cut and seeing diamonds in person questions

[cutiegirl84]

HI everyone,

My bf recently told me to start looking at rings which is so exciting! I''ve been lurking on PS for a few weeks now and I am addicted. Originally I had been checking out blue nile and considering ~ 1.5 ct Princess cut D-F range vs1 and Very-good Cut (GIA). Now having read through pricescope and doing real research it seems that Ideal or Excellent cut is the best bet? My bf plans on spending around $10-11,000 on the whole ring. I''m allergic to nickel so *unfortunately* I need a platinum setting, so i am thinking reserving around 1-2k for the setting. so basically my question now is is there a really noticeable difference between "very good" cut and "ideal/excellent"? I''d prefer the bigger rock of course, but now limiting my search to Ideal cut has brought the carat weight down to like 1.2-1.3. any suggestions? and now I am considering rounds because they look bigger for their ct. weight than a princess, although I originally wanted something a little different, so thats why i was considering princess.

also, since you are all so knowledgeable and helpful, I''d like to look at some diamonds in person but it appears the mall chains don''t have the best quality diamonds so is there any retailer anyone suggests for looking at diamonds that are well cut and have certs to back it up? Thanks!