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Ketia0

Need diamond help pretty pretty please...

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I don't know anything about rings and diamonds (I have heard Jareds and some of the other chains can be pricey though), but honestly, talk to your girlfriend, about getting something you can afford now because starting off in a lot of debt isn't good for a relationship. Later on when you guys are more financially stable and have your lives together, you can get her the ring or stone of her dreams for your anniversary. Because really, it's not about the ring or the rock, it's about spending your lives together. I know of people who have put a cheaper stone in a ring they loved and replaced the stone later on, too. It's getting trendy to use something other than a diamond (my cousin's stone is pink...barf...not sure what it is tho, she told me but I forgot. not a diamond tho), and that ring you posted would look gorgeous with an aquamarine, emerald, ruby, garnet, or sapphire too, if she's willing to go the untraditional route. Diamonds have only been common as an engagement stone for the last century or so.

You may also want to check out Apollo Diamond and Gemesis. They make cultured diamonds in a lab that are usually of better quality than what comes out of the ground, and they're sometimes cheaper. Some women don't like this, though, so check with your girl.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/diamonds-on-demand.html?c=y&page=1

http://www.apollodiamond.com/

http://www.gemesis.com/ - colored diamonds


If your friend in the jewelry business is a good friend, you'll probably get better advice on the actual stones there than from us. Otherwise, ask your family if there is a local jeweler they trust (and let them know what you're planning! sometimes relatives have jewelry they've inherited with a stone they may want to pass on to you if they know what you have in mind). But ultimately, if your girl wants a pricey ring, you two should sit down and have a talk about finances and figure out how much you can afford. Unromantic, I know, but marriage isn't all wine and roses, and while there should be that, there's often a lot of bills and stuff that go along with that.

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Instead of swallowing one of the greatest marketing scams of the 20th century, spend the money on something of value.

http://www.wisebread.com/the-greatest-story-ever-sold-is-a-fantasy-covered-in-blood



+1 .... no kidding. so lets see, what could we get for that kind of money...hmmm, more education at a school, a rig...ok, guys lets hear some more...


Pay off debt, partial down payment on a home, REALLY nice vacation, more for the wedding, more for things you can actually use (computers, phone upgrades etc). Basically there's WAY more usefull things to spend your money on than a tiny piece of shiney rock.


yep! hell, our entire wedding and honeymoon only cost 6 grand...but we did get married in the skyvan at altitude. :)


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Where is Darwin when you need him?

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Just remember that, outside industrial use, these things really do not have much intrinsic value. It is a created market, inflated by a promotion, telling us what we should want, and a semi-monopoly.

For retail, nothing wrong with that price, assuming the cut is very good to ideal. The quality of the cut will have more effect on how the rock shines than color or clarity. You may find a better deal on Craigslist or at pawn shops , but I personally would pay someone independent to evaluate before purchasing that way. On CL, you will see a lot of "appraised at" b.s., and people that obviously paid too much or are emotionally attached to what they are trying to sell. I pointed out to someone that I could get new retail, in a better mounting and one color grade better, than they were trying to sell on CL, but they kept on trying to sell it above market.

G color is fine -- would be totally not noticed in a yellow gold setting, even with platinum mount, but can be seen maybe a bit against white. SI1 is a quality trade off, made to get a bigger stone for a price, without being able to see defects easily.

Diamond prices, for same quality, sorta follow the square of the weight. So, you can buy four 1 carats for the cost of one 2 carat. If she likes the style, a 3-stone ring with the same total carats will cost less than a ring with a larger center stone, or have more total carats for the same price.
For the price of that 1.21 center stone, you could get a 0.98 center plus two 0.49 side stones. If you wanted a five stone ring, they could each be ~0.54ct for the same price as that one 1.21ct stone -- over twice the total weight. If she is going to want to wear it "all of the time" I would go with smaller sized stones, unless maybe she has large hands.

