Diamond engagement ring QUICK question :)

[bryangrant]

Hello friends!

Not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I'm sure you can let me know where it belongs.

Anyways, I'm looking to buy an engagement ring, and have budgeted about $4000 for the diamond and $1000 for the setting. I know the girlfriend likes the round cut, and I figured a diamond between 0.75 and 0.99 carats will be nice. After a bit of searching on PriceScope and other sites, I came across this diamond: http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-1-3661248-0.80-carat-Round-diamond-E-color-VS2-clarity.aspx

Two questions:

1.) Is this a decent round diamond by your standards? It's 0.80 carats, Excellent cut, E color, and VS2 clarity for $4000. (Is it worth moving up in clarity and down in color to balance out the price?)

2.) Does anyone have an alternative diamond to suggest? I don't mind going up in carat size. The $4000 is my limit on what I'd like to spend though!

Bonus: Thoughts on settings? Should I buy the setting at the same time through wherever I get the diamond? She's pretty athletic and I want a ring that will stand up to a bunch of outdoor activities.

Thanks in advance and hope the week treats you well!

Bryan

 

[hawk25]

The numbers look good and is within the HCA score PSers look for (1.4). B2C is definitely one of the more price aggressive of PS vendors, which explains the slightly lower than average prices, but you don't get the extra tools other vendors provide right away. Was $4000 the absolute hard budget? Because the stone you linked to is coming up as $4379.33

It's hard to critique the stone further since there's no idealscope image. Last time I heard, you can ask B2C to call that stone in (they don't have it in-house) and take the IS image for you, but I'm not 100% certain. You'd have to ask them, and it'll take a few days to do so, but I think it's worthwhile to be certain there's no unwanted light leakage.

As for the color/clarity question, you'll have to ask B2C whether the stone is eye clean to -your- standards. I believe most vendors judge eye cleanliness from a distance of 10 inches from the top view, but your standard may be 6 inches from all sides. If it is eye clean, IMO it's not worth it to upgrade the clarity further (there's no appreciable difference visually, only through a loupe). A GIA graded VS2 is generally safe, except for the few rare instances. An E color is on the high side, some would say a little too high, but it depends on what's important to you and your girlfriend. I bought my girlfriend an H color, since that's the limit where I see color tint, but different people have varying degrees of color sensitivity. From what I've read, you're probably safe going down to a G color, but that's for you to decide. If you can, go to a jewelers and ask to see a few stones in various colors (maybe ask to do a blind test) and see how sensitive you are.

Some suggestions from other vendors:
If you don't mind fluorescence: http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...0.757-f-vs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104064812043
I really like this one but it's on reserve. Maybe they won't go through with it. I'd live chat with them and ask for the status: http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d.../0.810-g-vs2-round-diamond-ags-c-104061350095