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[quote=Anonymous]Are you really set on buying a diamond ring? Many people are okay not getting a diamond ring. There will be many people who will tell you that you are wasting your money, either by telling you that CZ is just as beautiful, or by mentioning any of the other common reasons such as De Beers' monopoly, artificial supply restriction, ecological impacts, exploitation, and etc.

If you have considered all of the various reasons and still want a diamond, then I offer the following:

At the price you are looking at, you should be able to find a 1ct round diamond that is eye clean with decent color and great cut. I recommend that you don't get hung up on the setting because it can dramatically increase the purchase price. My wife's engagement ring was a plain 4-prong platinum solitaire setting and it worked really well, accentuating the size of the diamond stone. Later on, on our 10-th anniversary, I upgraded her ring to a larger stone and felt comfortable with a more elaborate setting, but even then stayed fairly modest with "only" a $2k setting. A plain platinum solitaire setting should be about $600-$700. I do prefer the whiter platinum over white gold.

Now on the the stone, don't get cute, stay with tried and true round stone. I don't believe any local jewlers will be able to beat internet prices on a certified stone from GIA or AGS, which are perhaps the only two certification bodies that are wroth anything. EGL is a distant third and their stones are heavily discounted. If a stone is of good quality, it is worth it for the stone seller to get it certified by GIA or AGS, so if a stone does not have a cert from one of these two labs... it must not be all that great.

Pricescope.com is the google for diamonds. You can go on there and search for diamonds to your heart's content. When you are searching I recommend that you aim for a diamond with "ideal" or "excellent" cut. The color should be I or better, and clarity should be SI1 or better. Pricescope's default search options are actually a great match for your needs. You'll see that the search results return diamonds in the 5-6K range, and add a setting, there's your $7k ring.

You'll see something listed as "virtual inventory", this is where the same diamond is listed for sale by many different shops. Whoever sells it will have the diamond shipped to them first, mounted, and then the finished ring is shipped to you. You don't actually get to see the diamond or the ring until it arrives via FedEX. Both of my wife's rings were delivered this way and we were very happy with the results.

Some times, a shop will also have in-house inventory, some of the better online sellers will keep really good stones to themselves in this way. A couple of shops that have great reviews are Bluenile.com and Whiteflash.com. Both of my rings were purchased through Whiteflash.com - not out of any allegiance to the shop, just turned out that way. I would have been just as happy with Bluenile, I am sure, as well as any of the other shops that list their inventory through pricescope.com.

So the end summary is this: a diamond is something that you can buy completely sight unseen. The certificate describes every single notable characteristic about the diamond and there will not be any surprises. If a diamond has any issues, it will be noted. Most "ideal" or "excellent" diamonds will look stunning in person. Buying a diamond is not like picking a pumpkin. All of the shops will also offer a refund if you don't want to keep the ring. For example, Whiteflash offers a full refund guarantee - again just because I have experience with them, I am sure other shops also offer a similarly good return experience.

Good luck!
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