Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with diamond and engagement

Social Stigma of Buying Used Ring Solely for Diamond?

2legit2quit — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:50:17 -0800

Used Engagement Ring: I am ready to ask the most wonderful person I have ever met to marry me. However, before I can do that I need a ring. Buying a used ring seems to carry a negative reputation among some people and I can understand some of their arguments. My question is whether buying a used ring for the diamond itself and having a new setting made carries that same negative reputation. And, if I do buy a ring for the stone, will my jeweler have a hard time using it once it has already been in another setting? My girlfriend has her heart set on a nice one carat diamond ring and I intend to give her one. However, I have my heart set on asking her to marry me in a special way that will also cost a significant amount of money (I would like to surprise her with a trip to Paris and propose there). I only have a limited amount of money and am trying to find ways to have everything we both want as part of the engagement. This includes making sure that our flights and hotels are as cheap as possible and also trying to fly during off-peak seasons. Another way that I see to save a little is to buy a used diamond and have my jeweler place it in a new setting. The prices for diamonds seem to be more than half as inexpensive for buying used and I have even seen a number of really ugly setting with very nice diamonds go for even less on E-bay and Craigslist. Will I be asking for heartache if I go down this path?

And, do you have any further recommendations on how to acquire a loose diamond inexpensively?

If it helps, I am located in Georgia (the state not the country).

Like the one ring, but with less evil.

SNWidget — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:32:30 -0800

EngagementRingFilter: I'm coming upon that time in my life - I'm going to buy a ring and propose to my wonderful girlfriend. My problem is, though, that no matter how much I look up, and what I read, I still can't wrap my head around buying an actual ring. She wants something like this, but I can't see to find anything. Help! Issues: I'm looking for something within the next few months. She doesn't care if it's a real diamond or man-made, but no cubic zirconium. She does want a diamond, though, so recommendations for other stones aren't entirely helpful. She prefers the three stones as in the photos linked above, and no solitaires. The ring in the photos was purchased as Wal-Mart as an example of something she'd like. It doesn't have to match perfectly, though, just the general aesthetic.

The Quest: I've looked at various online websites, and nothing seems to match up. I feel like I'm going about this whole search wrong. I've been avoiding mall stores, because I was told that, but most of the local diamond dealers seem to be less than helpful. I'm in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, if that matters at all.

Question: Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to find something, either real or man-made in that style? My price range is somewhere under $3000, but I can go higher if I find something I absolutely love. Size of the stone isn't a big deal... I just feel completely out of my depth in finding this.

Thanks Hivemind - I've looked at past questions, but they all seemed to be not quite what I was looking for.

Any suggestions/advice/general recommendations for engagement ring shopping is much appreciated.

A diamond ring that takes a licking and keeps on, um, ticking

range — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:36:33 -0800

Help me find a diamond ring setting that my wife can't break. Back when Mrs. Range and I got engaged, she decided she didn't want a diamond ring because she didn't want something she could break, and her life wasn't really conducive to being gentle on her hands. She's an engineer who does development work, and we couldn't imagine a ring that would survive working a lathe, crushing sugar cane w/ rocks, etc.

However, 8 years in, my mom wants her to have her engagement ring (awww!), and we're re-evaluating. The diamond is about 1 carat, in what I'm guessing is a brilliant cut or some similar round cut.

So the question is: Is there a setting, or a class of settings, that holds the diamond securely and isn't likely to snag on stuff? We're talking more-or-less in the neighborhood of "I want to be able to punch a heavy bag from time to time." Or are we dreaming, and if so, what's the sturdiness upper limit? The naive Google search suggests that tension settings may be our solution, but it's unclear how rugged they really are and how much of that is based in marketing, rather than reality.

Where to buy blue diamonds?

pooya — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:32:00 -0800

I'm in the market for a blue diamond engagement ring...anyone have any experience with any blue diamond jewelers in the NYC area?

Diamond in the rough?

lannanh — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:00:57 -0800

Unique Engagement Rings in NYC or SF? My bf currently lives in NYC and I am visiting him this weekend. He wants to go shopping for rings *eeeeiiii!!!!!* I'm in SF and he's here often so suggestions in both cities would be great.

