That looks really nice. You and her have good taste .

To the OP: I am on wife #2. My first wife was a learning experience and I bought her engagement ring at Zale’s on a day at the mall after we walked in and I asked if she liked any. She picked, I asked, she said, “Yes.” In less than a year she cheated and I was heartbroken vowing to never ever do it again...

Now happily married to my current wife and mother to both of my children, I knew she was the one I should have waited for from the second date. She changed my whole mentality on the marriage thinking. I took her shopping for rings. Nothing clicked or sparked her happiness. I took her to a wholesale diamond dealer locally that also did custom work (rings/settings etc) and had her play around with a sketch person. After about two hours she really, REALLY liked what she came up with. From sitting there I just listened and learned what she loved/wanted. That’s how I learned what style diamond cut she wanted for the main stone. After that I spent the next 5 weeks white lying about what I was doing every Tuesday after work so I could drive downtown to see if, out of the new stock of diamonds they got in, if was one good enough for her. Week five, I unwrapped “The One”. I knew it before I even looked at it with a loupe. Price was agreed upon and the wax mold was created. I signed off on the mold and one week later I had her engagement ring in my hand and my checkbook was significantly lighter. Every penny being worth it. Took her on a trip out of town to pop the question and the rest is history.

If I can bestow any wisdom to the next guy looking to get married after sharing my short story (although long to type), even in my very young age, it would be that if you aren’t willing to happily put in the actual leg work of your time and adding to your own stress of daily life to make it special for her, she isn’t the one you should marry. Not saying that is the case with you at all, but to anyone who happens to come across this post it may possibly make them think twice about what they are about to embark on.

Dang that has to be my longest post yet... I love my wife that much to share my happy story I guess.

PS: Good luck in whatever you decide to go forth with and hope you are both happy .

 

There is a company in the UK called Betts metals that sell rings to the trade. If you set up an account you get rings at trade prices.

 

While you are on this journey go watch 'Flawless' with Michael Caine and Demi Moore, just to have some fun with the high stakes diamond marketing in 1960's London.. It'll take your mind off the task of diamond shopping.

 

After seeing The Matrix Reloaded, Mr. Finch really did fit the role he was cast as in Flawless ha ha.

 

I did much the same as @STANDY, but without the overseas flights.

I took my Darlin' (second "wife") to a recommended diamond guy in the city, she picked the diamond and asked if they could do it on a simple white gold band.
I paid "some money" and then they arranged for the rest of it through their contacts.

Cost me the price of a new motorbike, but WTH. As Andy knows, "happy wife, happy life".

 

To put another option in the mix, my girlfriend (together 10 years) only really likes antique jewellery - up to 1930's. This is usually of a high quality as it predates modern mass/cheap manufacture. Old cut diamonds weren't subject to modern treatments and the fire/sparkle is different to modern brilliant cuts and once it draws you in, the appeal is similar to the difference between vintage and modern watches.

Another plus is that pieces are usually around 1/3 of modern prices.

If you find modern is your thing, I'd echo many comments that a certificate from a reputable company is important, but what she more important is how it looks to you/your partner.

Diamonds are an utterly shit investment so I'd balance off the best colour/quality, in the right weight against your budget. People get overly concerned with clarity but end up with a stone drawing a hint of yellow, other have a colourless stone with huge flecks of carbon in it. Equally I've seen people with quite small stones waxing lyrical that it's D flawless. Maybe it is, but I'd rather have a larger stone that's E, VVS2 as in reality, no one will tell the difference with the naked eye. Btw, the ones you linked above are natural but crap quality, as they're colour I and clarity Si, and that's after they've been treated to improve the clarity.

I guess what I'm saying is, it's all personal preference. Learn a bit about what's what and decide where your balance lies. As you've seen, a 0.3ct ring could cost anywhere from $300 to almost $3000 depending on quality.

 

A few years ago I bought my wife a solitaire diamond ring as a 30th wedding anniversary present from a Hatton Garden jeweller. We chose the diamond first which was a 1.01 carat brilliant cut stone of fairly decent quality - good cut, clarity and colour (cant remember exactly but it came with the GIA certificate). He took us outside in the street and showed us it through a loupe. The stone was £5,500 and then she chose the ring. A simple yellow gold and that was another £1,000 or so. I think I chipped him down to just over £5k for the pair. There is just so much mark up on jewellery but I couldn't haggle any further with the wife practically dribbling over it next to me, robbing me of my bargaining style! In 1984 I bought her a .25 carat ring, also from Hatton Garden, and I'm sure I paid about £250 back then. All her friends were amazed at HOW BIG the stone was! When you see 1 carat rings the OP is showing for a just a few hundred quid, you have to wonder why......

