OT: Buying a diamond ring for the lady

[nomar]

Go back to the Diamond District, but not on a Saturday as most places are closed on the Sabbath. A low clarity diamond wll look just as a slightly flawed diamond and it will be much cheaper. They guy that sold me my diamond years ago told me that the best way to ensure you are not getting ripped off is to buy an imperfect diamond. What you mgiht be sold as flawless may in fact be fracture filled. Make sure you get the stone GIA certification and understand how to read it. Once you buy the loose stone, shop for a nice setting sperately. It's work, but you'll save money. After I made my purchase, I visited several retailers and all of them confirmed that i saved at least if n ot more than 40 percent.

I haven't been on blue nile for a while, but I know they are reputable as well as James Allen. The majority of the diamons sold on the retail market are of the SI 1 & 2 and VS 1 & 2 grade.

The stone I purchased had a slight flaw on the bottom of the ring near the lower half of the girdle on the ring setting and was only visable with a stalwart eye piece. Good luck!

Some good advice here.

If you're going to go to 47th Street, I recommend Michael F & Co. He's a straight shooter -- at least as far as diamond merchants go! I didn't buy my wife's engagement ring from him because she wanted it from her hometown store (where I was able to get a steep discount), but I was impressed by his patient, candid advice and made sure she got my band there.

Just checked his Yelp page and he has a 5.0 rating on 67 reviews.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/michael-and-company-new-york

 

[Adios]

Congrats on 40 years!

 

[auror]

This is a reputable site for price gauging: Search for Diamonds by Shape, Size, Quality & Price | Blue Nile

I just bought my fiancee an engagement ring. I was in a rush to pick it up before a vacation where I was to propose. The proposal went great, but of course the rock was not big enough. We were able to go back and upgrade for a minimal fee. So I had a placeholder for the surprise, and in the end she picked out what she wanted. I went to Bostonian in Boston. A friend of mine recommended them and they had good yelp reviews. I was happy. Boston might be less daunting than NYC.

Rock wasn't big enough? Oh boy.

Here is some advice to save you grief down the road.

Just find a girl you hate and buy her a house.

Someone colorblind could still see the red flag on this one.

 

[Phoenixhusky]

Rock wasn't big enough? Oh boy.

Here is some advice to save you grief down the road.

Just find a girl you hate and buy her a house.

This is the post of the day and had me laughing over and over. And to be honest so true.

 

[MrP]

I trust this place, great quality, great service. He won’t screw you, but you could probably get a better price somewhere else. Piece of mind and quality, go here.
Joseph A. Conte Jewelers : 203-248-9853

Got my wife’s engagement ring and both of our wedding bands from Joe. Great guy, will spend all day trying to help you find the right ring. I agree, though, that his prices probably aren’t the best.

 

[Deepster]

Because she asked for one and he wants to buy her one.

This is not a complex situation.

Her b'day is next month and I think I will finally surprise her (i.e. shut her up) and get her another diamond ring. She claims she deserves a better one putting up with me and my cheap arse.

I am willing to spend a couple of thousand for some peace of mind, I expect forever peace but we know that ain't happening.

Yeah. Sounds like he’s skipping all the way to the bank. You know....to shut her up.

 

[benjordan]

Since your wife is calling you cheap this probably won't help but you could do that I did and pitch her on the following:
-Get a moissanite ring in lieu of a diamond (synthetic stone same quality as diamond). Got engagement ring for $3k instead of $10k+. Charles and Colvard only.
-Spend some of the difference on a vacation (we went to DR for a week)

A lot of women wouldn't consider anything other than a diamond but everyone always compliments my wife's ring plus we got a great vacation AND saved money. She's thrilled with the decision.

 

[SamIamCassell]

Costco is the place to be. Otherwise I've been to kevin edwards jewelers in Avon. Great guy and a pretty good price/value.

 

[Kitaman]

Yeah. Sounds like he’s skipping all the way to the bank. You know....to shut her up.

Nah, It was jest (somewhat). I was young when we were engaged and brought her a stone that was, well just a stone to me. We have a long history with many problems and issues not uncommon in marriage. We've overcome and survived and for many years she reminds me that I never properly proposed (I just took the ring out and put it on her finger) after 5 years of dating and 'playing marriage'.

