Beware of Local Store Diamond Ring Rip-Offs!
Hey everyone, just a quick post about a recent experience I had at a jewelry store in the mall. A few days ago, I went to the mall and I decided to go into one of the jewelry stores, just to check out some of the rings they had and to look at their prices.
I forget which store I was in, but I looked around for a couple minutes and didn’t see too much that was noteworthy. Then, I came across this one diamond ring.
It had a 1.5 carat diamond, I2 clarity (yeah, I2!, as in it has visible inclusions!), and the color was something like H or I, I think. I don’t think there was any information about the cut, or the symmetry, polish, or fluorescence. So, besides the fact that the diamond was pretty big, this ring didn’t have a very high quality diamond.
Guess what they were asking for this ring?
$8,999! Yes, $9k for a diamond with visible inclusions that’s not even colorless. And, there wasn’t any cut information, so it probably wasn’t a great cut, either.
You can easily find a 1.5 carat, SI2, ideal cut diamond on the internet for about $4,500. Much better deal – lower price for a better diamond! Of course, that’s without the setting, but even if you add a pretty good, platinum setting, that’ll add about $1,500. Which brings the total up to $6,000, a savings of $2,000 for a better ring!
What does this tell us?
You can usually find much better quality diamonds and diamond rings online! If you don’t know where to look, check out the stores that I have listed on the front page of this site: Buy Diamond Rings.
Big Valentine’s Day Sale on Diamond Rings
Here’s some good news: Diamond.com is having a huge sale for Valentine’s Day: 25% off and free shipping sitewide!
To take advantage of this great sale, click here to go to Diamond.com, shop for your ring, and remember to use the coupon code CVW25 at checkout.
Happy shopping!
Buy a Diamond Ring Online
“How To Select a Beautiful Diamond Ring and save $1000′s!”
Hello diamond ring seeker! Welcome to our site. Our goal is to help people buy diamond rings by providing information about choosing the best diamonds and pointing you in the direction of the best stores to buy from. Don’t worry, we’ve done all the searching online for diamond stores so that you don’t have to go crazy finding the best stores.
Here are the results of my searching: If you want to buy a diamond ring online, there are two stores that stand out above the rest:
- James Allen – My #1 recommendation.
- Blue Nile – The largest online jewelry retailer and Forbes’ Favorite Online Jeweler.
Why are they the best stores for diamond rings and engagement rings? You can read my full review for James Allen here and my full review of Blue Nile here, but here’s a quick summary:
- They have great prices (consistently $1,000 or more below brick and mortar jewelry store prices!).
- They have great selection. Blue Nile has the biggest selection out there (80,000+ diamonds to choose from!).
- James Allen has real pictures of every diamond in stock.
- They both have diamond grading reports for all their diamonds.
- They have great reputations (both rated A+ from the BBB).
That’s pretty much it! Go ahead and look around Blue Nile and James Allen… I promise you will find what you’re looking for!
If you need help choosing your diamond, see our diamond buying guides for recommendation on how to choose the best diamonds.
So, when you’re looking to buy diamond rings, you know that this site is the place to go first! Come back often because I will be updating this site with more sales and coupon codes.
Update: New Guide for Princess Cut Diamonds
Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that I just posted the latest guide from BuyDiamondRings.org.
This guide is for princess cut engagement rings. Do you know what specifications you should look for when you’re searching for a ring with a princess cut diamond? What about the best websites to look for these rings? Or, how about seeing some beautiful pre-set rings with a princess cut diamond? You’ll find it in my guide to princess cut rings.
So, after you’ve read my guide on princess cut rings and bought that gorgeous ring featuring a princess cut ring, what’s next? Well, look out for my guide to emerald cut diamond rings… it’ll be next!
Buy a Diamond Ring for 20% Off
Hey everyone… there’s a sale going on right now at Diamond.com for 20% off ALL jewelry in their store, except for sale items, watches, engagement rings, certified loose diamonds, and Create Your Own rings.
Here are some of my favorite diamond rings that are on sale right now:
Of course, there are many more diamond rings on sale, so click here to see them all.
Make sure you check back often for more information about buying diamond rings. I will be posting some more of my favorite diamond rings and more buying information.
How To Buy Diamond Rings – Other Diamond Grading Reports
In my last post, I went over the first diamond certification, the GIA report. In this post, I will go over the rest of the diamond reports that are important to know when you’re going to buy a diamond ring.
- IGI Report
The reports from IGI (or International Gemological Information) are similar to the reports from the GIA. It has information about a diamond’s cut, shape, color, weight, proportions, finish, and clarity. The grading scales are almost the same as the GIA. You can look back at the GIA information for more detail about these qualities.
