The Ultimate Guide to Buying a $6000 Engagement Ring
Stunning diamond engagement rings that costs less than $6000.
So, you are ready for that next step to buy an engagement ring and to plan the perfect proposal. There’s just one thing – you need to stay within a 6k budget for the ring purchase.
Would it be possible to get high quality workmanship and save money at the same time? And where would you find beautiful diamond engagement rings under $6000, you might ask?
We answer these questions and reveal everything you need to know to buy your dream ring. Read on!
3 Tips to Buying a 6k Diamond Ring – Save Money & Get Better Quality
First of all, $6,000 is a pretty good budget that opens up many options for a fantastic looking diamond ring. In fact, this is the average amount that Americans spend on an engagement ring based on a study we performed.
Since the entire cost of an engagement ring is made up of two main components (setting + center stone), the first thing you need to do is to determine your priorities and exactly what your recipient wants.
Tip #1: Determine Priorities And Manage Expectations
With a $6000 engagement ring budget, you will have a good variety of options available when making decisions. While this may seem like a good thing, the fact is, many people end up running around in circles because they don’t know what they want.
To avoid a problem like this, you need to figure out what she wants before you do anything else.
For example, if you know she wants a pave setting made with platinum which costs $2000, this immediately simplifies things as you have $4000 of budget left for the center stone.
Vice versa, if she’s expecting a diamond with a minimum size of 0.8 carats, you can realistically set aside an amount of $5000 for the center stone and that leaves you with $1000 for the setting.
Likewise, if you prefer diamonds with higher clarity and color, you can expect them to cost more and expect to go down lower in carat size as a compromise to stay within a certain price range.
At the end of the day, a bit of simple math and common sense will go a long way in helping you find that perfect ring.
Tip #2: Cut Quality (not carat SIZE) is the Key For a Lively And Sparkly Ring
When it comes to diamond rings, the most common misconception people have is to assume carat size, color or clarity are factors that determine the amount of sparkle a diamond has.
That’s completely wrong.
In fact, the biggest factor that directly affects the diamond’s appearance and sparkle is cut quality.
And if you are looking for a truly well cut diamond that has the maximum volume of light return and the best sparkle factor, you need to go beyond a grading report and use tangible performance data for assessment.
If you haven’t yet, make sure you check out this step by step guide to choosing a diamond like a pro.
Tip #3: Recommended Guidelines for Practical Shoppers
Even though I’m a GIA trained diamond grader, I’m also a consumer like many of you. In fact, I’ve purchased a number of rings for my wife over the years. Here are practical guidelines I personally use to get the best value for money when buying an engagement ring:
Cut: AGS 000 or GIA 3Ex
Clarity: VS2 or SI1
Color: G or H
Carat: Depends on budget
Grading Report: GIA or AGS
As mentioned earlier, cut quality is the most important aspect when it comes to buying a diamond ring. It needs to be top notch if you want a bright, brilliant diamond with superb scintillation.
Attributes like clarity, color and carat size are largely up to personal preferences as long as the diamond is eyeclean. I personally find G color to be the sweet spot for a diamond to face up white without having to pay for a D color.
The other important thing about buying an engagement ring is to ensure that it comes with a reliable GIA or AGS grading report. This ensures an accurate assessment and protects you as a consumer to avoid ripoffs.
Where is the Best Place to Shop for a 6000 Dollar Engagement Ring?
In my opinion, the best places to shop for a $6000 engagement ring are White Flash, Blue Nile and James Allen.
Why?
Unlike the typical brick and mortar store with limited selections, expensive prices and lousy sales policies, these vendors are customer-centric. Besides a deep selection of diamonds for you to cherry pick from, their rings are made with superb craftsmanship and are affordably priced.
And those aren’t the main reasons why they are highly recommended.
The one big difference between these online vendors and physical stores lie in TRANSPARENCY. By offering tangible information like HD videos and cut performance data, they make it really easy for you to make analytical assessment in a stress-free environment.
Here’s how the better vendors list their diamonds to help consumers…
Videos, magnified images and scope data for cut quality assessment are readily provided for you to make an educated decision.
The fact is, most other businesses will NEVER provide detailed data on this level because it reveals the kind of mediocre stuff they are selling. And the less informed and “dumber” you are, the easier it is for them to sell sub-par stuff.
Types of Available Designs For Engagement Rings Under $6000
For a 6000 dollar engagement ring, there are literally hundreds of available designs you can choose from and match with a well cut diamond. These are some of my favorite designs of what’s possible.
Hopefully, this can help kick start some ideas for your own ring.
