Getting engaged, but need advice on a ring

[AUMM]

SCAM! Get her a cubic zirconia and don't tell her.

Want to know how big of a scam diamonds are? Try to resell one.

nope, manufactured diamonds are the way to go now....

http://www.diamondnexus.com/

 

[NutBucket]

I'll call my insurance company and see what they say. I recall when talking to them before the policy will replace it with a comparable stone. The appraised value wasn't an issue, just that the description of the item itself was accurate.

 

[Gibson486]

I'll call my insurance company and see what they say. I recall when talking to them before the policy will replace it with a comparable stone. The appraised value wasn't an issue, just that the description of the item itself was accurate.

they will replace it with a comparable stone up to the value you are insured for. So if the stone costs 9k, but you are insured up to 6K, then you will have to pony up money in most cases.

 

[Zeze]

I am assuming it is not one of their Signature stones. To replace your stone online would likely cost $28k in the current market. The retail replacement value used for insurance purposes would be several grand higher. If it is one of their signature stones replacing online would definitely be over $30k. So yeah, I would spend money to have it apprised and update your insurance policy.

Diamonds were at their lowest in 2005 and prices have more than doubled since then. While currently not at the highest prices ever(that would be in the 1980s), diamonds are spiking and are going to continue to go up because of growing demand in China and India coupled with no new/very few new mines with some older mines wrapping up operations.

Supplies are PURE bullshit. That's what they WANT you to believe. The whole diamond industry is sick. And I'm not some hippie. It really is sick.

What was that article? There is enough diamond in the market for EVERYONE on earth to have a cup quarter full of diamonds. That's like 200 carats.

 

[vshah]

i got it from jamesallen.com and my fiancee is very very happy with it. i agree that cut is more important than size, the stone i got was about 3/4 carat but it is constantly sparkling, although you could get a much larger one with similar quality with that budget. i spent a little over 3k on the stone.

 

[Wreckem]

Supplies are PURE bullshit. That's what they WANT you to believe. The whole diamond industry is sick. And I'm not some hippie. It really is sick.

What was that article? There is enough diamond in the market for EVERYONE on earth to have a cup quarter full of diamonds. That's like 200 carats.

Demand for diamond rough out strips supply of diamond rough. Which in turn causes diamond rough to explode in pricing. Which causes cut and polished diamond prices to increase.

Most reputable miners and cutters no long deal with blood or conflict diamonds. They require paperwork and verification of where diamond rough comes from. The largest mines aren't even in africa.

As for there is enough diamonds for everyone to have 200 carats. It takes on average 250 tons of diamond bearing earth to get a carat of cut and polished gem grade diamonds. Maybe if you count commercial/industrial grade diamonds and diamond melee. Not so much for gem grade or higher quality gem grade diamonds that are of substantial size. Even then the prices of diamond melee have shot up in some cases up to 100%.

Bottom line is a substantial portion of quality .25-.75ct producing diamond rough is being eaten up by China and India right now. Add to that the supply of 1ct+ producing rough is "relatively" low and more or less always has been.

 

[KentState]

Christ...

Get a $200 ring, save the money for a down payment on a house instead.

There is a reason why my budget is only $8k. Unless you know the extent of my finances, housing situation or career, those types of comments really don't add anything to the thread.

 

[chin311]

Christ...

Get a $200 ring, save the money for a down payment on a house instead.

why spend 200$, just hit up a gumball machine on the way to the proposal

after all that might buy you some video games or a few more years on xbox live

 

[ichy]

There is a reason why my budget is only $8k. Unless you know the extent of my finances, housing situation or career, those types of comments really don't add anything to the thread.

For the vast majority of guys in their 20s or 30s dropping $8k on a ring is retarded. Yes, I know that everyone on ATOT makes six figures, has no debt, etc, and if you really are in that income demographic then go for it, but if you're an average American this is retarded.

 

[alkemyst]

Supplies are PURE bullshit. That's what they WANT you to believe. The whole diamond industry is sick. And I'm not some hippie. It really is sick.

What was that article? There is enough diamond in the market for EVERYONE on earth to have a cup quarter full of diamonds. That's like 200 carats.

Build your own mine

 

[torpid]

For the vast majority of guys in their 20s or 30s dropping $8k on a ring is retarded. Yes, I know that everyone on ATOT makes six figures, has no debt, etc, and if you really are in that income demographic then go for it, but if you're an average American this is retarded.

$8k does seem like a lot to me in this day and age. I spent ~1 month net salary and would not have been comfortable spending more than that. But, I don't know the OP's situation. In our case I knew we would have to pay for the wedding ourselves and that cost way more than the ring.

