Buying a diamond engagement ring

[BMGYaris]

Well, I have spent the last two months deciding on an engagement ring to buy, and I have finally decided on it. You can see the specs and IS image here:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=1060536

I have already raised my budget a couple of times to accomodate it and I will have to get a weekend job when I get back from Japan to pay for everything. Now the question is, should I spend 200 bucks more and get the platinum ring or stick with the White Gold ring...

anyway, if anybody finds out about any coupons or discounts for that website, let me know!

[PetersRedYaris]

Skip the Platinum... My wife just had to have it and now she wishes she had white gold. Over time the platinum turnes from a shiny finish to an "antiqued" finish. It looks like shit and can't be buffed out. White gold is less expensive, more attractive, easier to repair/resize, and can be made to look like new very easily. Congrats on your future engagment.

[RodimusPrime]

White gold all the way. I have never liked platinum and I know from what my girl tells me that I'm only allowed to purchase white gold for her engagement ring. That wont be for a long time from now, but still. She had to cover the basics. One thing that shocked me was how she doesn't want a DIAMOND! lol... Ever since I educated her about diamond mines in Africa she nolonger wears diamonds nor wants them.

Congrats on the future engagement as well!

[Vanderkitten]

Owning platinum myself, it looks like crap very fast. My wife's rings are dope though, but more by design than metal.

[joey1320]

white gold all the way. my fiance loves it and is glad we didn't get the platinum(+$700). also have you looked a moissanites. check them out, great product and great prices. www.moissaniteco.com

[stuffy]

i have a better solution- don't get married!

much cheaper on the wallet :)

[kimona]

White gold and a nice big CZ. Diamonds are an absolute waste of money, and noone will know the differnece anyway.

All the marketing bullshit about diamonds being a "girls best friend" and the way to truly "show your love". C'mon we're smarter than that... aren't we?

Talk it over with your fiance and spend the cash on a nice down payment on the Yaris of her choice.

That's my two cents.

BTW, I had a beautiful 18K white gold setting that was my mother's. I took it to the jewellers and had a lovely CZ mounted in it; it was gorgeous, and my wife loved it... especially with the new '05 Camry that accompanied it!

[static808]

platinum is softer than white gold, meaning it will scratch like a mofo. good luck with your engagement!!

--B

[contraband831]

DON'T DO IT MAN


Platinum if you must, white gold turns yellow and that looks cheap, kinda like a 25 cent machine cheap, another thing some women, like my wife, just love saying its "PLATINUM". Its kind of like buying Koning wheels and passin then of as WORK wheels, hope this example helps, if not enjoy your Koning...overall congrats on the engagement!

[hasher22]

make sure the diamond has like 2+ certificates that it proves its a diamond.

[stuffy]

White gold and a nice big CZ. Diamonds are an absolute waste of money, and noone will know the differnece anyway.

All the marketing bullshit about diamonds being a "girls best friend" and the way to truly "show your love". C'mon we're smarter than that... aren't we?

Talk it over with your fiance and spend the cash on a nice down payment on the Yaris of her choice.

That's my two cents.

BTW, I had a beautiful 18K white gold setting that was my mother's. I took it to the jewellers and had a lovely CZ mounted in it; it was gorgeous, and my wife loved it... especially with the new '05 Camry that accompanied it!

yep, you're right on kimona54, the tradition of giving diamonds for engagement rings was started by a multi-national corporation with a monopoly on the diamond market (de beers), they keep the price of diamonds totally inflated and we are suckers for their marketing campaigns.

they even give us a nice formula on how much to spend on the engagement ring.

[eTiMaGo]

they even give us a nice formula on how much to spend on the engagement ring.

what? All your money + all the money you can borrow/steal?

[cm07yaris]

DON'T DO IT MAN


Platinum if you must, white gold turns yellow and that looks cheap, kinda like a 25 cent machine cheap, another thing some women, like my wife, just love saying its "PLATINUM". Its kind of like buying Konig wheels and passin them of as WORK wheels, hope this example helps, if not enjoy your Konig...overall congrats on the engagement!

:laughabove: :laughabove: :laughabove:

[kurokoma-kun]

May I give a female opinion? EEEEEP! Congratulations! :clap: :wub: :clap:

No really: get the white gold. Every girl I have talked to who got a platinum ring was not happy with it after a year. Your bride-to-be will be very sentimental about that ring and will want it to look beautiful as long as possible. If you want a little extra bling get 18K, which scratches more than 14K but less than platinum. My 2 cents :smile:

[nsmitchell]

Get one of those Durex rings! Just like the commercial! hehe

[BailOut]

This may come a bit late in the game, but the trick with jewelry, especially in the developed world, is to never, ever, buy it new.

