A diamond ring is a must for wedding proposal, and hence that is the first thing I need to settle. In the past 2 weeks, I have been pouring over loads of forums and relevant websites to understand more about the rocks that all girls love. There are countless resources available freely online and forums (such as hardwarezone) are a great source of information as well. Some good sites include: proposalring.com, thediamonddictionary, Holloway Cut Advisor on ideal-scope.com, pricescope.com (it has very good forums too), bluenile.com, whiteflash.com, among others.
So after some crash course, I have learnt somthing about the 4Cs of diamond – Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. To me, the cut of the diamond is the most important as it largely determines the brillance (the white light brilliance, its brightness and contrast), fire (the coloured light that comes from the diamond) and scintillation (the sparkle caused by the movement of the diamond or the viewer) of the diamond. In essence, the cut determines how bling bling the diamond is. I would not go for anything less than a triple ideal on AGS (or a triple excellent on GIA). The carat comes second for me as it directly affects the size of the rock, which is visible to naked eyes. I am looking for something like 0.70-0.80 carat, big enough to look good, but not that big to cost a big hole in my pocket hah. Colour is best to be as colourless as possible. Who wants a yellowish diamond for proposal? Pure colourless like D, E, F are good, but not necessary. G colour will be good for me. And finally, clarity is something which I believe can be compromised, though the least I would accept personally is a VS2 – which means it takes some efforts to see the inclusions under 10x magnification. To me, as long as it is eye-clean, it is good enough.
Oh and a very important 5th C is Cost hah. Some people say a proposal ring should cost the man 2x his monthly salary. Some say 3x. Some say need not spend too much, especially if the girl is not very into diamonds and cannot tell a D colour from a G colour, a VVS1 from a VS2. To me, I would think that the money can be better spent somewhere like a nice vacation. But having said that, I wouldnt stinge too much on something as important as a diamond ring. I am prepared to spend more than one month of my salary (which is equivalent to approximately 6 months of my cash savings) on it.
Beyond the 5Cs, there are many other details to look out for in a diamond. Stuff like fluorescence, girdle thickness, Holloway Cut Advisor (HCA) score, the ideal scope image, ASET image, and more. Apparently, to pick a perfect diamond is very challenging. A great diamond is hard to come by, but I think we need not be overly-obsessed with the technicalities of the diamond. As long as it brings sparkle to the eyes of the girl and touches her heart, it has fulfilled its role and that is all it matters.
After knowing some basics of diamond, the next big question is – where should I get my diamond? In the past 2 weeks, I visited some of the major jewellery chain stores like Lee Hwa, Goldheart, Soo Kee and Meyson. I didnt bother to venture into Tiffany and Co. as I know that is way out of my budget hah. The diamonds I saw that were within my budget were not too spectacular. And doing a quick calculation on ideal-scope.com, some HCA scores were as bad as 5 (ideally, HCA score should be less than 2)! The diamonds seem too expensive for their quality and grade. It is obvious that the mark-ups were too much. But that is understandable, as the cost of store rental, marketing/advertising, sales etc are being passed on to the consumers.
After reading the forums and asking around, buying diamond online from reputatable and credible websites or going to a private jeweller seems like popular choices these days. Personally, I know of a colleague who bought his diamond ring from bluenile.com and was deeply pleased and satisfied (so were his wife-to-be ha). I also have friends who swear by private jewellers for the fact that it is more value-of-money and that designs can be customised. Of course, I want a big bang with my bucks. And hence I eliminate the large jewellery chains (despite having a friend working at Lee Hwa who can get me 50% staff discount).
From the forums, I read many rave reviews of online diamond retailers (reputable ones include bluenile.com, whiteflash.com, goodoldgold.com and jamesellen.com) from users who have bought their diamonds from them before. In fact, I have not seen any negative comments about online purchase. Bluenile.com is even listed on NYSE and has appeared on numerous business publications. Advantages of buying diamond online include much much more value for money, a much bigger pool of diamonds available for selection, excellent client service and support, as well as fuss-free process. I was tempted indeed. But I have reservations about making such a big purchase online, and also the fact that I cannot see and touch the diamond before buying.
However, rave reviews from forumers and a personal friend, their 30-day money back guarantee, the fact that all diamonds come with a AGS or GIA certificate, and my very pleasant interaction via chat with their service representatives put down my worries. I am confident buying diamond online is the way to go.
Our Journey Together 