Engagement ring question

[Gunslinger08]

Assuming the two are priced the same, would you rather give (or receive) a ring with a higher total carat weight or a ring with better quality diamonds and better material (ex. platinum instead of gold)?

For this question, let's say the larger ring would be 1.5 ct total vs. 1.0 ct total.

 

[isekii]

I'd say size.

I doubt they'd be talking about SI quality etc..

 

[LordSnailz]

depends on the size ... if it's way small, then going larger would be better but if the better quality one is somewhat large, I'd go for quality

 

[sygyzy]

Always better quality. A better quality stone will "look" better and even larger.

 

[Lola]

There is not any point of getting a large size rock if it looks like a piece of glass mounted on tinfoil.
If there is a slight difference in quality, go for the larger stone, but if it is a lot different, go with the better quality stone.
My opinion. I would rather have a diamond that sparkles like crazy than something that is dull and lifeless.

 

[Gunslinger08]

OP updated with sample sizes.

 

[nakedfrog]

I would opt for a different stone.

 

[krunchykrome]

Quality > size

A larger rock will not matter if it's of poor quality. A woman at my old internship had an engagement ring that I could not help ubt notice. It looked to be about 1.00 - 1.25 ct, but the thing looked like a dull piece of lint on her finger. It didnt sparkle, and it looked grey from a few feet away.

 

[Bignate603]

My wife and I went with quality. She has relatively small hands and a huge rock would have looked silly. I wouldn't go with platinum, too spendy and in my opinion it doesn't look very different.

Don't let the jewelers try and convince you that you should spend 2 months salary or whatever they are saying now. Get a good looking but durable ring. This is something your spouse will wear every day so it should be something that she doesn't have to worry about. Some rings have designs that help protect the main stone, it really helps keep it from getting caught/damaged.

 

[KeithTalent]

1.0 ct with better quality. Once you get to anything over 0.75 ct you can start to see inclusions pretty easily IMO.

KT

 

[ElFenix]

better rocks will appear larger because they're more sparkly

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: Lola
There is not any point of getting a large size rock if it looks like a piece of glass mounted on tinfoil.
If there is a slight difference in quality, go for the larger stone, but if it is a lot different, go with the better quality stone.
My opinion. I would rather have a diamond that sparkles like crazy than something that is dull and lifeless.

My fiance agrees with this...

 

[Gothgar]

a balance is best... dont get a 1/4 karat diamond cause it is perfectly flawless, but dont get some nasty 2 karat with huge inclusions and yellow.

I lean towards the better quality though... colorless and no visible inclusions at the very least.

 

[BoomerD]

Definitely buy the smaller, quality stone over the larger, lesser quality stone.

Another option is to buy a true Ideal cut diamond. They tend to LOOK bigger than they really are, yet usually have incomparable sparkle.

There are many brands of stones/jewelry that use Ideal cuts, so look around before you buy.
Remember the "4 C's" of diamonds...

http://www.antwerpideal.com/

 

[Phokus]

NEITHER! Diamonds are evil evil evil! A product of marketing/advertising and the blood of sierra leone children who get their limbs cut off.

That's what you should tell your potential life partner

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: Phokus
NEITHER! Diamonds are evil evil evil! A product of marketing/advertising and the blood of sierra leone children who get their limbs cut off.

That's what you should tell your potential life partner

I did....we even watched the movie.

She still had my fly over to Sierra Leone and mine the diamond myself

 

[Xavier434]

Quality. No question.

 

[joutlaw]

Quality and make sure it has a reputable certification such as GIA. I think UGL may be good too... it's been 10 years or so since I worked in the jewelery business.

I got my wife a GIA certified .93 rectangular Radiant cut with a E in color and VVS2 in clarity. It was also an ideal cut.

The ring really pops opposed to a emerald cut due to the more facets in the radiant cut.

Needless to say she gets a lot of compliments on it. I was set on getting her at least 1ct, but this ring was the one when I saw it.

 

[Cuda1447]

Without a doubt quality. As for Platinum vs Gold, well thats another question. Platinum will last longer, but is harder and more expensive to get cleaned. Gold will look better but require more cleanings. Also platinum is more durable. I went with a gold band with platinum prongs that hold the diamonds in place.

Also if you are actually looking for a ring I'd most def. recommend bluenile.com great prices with excellent quality diamonds and a lot to choose from. My fiancee is happy

 

[joutlaw]

Originally posted by: Cuda1447
Without a doubt quality. As for Platinum vs Gold, well thats another question. Platinum will last longer, but is harder and more expensive to get cleaned. Gold will look better but require more cleanings. Also platinum is more durable. I went with a gold band with platinum prongs that hold the diamonds in place.

Also if you are actually looking for a ring I'd most def. recommend bluenile.com great prices with excellent quality diamonds and a lot to choose from. My fiancee is happy

Good choice with the platinum mounting for the stone. It's what will get the most wear and tear.

Platinum is a harder, more dense metal than gold. It requires more skill to polish to get the luster back. It dulls out easily and won't shine as much as gold.

White gold looks just about as good, but it will always have a yellow tint if you look at it close enough. White gold should never be over 18 karat.

Rough breakdown on the different karats of gold.

10K gold is roughly 35% gold
14K gold is roughly 50% gold
18K gold is roughly 75% gold
24K gold is 99.9 gold

White gold is made by using a large mix of silver or nickel to give the gold a "white", but actually silver-ish look.

 

[JS80]

90% of women will pick size. The key is to create a good balance between the two with bias weighted towards size. It's one thing to get your woman a crap ass SI2 but if you can find a SI1 with the flaw that is hard to find, I would look for that with H color and bigger size. It's not like you can resell the crap anyway and when the fiancee shows it off they will only see size.

As for the setting, I would go for white gold over platinum if you are that budget crunched and get the bigger rock.

 

[Baked]

Larger rock = get jacked.

 

[EPCrew]

Originally posted by: joutlaw
Platinum is a harder, more dense metal than gold. It requires more skill to polish to get the luster back. It dulls out easily and won't shine as much as gold.

Correction: platinum is softer than gold.

 

[rh71]

If side by side you can't visually see anything different, you go for the larger rock. If you can see it but can't tell any yellowness from the rock on its own, then you still get the larger rock.

To be honest, it's a fricken rock that has one thing spoken about it more than the other.

Originally posted by: JS80
As for the setting, I would go for white gold over platinum if you are that budget crunched and get the bigger rock.

White gold visually yellows pretty easily. My wife wears both a platinum engagement ring and a white gold wedding band and you can see the difference. If you don't want to be "servicing" it every couple of years, you should pay a couple hundred more for the platinum. No sense in white gold if it will just look gold.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: rh71
If side by side you can't visually see anything different, you go for the larger rock. If you can see it but can't tell any yellowness from the rock on its own, then you still get the larger rock.

To be honest, it's a fricken rock that has one thing spoken about it more than the other.

Originally posted by: JS80
As for the setting, I would go for white gold over platinum if you are that budget crunched and get the bigger rock.

White gold visually yellows pretty easily. My wife wears both a platinum engagement ring and a white gold wedding band and you can see the difference. If you don't want to be "servicing" it every couple of years, you should pay a couple hundred more for the platinum. No sense in white gold if it will just look gold.

I got my wife an 18k white gold engagement ring. She then went to a custom jeweller friend of hers to get a wedding band made. He made it out of 19k white gold. I'm not sure exactly of the mix he used, but the wedding band isn't rhodium plated, is whiter than the engagement ring, and hasn't dulled/yellowed at all.