Has anyone purchased moissanite?

[JDub02]

I'm purchasing an engagement ring in the very near future .. within a week or 2 .. and I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with moissanite.

There has been about a month-long discussion between me and the mrs.-to-be about what she wants in a ring. The discussion involved a simple setting with a larger stone vs. a more elaborate setting with a smaller stone, diamond vs. alternative.

She has tried on rings and, as any woman would, likes the look of a larger stone. SO I gave her 3 options: 3/4 to 1 ct. diamond in a plain setting, 1/2 ct. diamond in the setting she wants, or 1.5 ct. moissanite in the setting she wants.

She said go for the setting because she'd be more attached to that than the stone itself if we wanted to "upgrade" later.

So now down to 2: smaller diamond vs. larger moissanite in the same setting.

Her opinion is to go with the moissanite because she likes the look and when we're in a financial position to do so, we can put a diamond it in later. She has looked at moissanite jewelry and feels that it's a more than acceptable alternative.

Here are the two:

1/2 ct. center diamond

This with a 1.5 ct. moissanite stone

I'm looking at it this way .. why buy a real Coach purse when you can go to Canal St. and get one that looks just as good for 1/10 of the cost .. but I'm a guy and I'm practical like that.

Thoughts?

 

[leftyman]

mmm..mayonnaise


all joking aside.. little real Diamond > big fake diamond

 

[lizardth]

I've got a moissonite engagement ring in a titanium setting and I love it! I get a lot of comments on it.

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: lizardth
I've got a moissonite engagement ring in a titanium setting and I love it! I get a lot of comments on it.

That's good to hear. She has looked at and tried on moissanite jewelry and really likes it.

I'm just glad I have a girl that's not hung up on the "I want a big diamond or you don't love me" thing. Her mother has friends that are suggesting that I should be dropping insane amounts of cash on a ring. I'd gladly give her a $10,000 ring ... if they pay for it. But I'm not starting out my marraige that far in the hole. It's bad enough that I have to pay for the wedding.

 

[lizardth]

Originally posted by: JDub02

Originally posted by: lizardth
I've got a moissonite engagement ring in a titanium setting and I love it! I get a lot of comments on it.

That's good to hear. She has looked at and tried on moissanite jewelry and really likes it.

I'm just glad I have a girl that's not hung up on the "I want a big diamond or you don't love me" thing. Her mother has friends that are suggesting that I should be dropping insane amounts of cash on a ring. I'd gladly give her a $10,000 ring ... if they pay for it. But I'm not starting out my marraige that far in the hole. It's bad enough that I have to pay for the wedding.

In high school I saw a National Geographic special on diamonds. The De Beers company regulates the number of diamonds available on the market to keep the price of diamonds artifically high. They also said that if De Beers didn't regulate the diamonds they'd be worth about 10 cents a caret...So really diamonds are NOT rare and they are NOT valuable we are just all victims of advertising.

 

[lytalbayre]

Good luck man!! I think they key here is that you have your fiancee involved and you are giving her options. She can't claim to be disappointed later on since all the facts are disclosed now.

Besides, like she said, if you guys are ever in a better position, you can upgrade or giver her a really nice anniversary ring.

She sounds like a keeper.... if she was like her mom's friends, however...

 

[Lola]

Well, from personal expereince, i got a .5ct diamond solitare ring when we got engaged and i loved it.
It was special bceause it was something my FI picked out. He was still in school so i knew we could not afford more but i was happy with it.
Later on he got me a one carat diamond ring. I was happy with the smaller real diamond. (Diamond haters spare me)

Anyways, don't use what we think... she told you already what she wants... the larger moissanite ring. Get it for her and enjoy being engaged!

 

[deerslayer]

$10,000 engagement ring? Why not wipe your ass with $100 bills? They are crazy.

I think the ring looks nice, and if she likes it, nothing else matters.

 

[BoomerD]

BAh...buy her a REAL diamond ya tight-ass!
She MAY say the immitation stuff is ok NOW, but odds are, most of her friends will give her sh*t about it, and it won't take long before she changes her mind...and YOU become the villian in this..."If you loved me, you'd have insisted on a real diamond"...
Heck, if you're not gonna buy the real thing, why not justget C.Z. or just break a window and have a piece of THAT mounted in a ring from one of the coin-vending machines at Wal-Mart?

 

[iamwiz82]

If diamonds are not important, then why try to fool people by getting moissanite? Personally, I think the price on moissanite is more out of control than diamonds because moissanite is synthetic. Why bother spending $1100 on a fake crystal when CZ is 1/40 that price?