- AGS report
The AGS (American Gem Society) report is similar to the reports from the GIA and IGI, but it’s a little more simple. It has basic information about the 4 C’s (cut, clarity, color, and carat) of a diamond. It doesn’t have as much detail as the other reports.
- EGL
An EGL (European Gemological Laboratory) report has a little more detail about the diamond proportion than the other reports. Besides that, it is very similar to the GIA and IGI reports.
So, next time you buy diamond rings, keep these reports in mind and make sure you check them.
How to Buy Diamond Ring – GIA Diamond Certificates
A diamond certificate, or a Diamond Grading Report, tells you more detailed information about a diamond’s unique attributes. This information is pretty important when you’re buying a diamond ring. You can usually find on the website when you choose a diamond for your ring.
There are a couple different diamond certifications, including GIA, AGS, IGI, and EGL. In this post, I will tell you what you need to know about the GIA certification, especially for when you buy diamond rings.
GIA stands for Gemological Institute Of America. They inspect diamonds and issue a Diamond Grading Report that gives an unbiased report about the diamond’s quality.
GIA reports give detailed information about the diamond’s:
- Weight in carats
- Measurements – the length, width, and depth of the diamond.
- Color – a scale from D-Z. D is the most colorless, and Z is the least colorless. The closer to D, the better.
- Fluorescence – The diamond’s fluorescence color when exposed to UV light, if any.
- Proportions
- Depth percentage
- Table percentage
- Clarity – the clarity grade (look back at my 4 C’s article for more information)
- Cut – the cut grade (again, look at the 4 C’s article for more info)
- Polish – a grade of the polish of the diamond’s finish
- Symmetry – a grade of the symmetry of the diamond’s finish
Here’s a sample GIA report:
Sample GIA report (click for larger image)
So, when you buy diamond rings, make sure you look at the Diamond Grading Report. It will give you additional information about the diamond’s quality, which you will want to know. Of course, when you buy a diamond ring online, this is invaluable information because you can’t see the diamond in person.
I will go over the IGI certification next. Look out for it!
Most Expensive Diamond Rings Ever
Ever wondered about the most expensive diamond rings in the world? I did some searching and found some of the very best and finest diamonds and diamond rings ever.
THE most expensive diamond ring is the Chopard Blue Diamond Ring. It’s a 9-carat blue diamond(very, very rare!), with diamond shoulders, set in 18-carat white gold, worth $16.26 million!
Here are some more super-expensive blue diamonds:
-A 7.03-carat blue diamond sold for $9.5 million in May 2009 at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. This diamond was cut from a 26.58-carat diamond found in South Africa.
-A 6.04-carat blue diamond sold for $7.9 million at Sotheby’s in October 2007 in Hong Kong.
-Other blue diamonds have sold for $4.7 and $4.9 at other Sotheby’s auctions.
-The Hancock Red is a .95 carat red diamond that sold for $880,000 back in 1987 for a then-record $926,000 per carat.
-The Hope Diamond is a famous 45.52 carat blue diamond with a $300-350 million estimated value! It has been owned by many different people throughout history.
-Recently, the Elizabeth Collection of House of Taylor Jewelry had a $1.3 million diamond ring. The ring had a 5.98-carat oval cut diamond in the center, and 3.96 carats worth of round diamonds around it.
How To Select A Diamond Engagement Ring
For all the people out there who are currently shopping around for an engagement ring, here are some pointers you must read in order to make a great decision on your engagement ring.
Before I get started on the steps, here’s a little basic information about diamond engagement rings:
- Engagement rings usually consist of two parts: a diamond and a setting (made out of a metal like platinum or gold).
- The most common setting consists of gold for the metal and a solitaire setting type.
- Platinum is the strongest metal. It is rarer and more expensive than gold, and will last for a very long time. Generally, repairs for platinum are needed less frequently than for gold, but the repairs are more difficult.
- Gold is softer and not as strong as platinum. It is usually combined with metal alloys to give it more strength. Repairs for gold usually are needed more frequently than for platinum, but the repairs are easier to perform.
Ready for the steps to choosing the best engagement ring? Here they are!
- First, is the ring and/or engagement a surprise? If not, the best way to get a ring that she’ll love is to let her pick it out herself. Or, if you want to keep a little bit of surprise involved, you can let her give you some guidelines based on her preferences.
