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Beginner help - diamond engagement ring

Thanks everyone, you lot are great!! :appl:
I've been hectic the last couple of days so not had a chance to come on here. I didn't think diamond buying would fascinate me so much. I'm enjoying looking at the diamonds on James allen - love all the shapes in the faces and try to look for blemishes! ha. Thanks for suggesting the halo with a round diamond too - they look better than I thought. I'll really think my other half will like whatever I get her as she has sent me some pics of ones she likes. I'll try and post them on here if I can get them from my phone.
 
Have you made a decision about shape? Princess, round or cushion? We can help you if you give us some direction.

With your girl seeing a range of beige shades, I would guess that she is pretty color acute but I would bet you would be totally safe with H.

If you set aside $900usd for the setting and 20% taxes, you have about a $2800usd diamond budget.
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...-basket-knife-edge-engagement-ring-item-41048

With this budget, I would recommend you get white gold and put that extra $200 toward the diamond. So, I'm going to use a $3000 budget.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.82-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-4920997 {princess, best I can find for size, one dark inclusion on table that may be bothersome to some}}

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.77-carat-f-color-vs2-clarity-sku-5103347 {I would only consider this if they can get a ASET. I think it won't be wonderful, but this is a nice size and not bad visually. 5.21 mm and this is bigger than the .82 above in terms of visual spread)

https://www.b2cjewels.com/dd/11356181/Princess-Diamond-H-Color-VVS2-Clarity {very high clarity, but a nice size. 5.23. Ask for an ASET and put on hold if you want to pursue.

If you have any budget flexibility, this looks great.
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-3791279.htm {5.27 mm; one clear inclusion on the table that WF lists as eyeclean. I'd be willing to consider H to get more size, but you have to decide.}

https://www.jewelsbygrace.com/1-04ct-princess-cut-diamond-gia-f-vs2

You could also reach out the Diamonds By Lauren who are exceptional with fancy (non-round) diamonds. You could ask about both radiant and princess. www.diamondsbylauren.com
 
Yes, those blemishes are what make it cheaper. For me the principle is to buy a diamond that is well cut due to blemishes you can't resolve with a naked eye. I doubt You'd be able to spot any of those with a naked eye.

Colour is always relative, so worthwhile the extra money, clarity is piece of mind, a luxury which can easily be dispensed if you have a size target. Additionally, you can have a gemologist assess it for free prior to shipping. There is nothing to lose.

Zoom down to x3, can you still see any blemishes?
 
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So I've been taking a look for round diamonds (sorry rocky after all your efforts looking for those princess cuts!) working on a budget of approx $3200 as you say, once I leave around $1000 for a ring setting, which gives approx $850 on taxes (:angryfire:). I haven't included any shipping costs - probably a school boy error there :think:. This would bring the cost in on $5500 / £3,800 but these costs always seem to go up when buying online.

Initial searches have thrown up some of these options.

Stone 1
Stone 2
Stone 3
Stone 4

Mixture of the James Allen site and the Blue Nile site (UK prices for me). I haven't included the ring setting yet.
Any thoughts and findings? :)
 
gm89uk said:
clarity is piece of mind
Click to expand...

Peace* hate that typo!

Stone 1 and 4 no, too shallow a crown, especially 1. 3 is best is safest option (looks best cut), 2 is ok. Reasonable numbers but symmetry may be a little off but hard to assess due to tilt.
 
Agreed with @gm89uk, I like #3 the best. Right in the sweet spot of angles for GIA-graded diamonds. :)
 
Hi all,
Hope you're all having a nice weekend! :)

What do people think of this example in comparison to the ones I found in my previous post (up in this thread).
Screen Shot 2018-06-09 at 18.17.58.png

Here's a link to the certificate: link
I tried to keep the same values when searching, but the site doesn't have the option of picking the table and the depth etc.
Thanks!
 
rkuk said:
So I've been taking a look for round diamonds (sorry rocky after all your efforts looking for those princess cuts!) working on a budget of approx $3200 as you say, once I leave around $1000 for a ring setting, which gives approx $850 on taxes (:angryfire:). I haven't included any shipping costs - probably a school boy error there :think:. This would bring the cost in on $5500 / £3,800 but these costs always seem to go up when buying online.

