Time to pop the Q

[redgtxdi]

#1.) Look for a diamond market nearest you. (Atlanta?)

#2.) DEFINITELY go for the setting like the one YOU chose. (tiny little diamonds, chips, baggettes all suck, imo) Go WHITE GOLD, not platinum & if she reeeeeeally wants mini-diamonds later, you can always get a ring-guard & surround the original ring w/ all kinds of crappy little diamonds.


#3.) Consider a princess cut diamond if your fiance would consider it. More viewable table in equal carat size, most efficient cut of raw diamond and growing popularity, seemingly ever year.


Sample of a 3-stone ring I put together with the help of a diamond wholesaler in the local diamond district.........(.600 center w/ .25 on each side)

Pic 1

Pic 2

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: freesia39
allright.

a .25 carat stone is going to be kinda small in the setting she likes. i know that you want to get her the setting she wants, but there's almost no way you can with your budget. and that's something that hopefully she'll understand.

my ring is a very simple solitaire setting, six prongs. the band is made of white gold. i see everyone else with their pave diamond settings and i'm happy with mine. the diamond alone is gorgeous and compliments my small hands (i'm only five feet tall with freakishly small childlike hands, ring size 4.5.) this however was exactly what i wanted - i wanted just a simple solitaire setting and i said to get the nicest diamond you can afford, because anything monstrous on me just won't work.

you can always try to do what my fiance did and trick me into telling him what i wanted, but i don't think this will work on everyone.

as for the wedding band, you can find a band that will "match" with it, meaning it's designed to fit, however it will cost more... and she can never just wear the band on it's own. it will be comfortable if you get the matching one. a generic band however, there will be a gap and it won't necessarily be uncomfortable, but it will just never sit flush and might drive some brides nuts.

for a forever ring, simplicity should win out. you are less likely to go "this design just doesn't suit me anymore" which is what the basic setting will do. i know i said i could always change my ring setting, but i doubt i ever will. the only thing i may ever consider doing is trying to have the ring sit a little lower in the setting so that it doesn't snag as much.

if you want to go with a larger stone, you can definitely sacrifice some on the color (D is the "whitest" diamond you can get, so head towards G or H.) also you can sacrifice a bit on the clarity - i have an SI1/SI2 and i can't see any flaws with the naked eye.

mine.
for reference, the size is .75 carat and my ring size is 4.5.

Holy crap, your pic makes it look like she's going to have a clear sprinkle on her hand from a sugar cookie or something. The shittiest part of all this is it shouldn't really matter but I know it does. Having watched a bunch of my friend get married the girl really does worry about the ring, even the ones that say they don't. On the other hand I'm not going to wait till I'm 30 and I can afford $5k for a ring. Guess we'll see. Thanks for all of the replies so far, all of it helps.

 

[Lazy8s]

Bump for the day crew.

 

[Gibson486]

That does not include a diamond...ah man...how long can i push off proposing till? I am gonna be one very poor man for the rest of my life

 

[Geekbabe]

You only have $1,500,you're struggling with student loans? you obviously can't afford to be dropping money on expensive rings and fancy weddings at this point in time.

Why not opt for no engagement ring at this time,a simple wedding,with matching plain gold bands and then,on the 10th wedding anniversary, a nice trip and perhaps a diamond anniversary band?

If this gal loves you,she won't want to start your life together by saddling you with the aniety caused by incurring debt.

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe
You only have $1,500,you're struggling with student loans? you obviously can't afford to be dropping money on expensive rings and fancy weddings at this point in time.

Why not opt for no engagement ring at this time,a simple wedding,with matching plain gold bands and then,on the 10th wedding anniversary, a nice trip and perhaps a diamond anniversary band?

It's not THAT bad. I am making the payments on my loans easily and putting money away. I have about $5,000 saved but I want to afford a wedding and a honneymoon. By the time the "big day" came I could probably have $7,000-$9,000 saved. Her pet ferret is sick though and it was a gift so I am going to help pay for surgery (about $1,200 and I'll pay half) so I figure if I stay around $1,500 that means I can have money for a ceremony, the wedding bands and have some saved for an emergency (car breaks down). I found this:
http://www.exceldiamonds.com/a...5D=5&search%5Bcl2%5D=8

through a PM. Anyone have experience with this place? I could get that band 18k white gold, it looks a lot like what she wants but it's $400 instead of $850 and that would allow me to come in at about .5ct with ideal cut, H or I color and VS2/SI1.

