Diamonds?

[rockfan4]

The fiance is turning 50 in about a month.
I've considered trading her in for two 25 year olds, but I think a better plan might be diamond stud earrings. What's the latest in lab diamonds? I'm thinking still something with a grade, if they're graded, is there a difference? Any good online places? The local jewel wants somewhere around $1400 - $1600 for .75 or so total weight. I'm thinking that's about the right size, but I'd like to hear what others think.

[Jims5543]

I have used this guy in the past nothing but good things to say about them.

I Hate Steven Singer! Shop Diamond Jewelry, Silver Diamond Jewelry, Wedding Bands, Gold-Dipped Roses and Engagement Rings. Steven Singer Jewelers

[Don Ro]

Believe it or not.........go to Costco. Huge bang for your buck for high quality certified.

[MRM]

Don't buy new. And don't buy retail from anyone, although Costco is the least worst of retail. Go to auction sites like https://www.lesliehindman.com and Skinner Auctioneers | Auctioneers and Appraisers of Objects of Value | Skinner Auctioneers

It is hard to buy anything in retail that aproaches the quality of nice lots in one of the well respected auction sites. The difference in quality and cost is astounding.

[Bill Douglas]

I agree with MRM, I bought GF a diamond ring valued at $6,500 for about $2,000. Perfect condition. It had just be owned by someone who didn't wear it and would rather have the money.

[nzporsche944s2]

Research the 4 "C"s - Cut, Clarity, Colour, Carat

If the diamonds are independently graded (i.e. not graded by the actual seller) then the standards should be the same wherever you purchase them from.

Weight / Size (Carat) isn't everything although it is usually the first number people look at when looking at a diamond. In my experience Cut and Colour have a far greater bearing on the appearance of the diamond than clarity or carat.

A smaller diamond that is expertly cut and very white will sparkle beautifully.

I've seen some big cloudy off-white/yellowish diamonds that are just butt ugly although technically they are large by weight (carat).

With earrings make sure both sides are identical to the eye in size and cut. That is one reason earrings can be disproportionately more expensive than the equivalent weight of a single diamond.

[look 171]

That's about 1/3 carat each. I have been out of the business for a long time. I grew up in dad's jewelry making business. We used to see stones on people that are just big but dull. A big white stone. Don't get too caught up in the carat weight but the stone itself. USe that as a guide. LIke NZporsche said, a nice diamond will really stand out beautifully and brilliantly. Buy from Costo, their quality is consistent but all are production quality (not the stone). Nothing wrong with that. We used to know the folks that make and supply all or most of costo's rings and such. I have not talk with them in over 20 years.

[on2wheels52]

Start running when they talk about 'investment grade' diamonds
I still have a pile of loose stones from the pawn shop; I'm thinking of throwing them in my urn so my ashes will have a bit of sparkle. Plus my grieving widow might keep it around longer if she thinks they're worth something

[Don Ro]

^^^ on2wheels52
Clever.
.
I don't recall much of the details about the $12k engagement ring that I bought from Costco, but all of the associated certified paperwork was in order...Cut, Clarity, Color, Carat.
The gent who opened the glass case for us was a retired gemologist. He spoke to my fiance and she was impressed. I also don't recall how the "retail" value was passed along, but I remember that figure was stated as $18k.
That's my contribution. Good luck.
.
PS That particular engagement ended and I returned the ring. It was shipped back to Costco to be inspected by their in-house gemologists for authenticity.
My refund arrived a few weeks later.
.
BTW, how on earth do women know so much about diamonds? Uncanny.

[David]

Last I researched, there are no acceptable lab diamonds. I bought from a diamond merchant for my recent engagement ring purchase. It was a friend of a friend type recommendation. I like to see all the diamond options in front of me but that's likely just because I think it's such a stupid purchase and I'm overly cautious and such a large expense.

[matthewb0051]

Be careful when buying diamond earrings. Larger is not always better. At a certain point they start getting too big and just don't look right. As much as you want to impress and surprise her, it may be better to have her try them on. (I'm speaking from experience here...)

The larger stones are more suited for an NBA player or rapper.

.

[sammyg2]

Diamonds are the ultimate marketing scam.
A way to separate fools from their money.

That's something I will never fall for.

