1 carat solitaire?

random10

My boyfriend is obsessed that my engagement ring will be at least one carat in size, not sure if that is even big, don't know what the average size is. I just want a pretty little solitaire, high set, white gold/platinum, fairly good quality I suppose, how much roughly should this cost, with all the good reports tempted to get in touch with seamus in Voltaire!!

Saruman

It is very big and expensive yes.

cocker5

random10 wrote: »

My boyfriend is obsessed that my engagement ring will be at least one carat in size, not sure if that is even big, don't know what the average size is. I just want a pretty little solitaire, high set, white gold/platinum, fairly good quality I suppose, how much roughly should this cost, with all the good reports tempted to get in touch with seamus in Voltaire!!

well it all depends on quality and clarity etc....

so mine is .75 really good quality and clarity solitare no inclusions...with platiumn band and cost €7,800.... so i reckon a full carat would set you back €10K

annersinoz

Hi random 10

Myself and my fiance just bought a 1 carat solitaire, 18k white gold ring with excellent cut and high clarity and it was $9,000aud which is around $6,500 euros. As mentioned before it is more about the clarity and cut of the diamond. Some people probably think it is a alot of money but as they say Diamonds are forever!

Terpsichore

Mine is .65, dainty and gorgeous. E vvs. Very good quality and clarity. Platinum. Priced in the 3,000; purchased in Dublin city center, at Brereton on South Ann Street. They were advertising retirement closing down sales a few weeks ago. Probably worth to have a look at if they are still open!

My colleague got a 1 carat, lesser quality, in Dubai. It's so big it actually looks fake and not really classy. Fake bling bling, but wasn't cheap I suppose!

random10

Well he was talking about 6000 or 7000 so sounds like that mightnt be a great quality one carat? I think that's a mad amount of money I was thinking more like 3000euro. But I swear he's adamant I have a nice ring as if it's a complete reflection on him and his manliness

Terpsichore

I'm with you Random10!
Sometimes less is more!
Is he buying the matching wedding ring at the same time?, because this is something that will come up in a few months too... If the solitaire is too big, you won't have a lot of choice perhaps for your wedding and ... eternity rings...

Look, we all have different tastes, but I'd say he is more a fashion victim than your average Jane here! It's kinda cute. He sounds like a nice bloke with a mission. Nice to feel taken care of like that, you lucky girl!

I imposed to my fiancé a budget NOT to go over when we were looking. That was 3 years ago and still the recession wasn't so bad so the sky was the limit really. Nowadays, I think people are more cautious.

Go to several jewellers and try on a few different sizes. Depends on your hand size as well. You need to try to see what fits. Maybe 1 carat will look good, maybe it will look plain stupid!

All the best for your shopping!

random10

You're dead right I have really slim fingers (only bit of me that's slim ) so I think a smaller stone would be nicer. He'll change his tune when we start actually looking at rings I'd say and he sees what looks right on my finger

Beruthiel

cocker5 wrote: »

so mine is .75 really good quality and clarity solitare no inclusions...with platiumn band and cost €7,800....

Random, if you go to Antwerp and are prepared to get palladium as a metal instead of platinum, you can get the same as above for under 4k.

Terpsichore

If you really want to stay within budget, then unlike Beruthiel (an old friend of mine), you will have to stay well away from multi starred Michelin restaurants and lavish and expensive palaces while in Antwerp :P

Another place to check out in Dublin is Abana. You can really be part of the making of your rings. abana.ie. Well he was on Grafton Street but seemed to have moved to the Powerscourt Center... Lots of rings to check there too!

Fattes

Christ my other half did well she has an F, IF 1.25 Carat solitare platinum on diamond band

Try Sean McManus and Sons in Dun Laoighre, Great shop with tons of antique and new stuff. Super staff aswell.

Terpsichore

Hi Fattes,

Is her ring an antique one then?

random10

I tried on some lovely antique ones in the Powerscourt centre before, they were lovely, are antique rings a lot cheaper?????

Dvincible

Hi there,

Got my engagement ring online from the crowd below.

http://www.antiquejewelrymall.com/1caanenriand.html

Worth a look especially if you like the "antique" styles.

squeky

Im recently engaged and my fiance bought me a engagement ring and its the 4 C's that are important when picking a ring:

Its an 18 carat yellow god ring with 3 stone diamond channell set with 3 stones shoulder diamonds all making a carat and it was €2600

here is mine.

Color - between DEF on the scale of the 4 C's - very good
Cut - Brilliant Cut
Carat - 1 Carat
Clarity - VV's
hope this helps.

Theboinkmaster

random10 wrote: »

My boyfriend is obsessed that my engagement ring will be at least one carat in size, not sure if that is even big, don't know what the average size is. I just want a pretty little solitaire, high set, white gold/platinum, fairly good quality I suppose, how much roughly should this cost, with all the good reports tempted to get in touch with seamus in Voltaire!!

Your boyfriend needs to educate himself on diamonds. I know people with 2carat diamond rings and they look crap, due to poor cut & colour - it all depends on the 4Cs with the most important one being cut.

Get a GIA certified stone with excellent polish, symmetry & cut, combined with at least a G colour and VS1 or 2 and i guarantee whatever the size it will sparkle and look amazing.

We were trying on rings and a 1.5carat solitaire looked smaller than the 1.2carat we eventually bought - due to the cut quality.

PS if you can don't go any higher than vs1 or vs2 clarity as above that is a complete waste of money, as the inclusions can only be seen with a loupe and so invisible to the naked eye. Also DEF colours may not be worth it depending on how colour sensitive you are and sometimes will only notice the difference when side by side with another diamond.

