Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: Babbles
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Alright man, I'll give it one shot and then leave you alone. But I wouldn't count on getting a lot of advice on buying a Tiffany ring here. We're more of a Blue Nile crowd. If you want advice on Tiffany's specifically, bridgen posted a while back about buying his fiancee a Tiffany ring. If you want advice on diamonds specifically, I believe djobi (someone please correct my spelling... he was the dude who looked like he could eat his girlfriend whole) worked in the diamond industry.
I gave you my help, now I'll give you my opinion. Your girlfriend asked for a diamond from a particular store. Of all of the things that matter when purchasing a ring, that is what matters the LEAST. She's asking you to pay a few grand extra so she can get a little blue-green box and so she can tell her friends her ring came from Tiffany's. That is why you are getting the reactions you're getting. It's interesting that the only thing that you've said she cares about is the store - not the type of cut, not the setting, but the store. The ring box is not going to be on her finger for the rest of her life, so I'd get some idea of what cut and setting she'd like before you buy anything.
The thing about diamonds is, all of the specs are right there for you to look at. All things being equal, a diamond from Tiffany's is no different from a diamond from any other store. F color is F color. What you probably will find at Tiffany's that you won't find in your mall stores is better specs. I looked around at some mall stores and most of the specs of their diamonds weren't very great. Lots of SIs and mediocre colors. But you CAN get the same quality stone you'd get at Tiffany's by buying from an online diamond store (or probably in any major city) where you can pick the specs you want.
Once you have your diamond, the only thing left is the setting. Tiffany's has some nice settings. So nice that every other jewelry store has nearly identical settings. When my wife and I were looking for a setting for her diamond, we took a picture around to jewelry stores and every one recognized it as Tiffany's Lucida setting and every store had a similar setting. I'm not saying you should try to make your girlfriend's ring LOOK like a Tiffany's ring, I'm just saying that if there is a particular Tiffany's setting she's interested in, you don't have to go to Tiffany's to get the look she wants. Really, it'd be better if she was open to looking at settings from other stores.
So there you have it, there is nothing special about a Tiffany's ring except the box. If you want to pay a few grand extra for that box, have at it. :thumbsup: Don't kid yourself about customer service. Every jewelry store I've gone to has had amazing customer service. They practically fall over themselves trying to help you. Remember that you're buying a RING.
Now, if you want my general advice on buying a diamond/ring here it is:
It's obvious that you want to get her the best ring possible, so we might as well start with price and work backwards. Figure out what you can afford to spend. I'd like to think this will not involve loans, but it sounds like that ship has sailed.
First, figure out how much the setting is going to cost. I assume you're going to go with platinum, so you're looking at $500+ there. Are you looking for a solitaire setting, or do you want small stones around the main stone? I assume you'll pay more for that. Anyway, figure that out and subtract it from what you can spend. If you're buying the stone and setting from different places, subtract another ~$75 for mounting the stone.
With what you have left, go somewhere that will let you specify the specs of the diamond. Bluenile does this, but there are other places that are less expensive.
The specs you're dealing with are
Cut
Clarity
Color
Carat
Cut will affect how well light reflects off the interior surfaces of the diamond. If you have bad angles in there, the light will pass through the sides and you won't get the "brilliant" look. Cut is very important.
Clarity refers to internal defects. Internal defects will affect how well light passes through the diamond, and they can be visible to the naked eye. Visible is obviously bad.
Color is obvious, and you obviously want your diamond to be as colorless as possible.
Carat is of course the size.
Now, which of those you try to maximize depends on your priorities. If you are a fan of MTV Cribs, you're going to want to maximize the carats - and if you have money left over, get an extra small diamond to mount in your tooth. If you want a diamond that really looks amazing, prioritize the cut. A dull diamond is not impressive.
Get the best cut you can. For color, I got F, because it's on the bottom end of the "colorless" range. Just like with computers, you pay a big premium for the very best, so it pays to get "close enough." For clarity, I'd shoot for the middle of the range. If you need 30x magnification to see inclusions, they're probably not going to hurt much. You don't need to get a flawless diamond. VS1 or VVS2 are a good compromise I think.
Once you get all that figured out, the carat sizes that are in your price range should be obvious. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that bigger is better. More brilliant > bigger.
Good luck.
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