Advice on this Asscher

[piccolascimmia]

Hi all,

Edited to change the title per my last post below

It seems it’s finally time for me to ask for a bit of help, after lurking for a few months.

My wonderful bf took me ring shopping 3 weeks ago. He was so turned off by the first high pressure place we went to that I've been looking online and going to shops alone to spare him the pain. I think if I give him 3 settings, I’ll be happy with any of them he'd pick. I've narrowed it down to a few settings I love, all within the same general style (photos below I hope).

So...here's my thing. I keep vacillating and looking at stones all over the place, and can’t get a grip on finding a few to really call in. Also, I'm in Atlanta and had a great experience looking at Solomon Bros, and think they would be a good place to buy locally, but don’t want to lose out on any great options that are available online (minus sales tax!).

So here are my questions:
A) What asscher cuts do y'all really like for ~10K or under?
B) Does he need to buy the stone and the setting from one place? If so, and find a stone that rocks, do we then try to get that retailer to provide one of the settings below?
C) I want to be able to wear this ring all the time, so I don’t want it to be too delicate. I have been gravitating towards settings with the Asscher up high, but have been trying to temper that with others that sit lower (and are presumably safer). Is that a valid assumption?

I am happy to do the legwork for my boyfriend, and am (trying, and succeeding, I think) not being psycho talking to him about it. I guess I’m at the point where I want to point out EXACTLY what I want and then let him do the rest. I’m just not sure how to go about 'packaging' it up for him, point him towards a diamond I love and not overpay for it (the setting I’m not as worried about, given how clear I am on the style I like).

Any suggestions/advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Marylee

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 4/19/2006 3:05:19 PM
Author:piccolascimmia



A) What asscher cuts do y'all really like for ~10K or under?

B) Does he need to buy the stone and the setting from one place? If so, and find a stone that rocks, do we then try to get that retailer to provide one of the settings below?

C) I want to be able to wear this ring all the time, so I don’t want it to be too delicate. I have been gravitating towards settings with the Asscher up high, but have been trying to temper that with others that sit lower (and are presumably safer). Is that a valid assumption?

Hi Marylee and welcome

a) I dont' know a lot about asschers so I can't help you there, but I'm sure others will chime in.

b) many times it depends on who has the stone in stock that you want and if they have the setting you want. It's convenient to purchase both in the same place but many have purchased stone and setting seperately.

c) I think whatever height the ring, you get used to it. make sure to try a few on and see if there is a style you prefer.

out of the settings you posted I like the bottom two the best. i personally think asschers look best in a solitaire or a pave setting. I'm not a big fan of the shared prong round band #1 with and asscher, and the second has too many different shapes going on IMO. Love the 3rd, 1st on the bottom and think it would great and of course the last one is a daniel k which I love..

ETA: just noticed the 3rd is a daniel k as well. those settings are not sold seperately from the stone, so you'd have to be on the hunt for something similar or go custom for something similar, unless you are planning on getting a daniel k asscher

 

[piccolascimmia]

Thanks MrsSalvo - Solomon Bros has that bottom left Daniel K with an Asscher preset in the store...I tried it on a few weekends ago and LOVED the fit of it (low set stone, right width of the band). The price tag was a bit shocking (ring plus diamond was ~$26k), but they told me I could order the setting separate from the stone, and buy my own stone within my budget

I tried the top right ring on, and was worried it would be ''busy'' but I liked it. My least favorite was the top left, and the bottom right is gorgeous but a little ''busy'' for my taste.

Oh, and I forgot to add I''m assuming the setting will be less than $3k (budget-wise).

Thanks all!

M

 

[mrssalvo]

I would double check that. I have always heard you could not buy the DK settings seperatley and if S. bros. is, that is BIG news to me. Pearlmans carries DK and I have talked to Bill several times about a setting and he has told me there is no way no how to get just the setting.

 

[mrssalvo]

oh and if they will sell you a DK setting for less than 3K, please give us all the info b/c i''m sure many a pricescoper would jump all over that kind of deal

 

[piccolascimmia]

Hehe, I will double check that i can buy the setting w/o the stone.

And as I hit Submit...I realized that I never did ask the price of the Daniel K w/o the stone in it, just that she said it would be no problem I''ll report back what i find, but it might be a few weeks...this is a "every saturday" kind of reconaissance mission (and this saturday''s a no go). But i can confidently say that the top two settings are definitely below $3k

M

 

[mrssalvo]

you got a great budget for a setting and shouldn''t have much of a problem getting what you want. I emailed Solomon Bros. too just to see what they would say to someone who isn''t local

I might be able to add the DK back to my realistic dream ring folder if that''s the case and pick out my own stone

 

[mrssalvo]

I just heard back from Solomon Brothers and told me that I could not by the setting w/out the center stone. Please let us know what you find out when you double check.
Bill Pearlman also said the same thing when I asked him again

 

[piccolascimmia]

Bummer, I''ll have to email the salesperson who told me that to see if she was wrong. Thanks for the update.

In any case, I''ll try to post my latest asscher options here soon...

