It has more brilliance and fire than diamonds (Refractive Index and Dispersion), only being slightly less harder (but much more harder than CZ).

It’s the more close you’ll get to Diamond, superior to it in some ways, and completely blood-free.

I personally am not totally for weddings and all the overpriced nonsense involved.

I am, on the other hand, very into Gems and rocks(I was since I was younger) and find the idea of purchasing a setting and diamond fun.

I purchased my stone and setting online through James Allen. It was fun shopping for the various dimensions and cuts, to try and find exactly what I was looking for.

One thing I disagree with is advising people to simply go for “The largest table you can find”. Even if you shop for the largest table with the other dimensions and depths taken into consideration, the overall width of the crown and girdle does not always equate to “Size”.

Getting the maximum amount of brilliance and fire (maximizing fire, in my subjective opinion, is the best way to go) is far more important than making your diamond look a shade bigger.

In my situation, my girlfriend has relatively small fingers (4.5), and didn’t want anything overly gaudy. Diamonds over 1ct on a finger that small look ridiculous to me.

A smaller table in general, with proper dimensions, will maximize fire, as you get more facet surface area facing up.

In my opinion, seeing a diamond exploding with fireworks is what’s really important.

http://diamondnexuslabs.com/

Here they make Diamonds in a lab. They are considered Green, no one will die for your diamond(blood diamonds), they are WAY cheaper. My princess cut perfectly clear diamond which is a 1.24 carat was 600 with a wedding band included. They are a little bit more expensive now since they because more popular, but why pay more for an always flawed diamond when you can get a grown one for way cheaper. Just check them out, they even do custom stuff too!

Personally, I’d never want a diamond anyway. I’d rather spend the money on an experience with my SO (like a vacation), or something useful.

Which goes to show that you should always go by what the recipient would like first that’ll help you with the cut and carat section, colour and clarity you’re on your own.

i got my wife a diamond i could afford at the time and have since upgraded it to 4x the original size. so that’s another option if you’re a bit strapped, maybe you start small and upgrade, i dunno.

for a “push present” when we had our first daughter: earrings, ziamond. she knows they are fake, i know they are fake. i still put them in platinum due to strength, appearance and primarily an allergy to metal. she gets complimented on them all the time, its what made me think the diamond on her finger could just as well be fake.

but then again, like lazy .. i just wanted her to have really nice things. this is a hard one, the cost is so high for something that basically boils down to a “keepin’ up with the Joneses” issue.

i’d say that if you can afford it and you know you can afford it: go afford it. if you can’t: fake it.

I also went for a diamond that was .01 under a specific weight.

I also got something a bit practical. Instead of prongs, there is basically a “halo” around the diamond to secure it. No problems with the ring snagging on things.

My company does a lot of business with a specific jeweler – I got a good deal through him.

It really isn’t hard at all to come up with the perfect ring without spending as much money as they want you to. A big part of it is learning how to avoid the tricks and needless upgrades, and realizing that in any big purchase there is always room to haggle.