Amethyst necklace advice - £700 budget

[varsas]

HI, I had some good advice on here about my engagement ring, though I'd ask again.

My (twice postponed) wedding is happening at the end of August (we hope...). I know the bride wanted to wear something with purple in it, to reflect the colour scheme of the day, and I'd like to get her something to open on the morning so I though, why not get her a nice necklace, with a purple gemstone? I think that means amethyst. Knowing nothing about jewelry I started looking, and it's confusing because you can get something quite nice in the high street stores for less than £200....or you can spend £1,000+, and I'm not sure what the difference is. For example, this pendant for £485:

https://www.thediamondstore.co.uk/amethyst-278ct-a...

has a bigger stone than this one for £750 (2.37c vs 1.88c)

https://www.angara.com/uk/p/vintage-inspired-diamo...

Both have diamonds as well, which is nice as it links it to the wedding, both of her rings have diamonds in them.

Any advice? Anyone used thediamondstore.co.uk before? Anyone an expert in this and can explain the variations in price? I assume it's linked to the quality of the gem, but will I really notice? I don't expect her to look at it under a lupe or compare the colour to her friends stones!

Sadly spending a day walking around London looking at necklaces isn't possible, I wish it were!

Thanks in advance.

[CrunkleFloop]

I wouldn't think too hard about it, just buy the one you think looks the best.

Your fiancé isn't going to say "Oh Varsas, this diamond is clearly 1/18th of a carat smaller than I would have preferred".

She will love whatever you buy; worrying too much about stone sizes. cuts, etc. is just falling into the jeweller's profit trap.

[shih tzu faced]

CrunkleFloop said:

I wouldn't think too hard about it, just buy the one you think looks the best.

Your fiancé isn't going to say "Oh Varsas, this diamond is clearly 1/18th of a carat smaller than I would have preferred".

She will love whatever you buy; worrying too much about stone sizes. cuts, etc. is just falling into the jeweller's profit trap.

Sounds like good advice to me.

Alternatively a pearl necklace, what lady doesn't want one of them? Plan your timing in this case though, the morning of the wedding is probably out what with traditions and wotnot.

[bristolbaron]

varsas said:

HI, I had some good advice on here about my engagement ring, though I'd ask again.

My (twice postponed) wedding is happening at the end of August (we hope...). I know the bride wanted to wear something with purple in it, to reflect the colour scheme of the day, and I'd like to get her something to open on the morning so I though, why not get her a nice necklace, with a purple gemstone? I think that means amethyst. Knowing nothing about jewelry I started looking, and it's confusing because you can get something quite nice in the high street stores for less than £200....or you can spend £1,000+, and I'm not sure what the difference is. For example, this pendant for £485:

https://www.thediamondstore.co.uk/amethyst-278ct-a...

has a bigger stone than this one for £750 (2.37c vs 1.88c)

https://www.angara.com/uk/p/vintage-inspired-diamo...

Both have diamonds as well, which is nice as it links it to the wedding, both of her rings have diamonds in them.

Any advice? Anyone used thediamondstore.co.uk before? Anyone an expert in this and can explain the variations in price? I assume it's linked to the quality of the gem, but will I really notice? I don't expect her to look at it under a lupe or compare the colour to her friends stones!

Sadly spending a day walking around London looking at necklaces isn't possible, I wish it were!

Thanks in advance.

Explaining ‘difference’ in price is almost impossible with complete pieces such as this, as it could relate to:
Amethyst
Diamonds
Gold
Manufacturing costs
Margins

I’ll attempt to give some of it a go though!

Amethyst:
Firstly, Amethyst is a relatively cheap stone. Impressive sized stones cost very little. The cheaper option is set in 9ct, so is likely to be a ‘cheap’ stone. The more expensive option gives stone grade choices, by comparison the cheaper one will probably be ‘good’ on that scale.
Diamonds:
Total diamond weights - 0.12ct in the cheaper, 0.28ct in the other, but the cheaper will have 0.005ct stones (1/2 a point) and the more expensive 0.01ct (a point). Not huge differences, but definitely account for something.
Gold: 9ct Vs 14ct. Quite a jump - 20% higher pure gold content if both items weighed the same.
Manufacturing costs: It’s impossible to tell, but costs should be similar across both pieces.
Margins: Again, it’s difficult to tell.

