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Engagement diamond help. Budget $2500!

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Stephny691

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
164
I can't believe I'm actually asking for help picking a diamond for my engagement ring! :o

Hi!

We have a budget of $2500 for the diamond itself; we're in the UK so cost-wise it's actually cheaper to buy from the US and get it shipped. I have fallen in love with the Ashleigh setting from Brian Gavin (in 14K white gold), so for ease I would prefer to get the diamond from them too.

The stats we're looking for are:

Excellent/Ideal Cut
H-I,
0.6ctish
VS2ish (I know we can go lower to SI1, but I really don't want to see any inclusions and if we get an SI1 and we're not keen then we've got to send it back to the US and that's a hassle we don't want.)

The budget could be stretched a teeny bit (by a couple of hundred dollars but that's it). I've seen some really nice looking diamonds on BG but I'm basically clueless.
So if anyone could help us find a diamond that would be amazing. Obviously I'd like to get as big as we can for our buck, but I'm not expecting miracles.

Also for the setting, does Brian Gavin do any customisation on the standard settings? As much as I love the Ashleigh the shank is a little too wide; I'm looking closer to 2mm (I'm 5.5/.75, but my fingers are really, really short, so wider rings look terrible). I was wondering if they could do Ashleigh but with a thinner shank?

I'll post some of the diamonds I've found in a bit and see whether we're on the right track.

Thank you all so much in advance.
 
Ok, here are some I found from BG, am I looking at the right kind of thing? I know there are no idealscopes but based on what's there I can't see anything wrong with these. Oh and spot the odd one out :lol:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.730-i-vs2-round-diamond-gia-44637417

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.900-k-vs2-round-diamond-gia-48430272

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.720-i-vs2-round-diamond-gia-48498211

I've input numbers into the HCA tool now, I'm learning.
0.73ct -0.8
0.9ct -4.5
0.72ct- 1.2

So based on this I can exclude the 0.9ct and keep the other 2 in consideration? The HCA of the .9 confuses me because it says it's got excellent cut, polish and symmetry... Oh well!

Thank you!

Edited to add HCA scores.
 
Bumping to try and get some help.

So far Brian Gavin have been brilliant to work with. However they can't shave the Ashleigh down to 2mm, only to 2.5mm and I feel that's still too big for my sausage fingers.

Any suggestions on settings? I would prefer 14k white gold and the budget for setting is about $5-600, which doesn't leave a lot of choice I know.

Thanks again.
 
Their Classic Truth setting is narrow. But I don't think the Ashleigh's extra width would be noticeably thicker. They are both quite delicate in my opinion. And the in-house stones are the way to go.

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...0.723-i-si2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104067973037

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...0.715-i-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104067973038

I would stick to in-house stones that have been picked and photographed by BGD (or any vendor) versus the virtual stones. BGD's staff can describe the inclusions and their locations. It is possible to find an eye-clean SI1.
 
That 0.715 Blue is actually one of the ones on my list! I'm just really concerned about it looking 'milky'? Is that the correct term? But they'd be able to tell me that wouldn't they?
It's just a really daunting prospect spending so much money on something we can't even see till it gets here.
 
None of BGD blue line diamonds have any negative effects such as milky appearance.
 
Hey,

I am sure you have already thought of it, but don't forget you have to pay import tax on shipping a set diamond into the UK. I didn't realise (as you don't pay tax on a loose stone- go figure..). Mine was around $2500 and i had to pay £300 ish import tax :nono:

X
 
M1cha3la: You don't pay tax for an unset stone?! I did NOT know that. And seeing as how none of the BG settings seem like candidates I may have to get something in the UK anyway. Thank you very much for that!

Fancygems: That's good to know about the BG blue line not having any milky ness. And the OH seems to really like the idea if a fluorescent stone.

Cluless: H is the lowest I would like to go in colour, it might seem silly but I work with white paper all day, so the stone will always be against something stark white and I feel I'd start to see the tint if I go much lower.

Thanks for the replies.
 
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