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ComputerGuy1211

ComputerGuy1211

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
15
Hello all! I just found this website yesterday and wish I found it earlier! My gf and I have been together for 5 yrs. l think its time to take the plunge and I can finally have the families stop taking jabs at me =)

I am by no means a gemologist. I am a computer guy / techie. If anyone needs advice on computers or electronics, feel free to reach out. I am here to seek advice on finding a diamond online.

I'm not sure if i want to go with the cheapest diamond for given parameters or best diamond within my budget (5000-6000 for diamond + 2000 for a plat setting).

Here are the parameters I have been searching by:

Cut: Round
Carats: 1 – 1.25 CT
Color: H or I
Clarity: ??? This is where it gets confusing. I was looking at VVS but was told I could find a eye clean SI2 diamond for much less. Any advice/input would be appreciated.

I'm also confused on how to interpret the dimensions/girdle of the stone. Below are the specs for a diamond that was recommended to me (http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1320132.asp)

Shape: Round
Carat weight: 1.32
Cut: Ideal
Color: I
Clarity: SI2
Certificate: GIA
Depth: 60.8%
Table: 57.0%
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle: Medium
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 7.07*7.12*4.32

I'm not sure what to look for under the loupe. Is this a good diamond or should I look for the best diamond within my budget?

Thanks for taking time to read/assist. I'm looking forward to all the the replies.
 
the stone you posted looks great! ewxcellent cut- near colorless color- just ask james allen if it is eyeclean to your specs.
 
as for color & clarity- it really is a personal preference. You will have a ton of people say- go higher color and higher quality and lower carat for a "better" stone, while others say that an IDeal cut I, eyeclean SI2 is a great value- and it will look white and clean and sparkly (which is true). It depends on what you value- or better yet- what your GF values.

Have you or your gf seen different color stones in person? Maybe a trip to a local store for education might be helpful in deciding. You need to compare apples to apples- so compare two excellent/ideal cut RB of close carat weight in G- H- I- J and see how you feel about the color. For some they can see a different between F and G, others can't tell an I from an F.
 
Wow, you and I are in almost the same boat on everything...

Check out some of my posts (I think you can click on my name and click on "view all threads started by this user")

you'll I've gotten a lot of help.

I, too am now thinking about going down from clarity of VS1 or better to an eye clean SI2 or SI1 to save on the budget but I would like to see the diamond myself to determine if it truly is eye clean.... but I guess everyone here trusts the people at jamesA and whiteshark and such, so perhaps I should too.

I'm also now searching for better color along with the eye clean SI2 or SI1. (at first I was searching VS1+ clarity and knocking my color down... so I've completely flip flopped there to look at a H,G,F+ color rating (ruling out J and probably I)


What you should be searching for (which you have based on your specs) is a certified TRIPLE EX cut.

I, like you, need to go in to the stores and look at diamonds. Look at as many as I can to see if I can see differences with my own eyes and determine what I like and don't like.

I know my gf wants a big diamond as opposed to a smaller AWESOME quality. (she won't say it, but c'mon now). I just need to figure out what I (and her) would like to give up to get a bigger carat. And I'm thinking one of those sacrifices will be clarity (as long as it's eye clean). I don't think I'll sacrifice on color.... or the Triple EX cut... but again, I need to see them in person.

The one you picked out sounds great on paper though!
 
whiteflash...* no whiteshark here!

Good luck to the two of you! I am with you Anonymous6- I am more of a cut- size- color over clarity girl. :appl:
 
Welcome Computer guy!

The stone you posted has promising specs. You will want to ask James Allen for an idealscope image to give the cut quality a closer look. In the meantime, if you are serious about this stone, I really encourage you to put it on hold. Stones will often get "poached" by forum lurkers.

Like Amy said, it is important to ask about eye-cleanliness. In the case of twinning wisps, please make sure it is eye-clean in all lights. They are often a good inclusion because they are hard to see, but as a grade setter in a SI2 clarity, I'd want to make sure. Also ask about the surface graining. I admittedly don't know much about it, but I think it's worth asking if there is any detrimental effect from it.

Amy and Anon also talked about getting a feel for color and matching this against your FI's tastes. I think this is important. Personally, I believe most women value size and sparkle. There are some, however, who would sacrifice size (not cut, which=sparkle) in order to get a higher color or clarity. Does your lady know anything about diamonds? Is there anyone in her family who does? Does she have any engaged friends or relatives with whom you think she might compare her ring? These are all possible considerations.

