Engagement Ring Buying Advice

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by RiceIntegraRS

did i miss something?

https://www.revscene.net/forums/6533...ml#post9072234

[ssjGoku69]

Originally Posted by FOREVER

Initially I wanted a high spec'd .7carat mined blood diamond at the same price range (8-10k) but the guy shilled me on lab grown

Lab diamond is the way to go

[6793026]

went to a legit guy who resizes rings and does cleaning etc.
Asked him with all the rings he sized / cleaned etc; biggest ring he ever worked on was 6 karat.
Worst rings: infinity bands. Prongs gets broken, diamonds fall and hard to clean if a cheap ring.
He said with all ring being brought in, he can't tell with lab diamond or real diamond.

[Vansterdam]

Bump.. need some help fam

Is bluenile still the go to spot ?

Finna get serious with integragirl

[bcrdukes]

I don't think it really matters. Shop around and find a place that meets your criteria and run with it. Congrats!

[RiceIntegraRS]

congrats!, Bluenile is where i got my engagement ring, i also considered James Allen and went shopping in person at a couple places. But yes, figure out ur budget, what kind of diamond shape she wants, setting ect. then itll all fall into place.

[Simplex123]

Originally Posted by Vansterdam

Bump.. need some help fam

Is bluenile still the go to spot ?

Finna get serious with integragirl

I'm currently working with Aaron from the RFD thread recommended by Oleophobic. His pricing is quite competitive and you just pay GST when buying from ON.

This site is also really resourceful:
https://beyond4cs.com/shapes/round/ideal-proportions/

Originally Posted by Oleophobic

Hey guys, I've posted in this thread before last year about being in the market for an engagement ring.

This is long overdue but I really want to share my ring purchase experience. Life got busy and I never really had a chance to sit down and type this all out.

Anyway, I purchased my ring through Aaron aka thediamondshopper and it was the best decision I made. For those of you who don't know he's the OP in this RFD thread:

Have questions about diamonds and engagement rings, ASK ME ANYTHING... - RedFlagDeals.com Forums

You can also find reviews of him online.

Anyway, in early 2016 I decided to start my research on engagement rings as I was planning on proposing to my girlfriend of 11 years. As an RFDer, I of course came across his thread above and was quite sure it would contain all the information I needed to make an informed purchase.

At the time I was simply doing research and therefore my plan was to get a crash course on the 4 Cs online through Google to get a basic understanding, then read through his thread above (as well as this thread ) to get a deeper understanding of what to watch for beyond the 4 Cs. Finally, I figured I would be able to take what I learned and purchase my ring on BlueNile or James Allen, thereby saving me lots of money compared to purchasing from a brick & mortar store.

That was my plan but as I read through the thread, I came across a few reviews people have posted of their experience purchasing through Aaron (I had no idea this was an option). I gave it a bit of thought but eventually bit the bullet and initiated the conversation with Aaron. Looking back this was the best decision I made. I'll lay out the process in points below to make it easier to read.

1. I first PM'd Aaron on RFD to ask some simple questions about diamonds and the conversation moved over to email once I decided I would be purchasing from him. This was at the end of April 2016.

2. I gave him my criteria and budget and sent him pictures of ring designs I liked and also used the videos on his Youtube as references. I also emphasized that I needed the ring by the end of June as I was planning on proposing on a trip in early July.

3. Over the next 1.5 weeks we narrowed down the perfect balance of cut, clarity, carat, and colour that would fit my budget and he also answered questions I had regarding the type of band (accent diamonds, 14k vs 18k white gold or platinum).

4. He came up with 8 great diamonds for me to consider (his form showed the Grading Lab #, 4 Cs, price,fluorescence, Dimensions, Grading Lab (all GIA), Comments (all Hearts&Arrows), additional notes) and we worked together to narrow it down to the one I wanted. Once we narrowed it down to the diamond, I put down an $80 deposit to hold the ring. For those who know, I checked all 8 under the Holloway Cut Advisor (HCA) tool and they all scored <2 which is what you want)

5. When the diamond came in, Aaron sent me images (ASET, Idealscope, and magnified closeups of inclusions) and explained to me what they were and assured me it was top quality. He would never recommend poorly cut diamonds.

