Proposal Ring - Part 3

[LindaLiao]

Hi all, new to this whole process, need some pointers if I'm not considering something or missing out

Initially started searching at Lee Hwa, SK, etc. but service there didn't seem right and staff were quite eager to just close deal on one ring rather than letting me look through slowly.

Then went to VenusTears at Bugis, and was impressed by their service. Not pushy and let me look through their collection. But still new to looking at diamonds so not sure what's good and what's average. They did recommend one diamond:

Triple Excellent VS1 E 0.29c $999

Booked appointment with JannPaul, service there was also excellent. Staff went through carefully the ASET and IdealScope aspects of the diamond which I didn't know, and because my budget is a bit tighter (~$2500), he helped picked out one super ideal and one ideal, went through how the diamonds should look, and was very impressed even by the quality of the ideal diamond (almost identical sparkle as super ideal, even in shadow, and outdoors - he brought me outside to view the diamonds) - apparently he mentioned he picked out this specific ideal as it was as close to a super ideal as possible:

Ideal, VS2, F, 0.41c $1950
Super ideal, VS2, E, 0.31c, $1850

Was planning to visit places like Rio, Canary Diamond, Vivo, Poh Kim, Fonder etc. as I've seen some people mention these places a few times, any pointers for these places?

At the same time though, I feel like I wanna quickly go ahead and place deposit on the Ideal in a few days, cos I feel like diamond prices may fluctuate (again not sure, that's what I heard but am new to this) but wondering if I should consider the other places mentioned. Spent a good 30 minutes looking at the diamond back and forth and brought the diamond out a few times, and was also very impressed by the quality and service given by JP and it did feel very genuine so don't think they're trying to upsell me or anything? Anyone got any pointers about JP and whether it's ok?

Thanks in advance for any pointers or help!

Personally, I'll go for the better cut. My last ring was a 0.45 D VVS2 Triple Excellent that my hubs first proposed to me. When I compared around, I felt it wasnt as bright or shiny as it should be for a diamond. I always had an impression that diamonds are meant to be shiny. But of course I didnt tell him back then la. I was already very happy that he proposed and I'm not those type of ungrateful material girls. I will be happy with whatever he gives me.

Just that it was always at the back of my mind and he sensed it too when we hang out with our other married friends. 2 years later, he bought me a Super Ideal Cut 0.52 G VS2. It was much shinier and a big upgrade for me. Although I didn't really needed it, it was a good feeling

Even though the color and clarity was lower, it was brighter and sparklier. One thing I learnt is that you really dont have to go for such high color and clarity. You just need a good cut to bring out the shine in the diamond. The rest doesnt really matter. And if you get a good cut, you will have a peace of mind. Don't need to keep worrying ''what if its better'' or if need to upgrade it later.

 

[LindaLiao]

Personally, I'll go for the better cut. My last ring was a 0.45 D VVS2 Triple Excellent that my hubs first proposed to me. When I compared around, I felt it wasnt as bright or shiny as it should be for a diamond. I always had an impression that diamonds are meant to be shiny. But of course I didnt tell him back then la. I was already very happy that he proposed and I'm not those type of ungrateful material girls. I will be happy with whatever he gives me.

Just that it was always at the back of my mind and he sensed it too when we hang out with our other married friends. 2 years later, he bought me a Super Ideal Cut 0.52 G VS2. It was much shinier and a big upgrade for me. Although I didn't really needed it, it was a good feeling

Even though the color and clarity was lower, it was brighter and sparklier. One thing I learnt is that you really dont have to go for such high color and clarity. You just need a good cut to bring out the shine in the diamond. The rest doesnt really matter. And if you get a good cut, you will have a peace of mind. Don't need to keep worrying ''what if its better'' or if need to upgrade it later.

Here is the pics of my old and new ring

 

[exoticeclair]

I would not recommend looking at ideal or SIC with such tight budgets(I would assume 2.5k with ring)? Those are too small to make a difference.

For that carat range, unless your gf is super petite (below 45kg, but not a good general rule of thumb), if not it will look super small on her finger. Would recommend 0.46-0.6 if anything more.

