4 replies to this topic

[Quimby]

Hi there,

I've been shopping around for a ring for some time now, and am beginning to lose hope of finding a nice used Tiffany ring of about 1.25 carats. Instead, I'm thinking of throwing in the towel and buying a 1.50 at Blue Nile ring instead, but am concerned that their platinum 6 prong setting looks a bit chunky and elongated, potentially visually undercuting the stone.

Is anyone familiar with this Blue Nile setting?

Any advice you may have would be welcome.

Thanks.

[1524]

My advice is to buy somewhere else.

[Jay Gatsby]

Although the 6-prong setting looks nice in pictures (especially on the Tiffany and Blue Nile websites), in reality a 6-prong setting is too much metal on a 1.25 or even a 1.5 carat stone. I recently purchased a 4-prong Tiffany-style setting (any reputable jeweller can get you one -- it's the most common setting out there) and am very pleased with the look of the ring. Of course, I'd like to have been able to afford an ideal cut F color 2+ carat diamond, which would look even more impressive than the 1.20 carat that I purchased, but I'm satisfied with things.

[Quimby]

Thanks Jay,

I can appreciate your point, and tend to agree myself having seen both. But, for whatever reason, my GF has indicated repeatedly that she prefers six prongs.

That said, are the proportions of the Tiffany and Blue Nile settings similar, or is the Blue Nile either chunkier or longer? I've never seen one in person.

Thanks again.

[Jay Gatsby]

Has she actually seen a 6-prong setting in person, or just looked at it in magazines? Mind you, I understand that she's going to be the one wearing it, and therefore she must be happy with the purchase. However, what you don't want is her changing her mind (as women often do) six months down the road when her ring doesn't "sparkle" as much as the one her girlfriend is wearing.

With that said, I believe the proportions are indistinguishable between the Tiffany settings on Blue Nile and those offered by Tiffany's itself. Naturally, the latter will have a Tiffany's logo, while the former won't. When it comes to diamond engagement rings, nobody knows whether a Tiffany-style ring was, in fact, bought at Tiffany's. She'll know that hers wasn't if you don't present her with a Tiffany box, but no one else ever will.

In the end, you're better off buying more diamond for the extra money you would spend to buy an engagement ring from Tiffany's. In fact, I'd bet you could probably get 50% more diamond for the same money. I'll give you an example. I bought a 1.20 F color round for $8,500 in a Tiffany-style 4-prong platinum setting. The same size diamond and setting sells at Tiffany's for approximately $13,000. Is it worth $4,500 just to have a blue box that no one will ever see? (trust me, she'll never take the ring off her finger once you put it there, so she won't be carting it around in the blue box just to show off the Tiffany logo).

Btw, Tiffany's buys its diamonds from the same diamond centers of the world as everyone else does, except that it stocks only high quality stones, and therefore has a reputation for quality and reliability.