Tips on buying a diamond ring ?
After buying my girlfriend's engagement ring, I decided to share what
I learned and some tips. If you're going to be buying a diamond I
think you'll find this very helpful:
http://www.advweb.com/michael/diamonds/buying_a_diamond.shtml
Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Well, obviously this is the first and largest mistake, buying a diamond.
Diamond prices are vastly inflated compared to their real value.
The diamond industry also has a history of doing very bad things so there
are moral and ethical reasons not to purchase diamonds as well.
There are a lot of other precious, semi-precious and man made jewels out
there that are much more reasonably priced than diamonds. There is no
rule (apart from evil advertising) that states you have to put yourself
into debt for an engagement ring or that this ring has to be diamond.
I agree, diamonds are overpriced and deBeers has the longest running and
most successful marketing compaign of any company in history. I felt the
same way as you do. But my girlfriend's dream was to have a beautiful
diamond engagement ring and I didn't want to take that away from her. So I
made it into a very fun and positive experience, and I don't have any
regrets.
Diamond engagement rings don't have to be expensive, smaller stones are
quite affordable. And like you said, any stone can be used for an
engagement ring. So there are lots of choices to meet any budget. But in
the end, if someone does decide on a diamond, I hope my tips will save them
some money and help them get the best deal possible.
if I had to do it all over again,
I'll get a plain band with no stones. I'm pretty active and had
to have my wedding rings re-set into a channel design because
I kept bending at least one or two of the six prongs doing things
as simple as vacumming the car.
I can catch my rings on a carpet like no one else I've ever met!
:)
I'm tired of having to take the thing in to check the stones, too.
Last time I did a couple of months ago, I had 4 loose stones.
To me, it's simply not worth the aggravation and constant checking
for the upkeep of the thing. It's beautiful, but I find myself leaving
it in the jewlery box more often than not, because it gets in the way.
I'd like to have the stones set into a necklace for my heirs or just
put it in a safe deposit box, and get a 50.00 plain band.
I hear you. I've been wearing my grandmother's wedding band for the past
five years and it is wonderful...because there's not a single prong on the
whole darned thing. It's bezel set and I love it.
I bought my sweety's engagement ring at SAM's Club. Paid less than half of
the GMA certification that comes with it, and she loves it.