Engagement ring shopping

[aznchick]

Hello everybody,

My boyfriend let me choose the engagement ring but I'm a novice in diamond shopping. I've been reading around and kind of understand the basic about choosing a diamond. I know round diamond is the most popular and I also prefer round over all other shapes. Cut is the most important aspect so I should look for Ideal/Excellent cut from either GIA or AGS certificate right? How about Polish and Symmetry? Are they part of the cut also? Should I also choose Excellent grading for those? For clarity, anything over VS2 and G+ for color are good right? Our budget is around $6000-$7000, could possibly go up to $8000 for a great one. I want something at least 1 ct. One more question about the prong for the setting, is an 8 prong more secure than a 4 prong?

Thank you for reading my long post. I appreciate all of your help.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Most solitaire ring settings for a 1 ct stone would be 4 or 6 prongs. Either is fine! I think G-H VS2 is a fine choice! I suggest looking at sites that provide pictures of the stones and idealscope images such as Good Old Gold, WhiteFlash, James Allen, etc.

 

[04diamond<3]

some options:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.21-carat-H-color-SI1-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-176815

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.20-carat-H-color-VS2-clarity-sku-198098

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.20-carat-H-color-SI1-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-198474 (scored a 1.0 on the HCA which is really good!).

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.20-carat-H-color-VS2-clarity-sku-198098 (has medium fluorescence to help make it look whiter and scored a 1.4 anything under a 2 on the HCA is good).

You should put anything you like on hold and request an idealscope. JA also offers PS members a discount on their diamonds, so I'd also find out what that is.

 

[warheadwl]

If you have a 4 prong ring, if one prong fails, then the diamond can fall out. If you have a 6 prong ring, then you're in trouble when 3 prongs fail, so having more prongs provides more security.

 

[aznchick]

Thank you for all the suggestions. What are idealscope and HCA and what do I look for when looking at those? Does the prong break easy?