Engagement ring help on a small budget!

[Niel]

ask ritani for some info on these. Ideally the first one because its cheaper and the fluor....
http://www.ritani.com/diamonds/emerald-diamond-0-90-Carat-K-color-GIA-certified/D-M6SV7X

http://www.ritani.com/diamonds/emerald-diamond-0-91-Carat-K-color-GIA-certified/D-M6YSH2

http://www.ritani.com/diamonds/emerald-diamond-0-90-Carat-K-color-GIA-certified/D-M6YSJ0

Those would be lovely in a rose gold setting like this

http://www.ritani.com/engagement-rings/solitaire-diamond-tulip-cathedral-engagement-ring-in-18kt-yellow-gold/5600

http://www.ritani.com/engagement-rings/solitaire-diamond-cathedral-engagement-ring-in-14kt-white-gold/5386

 

[Ferdi_the_yak]

This is a rather big stretch and it's already been reduced, but...

http://loupetroop.com/listings/rings-natural-diamond-center/emerald-cut-halo-three-stone-ring-custom-made

My goodness, this is an excellent buy! So much hand presence even though the center stone is small! Basically a new setting would cost this much. I would see if he could manage the extra money because he won't be able to get anything close to this new.

Argh this is definitely an excellent buy, but they are looking at a solitaire setting.[/quote]

They may only be able to buy a 0.65-0.7ish solitaire... whereas with this ring, you'd have a much bigger look AND about a 0.6 ct center stone with a halo and sidestones and pave, oh my!!

She prefers a more "subtle" look and I think she'd consider this too extravagant. Maybe I'll have to beat them around the head a bit to get them to agree!

I found it, I found it! This is pretty much what they would like - but I guess the budget definitely has to go up if they want the baguettes

My lil girl. She's only .60 ct (certainly small by PS standards).

I originally set out looking for a bigger rock. I pretty much had it in my mind that a step cut had to be bigger in order to show any "steps" or dimension. I was (happily) proven wrong.

I had tried on several at the same time, all bigger by quite a bit, but kept coming back to this one. I really know what it means now to have one "speak to me"... Her size on paper didn't matter. Her presence made her so much larger than the others.

The setting is 18k white gold, and she's a VS (there's a little metal from the setting showing thru...that's not an inclusion) and a nice white G in color (which I really love). Straight baguettes on the shank. The ring is likely from the 1940's, according to the estate jewelry shop where I bought it. Finger size is 6.

Anyway, I'm smitten in case it's not obvious. I don't think I could be happier. The photos aren't great and I was contorting my finger so looks a little funny, but hoping the photos (and blathering) will help others who are considering emerald cuts in the smaller sizes. (I plan to buy more bands and switch them out. Ones pictured are rose gold and platinum.)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

That is about my favorite setting for an emerald cut, too. However, getting a good quality setting with baguettes is going to be almost $1500. That is why the pre-loved one was such a good deal. I think they need a reality check on prices. They either need to wait and save more money or buy on a payment plan.

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/side-stones/14k-white-gold-tapered-baguette-diamond-engagement-ring-item-7101

 

[Niel]

from my experience a lot of ruby lane sellers will consider offers.

http://www.rubylane.com/item/1030574-R2375/Vintage-diamond-engagement-ring-center

 

[msop04]

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/0.72-carat-k-color-vvs2-clarity-sku-202054

I'd put that baby on hold ASAP and have JA inspect it. This is lovely. Great find, woofmama!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Funny but the person has the 3 stone emerald ring on ebay right now, and it could go for less than it was listed on LoupeTroop. Can you show it to them to be certain they don't like it?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emerald-Cut-Diamond-Halo-Ring-VVS2-1-47-total-carat-weight-/181325087182?pt=Diamond_Solitaire_Rings&hash=item2a37d141ce

I am still looking, though.

 

[Ferdi_the_yak]

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/0.72-carat-k-color-vvs2-clarity-sku-202054

I'd put that baby on hold ASAP and have JA inspect it. This is lovely. Great find, woofmama!!

I missed this post - thank you woofmama for finding this! I'm concerned about the chip, but if it can be covered by a prong, then that should be OK. I'll pass this on to him

That is about my favorite setting for an emerald cut, too. However, getting a good quality setting with baguettes is going to be almost $1500. That is why the pre-loved one was such a good deal. I think they need a reality check on prices. They either need to wait and save more money or buy on a payment plan.

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/side-stones/14k-white-gold-tapered-baguette-diamond-engagement-ring-item-7101

Yes, I definitely think he needs to save up a bit. I suggested he consider online as even though $1.5-2K is a small budget, he'd get far more value and quality for it from the suggestions you all have posted than from what is available in the "maul" stores here in Australia - atrocious!!