I think James Allen offers great value for a quality product. "If" a future upgrade program is important to you, I believe you would have to spend 2X your initial purchase. This is still not necessarily a bad deal.

Whiteflash has a bit more generous of an upgrade policy. I'm not trying to steer you away from JA, but wanted to post this stone in case you'd be interested. I think it is a great value. In fact I almost bought it, but my setting was too small. I recently had a 5-6K budget to replace a ring I sold and I ended up with a .908 E VS2.

1.005 I VS2
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2531871.htm
(I'm attaching a picture since I have one.:))

wf stones.jpg
 
Siamese Kitty|1291229891|2784269 said:
Welcome Computer guy!

The stone you posted has promising specs. You will want to ask James Allen for an idealscope image to give the cut quality a closer look. In the meantime, if you are serious about this stone, I really encourage you to put it on hold. Stones will often get "poached" by forum lurkers.

Like Amy said, it is important to ask about eye-cleanliness. In the case of twinning wisps, please make sure it is eye-clean in all lights. They are often a good inclusion because they are hard to see, but as a grade setter in a SI2 clarity, I'd want to make sure. Also ask about the surface graining. I admittedly don't know much about it, but I think it's worth asking if there is any detrimental effect from it.

Amy and Anon also talked about getting a feel for color and matching this against your FI's tastes. I think this is important. Personally, I believe most women value size and sparkle. There are some, however, who would sacrifice size (not cut, which=sparkle) in order to get a higher color or clarity. Does your lady know anything about diamonds? Is there anyone in her family who does? Does she have any engaged friends or relatives with whom you think she might compare her ring? These are all possible considerations.

I think James Allen offers great value for a quality product. "If" a future upgrade program is important to you, I believe you would have to spend 2X your initial purchase. This is still not necessarily a bad deal.

Whiteflash has a bit more generous of an upgrade policy. I'm not trying to steer you away from JA, but wanted to post this stone in case you'd be interested. I think it is a great value. In fact I almost bought it, but my setting was too small. I recently had a 5-6K budget to replace a ring I sold and I ended up with a .908 E VS2.

1.005 I VS2
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2531871.htm
(I'm attaching a picture since I have one.:))
Click to expand...


whiteflash has a great upgrade policy. If an upgrade in the future is a possibility then take it into consideration. If not, then, go with the stone you like more.
 
Yes, the most important thing is to find a stone you love that fits your budget.
 
Thanks all for your advice! I didn't expect this many comments already. I would like to go shopping with my GF but it would spoil the surprise. I think she just wants a ring at this point, and doesn't care about cut, size, color or clarity. My friend and I have been looking at rings together and he just pulled the trigger last night (dating ~ 1yr). If he pops the question before me, I'm gonna get it from her! Looks like i will be putting the diamond on hold!
 
Ha! That is hilarious.

Whenever my gf wants something whether it be a trip to X city, a restaurant choice for a date night, electronics, etc... she always says

"go do your research or whatever it is you do"

I wouldn't say your gf doesn't care about the 4Cs and all that, but she would if she got a crap diamond! Which is why you're here and you're doing research of course. (which is why I'm here anyway)

May I ask why you haven't maybe considered a 1.3-1.5 carat and drop down on other qualities? What if you found a 1.3-1.5 carat SI2 eye clear.. let's say I or H color in your budget. Let's say it wasn't triple excellent certified, but was maybe a triple very good or double vg 1 excellent (you get the point)

Or the diamond you found for the same price.

You say your gf doesn't care about the specs, which leads me to believe she would definitely care about size. (complete assumption here so apologies if I'm wrong) And this is why I ask you why you've narrowed it down to the specs you decided on?
 
haha, my boyf best friend proposed to another mutual friend first- dating years and years less than us.... boy did my FI hear it! lol
 
Like anonymous says- some drop in color to the near colorless range- G-H-I, clarity to eye clean, and go up in carat. Not everyone agrees with that. Definitely cut is a big thing, better the cut the better the sparkle.... so don't get too far low in that as it will affect how the stone looks.

I think the stone you are putting on hold is STUNNING!

also- going up in carat by .1 .2 or even .3 may not be as noticable as a lesser cut will be. A better cut stone will sparkle more and be brighter and therefore appear prettier and even bigger than a lower cut stone .2 higher in carat...

so much to weigh out, but I think you did a great job of picking out a stone.
 