[nota]

you can get ''real'' gem stones rubies sapphire emeralds
that are man-made and flawless super cheap now

in fact the way to tell a natural stone gem is they have flaws
the man-made ones do NOT

the wife has been getting them off e-bay for amazingly cheap bids
most for a buck or three inc shipping for a mounted stone and fair sized stuff not tiny

diamonds are not yet economical to make except for industrial grade for grinding
and are a huge scam do to limited sales to control prices by russian and de beers collusion

[aschen]

I think most of us know what giant scam diamonds are at this point, sometime you play the game to bring joy to the ones you love though.

I had very good luck with james allen when I got married several years ago. You can pick your diamonds and settings or go with a ready to order jewely. Much cheaper comparatively than a local store. If you are one that is good/aggresive at negotiating I think you could do well at a high end pawnshop. We shop at costco often and I always look at the jewelry section when I walk by. They often have good deals on nice looking jewelry but the selection is quite varied. They might only have have a 20k set of earnings in stock when you are looking to spend 1/10th of that for example. They are VERY good at returns if you order via the internet though

https://www.jamesallen.com/matching-pairs/?CaratFrom=0.05&CaratTo=10&PriceFrom=2000&PriceTo=5000&ViewsOptions=Images&ps=10

[MRM]

James Allen and its comoetitor, Blue Nile Diamonds are both good options. https://www.bluenile.com/diamonds?click_id=272148353 Both offer quality far beyond anything you can get at a mall store. The thing to remember is that diamonds are fungible. Whatever size and grade diamond is identical to another diamond of equal size and grade, so you need to find the most efficient way to buy the diamond you want without paying for any brand name or get fooled on quality. That's where the online stores shine, so to speak. They price so precisely that you can tell the quality you get almost by one dollar increments. Years ago I bought a nice tennis bracelet for my wife from a web site called Dirt Cheap Diamonds. Don't laugh, they were profiled on NPR. They were outstanding and educated me. Since they went out of business we have bought from Blue Nile with the same results. But since then we discovered the auction sites and the quality and value you get through them is even greater. You just have to wait a while to see what you want. But eventually anything you could want will come through one auction or another.

[Don Ro]

Years ago I had a client who once owned 3 retail jewelry stores.
When asked, she said that her mark-up on diamond jewelry was 3 times what she paid. She generally had on going sales...20% off.
I remember her chuckling as she tattled on herself.
Her stories brought new light to the dark jewelry business.

[scottmandue]

When we got married my wife said "screw the diamond lets get a cubic zerconia and spend the money on the honeymoon!"

The CR stones looked fine but the $300 ring itself kept falling apart.

Found a antique ring at an estate sale, beautiful hand made gold with three small stones $800.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

When we got married my wife said "screw the diamond lets get a cubic zerconia and spend the money on the honeymoon!"

The CR stones looked fine but the $300 ring itself kept falling apart.

Found a antique ring at an estate sale, beautiful hand made gold with three small stones $800.

We did almost the same thing, I had the ring custom made which was not cheap and then used all CZ's in it. To the casual onlooker it would be hard to tell.

As the years went by and I could afford to, I swapped all the CZ's for actual diamonds. Now her ring is 100% diamonds.

Which is something that can be passed down to our kids and so on.

[javadog]

My wife was happiest with simple studs of about 1 carat each. She had smaller ones, probably .25 each, but those really were too small. Larger than 1 Ct didn't look as good. But, diamonds of that size with good color and clarity are going to be expensive. We bought ours through a friend who is a jeweler, paid him a premium over his cost, then had him mount them. Another thing we did was upgrade the ring, then use the older stones for earrings or pendants.

If you want to go with fake diamonds, there are several choices. I wouldn't put much money into those, as you won't get it back. You might look at Moissanite and see if you like the look of those stones. They have a different amount of fire than a diamond, which may not be a bad thing for earrings.

JR

[javadog]

My wife was happiest with simple studs of about 1 carat each. She had smaller ones, probably .25 each, but those really were too small. Larger than 1 Ct didn't look as good. But, diamonds of that size with good color and clarity are going to be expensive. We bought ours through a friend who is a jeweler, paid him a premium over his cost, then had him mount them. Another thing we did was upgrade the ring, then use the older stones for earrings or pendants.

If you want to go with fake diamonds, there are several choices. I wouldn't put much money into those, as you won't get it back. You might look at Moissanite and see if you like the look of those stones. They have a greater amount of fire than a diamond, which may not be a bad thing for earrings.

JR