She deserves a replacement plus my finances have totally changed for the good. So if the one thing I can do is make a proper amend its time I delivered. And yes this will put that issue to rest, allowing us to watch romance movies where the proper proposal always made me uncomfortable. We ain't young and I don't want to leave too much to our kids (without spending on ourselves) and there is a saying that when 'people die no one has ever seen a U-Haul following the hearst'.

 

[Drumguy]

Costco is actually a great palace as has been posted. I've had great success with a place in Jamaica NY (Queens) Sophies Creations. Its owned by a Russian family that sources its own diamonds. Welcome My sister introduced me to the place and I've bought some great pieces of jewelry for the Mrs. their at "reasonable" prices. Sasha is the brother I deal with and they will definitely work with you.

Also if you bring it back to CT there is no sales tax assessed!

 

[Deepster]

Nah, It was jest (somewhat). I was young when we were engaged and brought her a stone that was, well just a stone to me. We have a long history with many problems and issues not uncommon in marriage. We've overcome and survived and for many years she reminds me that I never properly proposed (I just took the ring out and put it on her finger) after 5 years of dating and 'playing marriage'.

She deserves a replacement plus my finances have totally changed for the good. So if the one thing I can do is make a proper amend its time I delivered. And yes this will put that issue to rest, allowing us to watch romance movies where the proper proposal always made me uncomfortable. We ain't young and I don't want to leave too much to our kids (without spending on ourselves) and there is a saying that when 'people die no one has ever seen a U-Haul following the hearst'.

Understood. Truth be told, I have a personal affront to the whole engagement ring custom, much less buying a 2nd bigger one years later. Strikes a bit of a nerve with me.

(and I had a friend who got engaged, they got in a fight and she tossed the ring out of the window on the highway, they never found it.....and he bought her a 2nd one.)

 

[UConn Esq]

Theres a website www.rarecarat.com and it pools together a ton of reputable dealers (including the aforesaid Blue Nile & Costco) and allows you to compare prices on exactly what you are looking for. You can filter by shape, price, cut, clarity and all that good stuff. It tells you if certain buys are considered good deals relative to the market too kind of like how Stubhub does now. They are the self-proclaimed kayak of diamond shopping. Give it a shot.

 

[ZenConn]

To me, if I saw a diamond on the street or a rock, I wouldn't pick either up if I couldn't sell em. I don't get the allure.

Interesting you said that. It reminded me of an article I read years ago. Not sure how to fit the reading of the BY mega thread into a job like this.

http://nyp.st/JsTCgV

 

[HuskyHawk]

Still waiting on someone with a reason this guy should buy a second diamond.

Seriously. If you've been together 40 years, spend that money on an epic trip someplace you would both love to go. Jewelry is among the more useless things you can buy in my opinion. Even a big TV or a car at least provides utility.

Edit: just saw the reasoning post. Fair enough.

 

[auror]

Mentioned once in this thread but James Allen was great for me. Super easy. Can filter and sort by all the "C" characteristics to focus on the ones that matter and get a better stone of the same size at whatever your price point is. Delivered with all the documentation in an excellent box. My strategy was to find a stone that was better than recommended in all the categories, but not necessarily flawless.

Most of this info is from Blue Nile. But you want to get:

Cut - At least very good (runs from Poor to Ideal or whatever marketing top 1% they have).
Color - At least F (Runs from Z, or more likely J, to D).
Clarity - At least VS1 (weird scale of I, S, VS, VVS, Flawless with lower numbers being better in the letter tiers VS2, VS1, etc.)

So you get your budget. You figure out whatever shape she wants first. And then you filter above those standards. And then pick the biggest carat one in that shape with the best min-maxing of the attributes (listed in the order of importance above).

I ended up getting a Very Good, E, VVS1 diamond. Basically imperceptibly worse in all the categories, but you wouldn't be able to tell in any of them with the naked eye. I got the Napier instead of the Kemba. From my recall there's a pretty big savings from ideal to very good, so if you want to splurge, spend the money there, unless size is more important because you can get a bigger stone at very good rather than ideal.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Nah, It was jest (somewhat). I was young when we were engaged and brought her a stone that was, well just a stone to me. We have a long history with many problems and issues not uncommon in marriage. We've overcome and survived and for many years she reminds me that I never properly proposed (I just took the ring out and put it on her finger) after 5 years of dating and 'playing marriage'.