Yeah, you really did a good job in picking out a diamond. I was primarily only throwing that out as an example to see how you came to a conclusion on your wants, as I still don't know what I truly want.

Completely agree with the above poster (sorry forgot the name!). A great cut/sparkle/brilliance factor will go a LONG way. My sister's diamond is a 1.33 carat but sparkles like CRAZY (her bf was all about quality when buying), and she compares it to some of her friends' 1.5+ carat stones and hers looks JUST as big if not bigger because it just outshines and outsparkles them. It's pretty incredible how much a triple EX cut can do.
 
good luck on both of your proposals!!!!!
 
I also forgot to mention that my GF is has small fingers. Her ring size is 4.5. Hopefully 1.3 will be a good size for her finger. After reading all comments, I will be happy with an eye clean diamond that sparkles.

JA does not have the idealscope image on hand so it's going to take a few days to receive it. I'll be lurking in the forums for the next few days and will post an update once I hear fr JA.
 
I think 1.3 is a great size!!! post the IS when you get it and make sure it is eye-clean to your specs
 
1.3 should look nice and large on a 4.5 size finger. Very large, actually. :bigsmile:

Well done putting the stone on hold. A few days to get the image is standard-I'm glad you asked for one.

Don't forget to ask JA about the eye-cleanliness issue, and make sure your definition and theirs is the same.

Looks like this could be a winner! :appl:

ETA: Sorry slg-looks like we were posting at the same time. ;)
 
I just read through all the posts on this thread. Since my GF keeps hinting Harry Winston and Tiffany's to me, Im guessing she wouldn't mind giving up clarity for size and sparkle. I originally was looking for a 1.0 H-VVS2/VS1 but was told that with a little legwork, I could find a larger eye clean SI1 and SI2 for the same price. A few google searches later and I found this website.

I also forgot to mention that she even gave me some incentive. If she gets a ring before the superbowl, she will buy me a new TV (my 'ring' but Im sure she will still rule the remote). Instead of picking one out, maybe I'll leave it up to her and then she can see how much thought and time goes into a big ticket item. :lol:

One last thing...is the upgrade a traditional thing? Nobody in both of our families have upgraded. Ill keep this type of talk within the forums. I would really like a boat and the thought of an upgrade later is sinking my boat!
 
ComputerGuy1211|1291241311|2784455 said:
I also forgot to mention that my GF is has small fingers. Her ring size is 4.5. Hopefully 1.3 will be a good size for her finger.
Click to expand...

It's going to look pretty substantial. We have about the same finger size, and anything over 7mm in diameter is going look pretty big (IMO)!

Upgrades are not expected, but...if you buy from JA, you'll have the option. He has a 2:1 upgrade policy. (If you spend 2x on the next one, he will give you 100% of the original purchase price toward the next one.)
 
Ugh, jealous.

My gf has a size 6.5 to 7 finger size... She got her dad's short chubby fingers (she's not chubby though at all :bigsmile: )


So, what made you decide on buying online? Just probing haha don't mean to be rude.

I feel like I need to see the diamond in person even though buying online is safe now with the money back guarantees and all. How much time did yall spend look at diamonds in stores and such?
 
ComputerGuy1211|1291242666|2784486 said:
I just read through all the posts on this thread. Since my GF keeps hinting Harry Winston and Tiffany's to me, Im guessing she wouldn't mind giving up clarity for size and sparkle. I originally was looking for a 1.0 H-VVS2/VS1 but was told that with a little legwork, I could find a larger eye clean SI1 and SI2 for the same price. A few google searches later and I found this website.

I also forgot to mention that she even gave me some incentive. If she gets a ring before the superbowl, she will buy me a new TV (my 'ring' but Im sure she will still rule the remote). Instead of picking one out, maybe I'll leave it up to her and then she can see how much thought and time goes into a big ticket item. :lol:

One last thing...is the upgrade a traditional thing? Nobody in both of our families have upgraded. Ill keep this type of talk within the forums. I would really like a boat and the thought of an upgrade later is sinking my boat!
Click to expand...

Hi Computer Guy,

Size could be one thing, but I have a feeling she is referring to the setting for the diamond. HW and Tiffanys' have very distinctive styles. But luckily, you can set the diamond into some similar settings. Some popular settings include the Tiffany Novo (centre stone with a diamonds on the band), knife edge (solitaire diamond, no side diamonds) and the HW pave with halo.