We are already going to check out the Clay Pot and Niwaka does anyone have any other suggestions of where to go to find something unique? Is it even worth it to stop by the Diamond District? Also, suggestions on conflict free diamond sellers would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, the ring I really love is from Krikawa (the Carved Wing) but he wants to buy it in person. Maybe some good testimonals would sway him.

Where to get an old ring?

greta simone — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:57:02 -0800

Where can I find estate/antique jewelry in the Triangle area? My friend is coming into town (Chapel Hill) to seek my help in picking out an engagement ring for his girlfriend. I have been put in charge of finding places to take him. He wants to look at vintage/estate/antique rings and my google-fu isn't too stong on this one, nor is my yellow-pages-fu, or my craigslist-fu. I would prefer actual stores and not online stores or online listings.
Also, seeing as how I hate driving, I would like for these places to at least try and be limited to Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Pittsboro (which we are definitely going to hit up--I'm thinking with all the antique stores down there this would be a good idea, right?), Hillsborough, and the lower end of Durham (I get lost in north Durham).
Also I hate driving to Raleigh. But if there is somewhere in Raleigh that we absolutley have to go to because there is a huge selection with reasonable pricing, then by all means, let me know.
Also keep in mind that this is going to be about a $4,000 kind of buy not a $100,000 kind of buy, so don't send me to an auction house or something.
Thanks in advance for the help-

Engagement ring insurance

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:10:15 -0800

Help me insure my future fiancée's (I hope) engagement ring! Insurance requirements:
-Covered in both USA and Europe (Ruling out Jeweler's Mutual)
-Standalone (No homeowners or renters insurance to put a rider on)
-Sensible premiums for a ring that will cost me ~$3k (appraisal info below)

Insurance Desires:
-Cash replacement policies are awesome. I would rather pay premiums on an appraisal near my purchase price and buy my own replacement if the ring is lost than have to pay premiums on an artificially inflated appraisal and get whatever poorly cut gem the insurance company can buy for cheap and give me.

-I would love a Chubb policy, but I keep getting responses from Chubb agents saying that they have a $250 minimum premium. This seems to conflict with the $50 minimum premiums offered by Bluenile.com. Does Bluenile have some sort of special deal? Should I just be talking to more agents further and further away from home?

-I'm buying this from a Jeweler friend who owns a little shop in town and will provide an appraisal ranging from near what I paid to the ridiculously inflated appraisals most of the chain stores provide, depending on what I want. I would love to be able to purchase a replacement ring through him, should the need ever come up. This would be an acceptable alternative to a cash value replacement policy. (If I could specify which Jeweler I want replacements to come from, and no, he doesn't have any insurance companies he regularly works with)

-The diamond is a 0.74ct, D, SI1, Round, Ideal Plus cut, EGL cert. It's a beautiful rock and I'm concerned about making sure any policy would replace it with a gem of equal quality (And that *must* include cut quality).

What do I do now? Who do I talk to? What companies offer the things I'm looking for?

Diamond wholesalers in Los Angeles? Non DeBeers suggestions?

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:02:47 -0800

I'm looking for 1) A good diamond wholesaler and 2) A good jeweler in Los Angeles. Any suggestions? Trying to get Non-DeBeers. Any suggestions on that front? (Anonymous as noone is to know of my diamond shopping until said diamond is used in proposal :))

I'm looking for a very specific sort of loose diamond (Non-DeBeers (prolly canadian?), $2k, ~0.6 carat, H-I color, SI1 clarity, Round Class II cut), so I imagine I need a place with access to a lot of diamonds. Definite bonus points for things like bonded jewellers, buy-back guarantees, return policies, breakage guarantees to avoid baked diamonds, etc.

Is it common practice to pay with cash to avoid sales tax? If they're willing to do it, does that mean they're probably a bad business?

I talked to one Diamond wholesaler whose diamonds weren't typical Canadian-Certified, but they said they got all their rough diamonds from Australia or Canada and cut them on-site. Is that a common practice? As long as the diamond's not from DeBeers and doesn't involve human rights abuses, I'm pretty happy, so that sort of source sounds good; where can I find more companies like that?

