5 Smart Ways To Use Blue Nile’s Recently Purchased Engagement Rings For Diamond Research

A recent trend that many online retailers are adopting is showing off their recently purchased engagement rings on a dedicated page for other consumers to peruse. I’ve always been a fan of this as it allows would-be shoppers to see ring trends, popular price points, personal styles, different diamond colors paired with various metal settings, and different size diamond carat weights and on the same style ring. Overall, it’s a great visual aid to help in any diamond engagement ring search.

The best retailer to showcase recently purchased engagement rings is Blue Nile. Their page has all their rings arranged in either a gallery or list view which you can sort by price as well as newest/oldest; and can even filter by diamond shape, price, engagement ring style, metal, and image type! Besides being nosy and wanting to see what other people are buying and spending, the search page serves many useful purposes that not only offers inspiration but can help you decide what diamond and ring will work best with your budget and personal preferences.

1. Different Carat Weights In Same Setting

Most people start with a set budget for an engagement ring and work their way backwards towards what they can afford in terms of carat weight. They then adjust color and clarity to get within a comfortable compromise of all these different factors (remember, cut is never compromised!) The advantage of searching through recently purchased rings via Blue Nile is how different sized diamonds appear in the same ring setting. Some ring settings look totally different with a smaller or larger sized stone and this can be even more dramatic with halo-type settings or side-stones.

Steps:

1. Choose your diamond shape
2. Choose engagement ring style
3. Choose metal 
4. Choose gallery view for easier searching (little square boxes in blue above diamond pictures)
5. When you see a ring setting that you prefer, click on it
6. On the specific ring setting page, click on ‘view setting’ to see all the recent rings sold with this particular setting (see below for examples)

Heiress Halo Setting

Blue Nile Heiress Halo rings with different sized diamonds. From left: 1.00ct E VS2, 1.35ct I VS1 and 1.65ct E VVS1

Nouveau Knife Edge Six Prong Solitaire

Nouveau Knife Edge Six Prong Solitaire with different sized diamonds. From left: .95ct G SI2, 1.80ct F VS2, and 3.43ct G VS1

2. Most Popular Diamond Engagement Rings

In 2014, the average engagement ring price was around $6K. Since Blue Nile has a filter for total ring price, we can set this up between $5,000.00 and $7,000.00 to see what rings people are purchasing in this price range. This will give us an idea of what the most popular diamond engagement rings are. Since most people spend somewhere between $5K and $7K on a diamond engagement ring, we see the most diverse ring styles and settings in this price range. Here’s how to see what other people are buying…

Steps: 

1. Filter price from $5,000.00 to $7,000 (or your maximum budget)
2. Sort price Low to High
3. Choose gallery view for easier searching (little square boxes in blue above diamond pictures)
4. Using these filters we can see that a 1.00ct round brilliant set in a solitaire, halo or side-stone setting are the most popular (see below for example)

3. Big Budget Rings of $20K to $30K

Working in the opposite direction, we can also glean what more affluent individuals are purchasing by setting up the filters for a much larger budget. According to Blue Nile’s search results, more people are spending between $20,000 to $30,000 on their diamond rings with 2.00ct – 3.00ct being the average carat weight size. Interestingly, round brilliant is still the most popular shape but we also see very large ‘square’ shapes like emerald, radiant, and princess also being quite popular in these larger sizes. Celebrities tend to get the larger square-shaped diamonds so popular culture might have an influence on the bigger spender’s diamond shape and setting choices. Here’s how to see what bigger budgets are buying up…

Steps:

1. Set full price range from $20K to $30K
2. Set price from High to Low
3. Choose list view for easier searching
4. Using these filters we can see that a 2.00ct – 3.00ct round brilliant set solitaire or halo settings are the most popular for this given price range (see below for example)

4. Most Popular Rose Gold Engagement Rings

Although white gold and platinum are still the most popular metal choices, a growing trend is the warmer color of rose gold which looks great on all skin tones and is often complimented best by an I or J color diamond. In this view we can see that the French Pave diamond engagement ring is the most popular overall.

Steps:

1. Choose 14k and 18k rose gold
2. Sort by Newest
3. Choose gallery view for easier searching
4. Using these filters we can see that the French Pave is the most popular choice (see below for example)
5. Click on French Pave ring setting
6. On the French Pave ring setting page, click on ‘view setting’ to see all the recently sold rings (see below for examples)

French Pavé Diamond Engagement Ring in rose gold. From left: Pear .80ct E VVS2, Princess 1.01ct I VVS2, and round 1.70ct J SI1

5. Diamond Shape and Diamond Sparkle

If you haven’t decided on which diamond shape to go with, you can use Blue Nile’s 360 degree video filter to search for rings that show how different diamond shapes sparkle. Remember, sparkle or scintillation is a product of brilliance, fire and contrast. How a diamond is cut has everything to do with how well a diamond will sparkle. Some diamond shapes sparkle more than others and this is seen most obviously between brilliant cut and step cut diamonds. So the best example would be the visual difference between a round and emerald shaped diamond. To see this principle in action you can use Blue Nile’s video feature to see how a set ring will look when moved under light.

Steps:

1. Choose emerald as your preferred shape
2. Choose 360 degree for image type
3. Choose gallery view for easier searching
4. Choose one emerald setting of your preference
5. On the specific ring setting page, click ‘view setting’ and then ‘recently purchased’ 
6. View how an emerald vs a round diamond sparkles when moving in a 360 video (see stills of example rings below)

Final Words

There are countless other ways to search through Blue Nile’s Recently Purchased Engagement Rings to get valuable buying information. It’s a great tool to use when in the beginning stages of researching diamond prices, shapes, carat weight, as well as ring styles and trends. Since Blue Nile is the largest online jeweler you can bet that you are getting up to date information from buyers across the globe. If you need help choosing a round brilliant diamond from Blue Nile, be sure to check out my Blue Nile Review for a step-by-step guide to ensuring you get an ideal cut diamond. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me.

As Always, Happy Diamond Buying!

Liz