Diamonds/Antique settings ?
Q.Diamonds/Antique settings ?
A.I have a few questions for all you wedding gurus out there. My boyfriend and I are probably going to get engaged sometime in the next few months. I know he plans to give me a token gift so that I can shop with him for the ring. Apparently the element of surprise is very important to him, which is fine--the actual ring selection is very important to me. I'm wondering if you can help me with a few things: 1) I don't know much about diamonds. I've seen a few postings here about them-so if anyone had copies of faqs or postings on diamonds I'd appreciate it. I think I would like a round diamond-I'm not that picky about how large-I suspect we will be limited by what will fit in the setting and by how much money we have left after the setting is purchased-which leads me to the next question: 2) I very much prefer antique jewelry-or at the very least I prefer white gold or platinum settings to the traditional yellow-gold ones. I would love some recomendations for antique dealers in the Chicago area, and any tips for antique shopping from Those Who Know. I also need to know if I will have to purchase an entire ring from a dealer because they won't separate the ring from the stone. In that case, how do I check to ensure that the stone is good quality? Will I find that an old ring would have a lower-quality stone? Or do you think I might be able to get the ring for a song because it's older and antique jewelry (at least in engagement rings) isn't that popular? What if I just don't like the stone in the setting? Can I get the dealer to sell me just the setting, in which case am I going to have to go to an antique dealer to get a stone put in the setting, or will any old jewler (my family has one-yet they seem to only carry modern jewelry styles) be able to replace stones in antique pieces? Are there any places around that specialize in white-gold or platinum settings but that aren't antique? I wouldn't mind a modern piece-I think I could determine quality better and get a better guarentee from the jeweler if it isn't an old piece... Also-will I be able to find a nice ring for my boyfriend at an antique store? I'd like to get something that at least coordinates or matches to give him as an engagement ring. ARGH. Didn't think I had so many questions until I started asking them... I have an antique white-gold with a small diamond and two small emerald-cut sapphires in it that my mother bought for me from a jewelry expo at O'Hare a few years ago. There seemed to be many antique jewelers there that year. Does anyone have any opinions on how reliable the quality would be buying from a dealer at an expo? Would we be able to get a good guarentee on the ring or stone? Would the prices be lower than I would get from a store? And lastly-what about insuring the ring once we buy it? Any tips? Should I go through State Farm who does my auto insurance? When my fiance and I got engaged last January (wedding this Jan), he knew I wanted an older setting or at least white gold/platinum. When we went to jewelers we asked specifically to see "estate pieces." The jewelers had settings-with-stones and settings-without-stones. The settings with stones usually had "European cut" diamonds -- hand cut stones that were not perfectly round nor perfectly faceted and which, if you looked at the stone from the top, appeared to have a hole in the center (the tip of the diamond is cut blunt rather than pointed, giving the hole effect). But, to us, the "imperfection" of the stone was part of the whole experience of having an antique ring. Was it less expensive than a modern ring? No. With modern rings I think you're able to control the size of the stone -- if you're looking for a range of point sizes (or carat sizes!) you can specify that. With antique rings with set-in stone, what they have is what you get to choose from (unless you just buy the setting). If you like an estate ring and it's a larger stone than you planned on, I don't know that there's a way to get a smaller stone set. We looked at modern, platinum-set rings as well. They, too, were beautiful but just didn't do it for us. But you have more options, obviously. If you like a ring set in yellow gold, the jeweler may be able to reset it for you in white or platinum. Or you can pick a stone and pick a setting and they'll build it for you. One thing I noticed was that modern settings are "higher" than antique ones -- the prongs are longer and the stone is more raised. For one poster on the group, this was a plus. For me, it was a minus. I wanted a lower set stone because it was less liable to catch on things and I simply prefered the look. We ended up with a diamond with these flat sapphire "discs" on either side. From the face of the ring, you can only see the rims of the discs. From the side you can see the surface of the discs. Hard to explain but it was very art deco and couldn't be reproduced in a modern setting (or it could be, maybe, but at such cost). We were very pleased and knew right away this was "the" ring. At first I was lost in the many options but one ring was just right.
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