Funny but the person has the 3 stone emerald ring on ebay right now, and it could go for less than it was listed on LoupeTroop. Can you show it to them to be certain they don't like it?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emerald-Cut-Diamond-Halo-Ring-VVS2-1-47-total-carat-weight-/181325087182?pt=Diamond_Solitaire_Rings&hash=item2a37d141ce

I am still looking, though.

I will send him the link and see what he thinks - I think it's gorgeous. Only problem is the seller may not ship to Australia

 

[msop04]

Funny but the person has the 3 stone emerald ring on ebay right now, and it could go for less than it was listed on LoupeTroop. Can you show it to them to be certain they don't like it?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Emerald-Cut-Diamond-Halo-Ring-VVS2-1-47-total-carat-weight-/181325087182?pt=Diamond_Solitaire_Rings&hash=item2a37d141ce

I am still looking, though.

This auction ends in less than 24 hours!! I'd contact the seller via LT and make them an offer.

 

[therese13]

It really depends on what type of gal she is...
1) If she likes larger stones and likes some color, I'd say skip the diamond and get a larger gemstone.
2) If she is more traditional, and it must be a diamond, get a small diamond solitaire - like that Good old Gold one in a simple setting. You could check out http://www.idonowidont.com/splash2/index.html - and buy a used engagement ring for less.
3) Another thought would be to get a very prett diamond band - simple, practical, affordable and still somewhat traditional. http://www.whiteflash.com/wedding-bands/annettes-u-prong-7-stone-diamond-wedding-ring-2322.htm

 

[mrs-b]

However, having said that....

If I was on a budget and I wanted a step cut and a reasonable size - I'd go with this:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/0.68-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-281104

this:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/0.71-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-278749

or this:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/emerald-cut/0.70-carat-h-color-vs1-clarity-sku-280568

mrs-blop, I'm not good at step cuts, but those stones were totally blacked out at certain angles... It seems like they wouldn't have very good light return. Can you (or someone else) comment on this? I'm trying to learn more about step cuts.

msop04,

I think that EC's are a lot more individual than RB's, which is why I think the JA '3 stone comparison' would be worth the extra dollars over the BN stone (in my opinion). Of the 3, the last one seems to perform the best, so that would probably be my pick if the JA assessment agreed with that. When you're talking about a 1k budget, and something still of a reasonable size, something has to give, so I'd go with the best cut I could find *for the budget* and go with that. I'm not a fan of warmth in stones with the mirror effect. I think it heightens the color and that's just not a look I enjoy in EC's. For a RB I'd be happy with a J, and I personally have a beautiful K colored stone that I love dearly (not my e-ring, but just a beautiful BGD stone). But for EC's, I like them as white as I can afford them, and I find that particularly true if the lady in question is hoping for a platinum or white gold setting (which, granted, I don't know).

If I wanted to further explore the cut, I tend to use David Atlas' AGS Cut Grader tool, which you can find on his website. Unfortunately, a GIA cert won't give you all the stats you need, so you'd need a Sarin report for this, but guessing at a girdle of slightly thin to slightly thick, and a crown angle of 15%, this stone comes out as a 2B, which is not too bad for a budget of this size. Certainly worth having someone look at it to see how it performed 'in the flesh'/

So that's my thinking. Ask JA for an assessment on all three, betting on number 3 as being the best of the bunch. It's a pleasant size - especially in Australia where rings, in general (not always, but in general), don't run as big as they do here, it's a nice color, it's nice and clean and its specs are acceptable.

ETA The girdle and the crown angle were total guesses on my part - but I had to start somewhere!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Ugh, you are right about the shipping issues to Australia. We were discussing on another thread the difficulty of an individual shipping jewelry to Australia (or out of the US period) because it is hard to get insurance (unless a vendor is shipping the item and has private shipping insurance).

 

[Sakuracherry]

I wouldn't worry much about shipping a piece of jewelry valued up to $5000 from US to Australia. I don't know how the customs fees work, though. EMS is pretty reliable and you can purchase an insurance up to $5000. I've shipped packages to Japan and Australia many times from US and has only one issue so far.

https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-express-international.htm

 

[Ferdi_the_yak]

Thank you to everyone who searched for options and gave me advice - I really appreciated it. I had a chat with the BF last night about what he could realistically do with his current budget. He decided he would prefer to 1) Get a diamond centre stone and 2) Save up for a bit longer to get my friend what she wants. I told him that he should be looking to probably double his budget (at least) to get a decent step cut and setting.

So I'll (hopefully) be back in a few months time with a bigger budget! Thanks again for all the help