I agree with those people who are advising you to be sure that your Beloved Intended is in line with what you are doing.
Me? I’m happily wearing something that looks like this. You really have to look close to see that they are just chips. Mine is platinum, though. Not because of the cost, but because I use my hands and flatten rings all the time.
My ring was just under a grand, instead of 800 at the store, but that was because it was custom made with the platinum.
I love my ring. My BB could have paid much more for it, but we both talked about it first and we got something that we both love.
So, do talk to your BI about the ring she wants to wear for the rest of her life.
And PS, Cat Whisperer was right, that is a beautiful ring.
I envy your success if you are ready to drop $10K on a maybe. I would say, keep it realistic and get a less dramatic engagement ring…then let her help pick out the “real” one for a wedding ring. She may love it because you gave it to her…but if she picks it out…you just dodged one potential gripe later down the line about the style of the ring.
They just need to convince the girl, then the schmuck is on the hook.
Actually, the place where I bought a diamond last week told me that a diamond is not an investment. You should buy it because you like it. She did say that they held their value, but she just shook her head when I mentioned that some places will tell you it’s an investment. I bought a diamond 18 years ago for $4000, and they gave me $4700 in trade towards another. That’s a little less than 1% per year compounded annually.
Another vote for “ask her.” I would be VERY uncomfortable with something so valuable on my person during daily life. I’d feel like a target for robbery, and that there were things I would now have to avoid because of it.
Who said anything about not remounting the diamond? You do know they also sell just the diamonds themselves in some pawn shops. It’s attitudes and comments such as this that keeps DeBeers in business.
You learn just by shopping and listening to them sell you on it. Believe me, they are going to explain the four C’s in diamond buying to you in detail where ever you buy it from; might as well get your lesson from the best in the country if you can. That and only an idiot would walk up and tell them that your intent is to buy elsewhere.
Are you sure your lady would like a garland ring? Most women who want diamond engagement rings probably have a solitaire in mind.
I would suggest you visit websites like weddingbee.com and ask advice at the forums there. I love the Dope, but the average Doper’s opinion on diamonds is nowhere similar to what most women think about them, at least in my experience.
Go to www.pricescope.com it’s a consumer site for diamond buying and education. All the variables you can plug in and the people there can tell you about the diamond you are considering. I bought my loose diamond from goodoldgold in Long Island and they came highly recommended.
The idea used to be that women, even otherwise adult women, secretly liked to show off their diamond rings while being able to say: “Oh, I told him I really didn’t need or want such an extravaganza, but he insisted, and look at it, isn’t it gorgeous, it made me feel so special, and now our love is forever”.
That idea is crumbling. Fast. The concept of being tricked by marketing into buying a way overpriced gem that funds bloody civil wars and consitutes an insurance and crime hazard on your finger? That is what people see nowadays when looking at a ring.
Other dopers have already mentioned that diamonds are not necessarily as valuable as the retailer would have you think, so here are my $0.02 to this thread:
May I suggest that you spend some time looking up pre-owned diamond rings on ebay and other online auction sites, and comparing with the prices for similar rings on the retail sites? The difference in purchase and resale price can be quite an eye opener.
Actually, the asking price of pre-owned engagement rings is quite high. It reflects the owner’s idea that no way would the diamond ring he paid a months salary for decades ago, be now worth no more then 150 dollars. But tht is usually the highest bid, and quite often the seller will rather keep the ring instead. So look not at the asking price, but at the price such pre-owned rings actually sell for. Then compare that to the new retail price. Then decide not to be a sucker, and ask your fiance what she would rather spend 10.000 dollars on.