Purchasing an engagement ring
Discussion
Recently purchased from www.vashi.com and very pleased (her and me) with the ring.
Buying online is obviously not the same experience as heading into a store. However, the Vashi website should quickly provide you with a benchmark.
Buying online is obviously not the same experience as heading into a store. However, the Vashi website should quickly provide you with a benchmark.
I would check out Blue Nile .com one of the largest diamond dealers in the world ....I paid £11k for a 1.85c diamond E colour VSI2 a few years back..........if nothing else it's a good reference point......I would think Tiffany are making 250% -300% mark up and your giving the government £3.5k also on that ring .....so its actual worth is probably 6k
sealtt said:
That seems a pretty odd comment to make about a relationship you do not have any idea about. If you had even the slightest clue, you would know how irrelevant the price of the ring is to her.
Regardless of the value, a diamond ring is a lovely gesture that is recognised by society, is a beautiful piece of jewellery and is a great surprise that she will never be expecting.
That's good enough for me, now I just need to make sure I don't pay too much for one.
I wasn't referring to your personal relationship, merely to the principal of diamond rings in society. Regardless of the value, a diamond ring is a lovely gesture that is recognised by society, is a beautiful piece of jewellery and is a great surprise that she will never be expecting.
That's good enough for me, now I just need to make sure I don't pay too much for one.
"Mines bigger than yours" "Mine cost more" "Mine has better clarity"
90% (possibly more) of women wouldn't know the difference between diamond or CZ.
The months wages rule was made up as a marketing ploy by De Beers.
As long as she like it it doesn't matter how much it costs, but don't feel you need to spend a fortune as like I say nobody but a professional would know unless you told them.
P.S. This is the Watches thread
Thanks for all the info here, I will certainly be getting in touch with the people / stores recommended and see who can produce what I'm looking for.
P.S. This is highly linked to watches, the engagement will give me an excuse to purchase my own 'engagement present', the lovely rose gold Sky Dweller I have had my eye on for the past 2 years would do very nicely I think
Zoon said:
I wasn't referring to your personal relationship, merely to the principal of diamond rings in society.
"Mines bigger than yours" "Mine cost more" "Mine has better clarity"
90% (possibly more) of women wouldn't know the difference between diamond or CZ.
The months wages rule was made up as a marketing ploy by De Beers.
As long as she like it it doesn't matter how much it costs, but don't feel you need to spend a fortune as like I say nobody but a professional would know unless you told them.
P.S. This is the Watches thread
Yes, you make a fine point. The actual engagement will certainly have a lot of meaning for us than the ring, but there is no reason not to buy something nice. However I will take care not to get too caught up in things as I sometimes do, if I can get a nice ring in the right size and style for under £10k she will be just as happy as with the Tiffany ring at £20k."Mines bigger than yours" "Mine cost more" "Mine has better clarity"
90% (possibly more) of women wouldn't know the difference between diamond or CZ.
The months wages rule was made up as a marketing ploy by De Beers.
As long as she like it it doesn't matter how much it costs, but don't feel you need to spend a fortune as like I say nobody but a professional would know unless you told them.
P.S. This is the Watches thread
P.S. This is highly linked to watches, the engagement will give me an excuse to purchase my own 'engagement present', the lovely rose gold Sky Dweller I have had my eye on for the past 2 years would do very nicely I think
Zoon said:
sealtt said:
As long as she like it it doesn't matter how much it costs, but don't feel you need to spend a fortune as like I say nobody but a professional would know unless you told them.
If only women were that simple........i can just imagine the OP giving his beloved the fake diamond ring and saying ......"there you are darling, it's the same size as the tiffany ring but because its a fake I only paid £1000 for it "That will work for her i'm sure
sealtt said:
That seems a pretty odd comment to make about a relationship you do not have any idea about. If you had even the slightest clue, you would know how irrelevant the price of the ring is to her.
Regardless of the value, a diamond ring is a lovely gesture that is recognised by society, is a beautiful piece of jewellery and is a great surprise that she will never be expecting.
That's good enough for me, now I just need to make sure I don't pay too much for one.
Sounds more than a nice gesture when it's £25k you are looking at spending.Regardless of the value, a diamond ring is a lovely gesture that is recognised by society, is a beautiful piece of jewellery and is a great surprise that she will never be expecting.
That's good enough for me, now I just need to make sure I don't pay too much for one.
And IMO they are not beautiful pieces of jewellery it's a diamond ring !
That's show off bling money imo for a ring, A 1.5 carat will look stupid and wag like.
My gf tried on a few and thought she wanted big but a 0.8 was about perfect, she rather have quality cut etc. cost will be about £4k !
Edited by PorscheGT4 on Monday 11th May 21:27
PorscheGT4 said:
Sounds more than a nice gesture when it's £25k you are looking at spending.
And IMO they are not beautiful pieces of jewellery it's a diamond ring !
That's show off bling money imo for a ring, A 1.5 carat will look stupid and wag like.
My gf tried on a few and thought she wanted big but a 0.8 was about perfect, she rather have quality cut etc. cost will be about £4k !