Ahhh I see, her fingers are actly q small. I see, was just thinking more quality over size so wanted to make sure it’s a good diamond. May look around a bit more but based on what I see it seems JP offers the best qualityrice ratio

If you go with JP or HOH idealcut, I dun think u can go wrong there
I dun think u can find what u need at Canary but I could be wrong
Poh Kim might have less overheads due to their location so u could try them out.
If you didn’t go with JP/HOH then the best we can do to help is give u some suggestions based on dimensions but you will have to gauge it yourself .. I.e how the stone actually looks in real life

Ok! May check out Poh Kim then! Have also read somewhere else in the thread Fonder diamonds may not be completely sparkle so may avoid them too. But otherwise yea it looks like my eventual choice would be back to JP

Personally, I'll go for the better cut. My last ring was a 0.45 D VVS2 Triple Excellent that my hubs first proposed to me. When I compared around, I felt it wasnt as bright or shiny as it should be for a diamond. I always had an impression that diamonds are meant to be shiny. But of course I didnt tell him back then la. I was already very happy that he proposed and I'm not those type of ungrateful material girls. I will be happy with whatever he gives me.

Wow, ok thanks so much for the insight. Actly yes when at JP the salesman showed me a 3rd diamond which had no sparkle at all compared to the other two. Ever since seeing that i’m Super scared to end up getting one like the 3rd non-sparkly one. So not sure if elsewhere can find as sparkly as the two at JP. Will check out Poh Kim first and I guess quickly decide on JP if anything. Thanks again for all the inputs!

 

[KinoChoco]

Here is the pics of my old and new ring

Did u wash and clean your old ring?

It seems oily/cloudy. I don't think thats 100% due to cut, looks more like dirt actually.

My friend ring used to look like that, i helped her clean it and it looks much better, altho not as good as super ideal but definitely the differences not that drastic bah haha

 

[KinoChoco]

Ahhh I see, her fingers are actly q small. I see, was just thinking more quality over size so wanted to make sure it’s a good diamond. May look around a bit more but based on what I see it seems JP offers the best qualityrice ratio



Ok! May check out Poh Kim then! Have also read somewhere else in the thread Fonder diamonds may not be completely sparkle so may avoid them too. But otherwise yea it looks like my eventual choice would be back to JP



Wow, ok thanks so much for the insight. Actly yes when at JP the salesman showed me a 3rd diamond which had no sparkle at all compared to the other two. Ever since seeing that i’m Super scared to end up getting one like the 3rd non-sparkly one. So not sure if elsewhere can find as sparkly as the two at JP. Will check out Poh Kim first and I guess quickly decide on JP if anything. Thanks again for all the inputs!

I'll always recommend an ideal cut standard even if budget is 2k+.

Anything below ideal looks kind of bad IMO (imagine she and a group of friends met up and some of them are on super ideal...then it's damn obvious the differences in the bling liao), try to aim for ideal cut F color, VS2/SI1 Clarity and see what size u can get...i'm hoping u can get at least 0.4+.

Rather than sacrificing on cut quality...I'll rather suggest the buyer save a little more money and allow more budget to it if he really wants a good piece. (can cut cost by avoid alcohol, cigg, expensive meals for couple weeks or a month)

 

[lance88]

I'll always recommend an ideal cut standard even if budget is 2k+.

Anything below ideal looks kind of bad IMO (imagine she and a group of friends met up and some of them are on super ideal...then it's damn obvious the differences in the bling liao), try to aim for ideal cut F color, VS2/SI1 Clarity and see what size u can get...i'm hoping u can get at least 0.4+.

Rather than sacrificing on cut quality...I'll rather suggest the buyer save a little more money and allow more budget to it if he really wants a good piece. (can cut cost by avoid alcohol, cigg, expensive meals for couple weeks or a month)

haha sure, that not the kind of market we want to set lol. I am not saying they dont deserve the best but such money can be use at more realistic place like honeymoon.

0.4+ ideal at 2.5k with ring.. hmm. that's super tight budget even with the below quote
Ideal, VS2, F, 0.41c $1950

 

[KinoChoco]

haha sure, that not the kind of market we want to set lol. I am not saying they dont deserve the best but such money can be use at more realistic place like honeymoon.

0.4+ ideal at 2.5k with ring.. hmm. that's super tight budget even with the below quote
Ideal, VS2, F, 0.41c $1950

It's up to individual. He/She can decide based on their own preferences, i only suggest based on my own perspective, there aren't any right or wrong market to set.


Everyone has different perspective on such things. Somebody can spend more on ring and less on honeymoon or vise versa or even chose to spend more on both.

 

[Miltah]

Here is the pics of my old and new ring

]

Nevertheless shows the minimal color difference of a D to a G especially if u not color sensitive, can save abit here
Face up, a well cut diamond will appear whiter but unmoubted, face down, it will still be a G color.
So depending on your setting, if using 6prong, a lot less of the side profile can be seen.
If u need to max budget, at 0.5c, vvs clarity is also often an overkill

 

[lance88]

Nevertheless shows the minimal color difference of a D to a G especially if u not color sensitive, can save abit here
Face up, a well cut diamond will appear whiter but unmoubted, face down, it will still be a G color.
So depending on your setting, if using 6prong, a lot less of the side profile can be seen.
If u need to max budget, at 0.5c, vvs clarity is also often an overkill

for 6prong with a lot less profile, does it mean less sparkle?

