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Engagment ring help

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NoobInNeed

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
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Hi All. I just began the process of engagement ring shopping about a week ago. Naturally, I have some anxiety over making sure I get a ring my girlfriend will love forever. I've read about the Four C's. She wants a Princess cut and a setting like the one attached. My budget is around $5,000-$5,500. I have some questions, though!

I was looking at JamesAllen.com and like that you can see both the GIA cert and the diamond itself. Can I have full confidence in a ring purchased from that site?

As far as the diamond is concerned, it seems like the weighting one gives each of the Four C's is pretty subjective. This becomes challenging when the person being subjective just started researching rings last week.
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Given my budget, can some more experienced forum goers give me some suggestions as far as what level of Color, Clarity, Cut, and (Carat) Size I should look for? It's difficult because, from what I read, I'm not sure I could trust what I'd find at a local shop so learning about stones with different Four C values in person seems like it would be a challenge. I don't want to make a mistake getting a stone of E color rather than G and have to compromise carat size, and then not be able to notice a difference between an E and G stone.

Thanks in advance for your help
 
Having trouble with the attachment/imbedded image so here is the link:
http://design.jared-diamonds.com/_images/jewelry/shapes/560618908_MV_LG_JAR_bBR.jpg
 
Hi Noob-that is a pretty setting and most vendors should be able to find you something similar.

Most people on this forum rank cut as far and away the most important of the Cs.

after that it becomes much more subjective.

Do you have an idea what size you would like the diamond to be? and have you looked at princess cut diamonds? If so, have you found color or clarity to be more noticeabl to you?

Personally, if the cut is fantastic, I am pretty flexible re color, clarity depending on project and budget, to maximize size.

Good Old Gold has wonderful princess cuts, and the Whiteflash ACA princesses are great as well. those would bemy preferred vendors for princess cuts...
 
Thanks Bella. I haven't looked at any diamond yet in person, just on the web.

It seems like the size of the diamond is decided by your budget and what Cut, Color, and Clarity you go with. It seems like around 1 carat would be a good place to start. My girlfriend has small hands so that's good.
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So I should start with only looking at "Excellent" cuts? Do you think going to a local shop, even a place like Jared's, would be advantageous just to see stones in person?
 
is that budget just for the stone or the entire e-ring?
 
That budget is for the entire ring. I guess anything less than $6,000 total would be OK.
 
I was just informed that a round brilliant cut is now the cut of choice.
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Date: 3/24/2010 11:04:37 AM
Author: NoobInNeed
That budget is for the entire ring. I guess anything less than $6,000 total would be OK.
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I started out just like you my man....it was an interesting road and considering i am super anal, i wanted to get it perfect. Also my budget coming in was like you and i ended up spending $8K LOL but i got want i wanted!

As far as my suggestions, Cut for sure if most important...I got a color G and it looks amazing. As for clarity i prefer VS1 or VS2 just for peace of mind and considering i was buying online that was a must for me...i ended up with a VS2 and it looks amazing even with a loop its hard to see the inclusion. Then try to see what carat fits some of these ranges and then do you research on what is a good ASET, Sarin, idealscope, what are the dimensions of a good cut...AGA i think?....put it all together and you will find your diamond!!

Heres a good read:
http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance
second page
http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-precision
Cut info!
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-grading-chart-princess/


Good luck on your search and i agree you should go look at some diamonds in person...i found local jewelers diamonds not even in the same ballpark as what i bought online but its good to compare!
 
Date: 3/24/2010 11:50:09 AM
Author: NoobInNeed
I was just informed that a round brilliant cut is now the cut of choice.
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LOL well that takes out my cut chart....but still the ideas are the same!!
 
For round brilliant you have tons of options.

My personal preference for an ering would be G-H-I color, eyeclean (VS2, SI1, SI2) ideal cut.

If you want to max size though you could consider going up to J or K in color...
 
How can you tell about "eye clean"-ness? When I look at diagrams like this, it seems like it would look awful, but then it looks like OK under a virtual loupe.

Also, what I''ve been doing is searching for diamonds and diamonds of various clarity grades will come up. I would expect a VS2 to have less inclusions than an SI2, but some of the VS2s look like hell. What is up with that?
 
First settle on your definition of eyeclean - from 6"? 10", arm's length? From face up, from tilt angles face-up, from top and pavilion views? You can have your vendor check eyeclean to your definition, and the more specific you are the more precise the answer will be


Please don't trust pictures for this. I've had stones that looked dreadful under the loupe and in photos be completely clean IRL, and loupe-impressive stones that aren't so IRL - you just never know what the faceting, contrast, and sparkle will and won't hide. The grades are subjective and aren't based on size of inclusion or placement so much as visibility (obviously there's going to be some general correlation).
 
So I''m supposed to ask the vendor (eg. JamesAllen), who I''m buying the stone from, if a stone is eye clean and they''re going to give me an honest answer?
 
yap, or they will get a bad rep here and eat the shipping cost as they have a 30 days return policy.
 
Date: 3/24/2010 12:28:19 PM
Author: NoobInNeed
So I''m supposed to ask the vendor (eg. JamesAllen), who I''m buying the stone from, if a stone is eye clean and they''re going to give me an honest answer?
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Yes. JA are a highly reputable company and will be honest with you, make your expectations clear to them so you are both on the same page. It doesn''t pay vendors to be economical with the truth concerning any visible inclusions shall we say, otherwise stones are whizzing back and forth between client and vendor and it is a waste of everyone''s time and resources.

You will be in good hands with James Allen.
 
OK thanks!

With regard to inclusions, what should I use to determine if one diamond is better than the next, all grades the same?
 
ditto-you will need to trust the vendor to confirm if the stone is eyeclean, and to what specification. PS vendors will be honest with you b/c it''s not worth it not to be. You can do a search to read through many different individual''s experiences with certain vendors if that sets your mind at ease.
 
I found these three diamonds here:

Diamond #1
Diamond #2


What are some thoughts about these diamonds? I''m not about to order either of them, just trying to learn if they''re good diamonds at good prices.
 
numbers on 1 are within commonly preferred ps range, don't personally like #2 - extreme on the 60/60 type coupled with 80+lgf is not my cup of tea.
 
What diamond would you suggest?
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Both looks good, just down to personal preference, some like the big table look.

Ask JA if they are eye-clean and request for an idealscope image.
 
They said they were both eye clean at 6". They said they can only give me 3 idealscope images (perhaps during that particular online chat session). I will definitely do that when I narrow it down.
 
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