Engagement rings....

[steve784]

OK....so I'm thinking about it. I literally have no idea how to go about doing this. Anyone have any suggestions on places in the Pittsburgh area to check out? Depending on how the stock market is over the next few months I plan on spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-7K. I live near Philly now but will be back home for the holidays, so figure on looking around some then. Any help would be appreciated! Oh, and if anyone has any tricks for how the hell to get my GF's ring size without asking her that would also be extreeeeeemely helpful.

[Kicksave]

My best advice: don't do it.

[steve784]

My best advice: don't do it.

[mac5155]

The Clark building.

[Sarcastic]

OK....so I'm thinking about it. I literally have no idea how to go about doing this. Anyone have any suggestions on places in the Pittsburgh area to check out? Depending on how the stock market is over the next few months I plan on spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-7K. I live near Philly now but will be back home for the holidays, so figure on looking around some then. Any help would be appreciated! Oh, and if anyone has any tricks for how the hell to get my GF's ring size without asking her that would also be extreeeeeemely helpful.

Is she hot?

[slappybrown]

The Clark building.

This is where I got mine. The first thing you should do is educate yourself on carat, cut, clarify and color. Also, everything is negotiable. Dont be embarassed to just knock 2 grand (or whatever grand) off of what they say the ring/setting are. There are plenty of competitors in the bldg.

[Malkamaniac]

I'm right there with you, I gotta start looking, and will probably pop the question at the end of feb start of march. 3.5 years, it's time to crap or get off the pot.

[Pitts]

The Clark building.

[npv708]

there's this guy in the alley between grant and sixth...

[Kicksave]

I'm right there with you, I gotta start looking, and will probably pop the question at the end of feb start of march. 3.5 years, it's time to crap or get off the pot.

I say get off the pot. If you stay on too long, your legs will fall asleep and get all tingly. Not a good feeling.

[Sarcastic]

Oh, and if anyone has any tricks for how the hell to get my GF's ring size without asking her that would also be extreeeeeemely helpful.

Oh, you wait 'till she goes to sleep, then put one of those size-measuring cardboard things on her finger. Ask at the store for one. Tire her out first, so she didn't wake up.

[npv708]

Oh, and if anyone has any tricks for how the hell to get my GF's ring size without asking her that would also be extreeeeeemely helpful.

Oh, you wait 'till she goes to sleep, then put one of those size-measuring cardboard things on her finger. Ask at the store for one. Tire her out first, so she didn't wake up.

I heard roofie's work well...from a friend.

[crayz]

I took one of her extra rings that she only occasionally wears to the store

[Letang Is The Truth]

I'm right there with you, I gotta start looking, and will probably pop the question at the end of feb start of march. 3.5 years, it's time to crap or get off the pot.

I say get off the pot. If you stay on too long, your legs will fall asleep and get all tingly. Not a good feeling.

ugh i hate when that happens.

[steve784]

OK....so I'm thinking about it. I literally have no idea how to go about doing this. Anyone have any suggestions on places in the Pittsburgh area to check out? Depending on how the stock market is over the next few months I plan on spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-7K. I live near Philly now but will be back home for the holidays, so figure on looking around some then. Any help would be appreciated! Oh, and if anyone has any tricks for how the hell to get my GF's ring size without asking her that would also be extreeeeeemely helpful.

Is she hot?

Of course......

Excellent advice on the sizing thing too guys, thanks!

[steve784]

The Clark building.

This is where I got mine. The first thing you should do is educate yourself on carat, cut, clarify and color. Also, everything is negotiable. Dont be embarassed to just knock 2 grand (or whatever grand) off of what they say the ring/setting are. There are plenty of competitors in the bldg.

Wow, see thats the kind of advice I'm looking for......I would have no idea what number to counter-offer them with.

[slappybrown]

The Clark building.

This is where I got mine. The first thing you should do is educate yourself on carat, cut, clarify and color. Also, everything is negotiable. Dont be embarassed to just knock 2 grand (or whatever grand) off of what they say the ring/setting are. There are plenty of competitors in the bldg.

Wow, see thats the kind of advice I'm looking for......I would have no idea what number to counter-offer them with.

Heres what you should do. Go to a bunch of different places, and write down what the 4c's are for each of the diamons you are looking at plus the cost for the setting you like. Once you have done that at 4 or 5 different places, youll get a good idea of the market range. I would also go on BlueNile and try to configure a ring that suits what is most important for you, which will also give you a good price range. My most important of the C's were carat and color. I wanted the "ice" to be clear as possible --so I was very much interested in a D color diamond (D is the clearest and will pop the most, but D, E, and F are generally grouped together. Th e futher you go down the less clear the diamond will be, showing some yellow tint.