If you live in the UK i would strongly advise you to look for a diamond at the Blue Nile website: www.bluenile.com/uk
This way you won't have to pay for import taxes and shipping. The website provides prices with the VAT included and the shipping to European countries is very fast and for free. They also provide videos of the diamonds and GIA reports. I live in Greece and i have repeatedly made some great purchases through this site, without all the trouble of additional costs. I believe that this might be the best choice for you from every aspect.
Good luck:wavey:
Click to expand...
 
I prefer the BlueNile #3 between the any of these posted above. 5.87 mm.
https://www.bluenile.com/uk/diamond...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab

But, if it was me, and your budget has a bit of wiggle room, I would be look at this one by WF. It has a larger face-up size.
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3596846.htm {if budget allows, 5.93 mm; the inclusion on the table is eyeclean and as it is clear I'd personally give it a look to gain size}

BN on left, WF on right (5% gain on face-up)

upload_2018-6-10_14-26-8.png

One more idea, that is not at all what you asked about, but this has a gorgeous facet pattern and lovely specs. Old cuts hide color much more than a modern. This is labelled a marquise, but it is really more like a chubby marquise/oval cross. 8.26 x 5.52 x 3.38. You have to click on the video! But, this vendor has a short return window that might not suit and I'd only recommend an old marquise if your girl has said she is open to them.
https://www.jewelsbygrace.com/91ct-antique-marquise-cut-diamond
 
Rocky you are great at searching! Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.
The oval shape diamond is a bit curve ball for me :shock: ha. But that's part of the process to find out the things you like.

I've been doing some more diamond hunting over the weekend including an unplanned stop in a well known jewellers in the uk. We looked at a variety of rings in the window, each in the pic below. Not a great pic. But in order they are:

IMG_3522.PNG

.34 ct, G, SI1
.30 ct, G, SI1
.73 ct, G, SI1

I can't remember the cuts on them, as the sales assistant just wrote down all the info, but I can contact them to find out the GIA reports. Mrs rkuk to be liked them all and picked them. I like the first / smallest design most. All the shoulder stones on them are all G, SI1 too.
 
Hi everyone,
Can I ask what people think of the following specs and the aset image I was sent to accompany the stone.
Image 1 of 0.80 Carat.jpg Screen Shot 2018-06-12 at 22.29.30.png
Thanks
 
Looks pretty nice to my (untrained) eyes. Maybe slightly closer to a 60/60 style, but the crown height is still pretty substantial and the angles look good.

Did you run it thru the HCA tool? (I'm on my phone or I would). I'll be looking forward to more responses.
 
Those proportions will easily pass HCA,

That's an arrow image, not ASET/idealscope, not used for light performance, but it does have great symmetry. Looks good.
 
ringo865 said:
Looks pretty nice to my (untrained) eyes. Maybe slightly closer to a 60/60 style, but the crown height is still pretty substantial and the angles look good.

Did you run it thru the HCA tool? (I'm on my phone or I would). I'll be looking forward to more responses.
Click to expand...

Thanks ringo :))
I did run it through the HCA tool. It returns excellent for everything except 'the spread' (which is very good. The total visual performance was 1.
 
gm89uk said:
Those proportions will easily pass HCA,

That's an arrow image, not ASET/idealscope, not used for light performance, but it does have great symmetry. Looks good.
Click to expand...

Thanks gm89uk. Ok so I need to do a bit more digging for that information and hope that the picture is indeed the one belonging to the certificate.
 
Hi all,

Still looking, and narrowing down choices. What do people think of this stone? (I've requested ASET images).

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 22.47.50.png Diamond Image.jpg

Cheers
 
Anybody? Or are we all bored of my questions? :lol: (that is meant as a rhetorical question, so please don't shoot me down! :eek2:).
 
Stones with lower crown angles tend to return more white light than colored (fire) light. We usually try to stick with 34-35 with complimentary pavilion
angles. The stone does hit the 6mm point which is nice. Post the aset when you get it.
 
Hi everyone,
Hope you're all well :wavey:
Received these from the jeweller which relate to the stone I posted above.
Any thoughts and feedback?


hearts_arrows.jpg aset.jpg
 
Anyone? :)
 
Fair warning, I'm not an expert at this. Hopefully someone else will chime in. So looking at the ASET, there is a lot of variability in the facets under the table. I really don't like the area between 9 and 11 o'clock. I think that area may be a bit dead. I also don't like the looks of the outer edges at that same spot. It looks to me like there is some digging going on there.
https://www.pricescope.com/journal/visible_effects_painting_digging_superideal_diamonds

I would pass on this one because it looks like a quarter of the diamond may not perform like the other three quarters of this diamond.

