Where is the best place to buy a diamond engagement ring? The simple answer is Petra Gems, the details are as follows...

Be sure to check out our loose diamond filter to compare actual prices. 

The Gurus…

When you type a question regarding the best places to buy an engagement ring online in a search engine, in addition to some vendors, on the top page of the engine you will find a bunch of pundits giving you free advice or tips on the best places to buy engagement rings. 

Doesn't it make you wonder why these “gurus” are so inclined to give you such valuable information for free? Or why they have put so much effort into researching the right places for buying engagement rings for you? Or how they are maintaining such websites and even advertising their "free of cost reviews" if they are not selling anything?

Well… Most of such information in the e-commerce world is biased to an extent, and this is true for most review sites in any industry and is not limited to fine jewelry. So before we begin to answer the main question regarding best places for buying engagement rings, we want to encourage you to always be critical of the information you receive from any site (including us), and especially from those who give you free advice for no reason... 

Because the free advice that they give you is what they sell to the jewelers that they recommend to you… most are affiliate marketers and take commission on each lead they refer to their preferred jewelers (which is easily tracked through your IP address) and some might even be directly hired by jewelers to commission such reviews. Always check the integrity of the source that you get your information from!

Major Online Sites..

There are many sites that you will come across on the internet that sell fine jewelry. Two stand out! Blue Nile and James Allen. They are big!

Blue Nile is literally like the Walmart of the fine jewelry business, but certainly more ethical. They are also publicly traded. Blue Nile has pushed the prices of diamonds very low and is to be commended for it. Because they are so big and have tremendous purchasing power, it is often very hard for small business like us to challenge their prices… However, I think we have still managed to beat their prices.

James Allen is one of the largest privately owned fine jewelry business in the U.S. The quality of their product is on par with Blue Nile, but their prices are higher. However, 

James Allen have done a better job in recruiting the “Gurus” and therefore most online reviews from these gurus are in favor of James Allen over Blue Nile and for obvious reasons.

A number of smaller jewelers also sell on Amazon and eBay, but it is important to know that if you buy your jewelry from such platforms you’ll be automatically paying 20-25% more because the jewelers will be passing on Amazon’s and eBay’s sellers fees on to you.

On the hand, the best marketplace for fine jewelry is Etsy… They charge low fees from sellers and maintain a very high standard. The best place by far for settings and custom jewelry.

Check Out Some of our Ring Deals Here

The Designers…

One thing that we have not yet understood is that a similar engagement ring setting or semi mount that we sell for $800-$1,000 would be sold by some of the big designers for $3,000-4,000 and yet their customers would pay for it. 

They must get their precious metal, diamonds and other gemstones from moon…

Anyways, designers like Tacori, Ritani, Verragio, and Simon G among others are truly great designers and manufacture elegant engagement rings and fine jewelry. However, their marks are high. A setting or semi mount should not cost $4000-8,000 no matter how great the design, but it seems to be their normal price ranges. Instead, try our settings/ custom work or try the work of some of the great designers on Etsy for much less…

Local Jewelry Stores…

It is a known fact now that local brick-and-mortar stores can’t even come close to the prices of online retailers for fine jewelry. However, it is understandable that shoppers might still opt for this option. If that is the choice you want to make, you might want to take your time to find a reputable privately owned local jeweler... 

The big brand names in the malls have high prices and won’t even show you their top products unless you want to spend some serious money. Moreover, most of their diamonds are graded by labs that are known to have loose grading systems. After you find a jeweler that you think you might able to work with, be sure to take your time and have a strong sense of online prices so that you know what you’re getting or can get (tip – compare what they offer you with Blue Nile’s prices or our prices).

Budget allocation…

Now that you have a brief sense of where you could possibly get the best design and deal on an engagement ring or other fine jewelry, how might you want to allocate your budget?  

Our advice would be to allocate up to 10-15% of your budget to a semi mount or setting and the rest to purchase a gem quality wholesale diamond or other gemstone that is properly graded or “certified.

The setting is not going to be worth much if you ever needed to upgrade or sell your engagement ring, but if you get the diamond or other gemstone at the right price and if it is a high gem quality stone, you’ll be able to sell it for most of what you've paid for it whenever you decide to sell it.