 

[Miltah]

for 6prong with a lot less profile, does it mean less sparkle?

I dun think so as opposed to a full bezel setting (u can google for pics )
But earlier someone commented that full bezel just as sparkly

If u want to fully expose the diamond, u can try a tension setting .. lol

 

[LindaLiao]

Did u wash and clean your old ring?

It seems oily/cloudy. I don't think thats 100% due to cut, looks more like dirt actually.

My friend ring used to look like that, i helped her clean it and it looks much better, altho not as good as super ideal but definitely the differences not that drastic bah haha

Yah, i got clean my ring many times before. I used the toothbrush and scrub method. It did look better after cleaning, but still not that sparkly

 

[LindaLiao]

Nevertheless shows the minimal color difference of a D to a G especially if u not color sensitive, can save abit here
Face up, a well cut diamond will appear whiter but unmoubted, face down, it will still be a G color.
So depending on your setting, if using 6prong, a lot less of the side profile can be seen.
If u need to max budget, at 0.5c, vvs clarity is also often an overkill

Totally agree with you. Last time we thought better color means the diamond will look whiter.. then higher clarity will be more clear and sparkly. But its actually just the cut. When I see the top view, the G color with better cut does look whiter than the D color one. From the side view, can still be alittle bit that the G is bit more yellowish.. but its only very slight and hard to notice. It's something I can live with

 

[exoticeclair]

Hi all, thanks again for all your help so far. Have just gone to Poh Kim and was impressed by their service. However, I would like to ensure that the diamond is a best as possible and I feel like the ones at JP looked the best (plus they had all the scopes there) so will likely be heading back down and making a decision there soon.

Cheers everyone

 

[lance88]

Hi all, thanks again for all your help so far. Have just gone to Poh Kim and was impressed by their service. However, I would like to ensure that the diamond is a best as possible and I feel like the ones at JP looked the best (plus they had all the scopes there) so will likely be heading back down and making a decision there soon.

Cheers everyone

can give some details of the specs and price?

 

[exoticeclair]

can give some details of the specs and price?

Most likely going back to look at this one:

Ideal cut 0.41c F VS2 $1950

Although it's not super ideal, the ASET and idealscope I saw was still good (awaiting them to send me the pictures) and managed to get 0.1c higher than the 0.31 super ideal.

Will post the scope pics once I get them

 

[cyl1987]

Most likely going back to look at this one:

Ideal cut 0.41c F VS2 $1950

Although it's not super ideal, the ASET and idealscope I saw was still good (awaiting them to send me the pictures) and managed to get 0.1c higher than the 0.31 super ideal.

Will post the scope pics once I get them

This is from JP?

 

[Miltah]

This is from JP?

Not a recommendation, just a price guide from past few pages for reference:

Goldheart/ Venus tears / Poh Kim / unknown:
0.29c, E, VS1 3ex $999
0.48ct, D,VS2, 3ex $2400
0.54c, F, VS1, 3ex $3280
1.0?c, G, SI1, 3ex, $8k+
1.5C, G, VS2, 3ex, $19.3k

JP/ HOH
0.41c, F, VS2, $1950 (ideal)
0.31c, E, VS2, $1850 (SIC)
0.37c G, VS1, $1950 (SIC)
0.41 D VVS2 $2950
0.41 E VVS1 $2850
0.43 D VS1 $3050
0.43 E VVS2 $2900
0.63 F VS2, $5100
0.6c, E, VS1, $5400 (SIC)
0.6c, G VS1, $6k+ (Solasfera)
1.01c G, vs1, $14k (SIC)
1.54c, G, VS2, $25k (SIC)

 

[cyl1987]

I purchased mine from JP... so far so good... good service.. just that the ring box is quite plain... in e end i have to look for one... anybody got any recommendations for special ring box designs?

Sent from Samsung SM-N950F using GAGT

 

[Miltah]

I purchased mine from JP... so far so good... good service.. just that the ring box is quite plain... in e end i have to look for one... anybody got any recommendations for special ring box designs?

Sent from Samsung SM-N950F using GAGT

If you dun mind purchasing from overseas, u can try Etsy for some unique designs

 

[Miltah]

For the guys, there’s some interesting band designs here with material from titanium to cobalt n tungsten

https://manlybands.com