Engagement and wedding rings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quest Jewelers in Merrifield. Wonderful, family-owned business. Beautiful work!

+1

+2 I first used them to size my antique family heirloom e-ring and have been using them ever since. They do beautiful work!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quest Jewelers in Merrifield. Wonderful, family-owned business. Beautiful work!

+1

+2 I first used them to size my antique family heirloom e-ring and have been using them ever since. They do beautiful work!

we used quest for our wedding rings n reset my engagement ring. it was a bit pricey but we are happy with the rings. they did mess up the engraving on my husbands ring. his ring was 18k gold but they engraved it as 14k. we never went back to have it fixed.

I also 2nd the idea of buying diamond on bluenile. I purchased mine from their and it was awesome.

[Anonymous]

OP, When you buy from White Flash, James Allen, or Blue Nile is the quality the same as shopping in store for a loose stone? I have given this some consideration and have been thinking about wanting to get a loose stone, then have a local jeweler set it for a solitaire.

What's the avg price for something within 1-1.10c, D-G, ideal cut?

[Anonymous]

We used: http://www.4diamond.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, When you buy from White Flash, James Allen, or Blue Nile is the quality the same as shopping in store for a loose stone? I have given this some consideration and have been thinking about wanting to get a loose stone, then have a local jeweler set it for a solitaire.

What's the avg price for something within 1-1.10c, D-G, ideal cut?

The benefit with buying from a place like White Flash and Blue Nile is pricing transparency. You didn't specify the clarity, so I assume you are okay with SI1. I see prices start at about $6k for a diamond like this:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3588607.htm

Here you can look at the cert for this diamond: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/certificate.aspx?idno=3588607&file_name=1

It's a triple-0 diamond certificate from AGS, just about the best you can get.

Blue Nile is less picky with their search parameters so when you look for an "ideal" diamond, they give you something cheaper like this:

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD06404398

Which is "idea" in the cut, but the polish and symmetry are not ideal. Here's the certificate for this diamond:

http://www.bluenile.com/certs/6195727405.pdf?params=cHJvZHVjdD1CTiZwaG9uZT0xKzg4OC01NjUtNzY0MSZsaW5rPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYmx1ZW5pbGUuY29tJTJGX0xEMDU5MDE0MjQmc2t1PUxEMDU5MDE0MjQmbGFiPWdpYSZjb3VudHJ5PVVTQSZjdXJyZW5jeT1VU0Qm

[Anonymous]

IGorman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, When you buy from White Flash, James Allen, or Blue Nile is the quality the same as shopping in store for a loose stone? I have given this some consideration and have been thinking about wanting to get a loose stone, then have a local jeweler set it for a solitaire.

What's the avg price for something within 1-1.10c, D-G, ideal cut?

The benefit with buying from a place like White Flash and Blue Nile is pricing transparency. You didn't specify the clarity, so I assume you are okay with SI1. I see prices start at about $6k for a diamond like this:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3588607.htm

Here you can look at the cert for this diamond: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/certificate.aspx?idno=3588607&file_name=1

It's a triple-0 diamond certificate from AGS, just about the best you can get.

Blue Nile is less picky with their search parameters so when you look for an "ideal" diamond, they give you something cheaper like this:

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD06404398

Which is "idea" in the cut, but the polish and symmetry are not ideal. Here's the certificate for this diamond:

http://www.bluenile.com/certs/6195727405.pdf?params=cHJvZHVjdD1CTiZwaG9uZT0xKzg4OC01NjUtNzY0MSZsaW5rPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYmx1ZW5pbGUuY29tJTJGX0xEMDU5MDE0MjQmc2t1PUxEMDU5MDE0MjQmbGFiPWdpYSZjb3VudHJ5PVVTQSZjdXJyZW5jeT1VU0Qm

Forgot to include it, somewhere between vs2-vvs1, does it change much?

Thanks for the helpful examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, When you buy from White Flash, James Allen, or Blue Nile is the quality the same as shopping in store for a loose stone? I have given this some consideration and have been thinking about wanting to get a loose stone, then have a local jeweler set it for a solitaire.

What's the avg price for something within 1-1.10c, D-G, ideal cut?

what kind of cut are you looking for? princess, round, oval etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, When you buy from White Flash, James Allen, or Blue Nile is the quality the same as shopping in store for a loose stone? I have given this some consideration and have been thinking about wanting to get a loose stone, then have a local jeweler set it for a solitaire.