Jeweler comes after the proposal (we'll pick out setting together if all goes well), and I'll happily take suggestions on that front.

Diamond in the rough

jasondigitized — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 05:37:20 -0800

I have to start looking for a diamond engagement ring. I am getting a lot of conflicting information on the best means of finding and buying a ring. Some people in Bermuda are telling me they have found the best deals in Bermuda. Others are saying to go to BlueNile.com. And others are telling me to go to Diamond City in NYC, etc. etc. So......where should I get the diamond, where should I get the band, or should I get them together? I don't mind traveling if I have to. Help me topple the DeBeers monopoly while at the same time making Rachel very happy.

Bling or no bling?

n'muakolo — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:03:19 -0800

Engagement ring dilemma. To get one or not? Romance is in a terrible state of affairs when a girl will post a question like this, but I would like to hear some opinions on this subject since I'm in such a quandary.

My boyfriend and I are talking about getting married, and he has asked me to decide whether I want an engagement ring or not. (I've often said tht I don't want one.) I'm torn. Btw, I'm fairly traditional, so I would only want a diamond ring.

The reasons why I don't want one:
-I don't like wearing rings much - mostly because I don't like my hands and because my hands swell a lot during the day and when I exercise, so rings are often uncomfortably tight, or too loose.
-Connection to human rights abuses (although I would only get a conflict-free diamond).
-I've heard diamonds devalue quickly.
-I don't want him to have to spend so much money on something I don't necessarily want, and something that will lose so much value, and something that is just for me. Also, he's a high school coach and doesn't have a lot of money, so for us and for him it could be better to use this money differently.
-Historical implications of the woman as property.
-I don't like what I hear about how diamond companies artificially controlling diamond supply and demand.
-Women with diamond engagement rings annoy me a bit - sometimes it feels to me like they're more excited about the ring than the upcoming marriage, and sometimes it feels almost like a fad - the accessory to have at the moment (I'm in my early twenties, and lots of friends and acquaintances are newly engaged)
-The idea of flashing around an expensive gem for the rest of my life sort of puts me off - too public an indicator of my socio-economic status.

Reasons why I might want one:
-I do think they're beautiful.
-I would be wearing a wedding ring anyway, so the fact that I don't like rings might not matter.
-I think he wants me to have one.
-My mother would be heart broken if I didn't have one, and I feel like I've been disappointing her a lot lately on unrelated matters. And my mother thinks that I would be happy having one, because it would constantly remind me of being loved by him.
-It would be exciting - constant reminder of the engagement.
-Sometimes I wonder if people would take my engagement less seriously if I didn't have one.
-A close friend had these same qualms, and has one now and absolutely loves it because it's so pretty and because it reminds her of her fiance, and because of the public aspect of marriage - the world can see that she is going to be marrying him, which is the public demonstration of their commitment to each other.

I'm ashamed of some of these pros and cons, but there they are. No one can make up my mind for me, obviously, but I would like to hear if you had (have) these dilemmas, if you wish you had one or didn't have one; if you wish your wife/fiancee had one/didn't have one.

Ooh, shiny! And strangely maple-scented!

randomination — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 06:50:55 -0800

How do I buy an engagement ring with a Canadian diamond in the UK? We are in London, and my girlfriend is from the true north strong and free. (Oh, OK then. Toronto.) Can anybody recommend an online or reality-based jewellers' that could source a Canadian diamond for us and create an engagement ring?

Or would it be a better idea to buy it in T.O. and take it home?

{
include('explanation of why we want a Canadian diamond');
include('explanation of why we want a diamond at all');
}

Thanks!

Moissanite or what?

hamster — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:00:54 -0800

Does anyone have experience with a moissanite engagement ring? I hate the diamond industry because I've been doing human rights work all my life, but those Harry Winston diamond ads make me swoon more than I'd like to admit. I like the clarity and sparkle of diamonds, but they're not an option. If you went with moissanite, are you pleased with the quality and look? How did you find a dealer? Do you feel compelled to explain that it's not a diamond all the time? Has anyone gone with another kind of human rights-friendly (no emeralds) stone and been happy with it? Something unique that doesn't draw stares of disdain from my traditional friends and family... help! Isn't it enough for marriage to be forever?