New to the forum, hi all! My girlfriend and I were at a mall yesterday picking up a gift for my niece and for the hell of it, we walked into a couple of jewelry stores (based on my searches, this is frowned upon on this forum?). We went into Zales, and initially, my girlfriend had this idea of a cushion cut halo as the center, with trillions on the side. Total carat weight might be in the 2-2.5 area with the center stone being 1-1.5. Fine. My motto is: she's wearing this forever, she'll most likely have to get something customized, whatever makes her happy
The jeweler showed us a 1 carat princess cut diamond, I1/G. It is their trademark celebration diamond. Based on some searches, it sounds like that type of diamond, and mall jewelry stores are frowned upon here. Anyway, my GF liked it, and asked if it was possible to customize her ring using that 1 carat princess cut. She'd want two trillions on the side, total carat weight of the trillions would be .6 carats, or if she wanted to go bigger, 1 carat total weight with a 1 ct center stone halo. At the most we're looking at 10 grand, which is less than what an independent jeweler quoted me for a 1.5 cushion with half carat trillions, and it's a VS1.
At the end of the day, I want to get her what she's happy with. But I came away uneasy for a few reasons:
1) I'm not sure what type of certification Zales has. I sent a follow-up e-mail this morning to which the guy responded by saying it is certified but he wouldn't say if it's GIA or something else.
2) Celebration grand diamonds don't seem to get a lot of hype on the internet.
3) I've been told to avoid I's at all costs. I think you have to take all 4 c's into account, it's a pretty good color, but the clarity scares me off a bit. Not sure about the cut, awaiting that response
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I think the most important thing that I took away from yesterday's experience is that she doesn't necessarily need a 1.5 carat center stone. A 1 carat princess cut looked just as big as a 1.5 cushion, so we're playing around with this idea now. At the end of the day, there are two locations that are my top choices, and neither are franchise stores. We may still go to them with a different idea, but I'd just like to get people's thoughts on Zales/Celebration diamonds in general. Thanks!
Thanks.
The jeweler showed us a 1 carat princess cut diamond, I1/G. It is their trademark celebration diamond. Based on some searches, it sounds like that type of diamond, and mall jewelry stores are frowned upon here. Anyway, my GF liked it, and asked if it was possible to customize her ring using that 1 carat princess cut. She'd want two trillions on the side, total carat weight of the trillions would be .6 carats, or if she wanted to go bigger, 1 carat total weight with a 1 ct center stone halo. At the most we're looking at 10 grand, which is less than what an independent jeweler quoted me for a 1.5 cushion with half carat trillions, and it's a VS1.
At the end of the day, I want to get her what she's happy with. But I came away uneasy for a few reasons:
1) I'm not sure what type of certification Zales has. I sent a follow-up e-mail this morning to which the guy responded by saying it is certified but he wouldn't say if it's GIA or something else.
2) Celebration grand diamonds don't seem to get a lot of hype on the internet.
3) I've been told to avoid I's at all costs. I think you have to take all 4 c's into account, it's a pretty good color, but the clarity scares me off a bit. Not sure about the cut, awaiting that response
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, I think the most important thing that I took away from yesterday's experience is that she doesn't necessarily need a 1.5 carat center stone. A 1 carat princess cut looked just as big as a 1.5 cushion, so we're playing around with this idea now. At the end of the day, there are two locations that are my top choices, and neither are franchise stores. We may still go to them with a different idea, but I'd just like to get people's thoughts on Zales/Celebration diamonds in general. Thanks!
Thanks.
Not likely to be GIA graded.
and second is to figure out what she likes. Cushions and princesses arent that far off. Both square. Both can be done with side stones, princesses with trillions, cushions with chubby trillions or pears. Really they are quite similar looks.
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