CUT CUT CUT that's what it's all about, don't look at anything less than the maximum grading as this is what will make your diamond sparkle.

Fattes

Terpsichore; Yep, Antique ring, and will be accompanied by an antique necklace , bracelet and earrings on the wedding day.

All 1910 - 1925, Could not recommend McManus and Sons strongly enough .

clairemc29

If I were you I would tell your boyfriend not to buy the ring in Ireland if he wants a decent 1 carat that doesnt cost a fortune. I got my ring in New York and its a 1.42 carat, brilliant cut, D Color and SI Clarity which is very important. Its important to know the 4C's when looking for a decent ring its not always about the size of the diamond. A 1 carat diamond can still look poor and the carat only refers to the weight of the diamond anyway!!

If you have the option to go to Antwerp/New York or anywhere else that deals in diamonds you would get so much more value for your money. I get so many compliments on my ring and there is no way I would have gotten the same quality ring over here for the price my fiance paid in New York. At the end of the day it depends on what means more to you a bigger diamond or a nice clear, shiny, quality looking diamond.

Tell your fiance to do some research before he or you pick a ring. It will make all the difference. Good luck

sionnaic

Hey - can really recommend Tom Beurghs in Diamant (www.diamant.ie). He's got an office on Baggot st in Dublin.

Same idea as Seamus Fahy from Voltaire, but I went to both of them and Tom was nicer and more knowledgable in my opinion. Cheaper too! And where Seamus was going to charge 20 quid or something for annual replating (white gold), Tom does it for free. A couple of my friends got their rings from there and they're lovely (one girl's was a massive rock - think it was something like 15k in Applebys...8 or 9k with Tom)

You do need to know what style etc you want before you go in to him though as he doesn't have samples - if you go in with ideas though he'll sketch out designs and help you flesh out what you want.

In the end a family friend made my ring, but if he hadn't been available I definitely would have gone with Diamant. Course I can really really recommend my family friend too...my ring is *amazing*!!! http://www.michaelodwyergoldsmith.com/
but he's based in Sweden

winterlight

Your fiance sounds v. sweet, I love that he is taking such an interest in your ring! 1 carat is a lovely size, not too big and not too small, don't listen to anyone who is telling you to go smaller- they're probably just jealous!

There isn't a set price. It all depends on the quality of the diamond. For value for money I would recommend:

Clarity: SI2 or better. If you go for VVs, you're paying for something that you cannot see.

Colour: J or better

Cut: get the best cut possible. It's the cut that will make it sparkle!

I love talking about diamonds!:D

Cellygirl

Does it have to be a solitaire? Do you have your heart set on that, or would you be open to looking at other types of rings? A one carat solitaire will be very expensive as large single stones like that are rarer and harder to find.

But if you went for say a three-stone or a five-stone ring, you could still get the one carat weight, but it would be spread across all the stones if you get me!

I got my ring in McCormack's on Grafton Street.

It's a three stone ring, but the total weight of the diamonds is 1.07 carats.

E colour, v small inclusions, brilliant cut. The stones are so clear and white EVERYONE comments on them. White gold ring and it was €3,000.

Raskolnikov

Be very, very careful if you're thinking of going to Antwerp to buy a ring. There are lots of unscrupulous dealers who will sell you worthless tat for serious money.

nicowa

Being honest, the best thing to do is try them on for size. I found anything too big to be too tacky, but that's my tastes. I still like the look of larger diamonds on other women (to an extent). Don't be pressurised into buying a ring larger than you want and make sure he's happy with what you both decide on cos at the end of the day you're both looking at it. By that I mean, make sure he's not going for the 1 carat just for the sound of it.

Diamond Diva

I love solitaire - I'm biased though as I have a 2.5 ct solitaire. As other posters have said the cut is the most important of the 4 C's as the cut determines the sparkle, brilliance etc. I am very colour sensitive so I went for an D colour and went down in clarity (VS2). You need to try on lots of styles to see what suits your hand. Enjoy!:)

Gatica

I got to pick out my own ring and I loved the experience of looking around. 1 carat rings can look a bit clunky, but so much depends on the cut, the setting and the look of it on your hand.
I had a fair idea of what I wanted when we looked, I wanted high quality (VVS with a >G colour) with a size no bigger than .7 from what I'd tried on.
Then I saw this cute edwardian ring, which I absolutely loved. It looked right on my hand and turned out to be 1.03 Carat, which I was amazed! We checked the details on the 4Cs, but to be honest once I fell in love with it I didn't care.
We got it when it was on sale -30%, so was really happy to snap up a bargain. Turned out it was VS1, old-cut (pre-1900's, but close to brillant cut without being quite so brilliant as it was hand cut and hand polished), with a H colour (which is still in the white range, but tending towards yellow). They're not the perfect Cs, but the ring was right for me. So if you do want a larger diamond, just make sure it looks right on the hand, that is the most important thing really.

Moonbeam

It depends on the cut and your finger size.
I am a ring size I so anything over .70 (princess or round)of a carat looks awfuland tacky no matter what the quality!!
It does not stop me having 1 carat incl side stones though:)

Gatica

I know what you mean, I got sized as I1/2 on my ring finger, and most rings did look big. The cut of the diamond I have though has a slightly larger depth than modern brilliant cut, as well as tapered shoulders which come away nicely from the stone, so it doesn't look like a blob on a thin band. The detailing on the shoulders as well draws some attention away from plain size of the stone. The devil's in the detail!

Chi Force

+1 for Abana in Powerscourt, rings in process, Denis is very honest and provides great customer service.