How many diamonds have you bought since PS? 'Fess up!

[rubybeth]

She's a clothes horse and a shoe fanatic, though, so I have said on more than one occasion, "Nobody wants to inherit GRANMA'S PANTS!!"

Glad you and Phoenix got a kick out of that, Lottie!

 

[gemgirl]

I've bought nine certified diamonds since joining PS but their purchase had nothing to do with Pricescope. They were pieces I always wanted. I bought my e-ring pear and the two loose diamonds that became my stud earrings before PS. I wish I had known about trade-up policies back then but no matter now. No regrets. They're all gorgeous stones.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

My studs are a whopping 0.33 tcw, so they don't count.
My Mahenge has 0.2tcw diamond sides, so that doesn't count either.
My 0.3 OMC barely scrapes by, but it is pre PS
So I guess only my 0.35 OMC pendant, bought from a lovely PSer who wasn't wearing it much.

But if you include my colored stones, then I will beg off counting.

 

[rosetta]

Only 3.

The rest were given to me so don't count.[/quote]

Was any of them influenced by PS or has anything to do wt PS? If so, pls count them!

Yes, all of them were post PS.

Honestly, I dont know how many as I have both diamond bangles and a diamond necklace that has dozens of stones above 0.20 cts.

I was only going to count my 0.8 ct pendant and earrings which are .35 cts each. The rest were all given to me after family found out about my PS influenced obsession.

 

[Black Jade]

If I had waited for PS to exist for my engagement ring to be bought, I wouldn't have had an engagement ring for the first 25 years of my marriage. Age is a factor here, I think--some of us have been married for some time.

I got on here because my husband was buying me a 25th anniversary ring. I would have got a ring anyway, so I don't know if that is PS inspired. I would have got a beautiful diamond anyway, because I had already discovered Blue Nile in my search to get the best deal, where I ended up buying. I didn't post and ask questions at first, I read and read all the information I could find about diamond quality and a whole bunch of older posts. I also got books from the library and read and read and went to brick and mortar stores and asked questions. I ended up getting the anniversary ring I treasure. I partly didn't ask questions because from reading the older posts, I knew that the advice I would get would be to go down in color to get a bigger size and to go to a vendor who had an upgrade policy. This was the standard PS advice at that time (200 I knew I would never upgrade and I didn't want to go down in color. I ended up with F color--at that time PS advice was usually to go to H or I (though there were some who had J's who posted photos of how beautiful they were). PS did make me comfortable to try SI1 clarity, though, which I probably would not have done otherwise--my budget would have allowed for .50 VS clarity in F and I went up to .66 which made me very happy.
My earrings were totally a PS purchase. I posted on this forum as soon as I found out my hubby was giving me the money and I went with PS advice all the way. I am so grateful to Ellen and Lorelei and others who helped find my stones and to the people at Whiteflash who worked with me and met my concerns about clarity and color. I considered going to BlueNile for this purchase, since the first one was so great, but they only had screwback earrings which I didn't want to do. I loved the Whiteflash 'experience' and customer service and it made my present extra special.
I think I was in 'stage two' at this point--I forget who posted that summation of the three stages of being on PS. I remember going to diamond dealers in my area and being so shocked that that they had (gasp!) EGL certified stones and didn't know about the various PS tools that I didn't even look at their diamonds to see if they looked good or not. I was so above all that and I knew I wanted only AGS 000 ideal cut stones always and forever. Fortunately I met a lady at my church who was also on Pricescope and had gotten information here and used it to go ahead and buy from one of the local jewellers. she had gotten a GIA 'very good' that was an amazingly beautiful stone and really was not worse than my ideal cut to my eyes (and we compared the two diamonds in all kinds of light situations because she was curious too and afraid that her stone was inferior). then I went back on PS and read more old posts adn understood after that that there was an issue with many lovely stones being passed over since internet shopping began because they didn't have perfect numbers and people were using the certs rather than their eyes. There was a lot of interesting discussion on here about that at one time. AFter that, I started to think more about what I saw, and while I continued (and do still continue) to use PS tools and read posts (especially old posts) when I want to learn something, I got confident about shopping on my own, and I searched out a local appraiser to help me (since I realize that I am not a jeweller and that they have training that I don't have and never will.) I learned how to make sure there was a good return policy where I shopped and used it to my advantage. I have gotten many excellent deals. I feel that I owe it all to Pricescope, and honestly, I wouldn't shopping for diamonds in this economy if I had become a VERY informed consumer due to Pricescope. That's my story.

 

[jeweln]

I have always loved diamonds ,but did not know what to buy and where to buy them from prior to PS !
I do not like mall jewelry stores .I had 2 solitaire rings ,but I was not satisfied with their performance .since joining PS last year I have bought a 5 stone ring GIA xxx(Bluenile ) ,WF ACA studs ,IDJ GIA ex pendant and have a long wish list which keeps changing depending on the latest threads in SMTB !

 

[Rhea]

I like older cuts, but sometimes find matching them to be hard. I've bought several in an attempt to match up my first set of OEC earrings. I sold the ones which didn't work out.

2 OECs (now sold)
1 OEC (kept - loose stone)
2 OECs (now earrings)
1 OEC set in ring (kept ring intact, too pretty to take apart)
2 OEC set in 2 rings (both sold)

So that was the matching earrings - from that it looks like I kept 1 loose stone, 2 stones for earrings, and 1 complete ring.