If you want to see examples of better ASETS, head over to whiteflash and look at their a cut above diamonds. They have really clear ASET pictures you can compare to this.
 
:-o oh no! thanks for the advice, but I was hoping this would be a good one as the HCA values are pretty good - booo!!!
 
Big picture, the ASET is not terrible. The areas of lighter and darker red under the table indicate that the pavillion angles are varying a bit more from the average. The areas I circled in black (mentioned by @Luminous1) paired with the green areas pointed to with the arrows at 11 and 12 make me think this diamond is slightly tilted, so that the ASET looks worse than reality.

Calling for a few technical folks @tyty333 @flyingpig @gm89uk . Maybe @Karl_K or @oldminer could comment if I've correctly identified tilt or some other flaw in taking the image.


upload_2018-7-5_14-31-15.png
 

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While waiting for input, here's a few...flexing your specs a bit.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5136344 {I VVS2, 6.08 mm}
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...rat-i-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-5221769 (6.08 mm}***
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3963060.htm {
0.832 ct I VS2 , 5.98 mm}
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3964540.htm {.823 I VS2, 6.01 mm)
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5221789 {6.0 mm}
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4435436 {photo makes it look bad, but nice angles and specs. {5.90 mm)

This is a 60/60 style diamond that has a huge spread (6.02 mm) for its weight. If they have an IS, this is worth considering. It will return more white light than fire. Great specs.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5056473
 
rockysalamander said:
Big picture, the ASET is not terrible. The areas of lighter and darker red under the table indicate that the pavillion angles are varying a bit more from the average. The areas I circled in black (mentioned by @Luminous1) paired with the green areas pointed to with the arrows at 11 and 12 make me think this diamond is slightly tilted, so that the ASET looks worse than reality.

Calling for a few technical folks @tyty333 @flyingpig @gm89uk . Maybe @Karl_K or @oldminer could comment if I've correctly identified tilt or some other flaw in taking the image.


upload_2018-7-5_14-31-15.png
Click to expand...

You are correct in that it is very slightly tilted but not enough to matter.
The defects in ASET are caused by twisted lowers most likely the result of widely ranging pavilion angles but not always.
It is enough to make the ASET test a fail in my opinion..
 
Btw how to tell if it is tilted is look at the length of the arrow shafts if they are the same lengh the stone is very close to level.
They get longer the direction its tilted and shorter the other way.
So the longer shaft points to the direction of tilt and it can be tilted between the arrows making 2 side by side longer than the ones opposite and, it can be tilted .
multiple ways. For example: tilted up and to the right like this one.
 
@rockysalamander as always - thank you so much! and further thank you's for looking for other stones in addition!

@Karl_K - thank you also.

So looking at the ASET image, the stone is tilted when the image was taken but the stone doesn't perform well under this test despite it having a good value on the HCA test. Man this is all complex I was really hoping this would be a good all rounder as I am liaising with the jeweller via online and was planning to buy the ring on my travels.

How badly does this 'fail', and what will be the features of it failing? Will it just look dull and lifeless? I'm an average joe when it comes to all of this, despite having picked up a lot of information from here (you guys really are great!). Is it that bad it's just not even worth considering?
 
rkuk said:
@rockysalamander as always - thank you so much! and further thank you's for looking for other stones in addition!

@Karl_K - thank you also.

So looking at the ASET image, the stone is tilted when the image was taken but the stone doesn't perform well under this test despite it having a good value on the HCA test. Man this is all complex I was really hoping this would be a good all rounder as I am liaising with the jeweller via online and was planning to buy the ring on my travels.

How badly does this 'fail', and what will be the features of it failing? Will it just look dull and lifeless? I'm an average joe when it comes to all of this, despite having picked up a lot of information from here (you guys really are great!). Is it that bad it's just not even worth considering?
Click to expand...

If Karl says its fails, eliminate it. He's a pro and veteran with diamonds. I know its frustrating, but I'd keep looking.
 
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