Budget 1 carat round diamond

[Mariana Minkova]

First of all, it is a true pleasure to be part of your online community, so thank you for accepting me. I have heard and read nothing but incredible feedback about this platform. I am looking to purchase a 1 carat round diamond, as am planning to propose in a few months time. I am located in the United Kingdom, which probably limits my options, but am aware that Blue Nile offer free international shipment, so have been looking at their website. I have a budget of £5000, but have already selected my band, which is rather pricy and leaves me with approximately £4000 for a diamond. I have stretched my budget, so can not afford to go over that. I am looking for a well cut diamond, with good performance. I looked through Blue Nile's stock and found the following diamond, which is not perfect, but seems to tick most boxes. Can you please have a look and maybe come up with better suggestions within that range? Looking forward to your responses.

https://www.bluenile.com/uk/build-y...MONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=sameTab

 

[lovedogs]

Not loving the video of this one. Did you run angles through the HCA calculator (under tool)? I feel like the angles aren't working so the faceting looks odd.

Can you show us your choice of setting?

 

[Mariana Minkova]

Not loving the video of this one. Did you run angles through the HCA calculator (under tool)? I feel like the angles aren't working so the faceting looks odd.

Can you show us your choice of setting?

I am not familiar what the HCA calculator is and how it works really. Attached below you will find the setting that I have set my eyes on.

https://www.bluenile.com/build-your...llier-cathedral-solitaire-ring-platinum_41263

 

[Dancing Fire]

The stone is cut too deep you are losing diameter. It shows a diameter of a 1ct stone at 6.45mm. Look for a stone b/t 61.5-62% depth.

 

[OoohShiny]

What are you preferred priorities for the diamond?

Size over colour? Colour over clarity?

Has your intended seen the different colour options available? And expressed a preference? Or confirmed they are happy to see some tint in the stone?


The Holloway Cut Advisor (HCA) is a tool to identify stones that have pavilion angles and crown angles that work well together. It is under the Tools tab at the top of the forum.

An ASETscope is a tool designed to assess stones for leakage from poor cutting, and to assess how consistent the cutting is across the stone. Most (all?) UK vendors have never heard of it, or the HCA, so shopping online is a good idea.

Even importing a stone or ring can work out better value than buying in the UK - make sure to look at options on Whiteflash, High Performance Diamonds, Brian Gavin, B2C...

Use the search bar at the top of the forum to see what is available across the world.

 

[OoohShiny]

Here you go - 5 diamonds with AGS000 cut (so basically as good as you can get in a MRB), although the H appears to be sold, unfortunately.
https://www.pricescope.com/diamonds/VZ80ui

GIA XXX within the Pricescope recommended parameters (and a touch outside of them) and with Excellent or Very Good HCA scores number 283 right now:
https://www.pricescope.com/diamonds/WZ69oo

 

[OoohShiny]

Personally speaking I would aim for I colour and above, because the UK seems to be more focused on colour than the USA, and aiming for VS1 or better should help ensure eye-clean stones (and because I'm a clarity-freak lol).

That leaves 17 diamonds:
https://www.pricescope.com/diamonds/PS89qp

but chopping out the HCA score of Very Good leaves about half that number.


Personally speaking again, I think this one looks promising:
https://www.pricescope.com/diamonds/round/1_02-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-8565675#

The GIA clarity plot looks great - all the inclusions are right on the edge so should be completely eye-clean:
https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2205012243

Smaller table (56%) should help increase coloured fire, and the Strong Blue fluorescence will help lift the colour of the diamond in UV-rich light, such as daylight. (You would need to ask the vendor to assess if it has any impact on light performance, such as oiliness or haziness, but the video looks very clear so I don't think it would be an issue??)

 

[OoohShiny]

The stone is cut too deep you are losing diameter. It shows a diameter of a 1ct stone at 6.45mm. Look for a stone b/t 61.5-62% depth.

What is a diameter a 1ct should be?

I'm looking at the GIA XXX stones in my searches above and, even with HCA under 1 (which suggests a shallow stone, therefore large spread for the weight) 6.5mm seems to be about as large as they get??

 

[Mariana Minkova]

My other half literally knows nothing about diamonds. Not that I know much, but at least I have done some research. I know her preferences in terms of shape, the rest would be up to me and you. It is important to note that importing into the UK does involve paying duties and tax, so Blue Nile seems to be the only viable overseas based option, as I have read that they ship through Ireland, in order to avoid extra costs for buyers.

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD10843054?click_id=369173658

This looks like a nice diamond, but what is it with its colour? It scored 1.3 on the HCA though.

 

[OoohShiny]

My other half literally knows nothing about diamonds. Not that I know much, but at least I have done some research. I know her preferences in terms of shape, the rest would be up to me and you. It is important to note that importing into the UK does involve paying duties and tax, so Blue Nile seems to be the only viable overseas based option, as I have read that they ship through Ireland, in order to avoid extra costs for buyers.

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD10843054?click_id=369173658

This looks like a nice diamond, but what is it with its colour? It scored 1.3 on the HCA though.

The HCA is a rejection tool (for stones scoring over 2-2.5) not a selection tool. 1.3 is perfectly good.


re: importing, you only pay VAT (20%) on loose stones and an extra 2.5% if it is set into a ring.

So, in this case...

$4670 / 1.3 ($/£ exchange rate, roughly) = £3592.
£3592 * 1.2 = £4310

I'm not sure whether the 2.5% is applied in parallel or subsequently to the 20% VAT, but even if subsequently, that brings it up to £4418.


Many of us here in the UK have imported stones from the USA without any issue so you should not feel concerned about the process.

Any stones over here in the EU or priced in Sterling on BN will likely just be having their prices converted from USD and VAT applied anyway - diamonds are generally priced in USD across the world (if I understand it correctly) so vendors over here will just be doing the process for you. (I may be wrong, of course - happy to be corrected!)

 

[Swirl68]

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD10843054?click_id=369173658

This looks like a nice diamond, but what is it with its colour? It scored 1.3 on the HCA though.

It has a faint brown tint. GIA will note the faint brown starting with K color (K-M), so this J color diamond doesn't have that noted on the certificate, but you can definitely see it in the video.

ETA:
If the certificate is noted with the faint brown marker, the stone will be sold at somewhat of a discount because this not considered a desired trait by many. BUT, you will find many shoppers on this board particularly search out stones with this trait and marker as they can have a kind of champagne color instead of yellow. Some with small tables and certain angles are said to cast unique flashes of light as well.

Personally, I prefer J-M colors to have this trait. I came really close to buying a K oval with this marker to set in rose gold, but then it sold before I could.

 

[Dancing Fire]

What is a diameter a 1ct should be?

I'm looking at the GIA XXX stones in my searches above and, even with HCA under 1 (which suggests a shallow stone, therefore large spread for the weight) 6.5mm seems to be about as large as they get??

Most people say 6.5mm but I'd prefer my 1ct closer to 6.45mm. That just me.

 

[Mariana Minkova]

Are these two another two examples of diamonds with faint brown tint? The first one gave me a 1.3 result with the HCA calculator and says it should look bigger than its carat size. Is this going to look bad in a rather open platinum band?

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD10843054?click_id=914621482
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD12317958?click_id=530047383

I find a few other nice ones, with results under 2.0, but visibly better colour. Would you recommend any of them?

https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD12203062?click_id=841465862
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD12202411?click_id=866586619
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD12262503?click_id=161795594
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD11540258?click_id=349836793

 

[Swirl68]

If you want to expand your options, you might consider looking at some 60/60 type stones as well.