Well thanks for your concern, but you can leave the budget to me And IMO they are not beautiful pieces of jewellery it's a diamond ring !
That's show off bling money imo for a ring, A 1.5 carat will look stupid and wag like.
My gf tried on a few and thought she wanted big but a 0.8 was about perfect, she rather have quality cut etc. cost will be about £4k !
My girlfriend is Latina (morena) so she can pull off flashy stuff pretty well. In any case I thought 1.5 carat was not that big when she wore it, prominent, but not too much. Suits her well.
I ended up falling into the Tiffany price trap and bought my missus a Tiffancy 'Legacy' as her engagement ring.
Yes I probably paid too much for it but it was her favourite ring by quite a margin,quality is excellent,service and after sales were really good(Manchester Selfridges branch).My missus has small hands so at just under a carat for the main stone it looks perfectly proportioned,classy and not too blingy.It has attracted quite a few positive comments from people in the 5 years or so she has wore it.
Hopefully the ring will never be sold so value for money,for me,is not a consideration-I could afford it(just!)at the time,the price has been forgotten now,and hopefully it will remain in the family for generations to come.
Yes I probably paid too much for it but it was her favourite ring by quite a margin,quality is excellent,service and after sales were really good(Manchester Selfridges branch).My missus has small hands so at just under a carat for the main stone it looks perfectly proportioned,classy and not too blingy.It has attracted quite a few positive comments from people in the 5 years or so she has wore it.
Hopefully the ring will never be sold so value for money,for me,is not a consideration-I could afford it(just!)at the time,the price has been forgotten now,and hopefully it will remain in the family for generations to come.
Tiffany have got a good thing going. Their shops are perfectly set up to get the best out of their diamonds (which are actually very good) and most women fall for it. I firmly believe that cut is above all else the most important facture along with carat but it seems they're the two that can effect the diamond price more heavily. A poor cut no matter what won't sparkle like a Tiffany or equivelant high end diamond. You have to pay good money for a well cut diamond. I'm just not at all convinced that Tiffany is worth the money when there are solid alternatives that are significantly cheaper.
PorscheGT4 said:
sealtt said:
That seems a pretty odd comment to make about a relationship you do not have any idea about. If you had even the slightest clue, you would know how irrelevant the price of the ring is to her.
Regardless of the value, a diamond ring is a lovely gesture that is recognised by society, is a beautiful piece of jewellery and is a great surprise that she will never be expecting.
That's good enough for me, now I just need to make sure I don't pay too much for one.
Sounds more than a nice gesture when it's £25k you are looking at spending.Regardless of the value, a diamond ring is a lovely gesture that is recognised by society, is a beautiful piece of jewellery and is a great surprise that she will never be expecting.
That's good enough for me, now I just need to make sure I don't pay too much for one.
And IMO they are not beautiful pieces of jewellery it's a diamond ring !
That's show off bling money imo for a ring, A 1.5 carat will look stupid and wag like.
My gf tried on a few and thought she wanted big but a 0.8 was about perfect, she rather have quality cut etc. cost will be about £4k !
Edited by PorscheGT4 on Monday 11th May 21:27
To the OP remember the mark up on diamond rings at upmarket jewellers is 300% + VAT ....get the max for your money.......my wife's 1.85c engagement ring was set in a "tiffany" set by Blue Nile ....just had a look and they have some 1.5c H colour VS1 ideal cut at around 12k inc VAT
I got this one for my wife: https://www.serendipitydiamonds.com/uk/product/r1d...
I didn't ask her what she wanted, I chose it for her. She really likes it and you get more sparkle for your money due to the diamond shoulders Think I only went with half a carat, but with platinum ring rather than white gold.
I didn't ask her what she wanted, I chose it for her. She really likes it and you get more sparkle for your money due to the diamond shoulders
Think I only went with half a carat, but with platinum ring rather than white gold. michael gould said:
I have never in my entire life heard any women say "that diamond is too big" you perspective on the size of diamond is from a male perspective ....ie I want to buy and spend what I can get away with smile
When I took my future wife to Hatton Garden to find out what style she liked she did say a lot of them looked too big. So when it came to buying the ring I went for one with a better cut.I'd recommend going to either Hatton Garden or the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, where you can see different diamonds and how the 4 Cs actually make a difference. Prices also seemed better than the high street.
Craikeybaby said:
michael gould said:
I have never in my entire life heard any women say "that diamond is too big" you perspective on the size of diamond is from a male perspective ....ie I want to buy and spend what I can get away with smile
When I took my future wife to Hatton Garden to find out what style she liked she did say a lot of them looked too big. So when it came to buying the ring I went for one with a better cut.I'd recommend going to either Hatton Garden or the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, where you can see different diamonds and how the 4 Cs actually make a difference. Prices also seemed better than the high street.