 

I have bought and sold more than my fair share of diamond solitaires and I will say this .... High Street pricing should be renamed High Way robbery.

Go find her a lovely vintage ring and use the difference to pay for the honeymoon!

 

And it didn't really matter, five bikes later and we're both still happy .

The latest.

(I hadn't even scrubbed in the edges when I took this shot).

 

Yes I have - you will be lucky to get 20% of the appraised value. Diamonds are one of (if not the) biggest scam in existence IMO. I'll give the industry credit though, as they created the market, "educated" the market with the 4C's and spending 3 months salary and all that BS. They manipulate the market holding inventory back so the market doesn't crash. Marketing genius that IMO puts Rolex to shame, and that's saying something.

All the diamond marketers should get a crown for their achievements...

 

My wife has the diamond ring that was presented to her great grandmother at her engagement, during the Civil War, circa 1865. It may have been a bad investment for her ancestor when he bought it, but it is hard to beat the lasting quality of a gemstone that is unchanged from the stone as it was, 153 years ago. And a stone that still gives pleasure, and will for generations yet to come.

 

I appreciate this is pedantry of the highest order but if that's the main criteria a lab created 'Ceylon coloured' sapphire would give the same result.

My main point is that modern diamonds are hugely overpriced and as @Archer says, consumers have been driven to go to for the best of the best in terms of the 4 C's, particularly colour and clarity.

Similar to vintage watches, a 10% increase in quality at the top end can cost a 50-100% premium. Unlike vintage watches this final 10-20% in quality cannot be seen by the naked eye of a layman, nor does this perceived quality actually make it a better investment (as 99.9% of modern diamonds are a terrible investment).

Hence my comment about buying a stone that appeals to you/your partner and don't pay hugely over the odds chasing internally flawless, D coloured stones unless you crave near perfection, as (again as @Archer correctly says) you're buying pure marketing.

 

I'd recommend you make a friend of a trustworthy local jeweler..
I have and it's paid big dividends... I always feel like I'm treated fairly and receive great service.
Much like my philosophy regarding watches. Stay simple with good quality. You'll be able to find a nice piece for a reasonable amount.
Good luck,
Tom

 

Another thought, do engagemens ring always have diamonds in general ?

Not being cheap here and believe me I will throw good cash in a ring but all this talk about diamonds being overrated, are any other stones popular or just a classic gold ring ?
Read elsewhere that some put peoples month stone like rugby for example ?

 

Check out the Mohs scale of hardness, comparing diamond (Mohs hardness of 10, absolute hardness 1,600) to the next hardest gemstone (ruby and sapphire, Mohs hardness of 9, absolute hardness of 400), and decide for yourself how durable coloured stones would be over decades of daily wear. No worse purchase you could make than to buy a ruby or sapphire, and expect it to compare to a diamond in durability.

https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness

 

Yep, William clearly made the wrong choice...

 

Yeah! And I’ll bet it is already scratched. And on the hands of two “kept” women, The sapphire ring worn by Kate was Diana’s. Bloody fortunate it survived the accident that took her life.

 

It appears to me that most engagement rings have some precious stone attached.

If you end up thinking round diamond, I would shoot for if you can one with a Heart And Arrow (H&A) Cut, other Cs budget driven.

 

I work in this trade and haven't seen a lot to argue with so far, particularly the bit about mark up. A few nuggets of advice I would impart, hopefully they wont take away my magic circle membership for posting this:

*Get a stone on a reputable certificate, GIA, AGS are best, IGI, HRD are next best, the others are mostly shite.
*Dont bother with anything higher than F in colour or VS2 in clarity, you will pay a large unnecessary premium for better, even HSI2 is fine.
*Quality of cut matters, just as much as colour and clarity in fact as it effects fire, go for VG or better.
*Round brilliant is King, all the other shapes trade at a large discount to rounds, many jewellers wont tell you this.
*Dont be conned into buying a cluster with lots of small melee stones all the same size, these lose the most value of all, like 90% instantly.
*Treatments such as fracture filling and laser drilling indicate a junk stone and are to be avoided at all costs.

 

Yes, but it's not always been the tradition. The only engagement ring I ever bought was a 1920s platinum ring with a central bronze pearl and sided with "his and hers" diamonds. I seem to recall I parted with $4000 ... even at "mate's rates". But don't take any advice from me ... she left and I never did see that ring again.