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 4/20/2006 11:27:16 AM
Author: mrssalvo
I just heard back from Solomon Brothers and told me that I could not by the setting w/out the center stone. Please let us know what you find out when you double check.

Bill Pearlman also said the same thing when I asked him again

Oh my gosh, you guys gave me such a scare. I''d have an awfully hard time explaining why we have to buy a whole new e-ring setting BEFORE WE''RE EVEN MARRIED.

Because the moment those Daniel K split crowns start going up for sale on the blackmarket (or on the up & up)... there''s gonna be a lot of crying & deal making going on at my place!

 

[mrssalvo]

no kidding deco, I was almost ready to do a serious happy dance

 

[piccolascimmia]

Sorry to get everyone''s hopes up! Now i''m a little depressed about it

 

[in search]

Have you found your asscher yet????

 

[piccolascimmia]

Not yet, but I''m trolling thru what seems like a million online sites to search for my asscher parameters...it just seems like too many places to buy one, and I cant seem to focus on 5 to compare, let alone 2.

This weekend I''ll likely end up at Solomon Bros and Union Diamond here in Atlanta to check out a few more in person before feeling comfortable enough to buy a setting/diamond online. A few weekends back I got to see 3 ~1.5 carat stones - a G, H, I, VS1/VVS2s and i believe good and vgoods for cut. I ended up liking them all, with the H seeming to be the best mix of price, size, and how much I liked how it looked. I think I need a few more sessions like that to really know which numbers I place a value on...and only in person did some of the advice/numbers I''ve absorbed here on PriceScope make sense to me.

But if anyone has any leads on gorgeous ~1.5 carat asschers (say $9k or less), I''d love to see them!

I''ll post more on my in-shop experiences later this weekend, or if can pull together some online stones, I''ll post that too.

Thanks all!

M

 

[mrssalvo]

Have fun diamond shopping. Time always flies when I''m in a jewelry store

 

[londonblue]

Hi Pico -

I would hazard a guess that the sales lady at your store maybe meant that you could exchange the stone for a different diamond that they would sell you? Maybe a DK markup would still be there but you would get a different stone from the choices they provide? Or possibly they would search their inventory for the same ring set with less expensive stones which they could offer you to choose from?

In my experience, most big name brand places like Tiffany''s and others will never just sell you the setting. It would definitely be a bad business decision on their part if they did. Think of all the potential markup they would lose!

but setting-wise i would definitely go w/ the bottom 2, the top 2 side stones compete too much w/ the asscher and look a bit messy/busy. You''re buying the asscher for a reason, and if it''s a 1.5 ct one, you want the viewer to have a focus, w/ the rest of the ring complimenting the main attraction. Something like the bottom two constrasts the intricacy and delicacy of pave stones against the more simple and elegant lines of an asscher cut.

aside from that i don''t know anything about asschers

 

[piccolascimmia]

LondonBlue - thanks for all the info! I think that makes sense, but i''m no jeweler

I wasn''t able to go shop this weekend, so its another week of delayed gratification. I need to email my salesperson to ask if everyone''s knowledge about Daniel K settings/stones is true (i''m assuming it is, tho). But in the meantime, i found this at dscaasi (i wish they had a straight on view of it):

 

[piccolascimmia]

and another view (i dont want it to be busy, but it seems like such a unique setting)

 

[piccolascimmia]

And this is probably the harder point. So i compare asschers at every site i go to, and quickly start drowing in options and freaked out by vast differences in price. I've included a snapshot of my latest hunt...and just going by high level numbers, would y'all rule out any of the below? I'm tempted to go bigger, but also want to put an emphasis on cut/color (trying to stay away from I color, but what [perceived] bargains!)...any help for this newbie would be appreciated

 

[piccolascimmia]

My Solomon Bros saleswoman replied to my email and confirmed that she cant breakup the Daniel K stones and settings. Sorry for the misinfo!

 

[piccolascimmia]

Hi all - I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a chance this weekend to look at 7 asschers at two jewelers here in Atlanta. One stone really stood out and I would appreciate your opinion on it any aspect of it:
2004 GIA cert, 1.29 carat
E Color
VVS1
$8700
6.11 x 6.05 x 3.97 (1.01 ratio)
depth 65.6%
table 64%
Girdle med-stk
polish/symmetry - g/g
no flourescence

I was hoping for a ~1.5ish, and saw a few Gs & Hs ~1.6ish carats. The only other time I’ve looked at asschers in person, I saw G''s, H''s and I''s and thought I was happy with a G’s overall color and price (but not that stone in particular). This time I saw E, F, G, H. Oh my goodness, the E was incredible – very white, and to me the cut was great – I could see the symmetry and the steps and the windmills…and the G/H''s were so yellow next to it.

I could see no problems with it, and only one itty bitty dot in it when using a loupe. We looked at larger/more expensive stones, but I kept coming back to this smaller 1.29 E (against a little voice in my head that kept saying “look for a bigger one!”).

When I saw the cert’s good/good for polish and symmetry, I was originally apprehensive. However, the stone outshined other EXs and VGs that I saw in different colors. Should I be nervous about it being just “good”?

