Q: Ira, I stumbled upon your site last week and found it to be a Godsend! You’ve posted so much helpful information here in easy to understand terms. You’ve already helped make my process of searching for an engagement ring much less intimidating.

I’ve read through many of your articles and read some of your blog posts, but I have a question that isn’t quite like any I’ve found answered so far. My girlfriend and I have talked pretty extensively about getting married and the kind of ring she’d like to have. She’s targeted ring styles that are either three stone settings or rings with sidestones because she would like to focus on the stones from a top-down view of the ring when it’s on her finger. In other words, as she keeps telling me, she doesn’t want to see the band, she wants to see the diamonds. I’ve found three very different styles on the JA website: Item#’s 11179W, 17134W, and 1205W. You’ll see each ring has different styles of stones, which makes this evaluation more difficult for me. Naturally, my goal is to get the most impressive ring for the lowest price/best value. I originally had a budget of $5,000, but after shopping I don’t see any way possible to meet that target. I’m willing to pay up to $7,000 at this point.

I know you don’t like giving much advice on settings because it’s mostly a matter of personal opinion. However, I’m very curious about your opinion of these three different styles. Which setting will provide the most impressive ring showcasing the diamonds? Which would be the best value? My gut tells me that to get the coverage she wants to make the band ”disappear”, I’ll have to go with the biggest diamonds I can afford. After narrowing these three choices down to one, I’m hoping you can help me pick the best center diamond possible.

Thank you! I look forward to hearing your opinion.

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