Engagement Rings

[racerman88]

I went through Diamond.ca | Canadian Diamonds Vancover
Had the ring made.
Make an appt to see Ran

[E_Fahlman]

Originally Posted by HondaGuy

Remember the 4 C's...

Carat, colour, clarity, cut...

Clarity: Highest: VVS1, VVS2...VS1, VS2...SI1, SI2...I1, I2 etc...
Colour: Highest: D,E,F...(clear) G,H,I (slight yellow) ... Etc

Good luck!!
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Don't forget Internally Flawless & Flawless both are above VVS1. As far as my experinces when I got married. I didn 't like the pressure that Ben Moss and Spence Diamonds both put on me by their sales people. I've honestly had better experinces buying cars from dealerships. In the end I bought my wife's engagment ring and wedding band from Blue Nile Diamonds in the states. Purchased it online; spoke to a rep over the phone and had the ring within two days. Their website is very good for reasearching prices, understand what you're buying and so fourth. However like the Previous poster mentioned the dollar is down to .90$ to USD so buying out of the states may not be worth it but I found a much better deal in the states and likely saved anywhere between 2-3K

Also side note: Depending on your budget you may want to check out the local Jewellery Auctions that happen every couple months. My wife and I have been to about a dozen of them and I've noticed a pattern that Diamond Jewellery sells for around a third of MSRP. Not to be confused with Appraisal Value as this is always usually double what it's worth. But I've seen 15-20,000$ Tiffany Engagment Rings sell for 5-7000$ at Auction. Even with the 15% Buyer's Premiums and Tax you're still coming out way ahead.

Hope this was helpful.
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[alwayslive]

not too sure if you bought the ring yet, but if you're willing to travel down to Toronto there's a really good place called the diamond studio. Look them up on Facebook they do custom rings and I've talked to the guy before the pricing is pretty good too.
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[What_the?]

Bought mines from Blue Nile online as well.

Couple things to consider for you is what "really" matters when you're looking at a diamond with your eyes.

Cut - matters lots, go for ideal as this affects brilliance of the ring
Color - Also matters (to an extent). Realistically D and E color are going to be not really noticeable compared to F or even G color diamonds with good brilliance. Can't tell tiny differences in color when it's sparkling like crazy in your face
Clarity - Realistically anything above VS1 or VS2 is a waste of money since you're paying for something you can't see. The number of people that have taken a microscope to my fiancee's ring = ZERO. VS1 or VS2 should all have no inclusions visible to the naked eye.

One thing noone seems to look for is the PROPORTIONS of the diamond. The shape of a diamond matters almost more since you could have something D color, with flawless clarity but look super dull since it's shape is tall and skinny, or perhaps short and fat. The shape of the diamond affects how it collects light, and how the light reflects back out of the diamond and the sparkle in your face. If it loses alot of the light it captures, then it will look dull. The table percentage, depth percentage, crown angle, pavillion angle, etc all will determine how brilliant your diamond will look. If you pick something that has as close to an ideal shape as possible (you can find measurements online) you will have an amazingly brilliant stone that will drop jaws.

Blue nile allows you to look through all the diamonds individually and see the reports which give you all the measurements that you can sift through. Jewellery stores don't.

Good luck

[winson604]

Originally Posted by What_the?

Bought mines from Blue Nile online as well.

Couple things to consider for you is what "really" matters when you're looking at a diamond with your eyes.

Cut - matters lots, go for ideal as this affects brilliance of the ring
Color - Also matters (to an extent). Realistically D and E color are going to be not really noticeable compared to F or even G color diamonds with good brilliance. Can't tell tiny differences in color when it's sparkling like crazy in your face
Clarity - Realistically anything above VS1 or VS2 is a waste of money since you're paying for something you can't see. The number of people that have taken a microscope to my fiancee's ring = ZERO. VS1 or VS2 should all have no inclusions visible to the naked eye.

One thing noone seems to look for is the PROPORTIONS of the diamond. The shape of a diamond matters almost more since you could have something D color, with flawless clarity but look super dull since it's shape is tall and skinny, or perhaps short and fat. The shape of the diamond affects how it collects light, and how the light reflects back out of the diamond and the sparkle in your face. If it loses alot of the light it captures, then it will look dull. The table percentage, depth percentage, crown angle, pavillion angle, etc all will determine how brilliant your diamond will look. If you pick something that has as close to an ideal shape as possible (you can find measurements online) you will have an amazingly brilliant stone that will drop jaws.

Blue nile allows you to look through all the diamonds individually and see the reports which give you all the measurements that you can sift through. Jewellery stores don't.

Good luck

There are places in Vancouver that allow you to see the GIA report first, of course as you said these won't be in your regular stores but otherwise it's available.

[Majestic12]

If a place DOESN'T let you see the measurements and appraisal report, I wouldn't even consider buying from them.

[svelt]

carat may be important but you have to consider your girl's style and hand size/body size. If you date someone relatively petite with small dainty hands, it's not a bad idea to go for something a little smaller but with better specs. JMO from asking a few women myself as I have been hunting. A huge ring on a tiny hand is not necessary, and potentially even slightly gaudy. I personally like what Birk's and Tiffany's does if you and your girl are willing to compromise on size to get something affordable. The others' designs (Ben Moss, People's etc.) are a lot less classy and elegant from my shopping experience. I also was not terribly pleased with the service at Spence. Having only fake diamonds on display is not my idea of adequately trying before buying.

On the flip side if your girl has larger hands... go bluenile and just get the largest rock you can find with the lowest possible specs that you cannot see with the naked eye.

[will068]

Originally Posted by Special K

I was looking at the custom route (setting). The end quality is not on par as compared to "designer" brands.

I ended up a Tacori setting and picked my own diamond on James Allen.

Is it expensive? Yes
Is it necessary? No, but if you can afford a big diamond go for it.

Tip: girls don't really care about the specs. They care about the carat size. Smh
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Bought mine there as well just now.

No more more Jordan's for a while....