So all you married guys, how exactly does one purchase a diamond without getting the feeling that:

1) You're being completely ripped off and there's somewhere you could get the same thing for 100's of dollars less somewhere else.

2) You could be getting a reeeeeeeally nice new super-computer for the cost of that tiny rock.

(Ok, mostly #1, but #2 just nags at the back of my head).

#1. A diamond is a girls best friend

#2. Girls hate it when we spend more time on computers than with them.

Really, I'm about to go shopping... wating for *any* help on this before I head out. Girlfriend is *already* annoyed that I've been on here all morning since 6am (now 1:12pm) *eeak*

your best bet is to have a diamond place that will explain a diamond to you. its easy to buy a diamond and pay to much, its hard to buy a diamond at a good price.
we have a store up here in canada its called "spence diamonds" they only sell diamonds and they explain all that crud about clarity and quality to you when your shopping. make sure the place you buy from has a microscope and you can look for inclusions (little pieces of carbon in a diamond) if you dont see any you cant afford the rock or its a cubic zirconium :)

Steve

Buy from a reputable dealer, for starters. Look for clarity especially (with a good loupe), as well as overt flawing.

There are a lot of junk diamonds around that are next door to worthless but being peddled for heavy bucks just because of size... it's really easy to get skinned on this, especially if you don't know your gems.

Compare your diamonds in points, not carats.

I've gotten the 4 C's down for the most part. I know what I want (in theory). Something like a:

Cut: Obviously as ideal as possible.
Clarity: VS1 (or 2, but I've noticed less is ok sometimes)
Color: F-H
Carat: 0.48+
Cost: From $1,000-$2,500

Now I've looked at everything from $600-$8,000, but that's a price I won't cry over too much (really I will if it is over $1,500, but...)

Since no two are exactly alike, kinda hard to comparison shop, plus they all seem to have ones that are close, but not the exact same specs., and this can affect price by $400 either way. Bahhhh... I hate this.

I should have just gotten the 0.53 VS1 J mounted in 14K white gold that I had in my hand. Was $1,500, done deal. Then she saw a $3,200 one that she liked (of course), so I got my deposit back. But we were hopoing they could mount a slightly less expensive rock in the special platinum setting she likes. They said they could. Unltil they called and it didn't seem like they could find one that would work with the whole deal.

I really don't like this. At all. I can't help seeing a server on that finger :( I know, bad. I'm just going to go out and hope for the best. Wish me luck... thankx for the help fella's.

Now what is a 'point' ? I've been to about 5 or 6 places already, I don't remember them mentioning 'points'. Then again, some had certificates, some didn't. Some said it is really important to have a certificate, others not. Of course the ones that didn't have them said it wasn't all that important, but then again they had the best ones (also expensive), but very very very clean, white diamonds.

I don't know much about diamonds ;)

Try out about.com

I think he should forget the diamonds and consider psychiatric care. It's always cheaper than marriage, in the long run.

I've only bought one diamond in my life (so far - not for my gf).

It depends what's most important to you (or your gf): Color or size.

If you want a large diamond you can buy a very large but yellow diamond cheap. They're called in the trade "Canaries" (like th yellow bird). They're real diamonds just yellow so they go for less.

If you want a clear stone you'll pay a lot for large clear one.

IMO go for clearity and color first, size second. Also, get a GIA or similar certified diamond. Certification doesn't prove you got a good deal but it does prove you're getting what you're being told. Expect to pay about $5000 for 1 kt. certified stone.

Buying a diamond is like buying a car - no matter how your deal you always feel you could have done better.

Good luck!

(another good man bites the dust)

Just got back. Too bunt to even post about it, but I'll be sure to get to it when I can to educate the boys out there.

Since we're all do-it-yourself webmasters in here (for the most part), why don't we all become do-it-yourself ringmakers too? All Chicken's got to do is fly to South Africa, get into a diamond mine, mine the diamond and some gold for the ring, sneak it through customs in his underwear, come back, meld the ring, cut the diamond and stick it in. Not only do you save money, you have the pride of having done it all by yourself. (And you get to sneak stuff internationally in your shorts...how cool is THAT?)

Seriously...you would think there'd be a message board similar to this one only for diamonds and rings out there somewhere, wouldn't you? Just a thought.