I''ve put a lot of thought into finding my girlfriend the perfect engagement ring. I have spent countless hours researching and going through threads looking at the different styles and trying to figure everything out. I think I''ve came a long way and have learned quite a bit about diamonds. What I once thought was the perfect setting is now another mistake that I avoided thanks to some of the members here. I figured if I started to second guess myself, it was probably better to start over fresh. One thing I want to do is purchase the setting and diamond from the same company if possible. While I did have a few stones picked out from James Allen and I''m still waiting on the results, I haven''t been able to find a setting that I think she would love after dreamer_dachsie pointed out her concerns about the thickness of the band and how it would overpower the center stone. For some reason, I didn''t even bother to pay any attention to that when looking for a setting. I actually had planned to keep it a surprise, but after learning about that I figured it was best to explain it to my girlfriend and see what she thought. After showing her a few pictures of the setting, she decided she didn''t like it as much anymore. She really doesn''t want to know how her ring will look when I propose and I think I''ve gotten all the information I''m going to get from her. I think I''ve gotten her to warm up to the pave setting after showing her a few and I know she doesn''t want a simple solitaire setting. So that leaves me with two options. A simple pave setting or a solitaire setting with princess side stones. I''ve haven''t really came across very many solitaire settings with princess cuts, so I started to focus more on the pave setting. I think I might have found one that would really compliment a princess center stone, but I''m not exactly sure how it would look. I would love opinions on the setting with around a .50 and .70 princess center stone. I think I''m going to increase my budget to $3000 and go with a Brian Gavin signature diamond. Not only would it save me a lot of time trying to find a stone with the light performance I''m looking for, but I would feel a lot more comfortable going with a SI1 and make up for it in size. I''m sure most girls would prefer the bigger stone instead of the higher clarity. Sorry for the long post, but I would love to hear opinions on how this setting would look with a .50 or .70 princess center stone and if the size increase from a .50 to a .70 would be noticeable? Even though one of the diamonds from James Allen (.54ct) is still probably an option, I thinking it would be worth it to increase my budget a little and go with a .70 AGS0 from Brian Gavin.
Brian Gavin Setting
Brian Gavin Setting