 

[AMCRambler]

Pretty sure a pre-nup only covers assets and money you have earned or bought before you get married. If you're broke and in debt a pre-nup would pretty much be pointless unless she's got some dough she doesn't want you to run off with, lol.

Edit: Ok I spoke too soon. I guess it can also include details for distribution of assets in the event of divorce, custody of children, etc.

 

[Nitemare]

I'd get that setting and an artificial diamond. I refuse to purchase any diamonds simply because of all the blood diamonds out there.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: Lazy8s

Originally posted by: Geekbabe
You only have $1,500,you're struggling with student loans? you obviously can't afford to be dropping money on expensive rings and fancy weddings at this point in time.

Why not opt for no engagement ring at this time,a simple wedding,with matching plain gold bands and then,on the 10th wedding anniversary, a nice trip and perhaps a diamond anniversary band?

It's not THAT bad. I am making the payments on my loans easily and putting money away. I have about $5,000 saved but I want to afford a wedding and a honneymoon. By the time the "big day" came I could probably have $7,000-$9,000 saved. Her pet ferret is sick though and it was a gift so I am going to help pay for surgery (about $1,200 and I'll pay half) so I figure if I stay around $1,500 that means I can have money for a ceremony, the wedding bands and have some saved for an emergency (car breaks down). I found this:
http://www.exceldiamonds.com/a...5D=5&search%5Bcl2%5D=8

through a PM. Anyone have experience with this place? I could get that band 18k white gold, it looks a lot like what she wants but it's $400 instead of $850 and that would allow me to come in at about .5ct with ideal cut, H or I color and VS2/SI1.

Is that 5K your total savings? if so you cannot afford to be using that money to pay for anything,that's emergency money that shouldn't be touched. If the ring is that important to her perhaps the offical engagement announcement should be postponed. or a real setting purchased with a man made diamond.

Btw, surgery for ferrets is usually a losing proposition, if they've got tumors,insulin issues,
putting a sick ferett down is generally kinder than subjecting them to surgery only to have them get sick again a short time later.

 

[Vonkhan]

No pre-nup is a BAD BAD BAD idea, I think you're being really naive. $5,000 in savings is really nothing - you need to have at least 6 months of living expenses saved up to be moderately secure. As Geekbabe pointed out, you're really in no situation to be splurging on rings and weddings & if she really loves you, she'll take that into account and settle for something simple now and wait for a biggie later on.

Just my .02 cents ...

 

[purbeast0]

You could always get the 2nd band there and then add the diamonds later on.

The ring I got my girl didn't have the diamonds on the band and she still loves it, however eventually she's going to add diamonds onto the band because that's the style she really loves.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: KAMAZON
More importantly, did you already pop the cherry if you don't mind me asking? I would always sample the goods before buying. Also, did you get a good pre-nup? I know it might sound HORRENDOUS OMFG A PRENUP THAT'S FOR BAD PEOPLE NOT US WE'RE IN LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE however it will save you a shit load of potential trouble. Just knowing you have a prenup would save drama. Jus' sayin, I really think you should consider it.

You are 12, right?

 

[dmw16]

You know those prices are just for the setting, right? Neither of them include the diamond.

 

[Turin39789]

http://www.gemshoppe.com/

Is the guy I bought my ring from, after finding him on diamondtalk. That said I went with a gorgeous sapphire ring. I was in a time crunch because I wanted to pop the question while on vacation, so this is a comercially available setting, but Michael is designing a custom band for us.


Natural untreated sapphires. Blue center and side white sapphires. under $1k, over 1 carat.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/turin39789/ring2.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/turin39789/ring3.jpg

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: KAMAZON
IMO MoOo speaks the troof.

It is my personal opinion that women do this nasty nasty deed (no sicko I'm not talking about THAT deed) in which they compare engagement rings in a little circle clic. IMO The engagement ring to them shows how much they are worth on the market which indirectly means how beautiful they are. It's sick, BUT F it. Get her a fat ring! Make her friends jealous.

He's right, that's your typical female. There is a reason why they get a ring and men don't. This is something that's going to hang over you for life. Either buy her a pretty, engraved stainless steel ring for $20 and find out whether you're trying to marry a materialistic whore, or sell all your possessions and go deeply in debt for a $25,000 ring and avoid future complications if you are in fact marrying a materialistic whore.

