differences in the way diamonds look aren't visible to the naked eye, there are definitely points on the scales where you can start to really see a difference. From the research I've done, I learned that you can see differences in color quality of diamonds. I'm sure the same goes for the other specs as well.

 

[Augusto86]

Originally Posted by clevertrees

I can tell you that people like myself spend long hours researching things like diamonds so we can learn as much as we can about what we are buying and shop around to see what is appealing that fits in our budgets. Not doing any research is like buying a new computer without ever having used one before, or buying a car without a test-drive or knowing anything about it.

And, while some of the differences in the way diamonds look aren't visible to the naked eye, there are definitely points on the scales where you can start to really see a difference. From the research I've done, I learned that you can see differences in color quality of diamonds. I'm sure the same goes for the other specs as well.

Sorry, I didn't mean to bomb your thread. I'm sure you're a nice and intelligent person. I was mostly just making fun of the guy I replied to. It was more of a long inside joke.

Anyways, carry on with your diamond thread everybody. I may actually need to refer to it in a few weeks!

 

[Montrachet]

There are a lot of great jewelers, but for an engagement ring Tiffany is the way to go. It's the storybook ring. Also, their diamonds are ethically sourced, cut to maximize brilliance, and all exceed a minimum quality rating. Full disclosure: I own stock in Tiffany, but check them out online anyway.

 

[clevertrees]

Originally Posted by Augusto86

Sorry, I didn't mean to bomb your thread. I'm sure you're a nice and intelligent person. I was mostly just making fun of the guy I replied to. It was more of a long inside joke.

Anyways, carry on with your diamond thread everybody. I may actually need to refer to it in a few weeks!

Ah, no worries! It was only a misunderstanding.

Are you planning to propose soon?

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

Asschers need to be bigger in weight than the standard round brilliant in order to achieve a comparable presence on the finger. That's because a good Asscher, with a sufficient face-up surface are and well-defined facets, requires a good amount of depth and a pronounced bowl. They say that a perfectly cut Asscher (like a Royal Asscher) needs at least 1.5 carats to look right, while you need 2 carats or so for one that is not cut perfectly. Otherwise, the facets aren't clear enough and the stone tends to look lifeless.
My fiancee's 1.25ct Royal Asscher (perfectly cut) is mesmerizing and is very proportionate to her ring and finger. If you go too small, not sure how much, this may very well be the case though. Also, I cringe seeing included diamonds that are bought just for the amount of carats. A .75ct round brilliant with a good cut will look infinitely better than an included 2ct. A word of caution: while pricescope is an excellent source of information, you will see more ugly custom rings on pudgy fingers than you will see understated, elegant ones.

 

[dport86]

Originally Posted by Augusto86

Don't you find it the slightest bit interesting/odd/frustrating that this industry has managed to convince a wide swath of the population to invest large amounts of money in a (relatively) common commodity and spend long hours researching, haggling, and obsessing over it, to the point of being maniacally fixated on prissy, nearly invisible differentiations in a single consumer item?

Were you talking about diamonds? Or were you making an ironic commentary on the clothes that Styleforumites obsess over?

Is it interesting that the diamond thread is a lot shorter than, say, the Alden thread? Or is it more interesting that styleforum members look with disdain/disbelief at the exaggerated styles women obsess about on Pricescope, unless the utterly justifiable obssession here with shoes--shoes not being a common commodity forumites spend long hours researching, haggling and obsessing over, to the point of being maniacally fixated on prissy, nearly invisible differentiations in a single consumer item.

Diamonds, unlike shoes, are millions of years old, the hardest substance on earth, difficult to find, difficult to cut and dramatically different with the introduction of the tiniest differences in trace elements and in facetting. What's there to obsess about? Now shell cordovan variations...I could talk about horse's asses forever.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by dport86

Is it interesting that the diamond thread is a lot shorter than, say, the Alden thread?

This is what, the tenth thread on diamonds?

 

[DNW]

This thread is of interest to me. There's a ring purchase in my near future. So, knowing next to nothing about diamonds, what can a man get for 2 months' worth of salary?

 

[Mr. Moo]

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

This thread is of interest to me. There's a ring purchase in my near future. So, knowing next to nothing about diamonds, what can a man get for 2 months' worth of salary?

Depends on what you make. I'd say if you make decent money (re: not baller-SF "decent") you can get a really high quality 1ct stone in a nice setting. Of course, if you're looking for a 1ct stone, I'd get a 0.98 carat instead so you avoid the ridiculous mark-up that comes as soon as you go from 0.999 to 1.0 carats.

 

[Reggs]

My parents never wore there rings and have a great marriage. Because of that, I'm not too traditional when it comes to wedding rings. I simply will never wear one; so I tell my girlfriend to get me a nice watch when the time comes. She says she would be open to an emerald, which I am fine with since I find them more attractive than diamonds. If I am to get her a diamond, I might go with a lab made one since I'm such a science geek.