I have also bought:
single cut diamond ring to wear as wedding band - not sure of total weight, but about 35 small, single cut stones
loose OEC for larger pair of earrings, though it may be set into a ring until I can find it's match
parcel of OECs to make larger eternity ring - about 1.5 ctw - but all are still loose

I voted over 10, but I haven't kept about half of those and most have been smaller stones - all the OECs were about 0.30-0.40 in weight except my most recent purchase.

 

[Phoenix]

Keep voting, ladies and gentlemen...very interesting indeed!

What's most suprising to me is the number of ppl who bought their erings before PS and haven't bought anything since coming across this site. I knew obviously there must've been some, but nonetheless am surprised by how many there are. Goes to show that pre-conceived notions are never a good thing! Duh, Phoeonix!

 

[Phoenix]

Only 3.

The rest were given to me so don't count.[/quote]

Was any of them influenced by PS or has anything to do wt PS? If so, pls count them!

Yes, all of them were post PS.

Honestly, I dont know how many as I have both diamond bangles and a diamond necklace that has dozens of stones above 0.20 cts.

I was only going to count my 0.8 ct pendant and earrings which are .35 cts each. The rest were all given to me after family found out about my PS influenced obsession.

That is *definitely* a count over 10 then, not 3! (esp after I looked at yr thread again and realised the significant beauties you have).

 

[sillyberry]

Keep voting, ladies and gentlemen...very interesting indeed!

What's most suprising to me is the number of ppl who bought their erings before PS and haven't bought anything since coming across this site. I knew obviously there must've been some, but nonetheless am surprised by how many there are. Goes to show that pre-conceived notions are never a good thing! Duh, Phoeonix!

We bought my e-ring/wedding band post-PS, but it wasn't particularly influenced by PS (a cushion modified brilliant purchased from a B&M). I fell in love with the setting pre-PS and never waivered. My mom surprised me with a pair of diamond earrings for my law school graduation, post-PS, but again, not influenced by PS. I did use Hearts of Water for a setting for a colored stone I already owned, who I definitely learned about from PS.

At some point in life I want something like a substantial 5-stone ring as an e-ring alternative, but that's at least several years away. I will probably use a PS vendor whenever that happens.

But otherwise - I'm definitely here for the social aspect, not the sparklies. I don't even spend time ogling on Show Me the Bling!

 

[Allison D.]

I can't answer this without getting hauled off to the funny farm.

 

[Kaleigh]

I came to PS looking for an eternity band.... Got that, and several other eternity bands...GRRRR ( No they are lovely..)

Then got that asscher itch!!!! Thanks to Karl he found the perfect one. Then the setting, OMG an ongoing killer process which I bored many of you to tears with...

Was I going to stop there???

Nope the oval with half moon sides , a la Leon mege.. GOG did the oval, and what a search that was... Did I say I was picky?? No bow ties, etc...LOL..

Diamond studs...Gorgeous from WF. DD is wearing them proudly and has taken great care of them. I said you lose one of these?? You'll be in big trouble.

I am done...

I have more than I need, and love what I have. I love PS for educating me. It's been a lot of fun...

But you didn't ask about colored stones..... I am not done in that department!!!

 

[LGK]

Erm, I'm supposed to count? Only sorta in chronological order:

1. 1.22 ct N / SI1 OEC.
2. 1.08 ct pinkish brown OEC, sold
3. 14K eternity band with a cool millgrained design alternating square boxes and marquis shapes
4. 3.39 ct OEC in a triple halo setting, setting sold
5. Filigree & diamond setting with a 3 ct blue zircon
6. .55 ct J/VS OEC, still unset, YG tiffany setting, scrapped
7. .55 ct J/I1 OEC in a pretty fishtail setting with some graduated single cut side stones
8. 4 or 5 ct platinum line bracelet, sold
9. .70 ct very white OEC set in a cool etched rock crystal pendant/brooch with amazing platinum & diamond filigree
10. .65 ct M/VS OEC in a really hideous '60s YG setting, diamond unset, setting will be scrapped
11. About a zillion platinum & diamond filigree watches- Longines, Hamilton, etc. Actually about 5 or 6 of them, not quite a zillion!
12. 2 ct transitional cut in platinum fishtail '30s setting, sold
13. 3.5 cttw sterling Victorian filigree chandelier earrings, ~.80 ct each center OMCs.

The only two things I bought retail, brand new:
1. 1.50 ct U/V light brown AVC, set in a rose gold bezel bracelet from BGD
2. Victor Canera platinum "Sophia" setting with 1.24 cts custom cut tapered M colored French cuts.

I... think that's it. Maybe. Yeah, I'm bad. Actually I had the watches prior to PS, I swear!

Don't ask me about the pearls... just don't!

I keep saying, oh I'm done, I don't need anything else. Then I end up finding something that is a ridiculously good deal (since I buy 2nd hand pretty much exclusively) and it comes home with me. The most recent examples being the .70 ct center stone, platinum filigree pendant and the .65 ct M OEC. The latter came home, er, today from work because it needed to be adopted. Needed! It was abandoned there in it's ugly setting and it was beautifully cut, and and... I got nothing, no excuse!