Greetings All,Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read my post and offer insight and help! I appreciate more than you will ever know.
I am very new to the whole diamond/engagement ring buying process and it is all a bit nerve wracking for me. I am basically in the 11th hour of trying to lock down the stone and ring I want to propose to my girlfriend with. I am planning to propose this 4th of July.
That being said, I know what she likes ring and stone wise and I'd love to make her dreams come true by fulfilling that. She is a taller woman with long fingers, so I am doing my best to find a bigger stone (that I can afford), that will look great on her. Sparkle, brilliance and fire are very important to me.
She wants a Radiant cut, at least 2 carats, with two trilliant side stones, set in Platinum. A very timeless, classy look. We want the Radiant to sparkle like crazy and have beautiful fire and brilliance.
I have had 2 diamond companies working on it, to see which will give me the best stones at the best price.
So my big crossroads that I am at is that both have found stones that they say are perfect for what I am looking for in my budget. (My budget is 15-20k). The first guy has a 2.04 Radiant H SI2 with Excellent polish and symmetry and no fluorescence. It measures 8.80 x 6.43 x 4.38. The price for the stone and the side stones and platinum ring all together for him is $19,500. The top view of the diamond on the GIA certificate shows many inclusions. But to the naked eye, he says they are not visible. What I like about it is the rectangular shape at 8.80 makes it look like a bigger diamond than it is.
The second guy has a 2.01 Radiant H SI1 with Good symmetry and Very good polish and no fluorescence. It measures 8.19 x 6.90 x 4.29 mm. The price for the stone and the side stones and platinum setting all together is $17,500. The top view on this one on the GIA cert has no inclusions and is clear. You can only see the inclusions from the bottom of the stone on the GIA cert.
My biggest challenge is that I have to do all of this over the internet and phone, because one dealer is in SF and the other in NY and I live far away from both. But they came recommended by family friends, so that is who I have chose to work with. They have certainly given me better price quotes than regular jewelry stores. And I am on a tight timeline to get this done.
I've seen both stones and setups in high def photos, but regardless, it is still hard to tell which is the better option. Both have their pros and cons. The 2.04 carat is longer and more rectangular which I like, but the 2.01 is SI 1 (better quality). Also, the 2.01 has no inclusions from the top view on the GIA cert. But one thing I don't understand is it says the girdle is extremely thin to extremely thick. Which one is it? Extremely thin or extremely thick? It doesn't say, it just says extremely thin - extremely thick.
Most important to me is that no inclusions are visible to the naked eye, no yellowness is visible to the naked eye and the diamond sparkles with fire.
I need to pull the trigger on this soon. Any advice or insight would be GREATLY appreciated!!
Thanks again!
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