Comments on: Save Money on a Diamond Ring

By: Catharine Inniss

Catharine Inniss — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:09:44 +0000

My antique ring came from a jeweler in Salem Mass. He is right downtown – the only antique jewellery place, so I am sure you would be able to find him.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:41:52 +0000

De Biers also created the whole myth of the engagement diamond ring to sell diamonds. 100 years ago it wasn’t the tradition.

By: bob

bob — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:34:10 +0000

Manufactured diamonds is where it is at. More perfect that a diamond from the ground and a fraction of the price. Best of all you get out of the evil monopoly that is De Biers.

By: Catharine Inniss

Catharine Inniss — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:15:49 +0000

I love diamonds, but just watched Blood Diamond last night. My engagement ring is a one carat, set in platinum antique, but you can be assured that from now on, I will know exactly where the diamond comes from….and we have wonderful diamonds mined right here in Canada.

By: jadefly

jadefly — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:08:08 +0000

I like diamonds. :) But I do wish my fiance had read this article before buying my ring; maybe we wouldn’t be in debt now!

By: Kristy @ Master Your Card

Kristy @ Master Your Card — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:51:34 +0000

To be honest, most of this article was gibberish…I don’t really understand all the fuss over diamonds. Sure, they’re nice. But, they’re terribly overpriced. I think a CZ in a nice setting would be fine with me. And even then, I don’t want anything big. If we did go the real diamond route, I’d prefer a smaller one I think. I don’t have diamond envy and don’t really care what anyone else thinks about me, so I say to hell with that! I’d rather start my marriage debt free.

By: Fit Wallet

Fit Wallet — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:51:10 +0000

Another thing to consider: do you want to support slave child labor? I don’t mean to sound like an alarmist, but if someone bought me a diamond I’d want to know that it wasn’t mined by an 8-year-old in Sierra Leone.

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.

By: plonkee

plonkee — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:16:42 +0000

I am like thisisbeth. It would be much more important to me to have a platinum setting (white metal, heavy and hard) than to have a diamond at all, let alone a large diamond, which would look ridiculous on my small hands. I’d also hate to not choose the ring myself.

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.

By: RJ Weiss

RJ Weiss — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:27:29 +0000

I didn’t buy my ring from Costco, but I found it to be the best price. It’s not a bad idea to compare whatever your paying to a similar one at Costco.

By: thisisbeth

thisisbeth — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:00:21 +0000

Another thing to consider is the female in question. I’m an understated person, and a large diamond would feel awkward and showy to me, something that I avoid.

By: Cos

Cos — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:46:18 +0000

if i could do it again, i might take the ziamond (cubic zirconium) route and it has nothing to do with being able to afford it and everything to do with the point Daniel made: nobody notices. ever.

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.

By: kosmo @ The Casual Observer

kosmo @ The Casual Observer — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:50:18 +0000

Daniel – very nice. If your wife doesn’t want to expensive diamond, then there is very little point in getting 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.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:06:08 +0000

You know, maybe I am just a lucky a guy or something, but try talking to your wife/wife to-be and see what she thinks about a cubic zirconium. I had this discussion with my wife and it went back and forth until one day she basically said she didn’t want to pay for a diamond (I agreed). Her 1.25 CZ has not ONCE been thought of as a fake. In fact, she has had nothing but compliments and jealous comments. We both giggle inside when we hear that.

By: Jon Anderson

Jon Anderson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:24:07 +0000

I heard “designed it himself” a million times for mine too. I didn’t buy anything separate, I just went into a store that I already knew and liked, and picked a ring with a diamond that I liked and another ring with the design I wanted. I didn’t bother going with any of their “certified” diamonds, since I don’t care whether or not somewhere else has evaluated the diamond. It looks how I wanted it to, and that is what matters. The ring with the diamond was cheap, because it had been pulled out of the display after clearance – they pulled a box of them out from under the counter when I wasn’t liking the ones I saw. I also had a trade-in, a ring from her ex, which I got them to bump up the price of to help me meet my target price.

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.