General

Make sure your wife is cool with it first. Some people don't consider them to be "real" if they are Lab grown.

benstylus wrote:

Thankfully, I don't think she'll care. The 3 minutes worth of Google higher education I've achieved, seems like they're basically identical. Good enough for me (and my wallet)!

These guys:

https://www.bluenile.com/?mktg_src_id=333005039894...

MrBean wrote:


My gawd I hope your wife has similar "higher education", cause you've posted so many miscues with your wife and expenses. If you don't know, maybe try soliciting some clues. Before I bought my wife anything I walked past a counter or three to see if and what she looked at. Difficult if the precedent has been sent.

Based on your expense stories your wife deserves a nice splurge (that she wants). My two cents, maybe worth a plug nickel as I don't know everything about you and yours. Good luck my man!

Ehhhh @KCPenguins I take care of her. We live a really good life. I know what she likes, but I've never dabbled in these lab grown diamonds and seems like a no brainer. I dropped $5k on my 40th for a mtn bike, so gonna do same for a bracelet (probably more) and then do a big trip hopefully next year once the baby is able to travel.

Feeb wrote:

Ahhh I remember this name when I was shopping her engagement ring. Will definitely dive in here.

MrBean wrote:


As long as she's happy.

Might want to consider Moissanite too.

I'll mention this delicately. If your partner cares more about what something represents vs what something literally costs...lab grown is the way to go 100%. The quality is really, really fantastic and you avoid blood diamond drama and the inflated market on something that's not as rare as it's made out to be.

I bought a real diamond engagement ring but later when the wife got pregnant and needed to resize the ring we instead just got a new ring, and went lab. For us it's what it symbolizes, we don't care about flashing how much we spent. I have many co-workers where that is not the case.

But I digress. The lab diamonds we got are honestly fantastic and it's not like cubic zirconia which looks costume-y. The lab stuff looks legit and if you told someone it was "real" they wouldn't know.

Bishop wrote:

TF is that?

Anxiouz wrote:

Totally agreed. Lab vs natural seems silly to even debate. Not only are they cheaper but there isn't cause for concern on how they're sourced (because there's clearly no issues here historically).

For what it's worth, I used to work at a jewelry store during the summers and over holidays for a few years, and if you want to avoid blood gems but also get the real thing, there are options if you look for direct import outfits and cut out the middle man. When I proposed to my wife, I knew she wanted a sapphire or a ruby, so I found a reputable mine in Thailand to source a raw sapphire from, had a company cut and polish it, and then paid a local jeweler to put it in a setting that fit her style. It looks great, still cost less than an equivalently-sized lab-grown sapphire, and is more durable.

@Bleed_DukeBlue sounds like a solid plan, but lots of extra work... Clock is ticking, have like 3 weeks to get this in place!

Idk about this at all, but I do know ethically it's much better lol so kudos to you for going this route. My wife hates jewelry so we usually go on trips (just took the family to Devil's Den in Arkansas for her bday)

MrBean wrote:

A more vibrant, stunning stone than any real, fake, or lab-ground diamond.

Bishop wrote:

Very cool, never heard of this. Reading a bit now. Thanks!

Anxiouz wrote:


Just to add to the conversation, when I got engaged ~11 years ago, my wife knew exactly what shape diamond she wanted. I remember her talking about how she was looking forward to upgrading it for our ten year anniversary.

Well, ten years later she could care less about the diamond. Haven't heard one comment about sizing it out.

Feeb wrote:

Well damn, they cost just as much as Jared's, lab and natural. I dunno how there's all these independent shops I'm coming across that are so much cheaper. Reddit points to this all the time, referencing IG accounts and websites that feel very small/local, which is fine. Yet the costs are like half and makes me question the validity.

Gonna try a local brick and mortar independent jeweler today, see what I can find out.

There is no oversight to selling diamonds etc- anyone can do it. Make sure you’re buying from certified gemologist and hopefully American Gem Society (they call it AGS trained) diamond expert. Otherwise you are more likely to get in trouble.

Sorry! I missed the three week timeframe. If that's the case, going lab-grown should be fine. They still look really nice. Most of the time, you can't even tell unless you have specific equipment to look. The one thing you might want to do with anything you're looking at is ask to borrow a loupe. If you can't see obvious discoloration or occlusions through a loupe, then it's highly unlikely that you'll notice imperfections with the naked eye.

MrBean wrote:

Soooo, Costco... Seems pretty insane for pricing!

This feels like a winner. 1.5ct more than Jared's at $3.5k cheaper, and a better cut? Insane.

I feel more confident buying something like this from a big name vs some random internet dealer.

https://www.costco.com/.product.1342050.html

While I'm not against jewelry, this stuff is way more expensive than it should be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5kWu1ifBGU

MrBean wrote:

Especially if you get to see it and the 4cs. Those flaws in clarity / imperfections can be deal breakers. Really stand out on some cuts.

All reading I've done so far on Costco is that the jewelry always appraises for significantly more than purchase. They also have unreal return policies so this feels like a winner. Gonna try it out.

Watch the segment of Adam Ruins Everything on engagement rings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5kWu1ifBGU

Oh I've seen it, loved his show and still watch his stuff. Wish his show would come back.

Just get her a damn ring pop and be done. The size of it will blow her mind!!!

shadyfozzie wrote:

Haha, I like this plan!