Budget is set now help me pick a rock!!!

[njdiamondlooker]

I have set a budget of $4000-$4500 for a stone. From what I comprehend the first thing to look for is to make sure the cut is ideal. If I''m wrong let me know. From there where do I rank color,clarity,polish and symetry? I am looking for a rock between .94-1.04 Please help me. Finally once I do find a rock what do you all feel is the best overall setting..platinum or gold? Thanks in advance.

 

[Kaleigh]

You''re right the most important thing about choosing a beautiful diamond IS the cut. From there you can go down in clarity and have a nice color, it''s all a mtter of personal choice. Polish and sym is not that important as long as it''s good. You can use the tool bar above to Pricescope your diamond to see where you stand. Also I recommend reading the diamond tutorials, they are very helpful. You also didn''t mention what shape you are looking for, that will play into your search as well. HTH.

 

[Regular Guy]

NJ,

Not sure how I rank these things altogether, but I do see 4 nice options you might consider on the search by cut database here, one of which is this one. Consider I or J, SI 1 or SI 2; just some ideas.

Best,

 

[michela002]

"Ranked order" of colour, clarity etc is subjective, but here''s my list.

1. Cut (and cut, and cut, and cut!)
2. Carat (size)
3. Colour (in a beautifully cut stone, I think I could see myself going down to a J - I am not insanely colour sensitive. But if she is you might want to go higher. G-H is probably a good range - white, but value for money.)
4. Clarity (as long as it is eye clean I don''t care what grading it has!)
5. Polish and symmetry (just anything above "good")

You have not mentioned what shape stone you are looking for?

Platinum or yellow gold - this is her personal preference. Deduce it based on what she wears. If all her jewelery is yellow gold, get yellow gold. If she wears mostly silver/white gold/platinum get platinum. If she wears a mix you''ll have to figure out which she''d prefer!

Platinum or white gold - if you''ve settled on a white metal, the choice between platinum and white gold is up to you (and her.) They have their advantages and disadvantages and you''ll need to weigh them up for yourself. Check out: Good Old Gold''s White Gold vs. Platinum comparison table.

 

[Jimbo34]

Here's another stone to consider from Diamondsonweb..........it's also a J Color, Clarity is VS2 and it's 1.078 ct. with an Ideal Cut

http://www.diamondsonweb.com/shopping_dd/ddetail.pl?inset=rbidsg;shape=RB;cut=IdSg;cut=IdSgP;hascert=1&sortby=&sorto=&id=L1131&start=300 $4292

I believe like most on here that the Cut of the Diamond is really very important in finding a nice stone.

Good Luck with your search

Jimbo34

 

[drk]

In the end, my personal list came down to Cut, Size, Clarity, Colour. I''m very happy with my K SI1 so far, and going down to a K really allowed us to get a bigger stone for the same price. I like the slightly warmer tone it has, and it''s barely noticeable in my two-tone gold half-bezel setting. I wear pretty much all gold jewelery, so mostly yellow gold in the ring was a pretty easy choice for me.
It really all depends on what you think your girlfriend wants. If she wants icy white, a K is probably not a good choice and I might be tempted to stick to G and up. If she has eagle eyes and will see imperfections in the stone easily, you might want to stick to VS2 and up. Most people on here seem to be keen on eye-clean SI1s because you get the best bang for your buck there.
Good luck with your decisions!