Of the ~15ish asschers I’ve seen in my search so far, this one by and large was the one I liked most (and also happens to be right in the budget). When it sat next to larger stones it did not show it’s smaller size as much as I thought it would (the depth is good?). I know I can’t really complain too much about an E VVS1 whose numbers all fit in the general ranges I’ve read about here.

So…I’m going to ask the vendor to look for larger stones that are close to this quality but maybe $1k more to see if I can get a bigger one that shares this E’s (maybe an F? or VS?) qualities. I’m hoping that once I know these alternatives, I can then select a stone for me.

The 1.29 E is on hold for me until Tuesday and the vendor is going to email me photos tomorrow. I’ll post them here once I have them.

And also…I tried on a few new settings, and have added them to the top of the pool of front runners J I tried on the one below, and found another online that looks a lot like it but somehow looks closer to what I have in my minds eye. Double prongs, thin band, simple.

Thanks for reading my ramble! I look forward to comments…

 

[piccolascimmia]

 

[strmrdr]

asschers have to be graded by eyeballs and if that one made your heart go patter patter and screamed im yours then it is the one for you.

 

[sanfranciscoellen]

I agree with Storm. I doubt going up $1000 will get you much of a visible size increase, and you seem to looooove this one and its color/clarity. I''m not sure of how much further I''d look, if I were you!

One thought....have you run that stone''s stats through the PS search to see if it is a comparable price? Just a thought.

Can''t wait to see the pics!

 

[piccolascimmia]

Thanks wallermama and strmrdr I know most of it is how I feel about the diamond, but wanted to make sure I wasn''t missing something striking about the numbers.

I am guessing that a bigger stone is either a drop in the color I like or a price that the practical side of me doesn''t really want my bf to pay. This seems to be a great choice within the budget. I was surprised when a voice inside my head kept saying "make sure you can''t find a bigger one that you like!". I never thought I was a size girl

When I checked for other 1.25-1.35 carat E asschers online, the price for this one seems pretty in line with the search results.

Oh, and here are the photos the jeweler just sent...he warned me they wouldnt be professional, but I must admit I''m sad they''re not the whiz bang photos I keep seeing others post.

I do love the shot with it held in the fingers...that''s what started my heart really pounding - when we took all the diamonds outside to see them in sunlight resting on my fingers.

I guess now its just a question of pulling the trigger! How long is too long to ask a reasonable jeweler to hold a stone for you?

Ciao all

 

[piccolascimmia]

Oh, and one more question. Now that we may be close to buying the stone, and they''re also working on finding a setting for me (they have one I like, but the others I posted they''d either have to order or custom make)...how much room is there to negotiate the price? How do we approach that, knowing the stone is in line with online comps?

Thanks,

Marylee

 

[strmrdr]

looks like a nice asscher :}
if the price is inline with online pricing there isnt much room to move.
If your getting the setting from the same place then they might be able to move a little on the total package.

 

[sanfranciscoellen]

Oh, lordy, that is a gorgeous asscher. Mm mmm mmmm!

I found that there was room to wiggle with my setting, but it was made by that jeweler, not a brand he had to source from somewhere else. So I am not sure about that.

I know PS tends to be a place where most people look for that sweet spot...lowest color and clarity that is still mind clean and a good value, but don''t feel bad if you fall in love with a less value oriented stone! I did (d vvs2, 1.05 ct). I know I could have found a larger stone for lower color/clarity, but not that I liked in my price range, ironically, at that time, and anyway I love it. Maybe someday I would upgrade to a larger stone with lower clarity, I won''t budge on color, but not now. I love my size and the same white sparkle you fell for!

 

[piccolascimmia]

don't feel bad if you fall in love with a less value oriented stone!

I think this is what made me hesitate and want to look for bigger...I'm a pretty practical person, and sometimes I'm even downright frugal. I thought I'd be happy with a good looking bigger stone...and then I had to fall in love with the great, smaller stone that happens to fit in the budget!

And on a somewhat related/unrelated tanget, this weekend when my bf and I looked at the stone, he gave me the oddest but greatest compliment. He said that the symmetry and order of the asscher cut fits me perfectly, and that I'm symmetrical and orderly just like the stone. I had to stop for 10 seconds to listen, repeat in the head, mull it over...and then I thought it was a wonderful compliment, cuz I like being orderly and symmetrical

So I think this is the point in my search for the stone at least where I let go, and time to move onto the setting! They're getting back to me about if they can pull any of the rings I just posted, or how much it would be to have their goldsmith create a replica. I'll keep posting more as I learn it

Thanks all!

 

[decodelighted]

I like that Asscher a lot! It does seem to have a pretty nice spread too for its weight. PLUS you''ve seen it in person and if it really "spoke" to you ... listen!

Every stone has some kind of compromise ... I compromised on table size (67%) even though I''d been looking for more "ideal" ones ... the stone itself just WOWED me. Stood out from all the others, grabbed me by the neck and growled I AM THE ONE. Your "compromise" might be ... might have found an "F" a teensy tiny bit bigger ... but how long would you have to look for one that stole your heart & had everything else "right" about it - that you''ve already found in this one? Just my thoughts ..

Can''t wait to see what you choose/setting/hand pix!!!