% of salary - what's a reasonable amount to spend on engagement ring?
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I am kinda against upgrading. Because when you do so, the diamond he asked you to get married with won't be there. It kinda loses it meaning of an ering. It will be just be a bigger random diamond.Maybe i am mixing it up with the wedding band.. now that should never be upgraded
We seem to be in the minority here, but I am also against upgrading based on the sentimenal value of the original ring.
does a GIA/AGS certificate matter to you girls? What happens if theres a really nice looking rock (its great in your eyes) and the price is great also. But if you were to buy sth that size and beautiful to your eye and comes with a GIA cert, it will cost lOOOOooADS more. Will you go for that bigger stone with some "whatever" cert?
I'm curious. I've always been scared at looking at rocks and certs other than GIA.
I'm curious. I've always been scared at looking at rocks and certs other than GIA.
This is such a personal thing. A friend of mine has a 4 carat solitaire that cost about $40k. The size, cut, color, clarity are all fantastic. I'd be paranoid if I was wearing something like that every day.
DH and I got married when I was 20 and we were flat broke, so no engagement ring for me. No big wedding. I didn't mind at all, and I still don't. I cherise the pictures he's drawn for me (he's an artist) a lot more than I would a ring he bought.
Different strokes and all that.
DH and I got married when I was 20 and we were flat broke, so no engagement ring for me. No big wedding. I didn't mind at all, and I still don't. I cherise the pictures he's drawn for me (he's an artist) a lot more than I would a ring he bought.
Different strokes and all that.
My personal preference is to have the AGS or GIA grading report; however, if I liked the look of the diamond, I would take it to an independent appraiser and have it evaluated. If the appraisal was satisfactory, I would consider it [1] if the price was right, [2] if I could trade in/trade up for full value and [3] if I was never planning to sell it outright. If I knew I wanted to keep this stone forever, than item [2] would be a moot point. The top grade for AGS is Ideal 0 and the top grade for GIA is excellent. The reports from some of the other labs can be off by several grades. HTH.
my stone isn't GIA or AGS. . . but I'd only buy an AGS or GIA stone if it was on the web, if I couldn't see it first.
Otherwise I'd do what I did and trust my eyes and the EGL cert combined.
My stone scores fantastic on the cut advisor and I knew when I saw I had to have it. If my stone were GIA certified, it'd have been just out of our price range. I don't see a need to trade up on an almost 4 carat stone so trade in value wasnt a factor for me.
Also, we got an insane deal because I told my regular jeweler I was just about to buy a GIA Whiteflash stone for $xx and she didn't want to lose our business or that sale so she made sure the price of our stone was impossible for us to turn down. And she was right!
I'm pretty sure they made very little off us that day.If I went w/ a GIA stone for the same price I paid for my 3.67, I'd have probably lost close to an entire carat for that trade off.
I am NO expert, obviously, but I've heard you can pay GIA to certify a diamond for you? SO and I looked at a (very small, mind you!) canary diamond ring at a local jeweler that was not GIA certified... the jeweler told me that if I wanted to pay $200 and wait a while, I could get a GIA certificate? Is this true?
We bought my stone from a broker 8 years ago. We talked to him before Christmas he offered my DH double what DH paid for it, we got a fabulous deal on it in 2000. Its a 4.1 ct, G, VVS Round Ideal cut. (Its insured & the insurance company has insured it for triple what we paid for it.) DH told me to get the stone I wanted for the rest of my life & the broker advised me to get the best we could find. The general population in 2000 knew next to nothing except the 4 c's on stones. I remember websites in 2000 still saying color was the most important feature.
Have no desire to flip it, its perfect size etc. I wear it only when we go to dinner, shows etc.
My aunt sells jewelry for a living and that's what she told me too! She said that you can always buy a diamond that you like and that is within your price range first. Should you feel the need to have it certified, you may do so at a later time.
The same aunt also said that the certificates for IGI and GIA etc. are getting less reliable because there are so many people rushing to get the licenses so that they can grade diamonds themselves. However, she agrees that GIA is still at the top of the bunch.
There's a very different attitude to e/rings over here in the UK. I'd say we're far more conservative in terms of how much is spent on one. Large diamonds, which seem to be the norm in the US, are unusual over here and very few people upgrade.
My friends are all professionals with good careers but I'd bet that none of them know anything about the 4 c's etc - I certainly didn't until I found tpf.
De Beers' 2 months' pay ad was a great piece of brainwashing - none of my friends spent anywhere near that! The average spend would be around £1,000 - less than the average monthly wage.
Three stone (trilogy) diamonds are popular as are solitaires but many people also have rings with coloured stones - rubies, emeralds & sapphires.
I would never be influenced by blatant marketing when it came to buying a ring. Buy it because you love it not because of the price or size!
My friends are all professionals with good careers but I'd bet that none of them know anything about the 4 c's etc - I certainly didn't until I found tpf.
De Beers' 2 months' pay ad was a great piece of brainwashing - none of my friends spent anywhere near that! The average spend would be around £1,000 - less than the average monthly wage.
Three stone (trilogy) diamonds are popular as are solitaires but many people also have rings with coloured stones - rubies, emeralds & sapphires.
I would never be influenced by blatant marketing when it came to buying a ring. Buy it because you love it not because of the price or size!
your diamond sounds beautiful! i dont really know why you quoted me but my gf wasnt trying to flip/upgrade on her e ring neither..she wasnt selling her engagement ring..it was just one of her many diamonds she wanted to sell. she sold it this year.
I qouted you because you were right, if a stone is bought at the right time & not from the B&M store. Sorry for the mix up.
I might of edited your post better to just cover that statement.
Diamonds we don't consider an investment, not in that business. So that's why I wouldn't flip it. Someday if the bottom falls out of the diamond market, it'll be worth less than we bought it for. Oh well, that's life. We don't buy personal items thinking they will go up in pric. My couches aren't worth more just cause H&M has had 2 price increases since we received them.
I might of edited your post better to just cover that statement.
Diamonds we don't consider an investment, not in that business. So that's why I wouldn't flip it. Someday if the bottom falls out of the diamond market, it'll be worth less than we bought it for. Oh well, that's life. We don't buy personal items thinking they will go up in pric. My couches aren't worth more just cause H&M has had 2 price increases since we received them.
^^ ooic...you are right, i think the right attitude to buying diamonds, hermes birkins, and other luxury items is really to just enjoy them. they also make great heirlooms though..my mother gave me some of her jewelry when i got married..and my wonderful MIL gave me some pieces her own mother gave her..i would love to do the same for my future children..