6. For the ring, I ended up liking a design I found online and Aaron confirmed he would be able to get his designer to make the same ring. I put down a 20% deposit to get the ring started. He also provided free engraving on the band which I really appreciated and took full advantage of .

7. When the design was almost ready, he sent me a computer rendered image of the ring and it looked great.

8. When the ring was complete, I paid the remainder of the invoice, provided the shipping address.

9. As we are approaching the end, he sent me a video of the ring as well an appraisal report.

The video is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE3T8slAMqQ

10. On June 28, he shipped the ring and sent me the tracking information.

11. On June 29th, the ring arrived and it was absolutely beautiful.

After I proposed I realized my initial estimate of my fiancee's fingers were way off. I had estimated a 5.25 ring size but she was actually a 3.5! I trusted Aaron more than the local stores so I actually shipped the ring back to Aaron to get it resized and everything was done perfectly without a hitch.

To this day, I am so glad I went with Aaron because I've done some comparison shopping and the equivalent diamond and band would have cost a lot more at Spence's and Birk's.

I could have bought something off BlueNile/James Allen but I would have had to put in so much more effort and possibly end up falling short because there is so much more to diamonds than the 4Cs. Aaron took all the guesswork out of diamond shopping. I HIGHLY recommend getting in touch with him if you're looking to purchase the best looking diamond for your budget while taking the guesswork out of it.

I posted this review on RFD as it was long overdue. Hopefully you guys find it helpful.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Absolutely the best purchase I've ever made.

Side note, one of my coworkers bought a ring from Birk's for literally double my price, 30% smaller (carat-wise) and IMO had no sparkle. Before I bought my ring I had chatted with this coworker about rings which was why he brought the engagement ring he bought to work. I was extremely underwhelmed when he brought it out and honestly feel bad he got ripped by the store so badly. I guess that's what happens when you walk into a random store and purchase on the spot lol....

[Hondaracer]

are his diamonds GIA cert?

Imo the GIA cert from Bluenile etc. is worth any price difference both in insurance purposes and piece of mind for what you’re getting

[Simplex123]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

are his diamonds GIA cert?

Imo the GIA cert from Bluenile etc. is worth any price difference both in insurance purposes and piece of mind for what you’re getting

They are GIA certified. He's able to source both mined and lab diamonds and works closely with designers so you're able to customize your setting.

[68style]

That's a long writeup from a guy desperately trying to sound like he did everything possible not to get jobbed... but still did no matter what kind of deal he thinks he got lol...

[lilaznviper]

Originally Posted by Vansterdam

Bump.. need some help fam

Is bluenile still the go to spot ?

Finna get serious with integragirl

shop around locally first to see the type of diamonds, size, color, shine you want and price range and then compare with bluenile to see pricing and design.

most of the time local stores should be able to custom make your band if they don't have anything you like and they will teach you about the 4 C in the diamonds.

[6793026]

You can design all you want and think you want the best... don't do it.
take your fiance to the store eg// tiffany so they will get the most attention.
I went to Holts so it was less busy, the chick was a gemologist.
it shattered what my wife THOUGHT she wanted into what she ACTUALLY wanted.
I told her..are you sure you want 4 prong square shape with rose gold cause it's fulgy.
NO, i want ROSE gold for sure, confirmed it like 3 times.

After going to TIff, "she settled" for princess thing band, silver with 6 prong. Thin band.

Lastly, i bought the closest one within my budget online, fedex to my house, it would have been easily 40% more if i got it at a store or 60% more if it was from Tiff.

[RiceIntegraRS]

^this. The ring i would of picked for my wife was completely different than the 1 she wanted. Remember ur spendings thousands of dollars on this ring, and shes gonna be wearing it everyday. shes gonna want to have some input on what shes wearing.

[6793026]

^ she says she loves it and wants to wear it everyday. For now she wears it.
It's been almost a 14 months and she wears it 90% of the time.