When passions are high people often don’t think of such a significant purchase as an investment, but we would urge you to think about it in such way so that you can always count on your engagement ring as a great asset. 

What Factors Are Important While Buying a Diamond for An Engagement Ring?

As you begin shopping for a diamond or engagement ring, where would you start? What information would you need? and how would you make a smart decision? Would the stone be worth your investment?

Many of our clients have these comments in mind and can’t find one place where they can easily find this information in a summarized fashion. We thought to save people time by outlining the following seven key factors that have a high impact on a diamond’s price here as well. 

As soon as you start your research, you will soon discover a lot of mix reviews and information about the 4Cs of a diamond. In this quick guide, I will give you some insights about the four 4Cs of a diamond as well three additional factors that we believe are absolutely critical to determining the valueof a diamond. 

Factor 1 – Diamond Carat Weight...
Diamond carat weight is relatively easily to understand, the larger the weight of the diamond, the more expensive it is. However, please note that if you are thinking that a .5ct diamond would be 50% the price of a 1 carat diamond (all other factors being equal) or 1ct. would be 50% of a 2ct. diamond, you are wrong. The larger a stone becomes, the rarer it becomes, and so the price multiplies by up to 10 folds depending on the stone. Usually the difference between a .5ct and 1ct. would be roughly 3 times ($1500 for .5ct and $4500-5000 a 1ct. of the some price).

Factor 2 – Diamond Cut…

Diamond cut is an extremely important factor as it determines the overall brilliance, fire and scintillation of a diamond. GIA has a cut grading system from Poor to Excellent and AGS has from Poor to Ideal for Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds. For other fancy shapes, AGS assigns a cut grade, but GIA doesn’t. However, there are ways to assess the cut in fancy cuts by paying attention to its polish, symmetry, depth and table and width to length ratios, among other, factors. Check out this quick guide for a princess cut diamond proportions for example.

Factor 3 – Diamond Color…

In white diamonds, GIA assigns a D-Z color grade in order to determine the presence of tint or yellow color in a diamond. The less the diamond exhibit color, the colorless or better the diamond is. Colorless range from D-F, Near Colorless Range from G-J followed by slightly tinted diamonds in the other color ranges.

Factor 4 – Diamond Clarity…

Diamond clarity is graded from a range of Flawless to Included 3 or I3. The higher the clarity, the less inclusions or imperfections a diamond has. Typically 1ct or under diamonds graded by GIA above SI2 would be eye clean, VS2 loupe clean or 2ct diamonds VS2 would be eye clean and VS1 loupe clean. Generally, a 1ct or under in the range of SI1 or above would have competitive price and for stone above 1.5 carat, it is recommended to go for a slightly higher clarity grade such as VS2.

Factor 5: Diamond Shape…

Diamond shape is critical and affects price significantly. RoundBrilliant Cut diamonds are more expensive than other fancy cut diamonds. One of the main reasons for this is the amount of diamond that is lost while cutting a rough diamond into a say a round shape or princess or cushion cut stone. A round diamond would require a larger rough stone than would a cushion modified brilliant cut in which cutters save much of the rough stone hence the significant difference in price.

Factor 6 – Diamond Certification or Report…

There are several labs out there and it is important to know which one to trust and which to not. Appraisals are good for verification purposes, but are not reliable for grading a diamond. If you are not a diamond expert, never buy a diamond without a prefer grading report by an authoritative laboratory. GIA and AGS are well established labs in the US and HRD Labs are trusted in Europe.

Factor 7: Diamond Fluorescence…

Fluorescence in a diamond is not a widely known factor and is usually ignored. However, you shouldn’t’ ignore it. It is a critical price determent in a diamond. You can save up to 15% by buying a diamond with a slight fluorescence in it. Fluorescence range from None to Very Strong Blue. None’s are best, but faint to medium blue would also be in the safe range. Strong to Very Strong Blue might affect the appearance of a diamond in some cases and it is good to have a strong return policy if you are considering to buy a diamond with strong blue fluorescence online in case you end up not liking how it looks in person.

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Conclusion, educate yourself about each these factors and get a diamond that balances all factors proportionally based on your budget, and you will get a great deal. 

Don’t forget to check out our unique engagement rings , wholesale diamonds, engagement ring settings , Unique halo engagement rings and custom build options , wholesale engagement rings…