Purchasing an engagement ring

[Murph7355]

PorscheGT4 said:

...That's show off bling money imo for a ring, A 1.5 carat will look stupid and wag like.
...

Don't worry, that "saying what you want to hear" phase wears off after a few years of actual marriage and they start being brutally honest

And look on the bright side, if 1.5cts looks WAG like on your partner's hands, they're evidently very small. Win win

OP - I think DomH on here might be someone who could help. Also, I bought my wife's from a place called Michael Rose (Burlington Arcade in London). They were very helpful and flexible, and overall the price wasn't as horrendous as the place with the turquoise boxes. Most importantly, the OH was 100% thrilled with it (and never asked to see the receipt - women, eh!).

[Adam B]

Great advice from ecain63 there

I had a fixed budget, went for best colour, clarity up to the point human eye can't tell the difference and the budget then defined the carat. Ended up with a great value stone just over 2 carat for less than half what Tiffany charge for that blue box and carrier bag (their stones are good quality though).

I used Dom H on here, great guy with many PH customers

[Dan_1981]

Quickmoose said:

www.equinoxjewellery.co.uk/

As said before there is a PH user called 'Nightmare', he works for/with them.
You're probably extrememly nervous about dealing with large amounts of cash and diamonds via the internet and post. So was I.
Their service was/is first class.

Howard, Aka Nightmare made me an engagement ring - talked me through everything from being a complete novice to the point where I thought I knew what I was doing.

At one point he even offered to send me a bunch of diamonds through the post to chose from. I kindly declined.

He also made both of our wedding rings, the wife fell in love with something in the shop that was way out of budget, Equinox managed to create something very very similar for about 25% of the price.

All 3 pieces still look great 2/3 years down the line - couldn't fault the service.

[SlackBladder]

From experience, source your own diamond from here:-
http://www.b2cjewels.com/Search-Diamond.aspx

Then get it set independently

[waterwonder]

+1 for equinox and Howard.

Did a great job on a custom ring and a very competitive price on a nice diamond.

Very pleased with the result and it's nice knowing I didn't get screwed on the price either.

We went back and bought our wedding bands from there too.

[Blown2CV]

77 diamonds were good for when i bought Mrs 2CV's

[neverearly]

waterwonder said:

+1 for equinox and Howard.

Did a great job on a custom ring and a very competitive price on a nice diamond.

Very pleased with the result and it's nice knowing I didn't get screwed on the price either.

We went back and bought our wedding bands from there too.

He did mine too. Delighted with it

[Wadeski]

If you are ever in NYC on business, the diamond district is very good value and you get a better look at what you are buying vs online.

The exchange rate isnt great for you at the moment though

[matc]

Eddie (ecain63) made the ring for my OH - it was a great buying experience; enjoyed the choice of ring/setting etc. and the end result was exactly what she was hoping for. Also the fact I effectively 'designed' it for her made it all the more special.

Anyway, you'd be a fool to not have a chat with him prior to doing anything, proper guy who does a proper job!

[ecain63]

matc said:

Eddie (ecain63) made the ring for my OH - it was a great buying experience; enjoyed the choice of ring/setting etc. and the end result was exactly what she was hoping for. Also the fact I effectively 'designed' it for her made it all the more special.

Anyway, you'd be a fool to not have a chat with him prior to doing anything, proper guy who does a proper job!

Thanks mate.

[Bonefish Blues]

ecain63 said:

Unless you were comparing side by side you'd be lucky to spot differences between a D and a I in daylight. And you'd struggle to see the flaws in a well cut SI1 with the naked eye. The public's fixation with certificates and the 4 C's is at times laughable. People walk into my shop and start spouting cut and clarity and i cringe with dread. If people used their eyes rather than the internet-ometer they'd save money and have a far more enjoyable purchasing experience. I hate people telling me my job as I'm sure you do, and in turn they don't get the best service because the first impression was poor. Much like BHP is only good for the pub, clarity and colour makes no odds when the person wearing it wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a D Flawless stone and a I SI1 when set in a mount and on a flesh coloured background.

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.

This.

I had the great good fortune to do an assignment at De Beers last year and it echoes the advice I was given when I was buying a stone from one of their Sightholders

[sealtt]

Evening

Big thanks to all for advice and comments, I made the purchase and already received it perfectly from blue Nile.

A 1.62ct excellent graded cut in H and VS1 in a lovely platinum setting. Truly shines beautifully and we both love it - all for under £10k, less than half what I originally came to this thread expecting to have to spend!! Very pleased with that, so thanks for the tips!!!

Thanks to Eddie and Dom for their personal service, I'm sure there will be plenty more jewellery purchases in the next year's so will keep in touch.

Regards
seal

[gunsandroses]

Wadeski said:

If you are ever in NYC on business, the diamond district is very good value and you get a better look at what you are buying vs online.

The exchange rate isnt great for you at the moment though

I believe good deals can be found in the Diamond District but it does require a huge amount of effort. This page explains things nicely.

After visiting more than 4 jewelers in the district, I bought my ring at a placed called Sheona & Co. It's slightly cheaper than what I found online and comes with a GIA certificate.