Diamonds - Value of Clarity

[SportsJunky]

Wow, way to get the price out there for us.

[urban1]

Not bitter and not divorced. Like I said, it was tongue in cheek but the stats back up what I said. Ive also had several friends over the past few years who have had very lavish, extravagent, and expensive weddings which ended in divorce not many years later. If Im bitter about anything, its that Ive attended two weddings (one in Mexico, one in Hawaii) that each ended quickly in divorce - Im bitter about the money and vacation time spent on attending the weddings - but thats another issue. And its not as bad as another group of friends who were attending a fellow friends wedding in Hawaii and the engagement got broken off before the plane ever got off the ground. That would make me upset.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by urban1

First, consider how many engagements are called off before the wedding.

Not very many in the circles I'm in. Out of people I know, I don't know of any engagements that have broken off. THe times when I've heard of it, it's been like an aquaintance of an aquaintance.

Then consider that 50% of marriages end in divorce.

This is a statistic that often gets quoted, but in Canada, the number is closer to 35%. It's also somewhat misleading. The percentage of marriages that end in divorce is significantly higher then the percentage of married people who will ever have a divorce. (Due to the number of people who have multiple divorces).

[stang]

Originally Posted by urban1

Not bitter and not divorced. Like I said, it was tongue in cheek but the stats back up what I said. Ive also had several friends over the past few years who have had very lavish, extravagent, and expensive weddings which ended in divorce not many years later. If Im bitter about anything, its that Ive attended two weddings (one in Mexico, one in Hawaii) that each ended quickly in divorce - Im bitter about the money and vacation time spent on attending the weddings - but thats another issue. And its not as bad as another group of friends who were attending a fellow friends wedding in Hawaii and the engagement got broken off before the plane ever got off the ground. That would make me upset.

Hookers and Blow at the Bachelor party?

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by urban1

Not bitter and not divorced. Like I said, it was tongue in cheek but the stats back up what I said. Ive also had several friends over the past few years who have had very lavish, extravagent, and expensive weddings which ended in divorce not many years later. If Im bitter about anything, its that Ive attended two weddings (one in Mexico, one in Hawaii) that each ended quickly in divorce - Im bitter about the money and vacation time spent on attending the weddings - but thats another issue. And its not as bad as another group of friends who were attending a fellow friends wedding in Hawaii and the engagement got broken off before the plane ever got off the ground. That would make me upset.

You are bitter about going to Mexico and Hawaii?

[llama64]

I ended up getting my wife a ring with a smaller diamond mounted in the middle and then surrounded by about 20 tiny diamonds. The main diamond is enhanced by the multiple small ones so much so that in good light the thing shines like a beacon.

The design is much nicer then a traditional one diamond ring from Spencer, ended up cheaper and made my wife incredibly happy. Apparently, if I had gotten her a simple diamond on a band, it wouldn't have been a good idea. Each girl is different though. Some care about the visuals of the ring, others only care about how much it cost you.

[You Need a Thneed]

My wife and Iwent shopping together for the engagement ring, she picked the one she liked.

My wife has small hands, a big ring wouldn't have looked very good on her hands, and I probobly wouldn't have thought of that if I had gone shopping by myself. The ring she has, with the diamonds set down lower into the band, looks WAY better on her hand.

And more sparkle is better than size. I think my wife's ring is .25 ct between three diamonds, but they are higher quality then most.

My advice, get a ring style that looks the best, then worry about the diamonds second. The value of diamonds is only high because they are held high artificially anyway.

[Isbrant]

It has been a few years since I bought my wifes diamond but at the time I did a lot of research. The best website I found for information was:

www.niceice.com

I went with quality over size when I bought her diamond. Most people have no clue how big a 1 ct diamond actually is, so if the diamond looks good they will assume it is larger.

From what I remember, the cut is the most important thing to consider. I got a "hearts and arrows" cut and the sparkle is amazing. It sparkles in colour, not just white. I bought from Wink at:

www.diamondsandgems.com

It was a good experience and I got a very good price on it.

Just my thoughts.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Thanks for all the advice guys - I had a chat with the Jeweler who's doing this for me and she mentioned something along SeeGeeWhy's line of thinking - considering something at the SI1 level but getting an Ideal Cut and D color, and ensuring occlusions are at the perimeter. I think she's going to get an example of both and let me decide. Depending on how the diamond prices out, this ability to pick and choose may be worth the extra coin over BlueNile.

We did a mercy trip to Spence last year to at least figure out some basics of what she wants so I'm not completely in the dark. She's settled on a Tacori, which I'm going to have cloned to not pay the marketing charges.

Who ever said that 3 months salary is the rule deserves a punch to the testes for selling the rest of us guys out. I'm drawing a line in the sand for what I consider to be a generous amount and not crossing it - it's still a considerable amount though. On that note, where's my engagement car? Or Engagement Plasma TV?