Anyway, have fun shopping. Even though it is easy to get swept away (rings, cars, houses, remodels), life is really about intangibles. Experiences, shared moments, things done, people helped. I cannot imagine that this ring will be more valued than a really well crafted one with smaller or no stones. Even though my brother (lawyer) and sister in law (IBM manager) are relatively well off, she didn't get her "engagement" ring until they had been married for a decade or more.

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She said she can get me the ring and the diamond for $6900...

Is that a good deal?



It depends, how much you got? Expenses like the ring, wedding, and honeymoon are the same as just giving the money away. Yes, you get the experience and the memories out of the deal, but there's no asset left to liquidate when all is said and done.

Keep in mind that the ring is hers to keep once the marriage actually happens, and that if you split up she could sell it, but she'll get pennies on the dollar.

Either way, if you have the money to give away, than it's worth it. If you have a home, car, savigns, and retirement, and can still afford the ring, wedding and honeymoon, then buy it. Otherwise, in a tough economy, that's a lot of scratch to blow on a ring. If you lost your job, how long could you pay your living exspenses on $7000?

I know the cut, color, and clarity are the key factors in pricing a diamond, but can you tell the difference between them? Can she? Think of how many products you own where you bought one that was 'good enough' for you, but far from the best. Maybe a watch, what kind do you own? It's probably not a Rolex, but you like it, how it looks, and the job it does. If you can't tell the difference between one or the other, why do you need the Rolex of diamonds?

It's great that you think she's worth it. If she thinks you're worth it she'll be willing to accpet any token of your feelings you present with a marriage proposal, and she'll happily say yes.

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Simulated and synthetic are okay, but be sure to view in various lighting including outside. Moissanite sparkles better than diamond, but often has a rather ugly gray color viewed in sunlight. IIRC, an effect of the UV light.



Cultured diamonds (apollo, gemesis) are real diamonds, indistinguishable from the ones that come out of the ground. They're not simulated or synthetic and they're chemically the same, and the cultured diamonds are flawless because they're not exposed to the uncertainties of nature. There was quite the rumbling in the jewelry business when apollo came out with their diamonds, because there was absolutely no way to tell them apart until apollo started laser engraving a serial number on them.

WRT diamond substitutes, yes, you're correct as far as I know.

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I don't think anyone is going to believe that $6,900 is inexpensive (unless they have a lot more money than I do), but if this is the ring your girlfriend LOVES and you have the resources to do it, it might be worth it. Shop around and compare prices, but a large center stone is going to bump prices up quickly. There will be a lot of high ticket items in putting together a wedding and starting your lives together, so you need to determine how to spend your budget. If the ring is really important to her, maybe you can spend less on other parts of the wedding. A ring is something she'll have forever and many become heirlooms. Is it worth it? It's really up to the two of you.

Edited to add:
You can always ask Jared about prices for a different center stone, too, to see what you could do with the overall price there.

And while it's a little premature, congratulations!
TPM Sister #102

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$7000 bought us top of the line scuba gear, which we still use today...$6000 took us to Belize at a top end hotel for a week...$9000 helped us try to save our doggie.... its a rock, its silly.


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It is.. I ahte to sound Cliche'... But.. Shes worth it. :)



Do you have enough savings to last six months without any pay check? It'd suck to have to sell that ring for $2000.

Have you both put $13,750 into your 401Ks (I'm assuming you'll get to the $16,500 total) so you can probably enjoy a long retirement together with a high standard of living starting at 59 1/2?

Have you paid off your cars and student loans so you're debt-free (other than mortgage debt) and have more income free for discretionary spending on doing things together like travel?

Do you guys own a house yet so you have a nice place to nest and potentially raise micro people (now is not the time to buy) or have a 20% down-payment in the bank (some time will be good)?

There are lots of ways to spend $6000 on your wife to be which will improve the quality of her life and yours together.

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I know this question is incredibly outdated, but how much do you make? (you can keep this to yourself). American "guideline" for the purchase of an engagement ring is 2 months salary, hence the comparison of ring/diamond size for women as being on par with comparing penis size for men. It's more a comparison of how wealthy of a husband each girl was able to snag.

