Is this an excellent engagement ring?

Question

Been with my gf for four years..and am starting the planning for the purchase of an engagement ring. My budget is about 12-13k and that's just for the diamond..excluding the platinum setting I'm putting it in. I looked on Blue Nile for ballpark figures and here is what I've come up with.

Pear diamond

cts. 1.10-1.23

Color - D

Clarity - IF

Symmetry - G/VG

Price - low to high 12k's

Is the symmetry extremely important, especially at diamond grades with such excellent color and clarity? Because excellent symmetry will set me back another six grand. Please help because I wanna take the best approach to getting the best bang for my buck with excellent fire and brilliance..want to blind the girlfriend with the intense sparkle..after all, she'll be wearing it for the rest of her life.

Answer 1

Being a woman, I would rather have a little less in the color and clarity and better symmetry- more fire and brilliance!  That is just me though.  I have a 1.13 ct. round H VS1, and it was about 4,000.  Check www.uniondiamond.com- that's where mine came from and it is amazing, and everything checked out just as they said when I had it appraised (It appraised for almost 10,000)

On Union diamond, here is what you can get for almost that same diamond...

http://www.uniondiamond.com/diamonds/dia...

Answer 2

Every girl is different.

12K for a 1.2 karat is an awful lot, though.

And I wouldn't care for a pear shape.

Answer 3

I think if you get good or very good cut, then you should be fine.

Honestly, the diamond you are picking is "excellent." If you want good quality, go for it. My diamond is E color, VS2 clarity and it is gorgeous. It is 1.03 carats. My FI paid somewhere between 8 and 9 k for it, including the setting in platinum. Here are a couple of pictures:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2490...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2557...

Oh, unless you are sure she wants pear shaped,  I also agree that I would choose another shape.

What I am saying is that you can go back a little on some of your "Cs" and still have an excellent diamond. A jeweler told us that it was hard to tell color higher than G once diamond was set in either platinum or white gold.

You might want to actually go to a jewelry store just to look at comparable diamonds to the ones you are looking at on blue nile to give you an idea.

Don't forget the wedding band, if she wants one. Mine cost another $1600.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Basically you want to know what you can get for $12-13k.

Answer: Something wonderful, or something not so wonderful.

Here is where the fun begins. There is much for you to research and learn. I suggest best way to start is look on the internet & educate yourself about 'The 4 C's' as this is what it is all about, especially in the money stakes. AND without doubt the CERTIFICATION, you must only accept GIA or HRD. If you take EGL certification, you are risking value of your diamond, as they are notorious for upgrading their diamonds to D, when it is an E, or VVS1 when it borders on a VVS2.

I think $12k for what you describe is a bargain, it must be wholesale, and sounds like an EGL??? As I checked and all GIA's are up around the $18k mark.

Is the 'Pear Diamond' what your girlfriend wants? likes? It is very unusual and not traditional or as popular as the 'Princess cut' or 'Brilliant cut'. Also do you really need ' IF '. You can go down to VVS2, which is amazing in itself, you can't see the flaws anyway (from VVS2-IF) without microscope !! You will saves lots of money.

Another thing, if you are going to spend so much money, you should be looking to ONLY buy 'Triple Excellent' (Cut, Symmetry, Polish). This is what gives the diamond its 'bling'.

Anyway, once you know what (of the) 4 C's you want, then you can start the face-to-face visits with top jewelers who also buy diamonds. NEVER tell them how much you are looking to spend exactly (although they play on this, and say it is like a needle in a hay stack etc..), I suggest you just say ball park sum of $9-10,000 (no more, as it will always cost you more), as you WILL find what you are looking for for that cost.

The trick is you MUST go into the jeweler with EXACTLY what you want in mind. eg; Brilliant cut, D, SI1, Ex, Ex, Ex, (Triple Excellent) etc..

Never let on that you are desperate, as 99% of engagement rings are bought on 'heart over mind', and even they will tell you this! YOu must see at least 5 jewelers to compare & importantly ask what service they offer for ring maintenance (eg; Life time servicing). I would only ever go with a reputable jeweler, and have they been recognised within their profession (they should have merits/awards/certs on their shop walls on display). Preferably one that sells Hearts On Fire.

At the same time you also MUST keep up you online search for 'the' diamond, so you can compare the prices. Following are some great sites I recently used;

http://cerrone.com.au/diamond_search.php

www.diamondexchange.com.au/

http://honeymoons.about.com/cs/valentine...

Another thought, when I was looking for my diamond & ring design, I was introduced to 'HEARTS ON FIRE', OMG !! They claim to be 'the worlds most perfect cut diamonds' And they are, they are the most amazing diamonds ever, but very expensive (perhaps in your range). We had budget of $10k all up, our diamond alone cost $9k (1.10ct D, VVS2, Triple Excellent, Brilliant), as you see we went over it.

If you are brave to check it out, here is the Hearts On Fire link ..

www.heartsonfire.com/

Good Luck

Answer 5

Wow!

Answer 6

hey dnt listen to sparkles, colour is important. get atleast an F colour. so ur D colour is the best. symmetry is important but clariy and colour even so more. so i think your ring is very good!  

Answer 7

If your gunna spend that much- go with a Tiffany Diamond. She will love you for the rest of your life!  

Answer 8

You sure are spending a lot of money!   Unless she is a very rich girl and needs to have a ring like this, you have done more than most guys would do.  Unless you both are older or you have a great job with lots of money in the bank - you are spending to much money.  However, she will love it anyway!  50% of marriages end in divorce.

Answer 9

Thats a very nice diamond! Symmetry is not that important, especially if its coming from a quality jeweler where they will adjust the setting to fit the diamond perfectly. Im not familiar with Blue Nile but if its everything you say it is, thats a bargain, sounds like a very nice ring!

Answer 10

Its top quality,however I wouldnt pay that much on D & IF.The reason behind that is that F-E-D can be very hard to distinguish even for a proffisional jeweler.Also an IF clarity will need 30x magnification.Any thing between VS2-IF will be very hard to distinguish by the naked eye and any body who will look at the diamond will not know that this is a D colour or IF but they will for sure notice that the diamond has max fire & brilliance & the diamond is big. So I really suggest that you go for a colour between G-F for the best value. and a clarity of VS-VVS and compensate on that with a good symmetry and polish & Carat because these are what the people will notice most without affecting the clarity or the colour.

Symmetry & polish and give you a hint on the cut and thus the brilliance and fire. Thats why an excellent one will cost you 6 grand.However,a VG one will do just fine.try to avoid Good grade.

Try also this site,they got coupons to use for bluenile,James etc ....

http://www.123diamond.co.uk/Diamond-coup...

Have a look at James they stock really nice ring collections and they stock 55000 certified diamonds and they show the actual diamond & cert pictures as well as their policies are much better than Bluenile.

Answer 11

sounds amazing and she seems very lucky.

Answer 12

Take her to Cartier to choose her ring. She may not want a pear diamond, and there is no point in spending that amount of money on something she doesn't want!