There's no clear rule as to whether fluorescence will be a problem in a given stone. In some instances, fluorescence can make a stone cloudy. In other instances, you won't be able to tell a difference (except the fact that the stone will fluoresce under appropriate lighting conditions, of course). My wife's center stone is non-fluorescent but she has smaller pave stones in the band, several of which are fluorescent. I can't tell any difference between them with the naked eye or through a jeweler's loupe. Under blacklight, however, they fluoresce blue. Some people actually think that a bit of blue fluorescence is a good thing as it can give a diamond an interesting blue essence in direct sunlight.
One big word of caution though. Be aware that diamonds can fluoresce in colors other than blue. It's pretty rare, but you definitely do not want to buy a diamond that fluoresces yellow, for example, because it will make the stone look yellow under certain lighting conditions, which is obviously not ideal unless you're buying a canary diamond. I've also seen orange and green fluorescence, neither of which would be desirable for most people.
Good luck!
Tell them you want to see the diamonds with different florescence in direct sunlight.
Judge for yourself. What someone else says about fluorescence doesn't matter. It's a personal gift, not an investment asset.
If you buy from someone trustworthy, you'll get what you pay for. Ask lots of questions, spend a lot of time looking and comparing and pick the diamond you like, don't stew over the ratings too much.
This assumes you are going the diamond route. The points below about the relative value, stone suitability, and marketing around diamonds vs. other gems are all true. That having been said, the DeBeers machine is formidable. Sometimes it's best to stick with the most common route.
1) Hie thee to pricescope.com. They will arm you with all the information you need to make an informed diamond purchase, online or local.
2) Cut matters most. A well cut diamond will look 100% better, and also may measure up to 20% larger in diameter, than a poorly cut higher-carat diamond. "It's so sparkly" is a good review from any diamond recipient.
3) Three months salary used to be two months salary, and depending on your salary, may be too much or too little anyway. Pick a purchase you are comfortable with. It is one of the few times that you are buying something for life, though, so spend what you can within reason. Odds are you will not regret it.
4) Spend some thought on the proposal. That is a large part of the memory you both will share that will keep you connected in trying times down the line.
Good luck. Don't let your single friends snow you, a good marriage is the single most valuable thing in a man's life if he is lucky enough to find one.
My soon-to-be fiance is a keeper. And while I don't need a spectacular purchase to keep her around, she deserves it. So I'm not going to skimp at all. But as others have noted, I'm not going to bury myself in debt either. I've put money aside every two weeks since my first job out of college and have a good amount of cash to spend.
My diamond is rated as "inert" for fluorescence, yet it seems to me like it has a slightly bluish tone in sunlight. I actually like that though, and I'd certainly prefer that over a yellowish tone. (FWIW, the color is an H.) Supposedly high fluorescence can make the diamond appear somewhat cloudy, so I'd stay away from that. I think slight fluorescence isn't a big deal.
Most of the jewelers I talked to said that the fluorescence of <1% of cases. So I'll give it the eye test when I get my hands on one. But overall I'm not very worried about it.
I have bought 3 engagement rings and all said and done I've spent probably $12-15,000 on the rings in total and I've ended up with a very beautiful 2 ct ring.
HOWEVER, there are times when my wife is having the ring repaired, cleaned, etc. when she wears a piece of her (i'll call it gaudy) fashion jewelry as a replacement and she gets more complements on that then she does the normal expensive ring. Also, I pay +/- $100 a year in insurance to cover the cost of the ring.
So, as I look at it in retrospect, I was in no way trying to buy my wife's love and I have no doubt that we'd still be happily married today if I bought her a $250 ring instead of one valued at $20,000. No one would ever know the difference and it would still be a symbol of my love to her. Plus, we could have put all that money towards a home, retirement, honeymoon, or something more realistic than one piece of jewelry.
I think I'll bite the bullet on the real thing. The great thing about her is she wouldn't care if I put a zip tie around her finger, but at the same time I feel like she deserves the real thing. And although you say you buy the fake thing if you had to do it over, I bet you wouldn't be able to bring yourself to do it.
If you are looking to stay local, there are some others I know.
Hope all is well!
I don't have a preference where it's bought really. Just want the thing to be quality. I'll be in touch
I think flourescence is whole lot of hogwash if you are in color grades better than G. They say it has some impact on more yellow stones but I never really looked at those much.
On a side note in relation to your original request - you really do need to look at the diamonds. One thing no one seemed to mention was that the clarity stuff can be very different in the same grade. Most notably, the color of the occlusion. Two diamonds had the same GIA rating (and def get a GIA certification) but one was a (relatively) larger "feather" and the other one was a smaller black speck. The one with the feather looked way better.