My friend's girlfriend told him this approximation, so he asked me to verify. He was much less shocked about that limit when I told him that I'd heard that in Italy the approximate price to spend on a ring is your ANNUAL salary! He felt much better about the two-month estimate. B|

ETA: this price point is a good reason to wait until later in the marriage, when you're both established in your careers, to upgrade the rock if you choose. You're probably making a lot less now than you might be able to make later. Plus, everyone else is right -- you need that money to pay for the finer things in life, such as housing, food, clothing, etc. :)

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

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Buy what you think she would like! The color and clarity are good the cut is hard to certify. Dont give it to her on or around her birthday or christmas then its a contract and legally if it doesnt happen she has to give it back. I just got engaged last weekend bought a similar ring wholesale certified GIA appraised for 12k got it for less than 6k. Fuk retail shops go to a good independent wholesale

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It is.. I ahte to sound Cliche'... But.. Shes worth it. :)



Do you have enough savings to last six months without any pay check? It'd suck to have to sell that ring for $2000.

Have you both put $13,750 into your 401Ks (I'm assuming you'll get to the $16,500 total) so you can probably enjoy a long retirement together with a high standard of living starting at 59 1/2?

Have you paid off your cars and student loans so you're debt-free (other than mortgage debt) and have more income free for discretionary spending on doing things together like travel?

Do you guys own a house yet so you have a nice place to nest and potentially raise micro people (now is not the time to buy) or have a 20% down-payment in the bank (some time will be good)?

There are lots of ways to spend $6000 on your wife to be which will improve the quality of her life and yours together.


i soooooo agree. and, our house is paid off, we are debt free, we have cash in the bank, all cars, rigs, ultralight, motorcycles, and other toys paid for with cash, fully funding roths (self employed)...and we would still not waste money on vanity like that. one thing i disagree is that now IS the time to buy. i am a builder, wife is a broker, we do repos. houses are on sale. yes, it may go down a bit more, but, this is the time to buy. un less you ment not the right time for them, personally.


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Buy what you think she would like! The color and clarity are good the cut is hard to certify. Dont give it to her on or around her birthday or christmas then its a contract and legally if it doesnt happen she has to give it back. I just got engaged last weekend bought a similar ring wholesale certified GIA appraised for 12k got it for less than 6k. Fuk retail shops go to a good independent wholesale



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmwqnqL3Hbg


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Where is Darwin when you need him?

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Synthetic means real, i.e. exactly the same structure, just manufactured rather than mined.

I don't see much retail price advantage to those synthetic sources of diamond. Synthetic sapphire, which may be the majority of the market, is much cheaper than mined, but the process has been around for a hundred years.

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Buy what you think she would like! The color and clarity are good the cut is hard to certify. Dont give it to her on or around her birthday or christmas then its a contract and legally if it doesnt happen she has to give it back. I just got engaged last weekend bought a similar ring wholesale certified GIA appraised for 12k got it for less than 6k. Fuk retail shops go to a good independent wholesale



Laws vary by state.

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-01-07/living/diamond.not.forever_1_ring-family-law-engagement?_s=PM:LIVING

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I didn't take your post to be about whether you should spend that much on a ring. I thought you were asking if the price was appropriate for that quality of ring. Just an FYI, my husband said it sounded like a GREAT deal given those specs. As you would expect, the value just depends on which attributes of the ring are most important to you. Some girls just want the biggest rock they can get; some want a balance of everything.
TPM Sister #102

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If you look around, I think you can find a really nice set she'd like for half that price. Yes, there are other things you can do with the money, for sure. But, if she's going to have this ring on her finger for 50 years, go ahead and give her some sparkle if it is within your budget.

If you want to cut back on expenses, talk her into buying a less expensive wedding dress than she might be thinking of. I always think it's silly to spend thousands of dollars on one of those when it's only on her for a few hours.

Remember that any place at a mall is paying a lot of overhead just to be there. They will mark up the price accordingly. Oh, and good choice on the white gold, that's my favorite for a wedding set.
She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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first off congrats.


secondly i say you take a vacation to africa. i hear they have TONS of big diamonds there. :)
get a ring and a vacation. its a win win.

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

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