She deserves a replacement plus my finances have totally changed for the good. So if the one thing I can do is make a proper amend its time I delivered. And yes this will put that issue to rest, allowing us to watch romance movies where the proper proposal always made me uncomfortable. We ain't young and I don't want to leave too much to our kids (without spending on ourselves) and there is a saying that when 'people die no one has ever seen a U-Haul following the hearst'.

Good reasoning. My experience was back in 2000, but the online places like Blue Nile had just become a thing. I ordered a diamond online, and went to stores. What I found was that the stores were largely willing to meet or beat the online price points, once you showed them what you could get in a certified stone. I ended up with a nicer ring at DaScenza outside Boston, for the same price it would have been via Blue Nile.

In short, if you just walk in, they are happy to overcharge you. If you walk in armed with data on what online stones will cost, they'll match it. They have plenty of margin anyway.

 

[Fishy]

Yeah. Sounds like he’s skipping all the way to the bank. You know....to shut her up.

Or he actually wants to do this for her.

On a related note, why do you care? You're having an oddly emotional response to it.

 

[Travelman6]

Chicks love a good diamond ring search.

Chicks dig stones that sparkles.

Thank goodness not mine .

Chick? I dunno, I married a woman!

Or he actually wants to do this for her.

On a related note, why do you care? You're having an oddly emotional response to it.

Probably did research into the whole industry. But if someone else is dead set on buying it, well, to each their own!

 

[8893]

On a related note, why do you care? You're having an oddly emotional response to it.

Alimony and child support is my guess.

 

[Fishy]

Alimony and child support is my guess.

It would have been cheaper to just buy another diamond.

 

[8893]

It would have been cheaper to just buy another diamond.

He wouldn't have been the first guy to conclude that.

 

[Hoophound]

Kitaman has to do the proper proposal. If he says something exceptionally nice, surprising and genuine, there is a good chance he'll get a performance out of her later that night that he'd find well worth the cost of the ring. He will also find his marriage improved in some ways because he validated her feelings and fixed an old mistake.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

 

[Robertelamin]

View attachment 30120

D League Diamond.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Since your wife is calling you cheap this probably won't help but you could do that I did and pitch her on the following:
-Get a moissanite ring in lieu of a diamond (synthetic stone same quality as diamond). Got engagement ring for $3k instead of $10k+. Charles and Colvard only.
-Spend some of the difference on a vacation (we went to DR for a week)

A lot of women wouldn't consider anything other than a diamond but everyone always compliments my wife's ring plus we got a great vacation AND saved money. She's thrilled with the decision.

Cool, I was going to recommend this too. Customers of mine and they've recently veered into the engagement ring market with enviro/ethical responsibility vs diamonds. I think for traditionalist they can't overcome the emotional response to diamond, but for all other aspects its the same jewelry.

They've just got to change the name IMO, moissanite sounds like something you need to call a restoration co specializing in biohazards to get off your kitchen walls.

 

[SubbaBub]

Cool, I was going to recommend this too. Customers of mine and they've recently veered into the engagement ring market with enviro/ethical responsibility vs diamonds. I think for traditionalist they can't overcome the emotional response to diamond, but for all other aspects its the same jewelry.

They've just got to change the name IMO, moissanite sounds like something you need to call a restoration co specializing in biohazards to get off your kitchen walls.

I think diamonoid was already taken.

 

[Dove]

Moissanite!

 

[Kitaman]

Well the Mrs. pissed me off so instead of a diamond for b'day in April, I'll wait until our anniversary in August. I'm not mad at her, she saved me some loot which I will apply to my traveling CT golf tour this Spring/Summer. So if you see a lot more divots I apologize but take a walk through the bushes/trees because I will be rewarding you a lot of white round treasures.

Perhaps there will be a glut in the market and prices drop by then. LOL

 

[Hoophound]

What happened? Gotta share.

 

[mauconnfan]

Kitaman has to do the proper proposal. If he says something exceptionally nice, surprising and genuine, there is a good chance he'll get a performance out of her later that night that he'd find well worth the cost of the ring. He will also find his marriage improved in some ways because he validated her feelings and fixed an old mistake.

I think this is worthy of a Boneyard get together so he can get back on the knee in front of the people he knows so well...kinda.

Something like this 40 years of love can bring out an emotional response the BY needs - I will hug superjohn and bass, Deepster will hug Fishy, gtcam will hug everyone, 8893 will hug the bartender who has the best beer, August West will hug the chef who has the ketchup etc etc etc...you get the idea.