Diamond Ring - Help me to Narrow down..

Date: 6/29/2009 11:02:08 PM
Author:amirvenkat
Hi,

I heard that JamesAllen is good... and planning to buy ring from them.
I am looking for solitaire diamond, IDEAL cut, approx 40 cents, and cost between 750$-900$.
Can someone provide the thoughts.

--venkat

Date: 6/30/2009 8:11:19 AM
Author: amirvenkat
Color, Clarity - Which ever is the best is OK.  When you say the best, do you mean the highest colour and clarity is a priority for you such as colourless ( D E F ) and high clarity such as VS/ VVS even if it means the diamond is smaller as a result for the budget?  Or is mid range or lower colour and clarity ok such as G or H colour and VS clarity or I and J colour and SI clarity?  These can still look very white and some SI clarities are eyeclean.
The budget includes setting also.

Is there a way in JamesAllen to know about the weight of settings?  If it isn't listed then you would need to contact customer service.

Also, this question may/may not be relevant. Anyway, i am just posting it - Does these diamonds are cheaper in India or US? meaning given a diamond of
same cut, clarity, color, cent - where it will be cheaper..India or US? Because, some people told me that all these diamonds are cut in Surat, India. And thats
why i thought of clarifying this.  Diamonds are cut in many parts of the world, sometimes a diamond travels to different places for the stages of cutting and finishing too.

--venkat

Date: 6/30/2009 8:31:44 AM
Author: amirvenkat
i guess GH is ok, clarity is VVS2, VS1 band... since i dont have much experience.. suggest me a good looking one..all i am concerned is..it should be 40 cents
and ideal cut...bcos i think only this will add sparkling to the ring.. am i right?

--venkat

Date: 6/30/2009 8:48:31 AM
Author: FB.
You asked for thoughts, so here goes:

A clever way to allocate more money to the stone is to choose a yellow gold setting. Yellow gold is cheaper than platinum (and yellow gold doesn't tarnish and need re-plating after a few years of wear, like white gold).
With yellow gold settings, you can drop the colour of the diamond by a couple of grades and it will still appear white, due to the contrast of the yellow gold background.

With a very good or ideal cut diamond, you could quite easily drop to I colour, VS2 clarity in an 18ct yellow gold setting. But yellow gold is not as popular these days.
For a white gold or platinum setting, I would be fearful of dropping below G colour, VS2 clarity. No need to be, with well cut stones you would be surprised how white these look, even I and J stones set in platinum still look very white if the cut is great.  Many SI clarity grades are also extremely clean to the eye.
That leaves you more money for a better cut and larger stone.

The price difference for G v I colour is 25-30% and the cost of platinum v yellow gold is about double.

Given the same cut quality, I'd generally prefer to drop a few colour grades to get a larger stone, if the recipient will tolerate yellow gold.
My 'lady' has a collection of pendants - including two that are 'worth' fairly similar amounts:

0.5ct D, IF, vg.cut, platinum. 5mm diameter stone.
1.0ct, I, VS1, vg.cut, yellow gold. 6.5mm diameter stone.

The value is fairly similar, but the 1ct stone's extra size makes it a much more impressive piece of jewellery to look at. The yellow gold setting masks any slight hint of yellow in the I -colour stone.

Date: 6/30/2009 9:35:20 AM
Author: FB.

Perhaps my fussiness on colour is because I work as a scientist (not in gems) and am very experienced with magnifying glasses (we call them 'hand lenses') and microscopes. I therefore have a sharper-than-average eye for detail.
I've seen the phrase 'mind clean' used on this site and I suppose that the above is what is 'mind clean' to me and I know that however hard she examines her jewellery or from what angle, she can't see colour or clarity issues - even if she puts two pieces of jewellery side-by-side and views them at 6 inches distance.

Date: 6/30/2009 9:54:28 AM
Author: FB.


Even on my computer desk, I have a rather nice, stainless-steel, fold-up, Japanese-made magnifying glass, with a 7.5x lens on one end and a 15x lens on the other.

Moving on to clarity and ignoring the cut....

In SI grade stones, I have concerns about the majority of the inclusions.
In SI1 grade, I'd estimate that only 4/10 diamonds would be satisfactory to me - and perhaps only 2/10 SI2 stones.
In VS2, about 6/10 are satisfactory to me. In VS1, about 8/10 are satisfactory to me. In VVS or above, about 9/10 are satisfactory to me.

Of course, cut is usually more important, but I am quite fussy when it comes to selecting a diamond; I've even avoided a few 'Ideal cut' VS-clarity because the type or locations of inclusions left me with a slight doubt.

Date: 7/1/2009 8:28:51 PM
Author: amirvenkat
Is it good to buy insurance for the diamond ring?
If so, which is the good insurance company?

To get an idea about insurance..if i buy a ring which costs $1000, how much should i pay as a premium, for how long?
Kindly help

--venkat