What's the avg price for something within 1-1.10c, D-G, ideal cut?

what kind of cut are you looking for? princess, round, oval etc

OP, round, solitaire

[Anonymous]

are there any places should be avoided? Bad reputation or bad service ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, When you buy from White Flash, James Allen, or Blue Nile is the quality the same as shopping in store for a loose stone? I have given this some consideration and have been thinking about wanting to get a loose stone, then have a local jeweler set it for a solitaire.

What's the avg price for something within 1-1.10c, D-G, ideal cut?

The benefit with buying from a place like White Flash and Blue Nile is pricing transparency. You didn't specify the clarity, so I assume you are okay with SI1. I see prices start at about $6k for a diamond like this:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3588607.htm

Here you can look at the cert for this diamond: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/certificate.aspx?idno=3588607&file_name=1

It's a triple-0 diamond certificate from AGS, just about the best you can get.

Blue Nile is less picky with their search parameters so when you look for an "ideal" diamond, they give you something cheaper like this:

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD06404398

Which is "idea" in the cut, but the polish and symmetry are not ideal. Here's the certificate for this diamond:

http://www.bluenile.com/certs/6195727405.pdf?params=cHJvZHVjdD1CTiZwaG9uZT0xKzg4OC01NjUtNzY0MSZsaW5rPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cuYmx1ZW5pbGUuY29tJTJGX0xEMDU5MDE0MjQmc2t1PUxEMDU5MDE0MjQmbGFiPWdpYSZjb3VudHJ5PVVTQSZjdXJyZW5jeT1VU0Qm

Forgot to include it, somewhere between vs2-vvs1, does it change much?

Thanks for the helpful examples.

I recommend going on the sites to use the slide rules to change the parameters and help you search. Generally, I find SI1 acceptable. A SI1 diamond with a AGS or GIA cert is going to be clean to the eye. You will typically need a loupe to see the inclusions. If you are willing to spend more, I'd put the money towards a whiter color and a better cut. Given two diamonds of the same price, I'd go for a G color SI1 versus a H color VS1.

Here you can also exercise some good choices, because not all inclusions are equally visible. Here's a nice article that shows you some actual examples: http://niceice.com/diamond-clarity/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IGorman

Very overpriced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I worked with Tiny Jewel Box on Connecticut Ave, amazing pieces and they have access to top quality Canadian, conflict-free stones if that's important to you!

This place is terrible. They were SO overpriced. We went to I. Gorman and had something custom made. You can buy very traditional rings there - they're not just the "modern" stuff you see in the ads. Family owned, generations of the family work there, they are wonderful. Tiny Jewel Box were a bunch of snobby assholes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I worked with Tiny Jewel Box on Connecticut Ave, amazing pieces and they have access to top quality Canadian, conflict-free stones if that's important to you!

This place is terrible. They were SO overpriced. We went to I. Gorman and had something custom made. You can buy very traditional rings there - they're not just the "modern" stuff you see in the ads. Family owned, generations of the family work there, they are wonderful. Tiny Jewel Box were a bunch of snobby assholes.

Yeah. I'd spent plenty of money in Tiny Jewel Box over the years, but even so when we went to look at wedding rings they were utter jerks. Went around the corner to Gorman and got a lovely set that makes me happy. They have plenty of expensive stuff but we only ended up spending ~$2000 for all of our rings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I worked with Tiny Jewel Box on Connecticut Ave, amazing pieces and they have access to top quality Canadian, conflict-free stones if that's important to you!

This place is terrible. They were SO overpriced. We went to I. Gorman and had something custom made. You can buy very traditional rings there - they're not just the "modern" stuff you see in the ads. Family owned, generations of the family work there, they are wonderful. Tiny Jewel Box were a bunch of snobby assholes.

Yeah. I'd spent plenty of money in Tiny Jewel Box over the years, but even so when we went to look at wedding rings they were utter jerks. Went around the corner to Gorman and got a lovely set that makes me happy. They have plenty of expensive stuff but we only ended up spending ~$2000 for all of our rings.

So did we. And the customer service is FAB! People are pleasant. And they work with all budgets and will educate you in the process.