Help choosing the right diamond

[rye123]

I've decided on the U-Prong 'Champaigne' from whiteflash for the setting, now I'm down to choosing the right diamond. The maximum I can spend on the diamond is $5000. I'm looking for one that looks amazing and doesn't have to be too large. In the .70 - 1 carat range, she doesn't want anything bigger. I'm leaning toward either the second one listed or the fifth one listed but I wanted to see if I could get some of your opinions.

I've learned a lot reading this forum over the past couple weeks and am real close to pulling the trigger and ordering.

Here are the diamonds I've found that fit in my price range.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-191600.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-191601.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-191598.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-191599.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-191602.htm

The 4 C's are pretty easy to understand but all these other dimensions that are commented on just confuse me. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

 

[JulieN]

you''re on the right track!

best people to help you out with this would be staff at WF. webcam session?

 

[JulieN]

save the $$ and go with the F VS1.

 

[Ellen]

Seriously, you''ve got a bunch of stunners, to pick is splitting hairs. I agree with Julie, ask WF to pick.

 

[Finding_Neverland]

Do you have a reason for the preference for higher color and/or clarity?? Cultural?? Mind Clean??

If you would consider moving toward G/H and a good SI1, you could possibly get more size for your budget. A well cut .75-.85 point diamond is gonna look similar to a not so well cut 1 carat in diameter.

Diamond shrinkage sets in eventually. Faster for some women than others!

 

[shiatsu]

I noticed they are all VS1s, and while everybody has their own preferences VS1 is a bit too rich for my blood- especially considering you'd need a trained eye and a loupe to tell the difference between VS1 and VS2 (and even then one grader may say it's VS1 while another might say it's VS2). With a VS1 you'll pay about a $500 premium over VS2 and nobody will notice the difference except an appraiser with a loupe. I don't like paying a premium on something I can't see. Here's some Whiteflash F VS2s:
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-135753.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-108520.htm

Personally, I'd even go a step further and look at eye-clean SI1s- you'd save $700-$1000 and nobody but your jeweler will be able to see the difference. James Allen has a F color SI1 clarity AGS-0 cut .73 carat diamond going for $2,440:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=937901
it looks to be eye-clean from the magnified image, but I'd ask to be sure.

If you go out to a store and start looking at diamonds in person, you'll see how insignificant the difference between E color or F color, 0.75 carat or 0.85 carat, or VS1 and SI1 is. In fact if someone were to put a 0.85 carat E color VS1 clarity diamond infront of you, as well as a 0.75 carat F color eye-clean SI1 clarity diamond in front of you two inches apart, both face up with AGS-0 cuts, and offered you $500 to pick out a certain one with your unaided eye, you'd have a 50/50 chance of picking it- they'd look exactly the same without jewelers tools to pick out the difference. However, one will cost at least $2000 more.