- Educate yourself on how to judge and choose the best quality, and value, diamonds. Do you know what the 4 Cs are? Do you know some basic ring terms? Actually, I already wrote two posts on these topics. So, do your diamond ring education right here with my two previous posts: The 4 Cs: Diamond Ring Basics pt 2 and Diamond Ring Basics pt 1.
- Take note of her hints. Has she already dropped some hints about what her favorite kind of rings are? Or maybe what kind of a ring she envisions for her engagement ring? Make sure you pay attention and remember any hints she may drop.
- Look at the style of jewelry she has now. This will obviously give you some clues about her likes and dislikes. Notice what kind of metal her rings are made out of and the style of her rings. If she has mainly rings made out of platinum, then platinum is probably your best bet for setting the ring. If she has mainly vintage-looking rings, then vintage-looking engagements are probably a good choice.
- Find out what size ring would look good on her hands, proportionally. Are her fingers thick or thin? A longer diamond can make her thick fingers look a little longer and thinner, while a ring with a wide band can make long, thin fingers look a little shorter and thicker.
- Find out what size ring she wears. If you have the opportunity, take a ring that she already wears (make sure she wears it on her engagement finger!) and get it sized. This is a simple, but important step. Of course, if you can’t find out her ring size beforehand, just guess at it. You’ll be able to get it re-sized later.
- Choose the shape for the diamond. There are many different shapes that diamonds are cut in, including round, princess, emerald, oval, pear, heart, and more. To start with, round is usually a good choice for a shape that usually works well most of the time. But, to find a more personalized diamond shape, go back to step 4 on this list and take note of the jewelry style she has now. You might be able to see a favorite diamond shape, depending on the rings she already has.
One last thing:
Where to look for diamond rings?
Right on this site, of course! I have listed many different beautiful diamond rings on this site. Go to the homepage, Buy Diamond Ring, and take a look at the rings.
Diamond Rings: The Basics, Part 2
Here’s some basic information about judging a diamond’s quality… pretty important to know if you’re buying a diamond ring, right?
Generally, the information that you need to know about a diamond is called the “4 Cs.” The 4 Cs are cut, clarity, carat, and color.
Cut
This is NOT the shape of the diamond. Cut is the pattern of angled facets on the diamond. Don’t know what that means? Basically, cut is how brilliant the diamond looks. A good cut reflects as much light as possible back to the eye and gives the diamond the bright, brilliant look. A poor cut can make the diamond look dull.
What you need to know about cuts is the different grades of cuts. There are generally 4 different grades of cuts:
-Excellent/Ideal Cut – These are the very best diamonds. They reflect almost all the light that enters and they are beautifully brilliant.
-Very Good Cut – These are the next best, after excellent/ideal cuts. They reflect a lot of light, and they are still pretty brilliant looking.
-Good Cut – These are usually cut to maximize the size of the diamond a little more than both excellent and very good cuts. In maximizing the size, some of the proportions of the diamond have to be slightly off, so they aren’t as brilliant as excellent or very good cuts. These are usually pretty good values, though.
-Fair and Poor Cut – These diamonds don’t reflect light as well as any of the other 3 cuts, so they cost less but don’t look as brilliant.
By the way, cut is generally considered the most important part of the 4 Cs.
Clarity
Clarity tells you how many flaws (also called inclusions) the diamond has. This is the industry standard grading scale for clarity:
Flawless- No internal or external flaws at all. These are very rare and precious.
Internally Flawless – No internal flaws, but some minute external flaws. Again, very rare and precious diamonds.
Very Very Slightly Included – Minute inclusions which are very difficult to detect under 10x magnification, even by a trained gemologist.
Very Slightly Included – Minute inclusions that can only be seen, with difficulty, under 10x magnification.
Slightly Included – Inclusions are visible under 10x magnification, or also by unaided eye to an experienced grader.
Included – Inclusions are visible to the naked eye.
Carat
Carat is a unit of measurement that measures the weight of diamonds and gemstones. The higher the carat, the more weight in the diamond.
Higher carat is usually better, but the quality of the diamond (cut, clarity, and color) are much more important than just the carat number.
Color
Diamonds have very slight tints to them. The less color the diamond has, the higher grade on the color scale it gets.
To keep it simple, because there are two different color scales, I will only include the 5 description classifications for diamond color:
-Colorless
-Near Colorless
-Faint Yellow
-Very Light Yellow
-Light Yellow
The closer to colorless a diamond, the higher quality that diamond is considered to be.
Looking for some diamond rings? I will post some awesome, beautiful, diamond rings here shortly.
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Browse these engagement rings and find the perfect one!
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