The first example is a fantastic 0.822 ct G color VS2 diamond that is eyeclean and perfectly cut for performance. I’ve also selected an affordable Tacori designer ring to match the diamond and the total costs comes up to $5893 ($4593+$1300).
The use of a halo or smaller diamonds encircling the center stone can create the illusion of a single large looking diamond. In this next example, this floral design ring is a creative way to put a “bouquet of flowers” on her fingers literally.
1 Carat Diamond Engagement Ring Ideas for a $6,000 Budget
A 1 carat mark is the psychological size that most women desire to have. Realistically, a six thousand dollars budget is going to be tight for a one ct ring but it is possible if you go lower in color/clarity for the center stone.
To show you how you can get a $6000 solitaire engagement ring with a 1ct center stone, I selected a K color SI1 diamond that is eyeclean and combined it with an elegant Vatche 18k solitaire design. The total cost comes up to $5,987 ($4,757+$1,230).
Fancy shape diamonds like the princess cut or cushion cut are also cheaper per carat. They are alternative options to consider if you are looking to hit the 1 carat size under 6k and you like their unique appearances.
Summary – Let’s Wrap Things Up!
Hopefully, you now know much more about buying a diamond ring for less than $6,000, where to look, and what to look out for. As a reminder, you should prioritize the recipient’s personal style and preferences.
Once you narrow down the details, staying within budget and finding that perfect ring becomes a straightforward process. With that, we’ve come to the end of this article. Have fun shopping!
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15 Comments
First of all I want to commend you for creating this wonderful website. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to most other online sites regurgitating the same information without any real insights.
My name is Tony and I am looking for a diamond ring for my 10th anniversary. Over the past week, I had been researching online at various places but the amount of information is overwhelming.
Just by reading the amount of conflicting information and advice offered by people on forums can really get you floored. Needless to say, the experience so far is really frustrating. After all, isn’t buying a gift for someone an experience that should be enjoyable?
To cut a long story short, my budget is around $6,000 and I want to get a diamond with maximum sparkle and beauty to impress the missus.
As mentioned earlier, I had been reading through quite a few sections of your website and have a better understanding of selecting a diamond. However, at this point in time, I am still not confident of picking out my own diamond and would like to seek your help in making some recommendations to me.
Sorry for the long email and rant. I do hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks for your kind words. Believe me, you definitely aren’t the only one who’s feeling overwhelmed from information overload. I receive many similar emails to yours all the time. : )
First off, I would like to understand more about your purchase in order for me to make suitable recommendations for you.
– Would you be setting the diamond in 18k white gold? Platinum? Yellow Gold?
– Does your $6,000 budget include the price for ring setting?
Glad to be of help.
Wow… That’s a very fast. I didn’t expect you would be so prompt in your reply.
I would like the diamond to be set in white gold and my budget does include the cost of ring setting.
Also, I am particularly interested in Hearts And Arrows diamonds. From what I had garnered, they will always give better light performance right?
There’s a lot of misinformation about Hearts And Arrows as well due to the marketing nature done by big names in jewelry. Strictly speaking, the term Hearts And Arrows is used to label diamonds that show precise optical symmetry. Believe it or not, H&A has nothing to do with light performance. It is a different topic all together and the confusion is caused when people label them together.
A diamond with Hearts And Arrows does not necessary mean that it has best light performance. (Although the majority of stones H&A will have nice light performance).
A diamond without H&A can be as beautiful or even in some cases ‘sparkle’ more than one with H&A.
To give you an example of what I mean, check out this diamond here…
Whites under the table indicate light leakage
Hearts patterning from diamond’s pavilion view
Note: This diamond is still cut to pretty good standards and is a whole lot better than 90% of the diamonds in the market. But if I am going to pay a premium for a diamond, I want it to be the best of the best. I am sure you feel the same way too.
If you click the image to show you the “idealscope” information, you will notice there is a ring of whiteness in the center of the diamond. This is called light leakage under the table facet. Because of this, the overall brilliance of the diamond will take a hit.
In all fairness, when a diamond has perfect optical symmetry and light performance, a H&A diamond will look slightly better when compared to an ideal cut diamond. Although the difference in appearance may be small, you need to know that you will be paying a slightly higher premium for the perfect optical symmetry the diamond exhibits.
With that said, there are many people who are willing to pay the extra premium for that ‘perfect’ look in their diamonds while some don’t see a need for that. It really boils down to your personal preference.
Thanks for the insights. I do find the thought of having nice patterning of arrows and hearts diamond intriguing. After all, I want to make this gift for my wife special.
Thanks for your patience. Check out these recommendations in the order of my preference.
1) jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1454987.asp
2) http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.822-g-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104055121018
3) http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.850-g-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104057888062
Check out the idealscope images (for light performance + arrows patterning) and also the heart images for each of the diamonds.
Let me know what you think.
Paul
Sorry for the late reply. I was out of town over the weekend and managed to walk into Tiffany’s to check out some of their diamonds. Oh boy, are they expensive. But they do look very brilliant and sparkly and the salesperson was telling me how good their cut is.
In terms beauty, how would the diamonds you recommended measure up in terms of those I viewed at Tiffany’s?
Also, I had read in your article there is no need to go all the way up to an F color to get a nice icy white diamond. Is there any reason why you are placing that as your first choice?
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I truly appreciate your help.
Tiffany’s diamonds are priced very high because of the brand name they are selling to you. In terms of optics, Tiffany’s diamonds are cut pretty well but are no where near the quality of the 3 diamonds that are listed in the previous email.
In fact, I had walked into Tiffany with my Idealscope and ASET scope to look at their diamonds. While they do have a pretty consistent cut quality, their diamonds are non-H&A. In terms of optics, their diamonds exhibit some leakage of light but still make the cut grade of excellent. During my visit, I had scoped more than 15 diamonds from 0.80 – 1.00 carat sizes and I couldn’t even find one which comes close to having perfect light return that’s comparable to any 1 or the 3 stones which were recommended to you.
For example, the diamonds that I had look through my scopes look pretty similar to what you had seen in the leaky diamond here at best. Most of them fare much worse than this.
jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1475279.asp
There’s really no need to pay a good 2 -3 times higher price to get a similar quality diamond. : )
With regards to your question on color, you are right. There’s really not much difference between an F and a G. In fact, you probably can’t tell the difference with 2 diamonds side by side. Here’s my rational for picking the JA stone as first choice.
– jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1454987.asp
Cost: $5320. Very nice optical symmetry and light performance. Great clarity. Better color.
Symmetrical arrows and good amounts of light return
8 nicely formed hearts in the diamond
– http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.822-g-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104055121018
Cost: $5,248. Best optical symmetry amongst the 3 stones.
– http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.850-g-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104057888062
Cost: 5,950. Slightly bigger stone. A nice option if you want to slightly exceed your budget.
To me, it’s pretty clear where the wind is blowing on the 3 diamonds. The James Allen stone has the best color and clarity and it costs just $100 more than the BGD stone. With an upgrade of 1 color grading and 1 clarity grading, this stone will be much more worth your while and leave you with sufficient budget to get a nice ring setting.
Sorry for constantly bombarding you with questions. Everything you said makes sense just as I thought you would answer. I do like the F color diamond and it does seem to offer the best value for money out of these 3 diamonds.
Since VS1 is relatively high on clarity, are there any reasons why you didn’t recommend any stones in the SI grades or lower color grades?
No worries. That’s what I am here for. To help you answer your queries directly and give you an impartial opinion to purchasing diamonds.
I usually start from bottom up and work my recommendations based on maximizing value to my readers. Unfortunately, there aren’t any other diamonds in stock (F,G, or H with lower clarity grades) that has optical symmetry and light performance comparable to these 3 diamonds. If you are willing to compromise slightly on optical symmetry or light performance, there are many other options that I could list for you. Most would come at a slightly lower price.
Thanks for clearing that up. You are right. When I did my own search at James Allen and looked at the other diamonds within my budget, nothing comes close. I am ready to bite the bullet now. You had been an awesome help to me.
Is a 6000 dollar engagement ring cheap or good enough for someone working in a bank? I’ve been to Tiffany and the prices I’ve seen are astronomical. I’ve seen a 6500 engagement ring in person but the carat size of the diamond is really small.
A six thousand dollar engagement ring budget is the average cost that people in the US are spending on diamond rings. Whether it is cheap or good enough for someone really depends on their own values and perspective.
With big brand stores, you are paying a premium on marketing, branding and overheads. If you want better value for your money, head online.
Where would you recommend shopping for colored gemstone or non-diamond engagement rings? Have you heard of Brilliant Earth and what do you think of their jewelry?
Blue Nile has color gemstone engagement rings (e.g. sapphire, emerald) and a number of designs available. Here are a few you can look at:
https://beyond4cs.com/go/bn-setting-43511/
https://beyond4cs.com/go/bn-setting-43512/
Brilliant Earth is an eco-jeweler with very good craftsmanship on their rings. I’ve bought a ring previously there and also made a review about them:
https://beyond4cs.com/vintage-engagement-rings/
https://beyond4cs.com/reviews/brilliant-earth/