If you ever have kids, she's going get fat and then it won't fit and it'll be in a drawer somewhere. Just keep that in mind. Don't go into debt for it.

[threezero]

Originally Posted by FOREVER

Forgot if I chimed in here LOL

Bought a engagement ring for le gf/finance/etcetc from a guy my friend used (literally hole in the wall, with a GEOCITIES website)

S/O is pretty plain jane, asked her about her opinions about real/lab grown and she didn't really care as long as it was plain and simple.


Ended up with a simple band,1.23 carat lab grown diamond, on a white gold band for about $8000 cash


Initially I wanted a high spec'd .7carat mined diamond at the same price range (8-10k) but the guy shilled me on lab grown

Ethic and end cost to consumer and morality aside. There is huge reason why lab grown diamond is being shilled so hard and specifically popular with western society.

Lab grown diamond offer way high profit margin for a jeweller. Sometimes up to 40% better margin versus natural diamond. Lab grown diamond are also a one time sale item. There are zero resale value on lab grown. Natural diamond as investment is very debatable but there is a secondary market on graded natural diamond.

Resetting diamond/reselling jewellery isn’t really a big thing in western society. But jewellery as an “Investment” is kind of a thing in the East.

Takeaway from taking to a buddy that is heavily involve in the industry.

[Vansterdam]

Thanks for all the input guys

I let her choose the shape, band material, size and band design which I think really helps narrow it down to finding the perfect one.

rest is up to me

ended up going with Aaron from diamondshopper/redflagsdeals (I browse that website multiple times a day and never thought about looking there, before reading up a few pages on this thread)

after doing my own research on the 4cs and everything else, I think I made a good choice going with Aaron.]

his prices seem to be better then bluenile/jamesallen + most places and the quality and service is there.

[Simplex123]

Originally Posted by Vansterdam

Thanks for all the input guys

I let her choose the shape, band material, size and band design which I think really helps narrow it down to finding the perfect one.

rest is up to me

ended up going with Aaron from diamondshopper/redflagsdeals (I browse that website multiple times a day and never thought about looking there, before reading up a few pages on this thread)

after doing my own research on the 4cs and everything else, I think I made a good choice going with Aaron.]

his prices seem to be better then bluenile/jamesallen + most places and the quality and service is there.

Nice! He's able to source some great diamonds and is very willing to work with with you to make sure you're happy without giving any pressure.

He was able to give me 9 diamonds to choose from and when I did some more research I told him more in detail what I wanted. He went over the pros and cons about what I read online and gave me 6 more new options - all within and below my provided budget!

The diamond I chose just came in earlier this week and the ASET and H&A diagrams look perfect! Working on the setting with his designer now and they're gonna get me a CAD drawing next week.

[Oleophobic]

Holy it's been almost 6 years since I posted that review of Aaron / Diamondshopper. Glad it worked out for you guys!

[k3mps]

Bump.

Anyone have experience with Pure Diamond in DT Van?
I have an appointment with him on Thursday as he's got a 20% promo and his diamond prices are very impressive.

Thanks

[mikemhg]

Anyone willing to post how much they spent on their engagement ring? I don't feel like going back 14 pages, but I'm curious, overall.

[Traum]

I'm not embarrassed to admit this now, but I certainly had no intention of announcing it in public back when I got married.

With explicit consent from le GF, I bought a moissanite ring for < $1k as our engagement ring. I gave her the choice of us buying something in the $10 - $20k range, or the option to spend that money on our wedding and down payment for an apartment. Thankfully, she picked the latter LOL~

[underscore]

It's been a while but it wasn't overly expensive, I think $300-350ish?

[mikemhg]

Damn $300-$350?! That's it?! Your wife is a real one.

My GF showed me a damn ring for $6K and I laughed at her. Now I'm wondering if I'm being cheap

[Mikoyan]

What does $6k get you nowadays? I paid around that for a custom 1ct vs1 G solitaire ring 12 years ago.

[SSM_DC5]

I spent very little relatively speaking because she didn't want a diamond. She wanted morganite.