Where's the best place to buy a ring? I've heard that the best time to buy a ring is around Christmas and around Valentine's Day. I'm looking for a 3 stone set with the primary diamond being at least 1 ct. I'd like the primary diamond to be at least Sl2 or better, and the clarity to be at least in the GHI range. My budget is around $5,000. Where's the best place to buy a diamond ring in Houston?
Hm... I spent a lot of time on this recently, so I'll share with you my system. 1. Pick a color / clarity combo you want to target. Looks like you have. I would stay with G for color, because in the H/I range you can start telling that they get a little yellow. But then everything is relative. Also, SI1 is sometimes much better than SI2, you have to look at the map of the imperfections. The reason I say shoot for SI1 is that it's often much better than SI2, but it's way cheaper than VS2. All in all you've made some realistic choices. 2. Consider your budget. I have a copy of the November Rapaport Diamond Report, which is a reasonable (but NOT exact) estimate of diamond prices. A 1ct, G/SI1 trades at at 6200 -- diamond only. So if you go to a reasonable place you might be able to get it for 10% less... then add in the ring you're looking at 7500. On the other hand, an I/SI2 trades at 4,700, which is more under your range. Here's what you do, you have a diamond dealer show you both, and see if you can tell the difference. A G/SI1 is a substantially better quality diamond, but what she'll care the most about is how much it sparkles, and that has to do with a lot of other things like cut, etc. 3. Shop around! I'm not from the Houston area but DO NOT go to a place like Zales. Chain stores mark stuff up like 50%. You want to go to a reputable, independent jeweler. In fact, you want to go to several of them. Also, go to bluenile.com. Look for a diamond you like, they don't have high overhead so their diamond deals are pretty good. You then take a printout and ask your B&M store to match. Honestly if you can get 2-5% below the bluenile price then you're doing pretty good. I actually have a pretty quantitative system to figure out the best prices but that's hard to describe here. In any case, my advice is to shop around. I saved 10% or so by doing that and more importantly got a better diamond than I would have. It also required a dozen visits over a few weeks. But in the end I think it's worth it. It's nerve wracking but also very exciting. The diamond people are always out to get you, but if you're smart about it you can get a good deal. Good luck. Oh. Let me warn you of one more move. DO NOT fall for the following: "What's your budget?" (you tell them your budget) "Okay let me see what I can find. Okay here's two diamonds, one for (slightly above your budget) and one for (slightly below your budget), but look, you can't even tell the difference. Honest opinion you buy the second one. Now don't I want to sell you the more expensive one? Of course I do, but aren't I earnest?" I fell for this one like 3 times at three different places before I figured out a trend. Man epic post. Congratulations man.
I appreciate the reply. That advice helped a lot. Is bluenile a good place to buy the ring directly? The only thing that has me even looking at retail stores like zales is the perks/reputation of their names. Bluenile has some of the best values I've seen, but does the overall package match up against the retailers (free cleaning, certificates, etc.)
You might also save a few by buying a slightly less than 1carat diamond. You can't tell the small difference and the price will be much cheaper. "I" color diamonds are white from the top but if you take a DEF against an I from the side, you can tell it's yellower. Put some emphasis on the CUT as a properly cut diamond will sparkle and bounce off more light. I got her a Tiffany ring. I was dead set on the Tiffany setting and just couldn't find any other style that I liked. Although, I probably paid more for the name and packaging, I felt it was worth it. I also liked Bluenile and it was cool to look at what trade offs I can get by within a budget. I had that urge to customize a ring at bluenile but was slightly nudged towards Tiffany. Because of the recession, Tiffany just reduced their prices by 20% for engagement rings so you should bargain hard with any other jeweler.
G-H-I is color, not clarity. You can get ballpark price estimates on Blue Nile - they have a large selection and competitive prices. That should educate you about where the price should come in at Yipeng's advice on his point #1 is highly dependent on the shape of the diamond you're looking for (eg, round, princess, asscher, pear, cushion, etc). For a round diamond, you want to maximize the cut - it's what makes the diamond have "fire and brilliance" (or sparkle and colors for the layman...). You can relax the clarity on a round to an SI level and still not see the inclusions if you have a quality cut. Color on a round can also be relaxed if you have a quality cut. If you're looking at an Emerald shape diamond, you want to maximize the clarity, because you can see right through the thing. If you have $5k, I'd go to Blue Nile, personally. Big selection and you know you'll get a competitive price. One other thing to keep in mind - the mall stores aren't always a bad option. You can haggle with them substantially to bring your price down
Congrats CC, see my post in this thread.. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=117943&page=1&pp=20
Zadok's in Houston off Post Oak north of Westheimer is my recommendation. You can even go with Gus; he sold us our engagement and the wedding bands. Great service, friendly, nice selection, etc. Good Luck!
Sorry I meant color in the GHI range, not clarity. She likes a princess cut. Bluenile looks like a good option, but I'll try the other independent stores in Houston. I'll give the retailers a shot as well. Thanks for the congrats and advice. I'll surely be here with more questions.
Bluenile is good. You know you aren't getting ripped off by too much. However, if you find a diamond on Bluenile you can print it out and get it matched at a B&M store, and sometimes you can even beat the bluenile price. I think it's worth it to buy it at a B&M store because you may need to get it resized (even if you know her size) and you can take it in whenever you are around to get it cleaned for free. I don't know that retailers are a good option, but as long as you have bluenile as a baseline then I don't think you'll get ripped off. Good luck.
I was just going to suggest he email you through the board. Seriously, OP....this guy knows his stuff.
Quick update: I think I've found the perfect ring on BlueNile. I've come to the conclusion that princess cuts NEED to have great cut and color for the most brilliance. So I'm going over my budget (just a bit) for their Ideal-Signature Princess Cut diamonds. Any opinions on bluenile's ideal-signature cuts? The setting is a bezeled ring with 2 accent diaomonds (similar to a 3 stone setting, but the accents diamonds are closer and smaller in regards to the primary diamond) Before I make the jump, I want to try and see if I can price match something similar at a B&M. Should I print out what's in my bluenile basket and walk around with it? Also, do B&M stores have "featured" cuts? I am really looking for an ideal cut for the princess diamond. AGS0 Ideal cuts for princess diamonds would be great.
Yes, the B&M stores have "featured" cuts. Kay has the "Leo diamond", Zales has the "celebration diamond", etc. I think you're smart to get a high quality cut - it really makes the diamond sparkle nicely, with an array of colors. Good call
All I gotta say is be sure its CONFLICT FREE!!! thats a nasty burden to live with.... start your search here http://canadiandiamondcodeofconduct.ca/. im not just some hippy, but its important to ensure your diamond is clean from human abuse and violence. just something to consider when buying a diamond
That's not really a concern if you're buying a diamond from Blue Nile or any of the mall stores. After 9/11 they instituted the "Kimberly Process" which tracks all diamonds sold in these places. I know Canada markets the hell out of the fact that their diamonds don't have issues with terrorists, but the reality of it is that neither do any of the diamonds sold in traditional outlets
Yes you should see if a B&M will match. Signature idea cut... I'm not so sure. You need to see a signature ideal and an ideal side by side and see if you can see the difference. Who knows how bluenile defines the signature ideal anyway.