.......im not sure about cut as i understood that all modern brilliant cut diamonds have the same number of facets i.e 58 .....but symmetry is very important for the light refraction and colour makes a huge difference.Agree with the earlier poster that colour matters - unless it's supposed to be a coloured diamond getting a decent colour (F or better) will make it seem larger assuming you are going round brilliant cut - your ref to Tiffany suggests that's the style
I spent a while on the search and ended up sourcing a diamond through an independent family owned jeweller which they set in platinum - cheaper than it would have been at Cartier - would have saved more going to an indie in Hatton Garden but each to their own
In terms of "size" it depends on the wearer - size of finger makes a difference as does places that the wearer will be going - some women are cool with £30k flashing away sat on the tube others would feel concerned
I went with one just under 2 carat - she was and remains happy
Whatever decision you make I trust it is well received by your intended
I spent a while on the search and ended up sourcing a diamond through an independent family owned jeweller which they set in platinum - cheaper than it would have been at Cartier - would have saved more going to an indie in Hatton Garden but each to their own
In terms of "size" it depends on the wearer - size of finger makes a difference as does places that the wearer will be going - some women are cool with £30k flashing away sat on the tube others would feel concerned
I went with one just under 2 carat - she was and remains happy
Whatever decision you make I trust it is well received by your intended
FlyingTrotter said:
Agree with the earlier poster that colour matters - unless it's supposed to be a coloured diamond getting a decent colour (F or better) will make it seem larger assuming you are going round brilliant cut - your ref to Tiffany suggests that's the style
I spent a while on the search and ended up sourcing a diamond through an independent family owned jeweller which they set in platinum - cheaper than it would have been at Cartier - would have saved more going to an indie in Hatton Garden but each to their own
In terms of "size" it depends on the wearer - size of finger makes a difference as does places that the wearer will be going - some women are cool with £30k flashing away sat on the tube others would feel concerned
I went with one just under 2 carat - she was and remains happy
Whatever decision you make I trust it is well received by your intended
Arent diamond colours graded face down on a white background? I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference between an F and G or H without a comparison stone. Once you get 6 prongs round it I'm not certain it would be worth paying the difference between 'colourless' and 'near colourless'. I spent a while on the search and ended up sourcing a diamond through an independent family owned jeweller which they set in platinum - cheaper than it would have been at Cartier - would have saved more going to an indie in Hatton Garden but each to their own
In terms of "size" it depends on the wearer - size of finger makes a difference as does places that the wearer will be going - some women are cool with £30k flashing away sat on the tube others would feel concerned
I went with one just under 2 carat - she was and remains happy
Whatever decision you make I trust it is well received by your intended
CRB14 said:
FlyingTrotter said:
Agree with the earlier poster that colour matters - unless it's supposed to be a coloured diamond getting a decent colour (F or better) will make it seem larger assuming you are going round brilliant cut - your ref to Tiffany suggests that's the style
I spent a while on the search and ended up sourcing a diamond through an independent family owned jeweller which they set in platinum - cheaper than it would have been at Cartier - would have saved more going to an indie in Hatton Garden but each to their own
In terms of "size" it depends on the wearer - size of finger makes a difference as does places that the wearer will be going - some women are cool with £30k flashing away sat on the tube others would feel concerned
I went with one just under 2 carat - she was and remains happy
Whatever decision you make I trust it is well received by your intended
Arent diamond colours graded face down on a white background? I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference between an F and G or H without a comparison stone. Once you get 6 prongs round it I'm not certain it would be worth paying the difference between 'colourless' and 'near colourless'. I spent a while on the search and ended up sourcing a diamond through an independent family owned jeweller which they set in platinum - cheaper than it would have been at Cartier - would have saved more going to an indie in Hatton Garden but each to their own
In terms of "size" it depends on the wearer - size of finger makes a difference as does places that the wearer will be going - some women are cool with £30k flashing away sat on the tube others would feel concerned
I went with one just under 2 carat - she was and remains happy
Whatever decision you make I trust it is well received by your intended
Just use your eyes and you'll be able to see what is good and what is not. You'll soon see that the 50%+ premium for D colour and flawless clarity isn't worth it. Sure, if you as a customer were dead set on a DF stone because her indoors will settle for nothing less then i would happily source whatever you want, but if it's purely because its 'what the internet said' then i'd be inclined to try to re-educate if at all possible.
Oh, and no they aren't graded face down on a white background. There are a multitude of tests, measurements and criteria that need to be met for each grading. That said, not every tester will give the same grade. Human error does allow a tolerance so your F VVS1 could well be somebody elses G VVS2.
michael gould said:
Craikeybaby said:
michael gould said:
I have never in my entire life heard any women say "that diamond is too big" you perspective on the size of diamond is from a male perspective ....ie I want to buy and spend what I can get away with smile
When I took my future wife to Hatton Garden to find out what style she liked she did say a lot of them looked too big. So when it came to buying the ring I went for one with a better cut.I'd recommend going to either Hatton Garden or the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, where you can see different diamonds and how the 4 Cs actually make a difference. Prices also seemed better than the high street.
.......im not sure about cut as i understood that all modern brilliant cut diamonds have the same number of facets i.e 58 .....but symmetry is very important for the light refraction and colour makes a huge difference.Gassing Station | Watches | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff