As the topic mentioned, i would like to seek some advise from you guys as is it wise to choose a non-diamond ring as a proposal ring? Since there are alot more gem choices other than diamond which can be fractionally cheaper.

I do understand some of the opinion of getting a diamond as they will say us men dont understnd diamond, leave it to women. Or, geting married is once in a lifetime, should get a diamond ring.

But is that really necessary to get one?

You could go with Sapphire.. I myself wanted to get it for my wife but I went with a solitaire diamond anyway. I'm very traditional and my idea of a diamond ring is just a simple thin ring that emphasizes the size of the rock. I went with half carat and I think that'll please any girl, really.

Plus, it goes well together with a wedding band.

This post has been edited by lamusiqa: Dec 31 2014, 11:12 AM

Just go get one now and it will save you the trouble throughout your life. Next time if anyone get married or so on when their friends and family flash out the diamond ring. you will get the pressure.

Mind to share how much was the solitaire diamond?

They will do that in the future days?

Custom Platinum ring = RM800.
Solitaire 0.5 ct diamond = RM3300

Total = RM4100.

I did get the diamond on sale though. Average price for half carat at the time was around 4k.

You will never know man. my buddy also recently got his wife a diamond ring cause he did not do that when he was younger and it seems everytime wife see ppl having diamond ring she will hint hint. so better do it now and save yourself all the trouble. You will not know how it will be in the future haha.

I bought mine in wah chan.. among all the shops i think they are the one with the affordable price tag. in terms they mark up much lesser. Get one with GIA certificate. 0.5C will cost around 6.5k to 8.5k for the stone itself. All in with the ring i got mine around 9k if not mistaken.

Alot of them they have their own in house certificate for the gem but those cert's i've never actually heard off before. Most of them are selling 0.5C for > 10k.

With cert? where diid you get yours? that's blardy cheap.

That was really a sweet deal!


The problem with me now is that i am 24 y/o and currently just started to work. However, i have been together with my gf for 5 years and i was thinking to get engaged with her first (she is same age with me, 24). The purpose of the engagement for me is to give her a promise. Which im thinking to get all the ceremony done after few years.

So, getting a 8k ring i dont think it will be a good idea for me. Any suggestion?

Then get a wedding band first lo. older days when she bising only you topup. or maybe when she bising you can start thinking of tukar bini liao. i not sure with the normal wedding bands out there but mine is pretty sure not affordable as well.

Malay or Chinese bro? For malay your only option would be platinum right?

See your budget and your wife preference.

Some prefer pearls or focus more on design rather than a piece of rock.

Yeap. Came with GIA cert. I bought it at Tomei in KLCC.

Chinese Uhrm. Im not so sure about the process thou. Is it i get a proposal ring first or wedding bands for my case?

That's super cheap bro. nicee.. this year's present i know what to give waifu liao. diamond ear rings.

trust me.. i'm not too good at it too. but i got the diamond ring first then later only we go for the wedding band.

Do you have any kids? I was shopping for my wife's birthday gift earlier this year and somehow I got the idea of buying her a Thomas Sabo charm bracelet with my initials and my son's as well. She absolutely LOVED it as she said it'll always remind her of her 2 most favorite people in the world. Plus, when there's another baby, can add more initials!

Thanks anyway I think it's better for me to get an engagement ring first

Wise choice. It's always been that way anyway. Propose with a diamond ring, get married with wedding bands (for her, the wedding band can include some smaller diamonds on it).

Diamond is the biggest con in the world. Do some research about it. You would do yourself a bigger favour just by getting yourself and your wife a precious metal ring without any stones.

money is also one of the con in the world maa. don't use money la.

Ou yeahhhhhh! +1!

Omg .. it is only once in a lifetime ... don't ruin it with metal ring :/ or you will divorse before marry .

This post has been edited by hellflame: Jan 2 2015, 09:43 PM

In short, no. It is not necessary. We are not living in a fairytale land where a diamond ring will guarantee the "live happily ever after". Right?

Yes but will it somehow hurt the feeling of the girl if i really did so with, well, lets say another type of gem instead of diamond, sapphire ruby or smth else, which can be pretty as well.

Went to 2 tomei outlets i can't find any 0.5c loose diamond at the price of rm4k.. cheapest also rm6.1k... bought your ring yet TS?

Nope. Will do survey during the weekend at Midvalley. Any suggested shop that i should go for?

I'll say wah chan.. don't bother looking elsewhere.. Habib also.. quite affordable when got discount.

if budget allow go TSL have a look in gardens.. bought my wedding band there.

What's TSL? I heard Tomei is quite affordable also. How about diamond and platinum?

http://www.tslj.com/en-us/product/categori...ond/px020a.aspx

don't waste your time in diamond and platinum. overpriced imo. If you are chinese you still have much other choices than to platinum. The platinum casing/ring itself they are selling is even more expensive than a 18k white gold.

juz go for o.3c when ur budget is less than 3.5k ....someone might said can get 0.5c @ 4-5k , but its rare..u can almost forget about it

Is it that tslj just sell that sort of diamond band ring(Atelier Ring)? Im looking for a standard diamond on top of the ring.

if you are on budget don't go there for your diamond ring. when you are getting wedding band then only head over and have a look.

So far i guess.. Tomei, Wah Chan, Habib would price their stuff a little more affordable. I'll still prefer wah chan though.

Im not so sure what's the actual size which is appealing to me, either 0.3c or 0.5c. However, if i found any 0.5c which is about 6k, i might go for it even thou im a fresh grad with a tight budget.

Yeap, the wedding band over tslj i quite nice and just wondering, what's Estrella? Is it a brand or special technique to refine the diamond?

buying diamond is all about budget .... if u buy 0.5c, u might need a bigger casing which cost about at least 1-2k to fit it ..else it might drop or cannot fit it properly... so end up u will spend 10K+- ....lol

go for normal diamond ring which cost 3k include casing+diamond ..no GIA cost the diamond is smaller than 0.3c ...

I don't know if it is worth the effort, I got the proposal ring from Lovis Diamond (West Gate) in Singapore. 0.4c / G / IF / triple Ex with GIA cert. HCA score 1.6 for $1775 inclusive of setting. After converting it is just below 5k. And if you are flying out then you can also claim back the GST at the airport.

They are selling loose stone and you only choose ring after stone. Takes them 2 weeks - 4 weeks to do the fitting. The great thing about them is that they do list their loose diamond with GIA cert number and price on their website. I basically study all their stone at my budget and ask them to prepare those that I am interested for viewing.

This post has been edited by bearbear: Jan 8 2015, 09:39 AM

Er... 10k+ with 0.5c? gotta work with my budget then

Which means 0.3c to 0.4c is my afe choice for my budget then. Anyway, what do you study about their stone? You means you shortlisted those that appeal to you which is within your budget?

go to the shop only decide how many carat u want to buy ... 0.3 and 0.5c is a big diff in design .... if u buy 0.5c , dont really need to care about cutting , color etc already..go to shop and experience it ....those shop will tell u how to differentiate the quality ...

This post has been edited by boxer07: Jan 8 2015, 09:46 AM

i am a fact & figure person so i use HCA tool to scope down my choice (Only accept score below 2.0). Basically i decide my budget, the minimum colour and clarity level i can accept to work with.

Frankly the sales person will always try to show you the scope and etc but how often you see a diamond under a scope?

in fact u will never see it under a scope after u left the shop.... compare a same carat diamond with diff quality side by side , if u can see the diff , only decide on which to choose...else , dont really bother about color and clarity if price is expensive

The main reason i dont want to go to shop first is because i hope to get some opinion before i start the hunt. This allows me me know what am i hunting and what should look out for. IMO, i dont really trust any promoters in any field.

Yeap. That's right. Im looking for a guideline that actually works. I know that sometimes we need to see for ourself but how do i know whether my justification was good? Im no expert on this thou.

*Anyway, you're from Sheffield! It is a sweet town

go to wah chan and look for RM3-4k diamond ... see it and compare with similar pricing ...those sales person wont recommend u RM10k diamond if u only look at 4k ..LOL..in fact wah chan seksyen 14 PJ SA only explain to me the diff only..didnt push me to buy for it

This post has been edited by boxer07: Jan 8 2015, 10:04 AM

Was in Sheffield but came back for good, need to start changing my profile

With your budget and the size you are looking at, i felt your best bet is Wah Chan. But then it is such a hassle on the spot to jot down the GIA number on the spot for further research.

Personally when i spend so much I would like to make sure i spend it right thus I try my best to use some tool to evaluate the value. I know HCA tool is not a perfect tool but it give me facts and figure while all other 'measurements' are so subjective.

Here are some street price i gathered in MV during my hunt, note these in house brand emphasize on perfect hear and arrow thus the premium.



This post has been edited by bearbear: Jan 8 2015, 10:18 AM

I'll go for midvalley to start the hunt since that alot of jewellery shops can be found here.

The GIA number is for me to perform a report checking @ http://www.gia.edu/report-check-landing ?

How about the HCA? Is is available widely in the description of the ring? Or i should made a special request to the salesman to get the number?

Thanks for the share. Appreciated it alot.

use this calculator, input the 4 properties based on the GIA report and it will show you the HCA score.

http://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

I think it's abit of hassle keep asking for GIA report on the spot, these sales people just tell you "ya, got GIA cert"

yeah i think it's just the brand name.

Hey and yes boxer is right! head on to singapore and buy it's even cheaper there! the gold price + diamonds are always priced slightly cheaper i can't recall which shop i see but it's indeed around 2 - 3k cheaper after conversion for a 0.5C.

@Boxer: the casing for 0.5C i got mine for around rm900 only via Wah Chan. that's why i recommend that place.

To be honest for anything below 0.7C i think we just need to focus on Color & Carat. The clarity and cut is not noticeable for such a small stone.

i agree, i think majority of the ladies prefer big My lady finger size is 10 and frankly the 0.4 looks just right, bigger might look too 'obvious'

I read online that with "feather" in your clarity, the diamond is easier to crack. I didn't choose IF on purpose, so happen the loose diamond i shortlisted were IF. In my priority i would accept anything that is minimum VS2.

I just bought the engagement ring last week, will be able to collect it by next month. Actually clarity is not an issue at all. And I do think that colour makes a lot of difference, even I can see yellowish at the side of the diamond with grade F. And I found out that purchasing in Singapore is much much cheaper than in Malaysia. Carat wise.... its really depend on your budget. Nowadays diamond has standard quality like 3e and ideal cut. So most likely you will consider color most of the time.

Good luck in choosing the only one ring.

Hi all the sifu there, i also started planning to buy my proposal ring. Just went to one of the shop ask today. They quote me RM 5k with the casing for the below spec :

- 0.4 carat
- Triple Excellent
- E color
- VS2

Is it a good deal ? Of i can get a better spec within my 5k budget ?

Crack? do you know diamond is hardest mineral ?

Lel hardest still prone to crack. Do you know the definition of hardness and crack?

My view is below 0.7c, the main focus is about their cutting, as far as my concern clarity and color doesn't bring obvious effects for small stones.

This post has been edited by Nobita_lam: Mar 25 2015, 02:44 PM

Wait for Habib Jewel loose diamond clearance.

Grab one and get it mounted.

Usually better value for money.

Small stone with too much cutting will make the stone look too congested.

Color on the other hand is important for all size of stone. U want the pure brilliant shining not the yellowish dirty shine don't you?

I agree on your point! Color is important i think as i just bought one with E colour, 0.4c. What i observed is that, clarity is not so important for "non-techy" people while colour define the shininess of the diamond no matter what.

I agree to the principle that how to justify a good diamond is very subjective, if I am given unlimited capital I will choose the best of the best.

If under budget constraint dilemma, I will prior the Carat, Cutting, then only follow by Color and Clarity as last.

Regarding to the cutting, GIA has a set of well cutting parameters to justify an excellence cutting. Excellence cutting is irrelated to "Small stone with too much cutting will make the stone look too congested. " as your statement.

In normal situation, if not under 1 to 1 detail and microscopic comparison how many person can tell the yellowish color? Especially for those small stone under 0.75 carat? Unless you are always surrounded with those insane friends like to use magnifying glass to observe your diamond and so experience as well as knowledgeable in diamond academic, they buy diamond like buy vegetable. If true, then please strictly go to D diamond

Lets look at the diagram below, can you easily see the difference if without 1 to 1 detail compare from D to K?



Dont't even say color grade as low as H or I, even J or K, if not having a detail observation, how many can tell its yellowish? In practical, although you own a D diamond, if you are not wiping it always, it was always appear light yellow on surface due to the oily substances or sweat excreted from our body.


In addition. Color doesn't affect the shinning power of a stone but the cutting do! There is why never compromise the cutting.

My hypothesis is color may possible slightly compromised if compared to carat and cutting especially for those small stone if under budget constraint situation.

This post has been edited by Nobita_lam: Mar 26 2015, 12:23 PM

anything not near colorless forget about it. your naked eye can differentiate. just go to the shop and do the comparison.
Anything which is small and has more than 58 cut that's pretty much not eye candy anymore again your eye can differentiate it see the selections in poh kong which has 108 cut and compare to a normal GIA stone which has around 58 cuts. those in poh kong for 0.5C with 108 cut... forget about it if the stone which i'm looking for is 0.7 and below.

I'll always go for Carat, Color, Clarity and then Cutting.
If im choosing a bigger rock perhaps 1C and above then i'll go for Carat, Color, Cutting then Clarity. Like it or not Carat and Color comes first for me.

As far as what I know the so called "108 cuts" still does not have significant scientific ground to evidence that it is more better and more sparkling, it tends to a kind of "marketing strategy" rather than real scientific parameter. Nothing about wrong or true, up to you believe or not.

In addition, this is the first times I heard somebody said cutting is the last consideration among the 4Cs for small stones.

It is advisable to refer the statements and reviews of diamond academicians rather than diamond marketers. Such information is everywhere in website.


An unwell or inferior cutting will significantly affects the sparkling of a diamond, it is easily notified by naked eye.

Let see how GIA describes about cutting:



See how Lumera says about cutting:



See how Martin (Jewellery Expert) says about cutting:



I agree to the controversial either colour should be prioritised is very subjective but take cutting as last consideration is very surely misleading.

Have you ever seen the perfect brilliance small stone before?

This post has been edited by Nobita_lam: Mar 26 2015, 11:26 PM

Gia min needs 58 cut. Lumere at least 108 cut. U buy 0.5C u need 108 or 58 sufficient? Price difference approx 4k or so. Get it? Hope u understand such simple term and also check out the actual stuff what are the min req for each of these rock from different brand.

I'm not an expert but I've shop around enough to see and notice the difference.

This post has been edited by kidmad: Mar 26 2015, 11:22 PM

If you understanding to cutting is merely confined to 58 vs 108, it is better to conduct more comprehensive study before comment. That is also why I say " it is not about true or wrong between 58 with 108, up to you believe or not". The price tag is determined by marketers but doesn't meant it was fully backed by diamond academics.

Kindly refer back my post in 60th.

Remarks: it is not teasing but advice.

This post has been edited by Nobita_lam: Mar 26 2015, 11:33 PM

And I lol your comments contradicting one post to another. Read again what you type and what you copy and paste it doesn't make sense.

Buying the gem is what you prefer to see not your 2 cents worth advice. As simple as that.

I am here is not to having a mouth battle. You can keep persuade others take cutting as last sort of consideration among 4Cs. At least insofar you are failed to illustrate any well known expert who comment cutting is not important at all for small stone.

Whatever I cut and paste is either make sense or not, those factual oriented person will validate about it.

Does it matter? As mentioned it all boils down to what's your perception I've never took a knife and force anyone to follow my thoughts.

What I say color is more important. What you say cut is more important. Do remember my statement anything lower than 0.7c forget about the cut. If you get a gia certified stone it will have the sufficient cuts. I'm not here to change how u think and again it's my personal choice not yours.

Just want to say the ring I got was only 0.4 from Forevermark but it shines better than the WahChan. 0.5 which the price is even cheaper.

I would say the cut is very important because the cut includes grade symmetry and polish.

Go to pricescope tool to determine the rating of the ring.

i have a ring to let go

Brand : Forevermark
Cut : Excellent
Colour : G
Clarity : VS2
Carat : 0.21-0.34-0.21
Full set with original certificates and receipt from Degem Bangsar

let me know if anyone is interested




Attached thumbnail(s)

Where can buy affordable proposal ring ?

Ermmm budget.....

So many...love co, diamond and platinum ,wah chan, Poh Kong , Tiffany

I dont think tiffany is under budget categories..

Really depend on budget. If interested kindly contact me for more advice.

Had a very bad experience with Le Lumiere Gardens. Their resize job was terrible. Just look at the pics below.

First picture shows the egg shaped ring after resizing.


Second picture below is a collage of the original (bottom pic), resize (middle pic), and fix attempt (top pic) of the resize. Middle pic shows the milgrain pattern virtually polished off, while the top pic shows their clumsy attempt of trying to recreate the milgrain but is is still obviously not uniform.



Now they are telling me that I need to pay extra if need to remake with new stones if the stones are higher carat. When asked why cannot reuse the existing botched ring's stones, the salesperson even had the gall to say might scratch the stones...WTH...are the diamonds fake?

From the pic clearly shows that how lack of craftmanship are they. But did they warn you about the resize might cause some ovalness due to the design or something? From my past experience from WahChan, they did mentioned some of the design is hard/not possible for resize due to the design and etc.

I think you do have to file an official complain or etc to the branch manager/higher management rather than dealing it with the salesperson.

Anyhow, it's an once in a lifetime thingy.

The salesperson actually showed us a sample ring which was resized and it looked seamless. Yes he acknowledged it was horrible workmanship. Thus they tried to fix it. But the way the milgrain design was polished off makes it beyond redemption.

I did escalate to their branch manager and even posted to their Le Lumiere's facebook page. After the so called fix, they removed my post and refused to allow new postings!

I did not accept the outcome of the 'fix' and demanded a new ring be made. Now they are saying cannot reuse the old stones and if the new ring's stones are bigger carat then I have to top up. I already paid in full. And the wedding is in a few months time...

This post has been edited by yeeck: Jul 10 2017, 05:06 PM

Should I demand a refund and try to get my ring somewhere else? I'm seriously running out of time.

Im no pro on this but i do believe "refund" will not works, especially in Malaysia. And on the other hand, they probably wouldnt give a damn on your deadline as they are not obligated to meet your deadline.

But on the ring thingy, they will have to get it done, whether on time or not, that's another story already.

Maybe you could get a wedding bands just for the sake of marriage ceremony first?

At least, it is still a positive outcome (at least someone else is following it up). Has you get any good news already?

Just got a call from the Operations Head. They are offering full refund and said if we want to get a new ring it will be have to be at new rates. Consider this as lesson learnt and never patronise Le Lumiere (Tomei) again if your ring requires resizing! So much time wasted.

Will post updates on this separate thread so that it is more visible: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4359867

This post has been edited by yeeck: Jul 15 2017, 01:53 AM