Advice on buying a diamond already in a setting.

[wizbang]

I am from overseas and buying a diamond or ring online will incur a heavy duty. I was hoping to find something while in the USA but that did not come to fruition. Thus I am forced to buy from local vendors who only offer complete rings. Can an ideal or aset scope be used on a diamond that is mounted? Does the type of setting matter? What if it has a halo?

I've seen some guides on what specs to look for so I can go by that. But I also want to inspect the stone myself with some sort of scope so I can judge performance.

I also have questions regarding the setting. Do halo designs reduce brightness or fire of a diamond? The design I am looking at would obstruct light around the girdle and pavilion. Since it's blocking light it must have some effect, no?

Also will it help hide the color since the pavilion is partially obstructed? I suppose you could still see color from the crown though when in side view. But maybe the halo can obstruct enough to hide some of the J color?

 

[chrono]

The colour of diamond melees are typically very bright and white and the contrast might be more obvious when surrounding a J coloured diamond. If the centre diamond is extremely well cut, a halo or bezel will have negligible impact on its light performance. A less well cut diamond benefits from an open setting that allows light in from the sides.