SO suppose you were buying a diamond for a special lady??

(let's talk strictly hypothetical ok?)



What should you look for?? What are the best places to buy etc??

I have just begun the shopping process and have come across just about everything from not so much to Holy Smokes does it come with a CTD??

I have no idea what the grades are and what is important, of course many of these things come with an "appraisal" that is gnerally much higher than the price of the ring....

So guys...... I need advice....

I want to buy good value, I want something nice, I want something fairly, "substantial" and I don't want to get played because of an "emotional" purchase...
Besides I'm not an impulse buyer, I like to research...

So I'm surer some of you out in DTR world must have some knowledge on the subgect.

 

I just did the same thing not too long ago, so here is what I remember. The three Cs ( Color, Cut, and Clarity ) really are important it is not just a sales slogan. In my opinion a smaller near perfect diamond, looks much better than a larger diamond with defects. I looked at a ton for diamonds, upwards of 500, before I bought, and the closer to perfect it was the better it looked, the jeweler willl probably call this "Fire", the diamond's ability to refract and reflect light.

Know your price range before you go in the store, and try to find the best diamond in that range. Do not compare the price of a diamond to what you could buy for your truck with the same money, it will make the purchase much more painful.

Research, there is a ton of info on the net about the three Cs and how diamonds are graded.

Oh yeah, good luck on your search, and early congratulations on the engagement.

 

Please remember I said, "Hypothetically"

Or should I have said, "A friend would like to know"?

 

I buy all my wifes stuff at Zales. Also you might look at Kay.

 

when i get to that bridge im gonna get her a cubic zirconia until im sure its gonna work out or until she finds out

brett

 

If you have an Andrew's Or Roger's Jeweler near by (no loc in your sig) they have always treated me well and have excellent quality in products.

 

Go to Google and type "understanding diamonds". After you have read the first page of returns, you'll probably have a pretty clear understanding of what you want technically. As mentioned earlier, know your budget. Now, as far as what you want for her, you better find out what she likes. The style, or cut, has to work with the bands you (ah, your friend I mean) will buy in the future. A 1/2 carat engagement ring is a good starting point, Bigger is not better. Find a stone that sparkles when the light hits it and looks clear, not cloudy. Step away from the counter when looking at the stone, all diamonds look good in the store, it's the lighting. If the store has windows to the outside, look at the ones you really like in the natural light by the windows. When you're looking at size, a little over is better than a little under. If you have 2 stones that look nearly the same and one is 48 points and the other is 52, buy the 52. Better for her to say to someone, "it's just over a half carat" rather than "it's just under a half carat". Stay away from rings with allot of "baggetts" around the main setting. These stones are typically of lesser quality and are expensive to have replaced in the event of damage. The setting needs to be at least a 4 point, preferably a 5 point arrangement as to keep the stone secure. OK, time to take a breath.

 

Hey tool.

I recently had a friend looking at diamonds too. He was SHOCKED at the prices also. My advice to him was to get to know the three C's and understand what they represent in pricing, that helps you to make a better 'financial' decision as in getting your money's worth. But just as important if not important is also the 'style' of the ring. Women prefer cetain styles of jewelry. So, your friend also needs to take a look at the style of the jewelry she wears and find something that is style pleasing to her. It's a shape thing. If she is a complicated person then a more complicated pattern maybe? I have a friend who's wife is very, very complicated and he is simple, down to earth - he bought a simple, down to earth large setting, when he asked her to marry him he told her that he felt the simple, more singular design of the engagement ring was a symbol of the focus and intensity of their relationship. He paid really big bucks for it, but it was of a design that would fit into many different wedding rings easily. Since the wedding ring is something you would pick out together, that made the final purchase easier to mix/match into.

My daughter is getting married this coming May. Her future half got a plastic kids toy ring and used that when he proposed and told her that he would prefer to take her to pick out the engagement ring so it would be something she really liked and wanted-I'm impressed in his desire to engage her in the process. That is also one of your friends options. I think the future son-in-law learned from that experience and also needed a big-time transfusion into his checkbook over what he had planned to spend vrs what he ended up spending. It was pretty funny (to me at least) but they together found what pleased them both. Also, they locked in the price of the wedding rings and did a lay-away on them. All-in-all they were both very responsible about the ring negotiations, good sign as married life is all about negotiations.

I on the other hand am paying for half of the wedding, thats more expensive than rings (I think-no, I know). My negotiations with them regarding all the costs goes a little differently, while some of my stuff may be emotional - the larger balance is economics. I offered them a nice-sized down payment on a house, also a house full of furniture, something more practical in exchange for the wedding costs and a simple JP, they opted for the big wedding.

CD

 

Tool....hit Costco. Good prices and very good value (their diamonds get appraised for twice as much as they sell them for).

 

Go CZ. You'll probably have a fight, she'll throw it at ya, and you'll throw it in the river anyways.

Diamonds are funny. You can buy a full Carat for $500 or a ¼ Carat for $5000. The ¼ will shine like a "Headlight" where as the full will look almost yellow. See the Four-C's in the above posts.

I bought a Diamond at J.C Penney in '87. I got a lifetime trade-in certificate w/ it. So it can be traded up for something nicer in the future. Kinda cool. Got it thrown at me. Still in the drawer.

If you want to look at a diamond closer, the salesperson will probably say "That's the nicest one in the cabinet". Not a bad thing, but take it w/ a grain of salt.

 

I found it worked better taking the future wife to make the choice. We were out walking around the town square in our hometown one day. Walked by a local jeweler and we looked in the window, I said " Well, do you want to go pick out your ring today? " and she said yes. Took about 3 hours of wheeling and dealing and made the down payment. We had already been talking about getting married so it wasn't a big surprise.

 

I was in the business in South Florida for many years. What I can affirm from earlier posters, first get a good diamond "education" through research concerning the 3-C's. Then determine your budget and deal with a merchant offering free GIA apprasial Certificate. Keep in mind that most retail dealers have a "Triple Keystone" markup. If they have $1000 in it,the asking price will be $3000. The sales you see with 50% off and such would still give them 50% markup. You don't show your locality in your sig, but if you have a "wholesale jewelry district" in your area, I would check there first. Most dealers will sell to the general public. Good luck with your engagement & marriage.

 

reaqd up on "inclusions" too if your spending large on a stone, and ask the jewler to show them to you, almost all diamonds have them, and the very few that don't are extremly exspensive, or are fakes. inclusions are are slight imperfections in a stone that look like tiny "cracks" on the inside of the stone. it's part of the forming process and when your lady is really looking at her ring and finds one she will freak out thinking it's gonna fall to peices, but it won't it's all good. a good jewler should have an assortment of stones when you decide on a weight/quality/inclusion scale, and then it's up to you to really have a good look and decide the one that best suits what you seek. i think though one of the benefits of a inclusion though is when she has to re-size, clean, or have it appraised, the inclusion act's as a "fingerprint" and when she gets it back it's her assurance that her stone hasn't been switched.for our 10 year i bought my wife a 1.6 carat pear shaped stone VS1 quality for 16k,a VVS ( the next grade on the inclusion scale) would have been 30k+for the same weight . i learned about inclusions the hard way and didn't sleep for a week thing i got ripped off. but while you are looking, check out "pink" diamonds, just make sure you bring a extra pair of underpants with you.
Chris

 

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated... I will let "Mr friend " know all of your advice, any more tid bits of information is of course also appreciated.

 

"Mr. Friend" my backside!. Admit it man, you've been drawn into the web of a woman. Life as you know it will never be the same.


Good luck - hope you find what you're looking for!