Diamond Solitaire Ring

Diamond solitaire engagement rings - best value in US or UK?

I have just got engaged and am now looking for my engagement ring. As I am currently in the US, I was wondering whether diamond solitaires are better value here or in the UK (in general, not just taking exchange rate into account)? I am specifically looking for white gold, princess cut up to half a carat.

Public Comments

1. First of all congratulations. Secondly I would have thought the US would be better value. Take a look at this page you just might find something you like!
2. The best value I have found on diamond engagement rings is actually on Amazon.com. I know it sounds strange, but they have some very high quality diamonds in their create a ring tool and affordable platinum settings, which require less maintenance than white gold, which woiuld have to be redipped to retain its color. White gold turns yellow over time because yellow is the natural color of gold. You'll find higher quality and better prices for certified diamonds on Amazon than most jewelry stores. Here's a link to the tool: http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Engagement-Rings-Loose-Diamonds/cyor?_encoding=UTF8&sequenceStep=step1&pipelineID=cyor&sequenceID=sequence1 Here's a few very nice rings I made that fit the description of what you are looking for: http://www.amazon.com/gp/cyo/cyo-state-manager.html/ref=sc_std_view?ie=UTF8&settingASIN=B00076EL2K&diamondASIN=B002QECACE&sequenceStep=step3&ringSize=7&pipelineID=cyor&sequenceID=sequence1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/cyo/cyo-state-manager.html/ref=sc_std_view?ie=UTF8&settingASIN=B0007660CE&diamondASIN=B002NGM61U&sequenceStep=step3&ringSize=8&pipelineID=cyor&sequenceID=sequence1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/cyo/cyo-state-manager.html/ref=sc_std_view?ie=UTF8&settingASIN=B00076EN1Y&diamondASIN=B002QEC7EU&sequenceStep=step3&ringSize=8&pipelineID=cyor&sequenceID=sequence1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/cyo/cyo-state-manager.html/ref=sc_std_view?ie=UTF8&settingASIN=B00076EL98&diamondASIN=B002RWJ8WK&sequenceStep=step3&ringSize=7&pipelineID=cyor&sequenceID=sequence1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/cyo/cyo-state-manager.html/ref=sc_std_view?ie=UTF8&settingASIN=B00076EL98&diamondASIN=B002PJZJ78&sequenceStep=step3&ringSize=7&pipelineID=cyor&sequenceID=sequence1
3. go to http://www.mdcdiamonds.com/ They have many diamonds at a great value and if you are in NYC you can go see the diamonds and rings before you buy it
4. Is there a comparison shopping site for UK diamond retailers? If so, the easiest way to decide this would be to plug similar specifications into the UK site and http://www.diamondpriceguru.com/ or a similar US diamond search engine. It checks about 10 different US-based retailers, including some I've seen in other answers, like Amazon.com and Mondera and Blue Nile. So, you tell it what you want, even give it a range of clarity grades, color grades, etc., and it shows you all the matches and each retailer's price for it. It's very handy. I just don't know of one specific to UK retailers. One note, the search engines focus on loose diamonds because the prices are better if you buy the diamond and setting apart and have them combined. Pre-set rings carry more of a markup since the retailer knows the shopper won't pull it apart to inspect the diamond grade. I plugged in "princess cut, up to .5 carat" and and 8,463 diamonds were found. You can narrow it down, of course. I narrowed it to color grades J and higher, with clarity grades VVS2 and higher and it found 2,470 matches. Anyway, it's simple to play around with these online tools, and they do the work for you. Happy hunting!