Hi,
I''d like to get something different from the ordinary and I was thinking of a natural colored diamond in the .8-1.2 ct range (using the ballpark of $10K/carat pricing).
There are a lot of great guides here and elsewhere on picking out traditional diamonds but I''m not sure how much I need to tailor that advice for colored stones.
I''m guessing from my inital forays into the stores that canary is the cheapest and most common of the colored stones and set into gold looks great IMHO.
But seeing any is pretty hard. Very few jewelers seem to keep any in stock so I haven''t got a good idea about the possibilites in my price range.
For example, she mentioned that of all the diamonds in the Smithsonian exibit she thought the Pumpkin to be the prettiest (fancy vivid orange). Is intense orange anywhere close to my budget? The Moussaieff came second (I think) for her (fancy red).
I''d consider "enhanced" diamonds...what are the downsides other then the obvious "they aren''t real"? One jewler told me these fade (or at least used to fade) over time.
How much should I care about clarity? I was thinking SI1 eye clean as the bottom end.
Should I still get one of the scopes to check out cut or does the emphasis on enhancing color over brilliance kind of make that less important?
Any suggestions would be helpful...including "Don''t do this, the novelty will fade over time". I ran into some of that with my first ring with a nice diamond (E color, excellent cut) with a large occlusion in the shape of a flying dove...extremely neat looking. Without the loupe it kinds look like just an oddly shaped flaw. When I heard that comment I knew I was in trouble and just should have gotten a more traditional stone.
Thanks!
-N
PS I was thinking of a oval or radiant cut with G-I color trillions gold setting. Should they be whiter to accent the color more?
I''d like to get something different from the ordinary and I was thinking of a natural colored diamond in the .8-1.2 ct range (using the ballpark of $10K/carat pricing).
There are a lot of great guides here and elsewhere on picking out traditional diamonds but I''m not sure how much I need to tailor that advice for colored stones.
I''m guessing from my inital forays into the stores that canary is the cheapest and most common of the colored stones and set into gold looks great IMHO.
But seeing any is pretty hard. Very few jewelers seem to keep any in stock so I haven''t got a good idea about the possibilites in my price range.
For example, she mentioned that of all the diamonds in the Smithsonian exibit she thought the Pumpkin to be the prettiest (fancy vivid orange). Is intense orange anywhere close to my budget? The Moussaieff came second (I think) for her (fancy red).
I''d consider "enhanced" diamonds...what are the downsides other then the obvious "they aren''t real"? One jewler told me these fade (or at least used to fade) over time.
How much should I care about clarity? I was thinking SI1 eye clean as the bottom end.
Should I still get one of the scopes to check out cut or does the emphasis on enhancing color over brilliance kind of make that less important?
Any suggestions would be helpful...including "Don''t do this, the novelty will fade over time". I ran into some of that with my first ring with a nice diamond (E color, excellent cut) with a large occlusion in the shape of a flying dove...extremely neat looking. Without the loupe it kinds look like just an oddly shaped flaw. When I heard that comment I knew I was in trouble and just should have gotten a more traditional stone.

Thanks!
-N
PS I was thinking of a oval or radiant cut with G-I color trillions gold setting. Should they be whiter to accent the color more?