You should probably get a feel what she likes for that too ;))

Your gf is very lucky that you're doing all this research (you are too! I gave my FI nothing bar a ÿes!)....I've been helping my BFF's FI find an ER and he said to me recently, so the biggest size you can go in diamonds is 3 cts right?!


Good luck! :)
 
ComputerGuy1211|1291242666|2784486 said:
I just read through all the posts on this thread. Since my GF keeps hinting Harry Winston and Tiffany's to me, Im guessing she wouldn't mind giving up clarity for size and sparkle. I originally was looking for a 1.0 H-VVS2/VS1 but was told that with a little legwork, I could find a larger eye clean SI1 and SI2 for the same price. A few google searches later and I found this website.

I also forgot to mention that she even gave me some incentive. If she gets a ring before the superbowl, she will buy me a new TV (my 'ring' but Im sure she will still rule the remote). Instead of picking one out, maybe I'll leave it up to her and then she can see how much thought and time goes into a big ticket item. :lol:

One last thing...is the upgrade a traditional thing? Nobody in both of our families have upgraded. Ill keep this type of talk within the forums. I would really like a boat and the thought of an upgrade later is sinking my boat!
Click to expand...


For some women the brand name is really, really important - and a bigger, clearer, higher-coloured, sparklier diamond from an 'unknown' vendor will disappoint.

Please do check to see what she means - whether she thinks HW and Tiffs just have sparklier stones, or whether it is the whole package - the experience, the blue box, the brand name inscribed on the distinctive shank...

You know your GF best, just a thought that you may want to do a lil' more digging here!
 
good point Yssie- does she want a setting like HW or Tiffany- i.e. novo type band, or HW type halo? Or does she specifically want the brand name in general. If that is the case, she wants authentic tiffany or HW, then she may be disappointed with another ring.

Somepeople understand that their budget will get them half as big a stone when buying Tiffany or HW..and are happy with that- they want an authentic HW or tiff. Others come to see what their budget will get them in these designer names and opt for the bigger possibily better stat no name stone instead with a replicated setting.
 
I believe that my gf is only joking around when she cuts out the HW and Tiffany's rings. If she expects me to drop 100k on a ring, then she's going to be disappointed. I've been spending all this time looking for the center stone and thought that finding a setting would be easy. I have this one in mind (http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/channelset-rings/ring/item_58-2) but I'm not sure if it may be too big for her 4.5 ring finger. Also is there and advantage of Plat over w gold? My friends w plat settings are telling me to get white gold and those with white gold are telling me to get plat.
 
that link isnt working for me?
 
ComputerGuy1211|1291315906|2785293 said:
I believe that my gf is only joking around when she cuts out the HW and Tiffany's rings. If she expects me to drop 100k on a ring, then she's going to be disappointed. I've been spending all this time looking for the center stone and thought that finding a setting would be easy. I have this one in mind (http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/channelset-rings/ring/item_58-2) but I'm not sure if it may be too big for her 4.5 ring finger. Also is there and advantage of Plat over w gold? My friends w plat settings are telling me to get white gold and those with white gold are telling me to get plat.
Click to expand...


Try posting your link again...that one didnt work...
 
Add me to the camp wondering if Tiffany/HW is what she might be dreaming of, but not know is possible. Okay, HW is probably not in the budget. But 6K would buy you a half carat at Tiffany's that would look perfectly elegant on a size 4.5 hand. Are you 100% sure this is not what she wants, but feels like it would be too much to ask for?

I understand the surprise element is important, but if you're at the point of discussing marriage she probably has an inkling that an engagement is coming. Could you give her a "hypothetical" choice? (i.e. "When we get engaged would you rather have an ideal cut 1+ct stone, or a .5ct designer ring?")

The last thing that strikes me, and gosh I hope I don't offend, are you sure she will be happy with SI2 clarity? If the designer references she is making refer to diamond stats, HW sells only colorless stones (D-F I believe) and not sure about the clarity. Tiffany sells D-I colors and IF-SI1 (and the SI1 is a recent thing). I hope I'm not confusing you, I'm just trying to make sure all options are considered.

That said, I do still think the stone you have chosen is stunning.
 
I know for a fact that she isn't expecting or requiring a box from HW or Tiffanys. We've talked about our one friend who won't settle for anything less (2 Cts on top of that). We could use the money to help pay for other things (the wedding). IF I were to order a HW or Tiff style band at a local jewelry shop, do you think they would markup the cost of mounting since i didn't order the center stone from them?
 
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