Generally speaking, I found blue nile to be more expensive for the same diamond you could buy in the stores. This wasnt always the case. But if you see a diamond with the same charctersitics at 6K, 8K, and 5K at three different stores, and that diamond at 7K on Blue Nile, you know your market price and can negotiate from there. Thats not to say you should say to the 5K place, fine ill take it -- you should negotiate with them as well. knock your offer down to 4,000 -- its up to you.

Be confident and dont be intimidated. Just walk in, say I am lookign for a diamond with these general characetristics, and/or in this price range -- what can you show me, and go from there.

[Letang Is The Truth]

I feel like you just spoke in greek.

[slappybrown]

I feel like you just spoke in greek.

Haha, which part

Color:



Carat is just the weight -- like a one carat diamond, two carat diamond, etc.

[dagny]

The Clark building.

This is where I got mine. The first thing you should do is educate yourself on carat, cut, clarify and color. Also, everything is negotiable. Dont be embarassed to just knock 2 grand (or whatever grand) off of what they say the ring/setting are. There are plenty of competitors in the bldg.

To clarify, for slappy.... he meant clariTy.

[Twisted Wrister]

most girls are average size, so just go with that and get it resized from there.

Its better to go with clarity over size. The "more sparkly" the ring the better.

Trust me, I got engaged six months ago.

[Dan H]

Some observations:
- I agree with the four C's thing. Educate yourself and decide what you want. Going for a big color D diamond will cost a LOT more than an F. Only you and your partner know if that's worth it.
- The list prices in standard jewelry stores are a lot more than when you really need to pay. If a diamond is listed as $3000 in a typical storefront, you can probably find someone who will sell you a similar stone for more like $1500 with a lot of work, and you might find under $1000 for a similar stone if you really look around online. See my last bullet item, though.
- Rings can be resized up or down, to a point. If you can find a ring she does wear (in her jewelry box, maybe) and measure its inner circumference with a slip of paper, you'll probably have a good starting point to guess the right size.
- Typically, the gem will cost more than the setting. If you find the right stone in the wrong setting, you might be able to get a jeweler to transfer it to one you'd rather buy.
- What you buy and how you propose is very important, but there's no one right way to do it. She wants what she wants, and you have to subtly find out and execute. A lot of ladies will be happy with a nice dinner and a traditional proposal. Some will love you forever if you literally ride up on a white horse in a suit of armor; others wouldn't appreciate that so much. Most probably won't like proposal via jumbotron, but some might. You get the point. You get one shot. Put some thought and effort into it.
- She may or may not expect a diamond. To understate matters, the diamond industry has some problems. Your basic choices seem to be buying from a monopolist corporation that makes money by controlling most of the world's supply and limiting it to set prices artificially high, or buying from unknown origins that may sell much cheaper diamonds, but those diamonds could be mined by slaves with machine guns pointed at their backs. If she's a particular type of socially conscious, she might actually prefer some other stone, or a nontraditional ring. If she's the type that wants a diamond, period, just be careful what you're buying. In my view, the monopolists are less evil than some of the other guys.

[redwill]

Feel free to ignore this post since it in no way addresses the actual question, but:

I simply cannot comprehend such excess.

My future wife and I never once considered any rings. Engagement or otherwise. 5-7K??? That's a good used car or a down-payment on a house, for Christ's sake. Why?? After 16 years, we still don't wear any rings.

At our wedding, my wife wore a BEAUTIFUL dress she got from the goodwill store. It fit her like a glove and she was GORGEOUS. The dress cost $12.

My mother insisted on buying me a suit. It cost ~$200. Otherwise, I would've went with my Levis 501s and some button-down shirt I'd been wearing for five years.

We got a justice of the peace from a neighboring town to come in and performing the ceremony in our backyard for $75.

We had a coupon for portraits and so got our wedding pictures for ~$20.

The accessories for the wedding cost maybe $100, paid for by by wife's parents. They offered to do more, but we wouldn't hear of it. Again, why??? Her family brought a few dozen family and friends for the reception and a good time was had by all.

Anyway, I'll not question anyone doing what he/she wants, but I just can't wrap my brain around the (IMO) pointless expense.

[dagny]

Hey, I'm happy with a grape ring pop.

[beerman]

I'm right there with you, I gotta start looking, and will probably pop the question at the end of feb start of march. 3.5 years, it's time to crap or get off the pot.

yep I'm in this boat but we're closer to 4.5 years, I'm done with school and have the real job now. She's getting closer to being done with school now, so it's time to make the jump.