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: KAMAZON
More importantly, did you already pop the cherry if you don't mind me asking? I would always sample the goods before buying.

:laugh:

 

[soulcougher73]

I literally just bought an engagement ring on Saturday. We looked on bluenile a lot and liked the same ring you linked. but there is a set with a matching wedding band.

Bluenile Ring

It is out of your price range however. If you have a Shane Company store near you try them. That is where we ultimatly went and purchased. They have a 100% lifetime trade in on the diamond. So in the future if you want to upgrade to a bigger diamond they will give you the full purchase price of the diamond.

We ended up with a different style the the bluenile one but she loves her ring. The center stone we got was .51 ct tension set. So it cannot be upgraded in the future because the band would have to change as well.

Had a very good experience as the Shane Company

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: soulcougher73

Bluenile Ring

Ooo, it says they provide 'education'. So how does that work, college tuition with every ring purchase? Nice.

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: KAMAZON
More importantly, did you already pop the cherry if you don't mind me asking? I would always sample the goods before buying. Also, did you get a good pre-nup? I know it might sound HORRENDOUS OMFG A PRENUP THAT'S FOR BAD PEOPLE NOT US WE'RE IN LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE however it will save you a shit load of potential trouble. Just knowing you have a prenup would save drama. Jus' sayin, I really think you should consider it.

This happens every engagement thread, but yours was the most annoying insensitive one I've seen yet.

Apparently reality is now insensitive.

It's a moot point since the OP doesn't care if he loses half his money.

 

[Lazy8s]

Originally posted by: dainthomas

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: KAMAZON
More importantly, did you already pop the cherry if you don't mind me asking? I would always sample the goods before buying. Also, did you get a good pre-nup? I know it might sound HORRENDOUS OMFG A PRENUP THAT'S FOR BAD PEOPLE NOT US WE'RE IN LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE however it will save you a shit load of potential trouble. Just knowing you have a prenup would save drama. Jus' sayin, I really think you should consider it.

This happens every engagement thread, but yours was the most annoying insensitive one I've seen yet.

Apparently reality is now insensitive.

It's a moot point since the OP doesn't care if he loses half his money.

This is the last post along these lines I'll respond to since it's not what the post is about but you totally misrepresented what I said so I wanted to clear it up to you. In my opinion, what you gain while married is shared; not minr or hers. I truly question the character of anyone that cannot understand this. If marriage is an equal partnership then it's all equally earned. Her job may not pay as much but she works just as hard to keep the relationship and everything going. IMO it would not be "losing half of my money" it would be simply splitting what we both earned evenly.


EDIT: The idea of a cultured diamond is actually pretty interresting. Anyone have experience with this? I could afford the setting she wanted, it would be a real diamond and it could be replaced if she wanted. Any thoughts?

 

[alkemyst]

on a .25 carat ring vs/vvs+ isn't going to be as important as getting something close to ideal (1A) cut. Things like Hearts and Arrows/AGS 000, etc.

The differences in the brilliance, fire and sparkle of these types of stones are very noticable and give the illusion of a much larger diamond.

 

[Lazy8s]

Here's one I found at Shane Co. The diamond probably won't be as nice as blue nile and it's 14k white gold but it comes with the wedding band (so I could spend more) and they clean it for free plus they do the repairs needed free and if they lose or anything the stone they replace it. Also, at any time she can trade it in and get full price towards another ring...

 

[Throckmorton]

Trade it in? I thought the ring was supposed to have sentimental value... Does the idea of trading in a wedding ring for a bigger one blow anyone else's mind?

 

[Lazy8s]

The idea is if you an only afford a .3ct diamond you can buy it now and at your 10yr anniversary you can put the money spent towards another diamond...of course I would imagine most women would either not change the ring or they would put the original diamond in a necklace or something.

Anyways, it gives some more options over blue nile, especially since shane co. does all the work for free if you trade the diamond in for a larger one down the road.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Trade it in? I thought the ring was supposed to have sentimental value... Does the idea of trading in a wedding ring for a bigger one blow anyone else's mind?

To some it does but not everyone I guess. My cousin just traded his wife's 1.5 ct wedding ring at the Shane Company and replaced it with a 3 ct ring. My wife would never replace her ring. Or she says. :laugh:

OP, I would go for bigger rock at the expense of quality at that size. .5 ct is what I would shoot for w/ that budget. I would look at used or preowned ring with your budget.