Visit any pawn shop in the known world and you will find huge amounts of beautiful jewelry for pennies on on dollar of the original, highly-inflated, price.

It's not like it's any different than a new item, but even if the item you want is damaged, just about any jewelery repair shop can fix it, and while their work is not cheap it is infinitely cheaper than purchasing a new item. You should hand your pawn shop purchase over to a shop for cleaning, straightening, reinforcing, etc. anyway.

[nsmitchell]

^^^^ Very true.

Give her this first. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA

If after that you feel she still needs a ring then pawn shops are great, just don't let the girl know where it came from. I would get it cleaned and polished at a reputable jewler, get them to put it in one of their ring boxes, then give it to her. Just don't dare get caught!

[ceres]

Also make sure there's no existing engraving ;P

[BMGYaris]

WOW. you guys are really awesome, I have spent the last days studying metals and I hadn't expected so much of a response on the car forum, but you guys really live up to your name. First, for those interested, I am buying this diamond:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=1060536

and I am thinking right now to have it set in this setting:

http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=261&rn=679&action=show_detail

It has the simple classic "tiffany" look that I know my gf wants but it has alot more elegance and beauty than the more classic design. I love how it tapers up into the head.

You guys should come join another awesome forum (though not nearly as functional as this one, well done) its pricescope.com My name is WorkingHardForSmallRewards, come by and say hi.

Now, I have done alot of research into metals, so I guess I will share my knowledge here now. Gold is yellow of course, and is rhodium plated. Those who's gold turns yellow can take it into the the jewelers and have it re-rhodium plated for a pretty low price, but you probably know this. However, there are some combinations of White Gold, such as WG alloyed with palladium that even in 18k gold appears white enough that you wouldn't really need a rhodium plating. However, you would have a hard time finding it at local American jewelery stores.

and Platinum is actually significantly harder than WG alloys, WG alloys range something like 180 Vic hardness whereas Platinum is something like 213. Also, white gold scratches and loses precious metal over time but then it is soft enough that it bassically buffs out and smooths off with regular wear.

Platinum doesn't "scratch" but the metal actually pushes to the side in tiny tiny "micro-scratches", bassically it is very malleable and bends rather than scratches. Also, it is too hard to "buff" with regular wear, so the tiny "scratches" will remain until taken to a professional--where I hear they come back pretty quickly. However, you can always have platinum rhodium plated if you want and that will make it whiter, cover and prevent the patina, and still give you the heft of platinum--but nobody does that.

I have chosen what I think to be a happy medium, a 950parts Palladium ring alloyed with ruthenium. This is considered more "precious" as it has more precious metal than 18kWG (which is 75% gold) and it is also white on its own and does not necessarily require a rhodium plating. It has the benefits of not scratching but lacks the weight of platinum. I will however have it rhodium plated because I hate the patina look, like everyone else here, and it will be totally hyperallogenic and even as the rhodium plating wears away there will be a white palladium underneath (instead of the faint yellow from the gold) which should keep it from looking bad even over several years with absolutly minimal maintaince.

Anyway, I will post pics up here when I get it, but rigth now it looks like palladium is the way to go, its about 1/6 the price of platinum with MOST of its benefits (its not as hard as platinum, or as heavy) but it also gets rid of all of the problems with White Gold (allthough it is really very similar to the White Gold/Palladium mix, only slightly more pure with a whiter natural appearance and more malleable so you don't lose precious metal)

Finally, if any of you are buying diamonds in the future email me, I learned a little bit about metals, but I know ALOT about diamonds!

[ceres]

Looks nice. I'm personally not a fan of large stones. I prefer a look like this:
http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=213&rn=1030&action=show_detail
or all in the band like this:
http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/index.htm?crn=263&rn=1133&action=show_detail

Though the band can be mistaken for a "souped up" wedding band over an actual engagement ring.

[BMGYaris]

Yea, i really like that second one. But remember, the diamond in my picture is actually a 1 ct, mine is a .61 ct, so it will be about 1.1 mm smaller (.55mm perside in the round) than the one in that picture. However, they will round out and thin the prongs for me a little bit so that it still really emphasies the diamond.

But yea, I like that secondo ne alot and it is similar ot one that I showed her a long time ago. I thought it was AMAZING. She almost puked
lol, she hates that look! so nothing much i can do about that:P