Ultimately one has bigger diamonds, better gold quality, options of a better amethyst. Prices are probably reasonable across both. In terms of which to buy? The one she likes

As an alternative, and if budget allows, I’d also look at Tanzanite. A beautiful stone with values that can exceed comparable diamonds!

[Pieman68]

I don't have much in the way of practical advice here but had had experience of having an amethyst engagement ring made as it was my mother-in-laws birthstone (she passed away a few months before we got engaged)

Compared to the high street the difference was huge. Probably twice as much 18ct gold as a high street offering for a comparative price. She has a single amethyst in a bevel cut (I think) so it was a flat stone which wouldn't catch (working in a preschool setting) and diamonds on the shoulders

Is the timescale log enough to allow for a custom piece? I know the time I put into the design was massively appreciated. She's still married to me!! (5 years next month)

[C n C]

I'm far from an expert, but when I was looking for a Peridot necklace and earrings in white gold a couple of years ago (for Mrs CnC's silver wedding present), after looking at a lot of places online, I ended up ordering from Glamira.

Main reason was a wide choice of designs and easy to use filters. Not sure about Amethyst, but there were options on quite a few pieces for different grades of stones, different carat gold etc..
For example, this one you can choose 4 grades of amethyst, whether crystal or diamond accent stones, if diamond, quality of the diamonds, a range of metal colours, and carat rating of the gold options.

As I said, I'm not an expert, and maybe could have got a better deal elsewhere, but I found a design I liked and was ok with the price despite going for the better quality stones, and 18ct white gold (well she had put up with me for 25 years, 27 now). Fortunately, she was extremely happy with the result.

[1878]

PM to ecain63 about a bespoke made one?
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Simon Brooks]

bristolbaron said:

As an alternative, and if budget allows, I’d also look at Tanzanite. A beautiful stone with values that can exceed comparable diamonds!

As Bristolbaron has suggested, I'd seriously consider Tanzanite, infinitely more valuable than amethyst and approximately 1000 times rarer than diamonds, so far they have only ever been found in one location (Tanzania oddly !!!) It is anticipated that the mining reserves will run out in the 2040s, amazing range of colours from pale blue to blue/purple. Bought a pendant from these guys couple years ago (other suppliers are available) https://www.shimansky.co.za/collections/ayanda-tan...

[C n C]

Simon Brooks said:

bristolbaron said:

As an alternative, and if budget allows, I’d also look at Tanzanite. A beautiful stone with values that can exceed comparable diamonds!

As Bristolbaron has suggested, I'd seriously consider Tanzanite, infinitely more valuable than amethyst and approximately 1000 times rarer than diamonds, so far they have only ever been found in one location (Tanzania oddly !!!) It is anticipated that the mining reserves will run out in the 2040s, amazing range of colours from pale blue to blue/purple. Bought a pendant from these guys couple years ago (other suppliers are available) https://www.shimansky.co.za/collections/ayanda-tan...

It seems Tanzanite is also an option from the supplier I mentioned above, but I fear the OP may have to increase his budget somewhat!

[varsas]

Thanks all. I got this one in the end:

https://www.angara.com/uk/p/solitaire-claw-cushion...

I like the setting as it's reminiscent of her engagement and wedding rings, is cheaper than the other options (not quite sure why) while still having diamonds, which let me get a big, high quality stone (3.22 carat, best quality). I thought that was important as it's the whole point of the necklace. I thought it looked lovely in gold, but (soon-to-be) Mrs Varsas likes silver, and that was the cheapest option there, too.

With the money saved I bought her the dress that Medeline Swan wears in James Bond on board the train to wear the morning after. I must admit though, that is a gift for me, more than it is for her.

Tanzenite looked stunning but, yes, beyond my budget!

Edited by varsas on Tuesday 29th June 14:59

[konark]

varsas said:

Sadly spending a day walking around London looking at necklaces isn't possible, I wish it were!

Said no man ever.