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
If diamonds are not important, then why try to fool people by getting moissanite? Personally, I think the price on moissanite is more out of control than diamonds because moissanite is synthetic. Why bother spending $1100 on a fake crystal when CZ is 1/40 that price?

We thought about that. In fact, we were looking at rings and were both completely fooled by a CZ in a setting she liked. I had heard that over time they tend to deteriorate, though. That's why we ruled that out. Besides, I like the dispersion effect that moissanite has on light.

 

[mercanucaribe]

The concept of upgrading a ring is completely foreign to me... Isn't it the sentimentality that matters? Something is wrong if your wife puts value on the stone itself, so much that she'd want to upgrade it later.

Why would you buy a diamond to begin with, knowing that a) there is an artificial rarity created by the DeBeers cartel, b) the tradition of diamond engagement rings was invented by DeBeers, and c) slave labor is used to mine diamonds.

 

[JDub02]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The concept of upgrading a ring is completely foreign to me... Isn't it the sentimentality that matters? Something is wrong if your wife puts value on the stone itself, so much that she'd want to upgrade it later.

Why would you buy a diamond to begin with, knowing that a) there is an artificial rarity created by the DeBeers cartel, b) the tradition of diamond engagement rings was invented by DeBeers, and c) slave labor is used to mine diamonds.

Mostly because I know nothing of the longetivity of the alternatives. She really does think it's a waste of money to buy a diamond, especially a large one. But neither of us know what moissanite will look like in 15 years.

 

[Turin39789]

We we went with sapphire's. Paid more than I had to for natural untreated sapphires. They're more traditional than diamonds, and really nice, I got a larce center blue stone and two smaller white sapphires on the side.


Here it is! She has recieved nothing but compliments.

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: JDub02

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The concept of upgrading a ring is completely foreign to me... Isn't it the sentimentality that matters? Something is wrong if your wife puts value on the stone itself, so much that she'd want to upgrade it later.

Why would you buy a diamond to begin with, knowing that a) there is an artificial rarity created by the DeBeers cartel, b) the tradition of diamond engagement rings was invented by DeBeers, and c) slave labor is used to mine diamonds.

Mostly because I know nothing of the longetivity of the alternatives. She really does think it's a waste of money to buy a diamond, especially a large one. But neither of us know what moissanite will look like in 15 years.

Sapphires are second in hardness to diamonds in terms of gemstones, or so I read. They're hard enough to go through the ultrasonic cleaners at jewlery stores. Not sure on moissanite

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The concept of upgrading a ring is completely foreign to me... Isn't it the sentimentality that matters? Something is wrong if your wife puts value on the stone itself, so much that she'd want to upgrade it later.

Why would you buy a diamond to begin with, knowing that a) there is an artificial rarity created by the DeBeers cartel, b) the tradition of diamond engagement rings was invented by DeBeers, and c) slave labor is used to mine diamonds.

I don't think anything is wrong with the wife if she is greatful that her husband wants to give her something better later on in their marriage. I value the fact that my husband loves me enough to take the time to want to get me a nicer ring than I had before.
Most of the time, the husband WANTS to get a bigger ring for his wife. and no matter what he gets it means the most because it came from him, whether he got his wife 1 ring or 1000 diamond rings.

People buy diamond rings because no matter who invented the idea of diamonds being engagement rings, people like tradition. People buy diamond rings to have as family heirlooms that can be passed from one generation to the other. People buy them because they are shiney and go with everything.

You could ask yourself the same question of "why" people buy huge sound systems for their cars, or expensive computer equiptment or HUGE TV's.

 

[alkemyst]

rather than a moiss I would go with one of the high-end sims...(www.diamondtalk.com has info).

I personally have bought both a .42 and .73 carat in my time. First was a round with perfect cut and around G in color/SI2 in clarity. The second was a better stone in princess cut..the cut was not as good as the round, but still really good.

both times people had commented on the rings. Most thought they were much bigger than they were.

I'd check out diamondtalk.com first, there are many vendors there selling diamonds for a fraction of what you'd see locally and at a quality much higher.

 

[Squisher]

Have her watch the movie Blood Diamond and that will cinch the deal. She won't want a diamond.

 

[gorbs]

actually moissanite comes from the stars as in asteroids. it has a cool factor but i think it is way overpriced. bought my wife a moissanite cross and she likes it but i am not impressed. i also had russian lab created alexandrite .50ct round put in a setting and that thing never fails to dazzle us both. it is forever changing colors. why the fake ???? a real one would be more than a diamond those are so rare.

the sapphire 3 stone was awesome. way to go with that one!

your better off doing the Helzberg diamond buy as you can upgrade. i dont know about that moissy stuff being upgraded. either way get her what she wants not what your expected to.