engagement ring - buy on cruise?

[kauffee1]

I guess I should avoid the virtual stones then? I also suppose the in-house, tested stones will typically be a bit more expensive?

I think these two are pretty close - even if one is out of budget by a bit:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104047809045
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-1040376130004

The other two have a bit too much splitting at the top of the hearts, no?

If going with an H colored unit, wouldn't slight fluo help with the colour balance? H seems a bit too yellowish to me? Am I crazy?

thanks!

I just got a BGD H SI1. The perfect cuts you get from the above H&A stones make them face up very white, even at mid-range colors. I noticed many people on the forum get I, J, K stones from GOG, BGD, WF, etc. without hesitation and are very happy. It all depends how color sensitive you are.

I was originally shopping for a G SI1, but ended up going down to an H so I could get an H&A from BGD. It was a great decision. Again, face up there's definitely no difference and the H&A had more brilliance, scintillation, fire, etc. Or as one of the girls helping me with the process said, "It's just so much SPARKLIER!"

Now, look at them from the side or from the bottom against a white background and there's no question there's more tint in the H. But hey, this is about striking a balance and you have to figure out where you're willing to compromise. For me, I wanted a certain carat weight and a perfect cut... that meant compromising on color and clarity.

I think you're on the right track going with SI1. Mine is completely eye clean and I'm hard-pressed to see any inclusions with a 10x loupe. Whether you can live with the H is a personal thing. The great part is that all of these vendors will send you the stone with at least two weeks to evaluate it and return it. If you have the space on your credit card, I highly recommend ordering multiple stones and comparing them side-by-side. That's what I did and it let me sleep easy at the end of the day.

 

[bennyblanco]

Envyme - I understand your point. I just figure I might as well find someone that I trust from one of the recommended jewlers here and maybe get some members help to help me pull the trigger. My personal insight into whether a diamond is too yellow, shiny, etc don't really matter - to be honest, I think I'm partially color blind

kauffee - Thank for the heads up. I'm in Canada so doing cross-shipping back and forth would be tough. Did you go with "blue" unit at BGD? Also, can I ask which setting you decided upon? I assum a certain setting should be considered with an H color?

 

[slg47]

actually I think you are OK with any setting with an H color-it is still in the near colorless range!

 

[kauffee1]

No, I didn't go with the Blue. I went with the Signature H&A. Though the early reports on the Blue seem very positive, so consider that option as well. Email them with what you're looking for and see what they have for you. Once you have some choices, ask to speak with Brian and he'll tell you all about the stones.

And the H is still near colorless enough that it didn't affect my choice of setting. I went with the 6-prong Tiffany style knife edge. BGD makes the prongs very thin and delicate on their knife edge setting, so there's not as much metal covering the stone. And even then, the color is not an issue for me.