I am currently researching purchasing an engagement ring for my dear, sweet girlfriend. Anyway, I’ve been looking at purchasing the ring online, but I have found that all of the places that I have looked at so far (bluenile.com, diamondcutters.com, diamondsafe.com, etc) more or less follow a list price for diamonds of a specific color grade/cut/clarity/size. In one case the site actually listed this chart out with the per carat cost for all of their loose Diamonds. IE as on http://www.diamondregistry.com/price.htm
Anyway, to get to the actual factual question, I was wondering if there was anyplace online (or offline, if it is in the NYC/NJ metro area) where one can purchase loose diamonds or a complete ring at significantly less than the retail list price ?
I don’t have anything really to add except congrats.
ok… one small thing to add.
I thought I’d heard that manufactured diamonds were reaching (or had reached) the point at which they are cheaper than mined diamonds, plus you’re guarunteed the color/clarity/whatever else they measure that you’re looking for.
Would it be possible to go that route for a better deal.
I would buy one of those cultured canary ones, they look absolutely beautiful & you can buy from the people who culture them or who are authorized to sell.
Oh good golly, if you’re in the New York area, go to the source, the Diamond District on 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth. It’s website is http://www.47th-street.com/. The website has some good advice that I suggest you read, and the street is an experience in itself.
Go to ebay and look for “oldcities.” It’s a conglomeration of ebay sellers that handles a ton of jewelry items. A friend bought an emerald-cut sapphire from them that she is very happy with, both appearance-wise and price-wise.
A better word for you: Cubic Zirconia (all right, so that’s two words).
Looks just as good (a little nicer, actually, unless you can afford a flawless perfectly clear diamond), costs a miniscule fraction, and is hard enough to fool most jewelers. The whole “diamonds are forever” and “spend at least two month’s salary or you don’t really love her” notions are, keep in mind, wholly the product of the people selling the diamonds in the first place.
And yes, I gave my fiancee a beautiful white gold ring with a 1ct CZ stone (she was with me when I bought it, so she knew it was CZ), and yes, she married me anyway.
Moissanite does look like a pretty nice stone, especially for rings. It doesn’t fade (like CZ), it fools most “real diamond” testers, has better brilliance, 9.5 hardness, similar cleavage, and can usually only be detected by its single refraction (versus double refraction in a diamond)… not something your SO is going to notice. I and my wife like them because they have a lot more sparkle and are 1/10 the cost. Plus they appeal to my sense of astronomy (amateuar ranking only, though): the original moissanite stone was originally found in a meteorite.
My wife recently lost her wedding ring, so I am also in the ring market (but in Utah, not NY you lucky dog). Having spent some time in South Africa, though, I became quite familiar with the diamond business. I think I’ll pass on the de Beers monopoly and go for the brilliance of a moissanite.