 

[ichy]

What strikes me as insane is that the whole expensive diamond thing is well known to be an invention of DeBeers marketing, yet so many guys fall for it. Hell, even a lot of guys who're marrying women who realize that expensive diamonds are retarded feel the need to shell out a bunch of money to prove something. It's almost like Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[ichy]

Remember, money problems are one of the leading causes of divorce. $8k would make a nice emergency fund if you guys hit some rough times. Throwing it into a mortgage could get a house paid off a lot faster. A extra $8k could help you minimize or avoid car payments. Etc etc etc. Remember what you're sacrificing to get a piece of hard carbon.

 

[torpid]

I'd rather have money in a diamond right now than in a house. Homes are depreciating way more quickly and much more difficult to sell. Both are bad choices for investing right now.

 

[Doppel]

Get something cheap a thousand or two at the most, tell her later on you'll get her something better. Diamonds are a shameful way to spend money, but a cubic zirconia isn't gonna cut it unfortunately.

What strikes me as insane is that the whole expensive diamond thing is well known to be an invention of DeBeers marketing, yet so many guys fall for it. Hell, even a lot of guys who're marrying women who realize that expensive diamonds are retarded feel the need to shell out a bunch of money to prove something. It's almost like Stockholm Syndrome.

Agreed. What did it for me was reading about how synthetically created diamonds can actually be better than mined ones and sometimes cannot even be told as synthetic without some microscopic watermark. The only person who gives a fvck about it is the woman when she gets it, it's an incredibly stupid waste of money in our society.

 

[Wreckem]

Get something cheap a thousand or two at the most, tell her later on you'll get her something better. Diamonds are a shameful way to spend money, but a cubic zirconia isn't gonna cut it unfortunately.Agreed. What did it for me was reading about how synthetically created diamonds can actually be better than mined ones and sometimes cannot even be told as synthetic without some microscopic watermark. The only person who gives a fvck about it is the woman when she gets it, it's an incredibly stupid waste of money in our society.

1. lab grown diamonds are very hard to make colorless.
2. lab grown diamonds are very hard to make colorless over 1ct
3. lab grown diamonds are not cheaper than regular diamonds

At the moment, of the 4 main diamond growers I cannot for the life of me find any colorless diamond approaching 1ct. Everything is .3-.6.

If you think traditional colorless diamonds are expensive. Just look at the world of colored diamonds. A .5ct vivid pink diamond from the Argyle mine in Australia is going for $74k right now. A .5ct red diamond from the same mine is going for about $300k.

 

[alkemyst]

Christ...

Get a $200 ring, save the money for a down payment on a house instead.

These two things don't always have to be separate.

 

[Wreckem]

nope, manufactured diamonds are the way to go now....

http://www.diamondnexus.com/

Diamond Nexus stones are diamond simulants and are made out of zirconium dioxide and several other things. They aren't technically cubic zirconia as they use a different formula, but they are essentially the same.

Truly lab created diamonds are carbon.

 

[alkemyst]

Remember, money problems are one of the leading causes of divorce. $8k would make a nice emergency fund if you guys hit some rough times. Throwing it into a mortgage could get a house paid off a lot faster. A extra $8k could help you minimize or avoid car payments. Etc etc etc. Remember what you're sacrificing to get a piece of hard carbon.

It's no different than taking a vacation, buying a home theatre, a jet ski, etc...that money is blown.

This becomes a symbol and like what you wear, people judge you on it like it or not.

I do agree if buying a ring is going to be a major financial sacrifice then skip it for now.

I didn't buy my current wife a diamond until our 8 year anniversary. I spent about $5500 for a H&A .757 carat AGS 0/1.5/2 (Excellent/G/VVS2) also rated 0/0/0/ID/ID light performance/proportion/Finish/Polish/Symmetry...even in bad light it pops.

Two years later and I blow that money in a couple months on just stupid stuff. My brother spent a lot more (I think close to $20k for just the stone), but my wife is all of 5' tall and about 115lbs...she's also very active.

 

[alkemyst]

The only person who gives a fvck about it is the woman when she gets it, it's an incredibly stupid waste of money in our society.

Then again so is eating out, buying more than basic transportation, video games, etc.

 

[Locut0s]

 

[ponyo]

Remember, money problems are one of the leading causes of divorce. $8k would make a nice emergency fund if you guys hit some rough times. Throwing it into a mortgage could get a house paid off a lot faster. A extra $8k could help you minimize or avoid car payments. Etc etc etc. Remember what you're sacrificing to get a piece of hard carbon.

It's all relative. OP is comfortable with $8k ring budget. It's his choice. He didn't ask you for a lecture on different ways the money could be better spent.

 

[ichy]

This is the internet, I'll launch any threadjack I want!