Have $6,000. What can i get for that?

[whitediamonds]

I have saved $6 grand for a diamond.
Here is what i want:

1. Substantial size to the eye
2. Bright White Color
3. Very Sparkly

These are my only real concerns. What can i get at this point??
(i guess not including the setting at this time??)

 

[chialea]

So I'm not an expert on this, but I used the PriceScope search engine (there's a link at the top of the page) to search for ideal-cut round brilliant stones, which are going to be as sparkly as it gets, pretty much. Assuming you're not looking for too expensive of a mounting (a few hundred dollars) then you're looking at a diamond which is <= $5700 or so. For me, the mounting is much more important than the size of the diamond, so you might want to look around for what you're interested in, or even other shapes of diamonds. The Show Me The Ring folder on the forum is really helpful for that, since a lot of people show their rings on their hands, which can give you a better idea of what it looks like than you can get from just seeing the mounting on a website.

People around here seem to advise colours down to about H, and clarity down to SI1 (if it's eyeclean, or has an intrusion which you can put a prong over)... looking for ideal-cut RBs, you're going to end up with stones that top out at just above a carat. Those are certainly quite substantial stones, by my standards, especialyl since I prefer something smaller

I'd link to some stones, but there are just a zillion of them, easily findable by using the "search by cut quality" part of the search engine. People seem to mostly reccomend Good Old Gold, NiceIce, and WhiteFlash. The only one of these I've dealt with is NiceIce, and they've been incredibly responsive and, well, nice to me. (I haven't made my final decision on what I'm getting, yet, but I am planning on buying from them.)

 

[Meghane]

I just got my center stone from Dirt Cheap Diamonds and here's what I got for $6K:

1.24 carats round
AGS 0 Ideal
SI2 (extremely clean)
F color

You can see pics at
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/dirt-cheap-diamonds-a.15612/

Good luck in your search!

 

[researcher]

What shape(s) are you considering? Princess and other fancy cuts tend to be less expensive....

 

[whitediamonds]

I like round stones. I like old fashioned settings.

The ring i have now i got in 1996 and it's in an old "illusion" style setting (white gold and yellow gold). The size is .60 carat, i think it's an h or i.
I didn't pick it out and wasn't concerned w/ diamonds back then. Now I regret that decision!

I wear a size 7 ring and don't want the new diamond to still look "small"
what do u think?

 

[researcher]

Doing a very quick search using the "price stats" link on PS I would guess that you can get a diamond in the 1 ct range. Keep in mind that you can get a G-I in color with (or sometimes without) fluorescence that will face up very white. I was absolutely against buying anything below an F in color when I first started my search, but ended up with an extremely white I. And I love it!!! Also, don't focus too much on clarity. Getting a good SI can be a great way to save money! IMO, focus first on cut--the rest is up to you (whether you prefer carats or color). Make clarity your las priority--as long as the stone is eye-clean

 

[squirerad]

Wow, that 1.21 ct is a real beauty. The strong blue fluorescence would likely help the I color. With the triple VH Brilliance Scope, a generous sized Hearts and Arrow for $5500, it matches well with your three criteria.


squire

 

[Giangi]

If getting a very white diamond is your priority, I would have a look at this one: 1.06 F/SI 2 H&A
or this: 1.05 G/SI 1 AGS0
last one 1.011 G/SI 1 ACA H&A.

 

[pinkflamingo]

I would go for the Superbcert one! A great size, and it will look very white. I have a J superbcert with medium Blue flourescence and it looks MUCH whiter that my friends so-so cut H. Love the flourescence phenomenon too!

 

[valeria101]

Oh WOW!!! Quite a shopping list on this thread

I would rather not decide for you what is "white". Is your current diamond "white" for you?

Clarity? No idea, "eye clean" can as well be VVS and SI2, and the "eye clean" quality is better talked about with a particular stone in mind. Deeper among PS posts, you can definitely find complaints about VS2 having visible inclusions and SI2 being happily clean. Those grades are no meant to convey (striclty) the appearance of the stones...

I would definitely not decide in your place whether "strong fluorescence" is fine - it does make an excuse for color, but not a strong one and must be seen to be believed. Anything below "strong" - no second thoughts warranted, I would say - the efect is too mild to be visible, although the comment on the cert may bring the price of a "colorless" down.

From your posts, I deduce that 1.3-1.4 cts (this means a hair above 7mm to me) would be nice without stretching quality in any way. A well cut stone would be impressive regardless of what color and clarity reads on paper - as long as you like the piece.

Not sure this makes allot of sense, but any choice would be much easier if you did get to see some diamonds of different color grades (above 1ct) so that we know what "whitediamonds" really mean.

 

[chicky]

Contact Barry at Superbcert. They just listed new superbcert round brilliants on the website;you need to call for a price quote from Barry. My fiance and I also had a $6,000 budget; Barry helped me select a 1.17 round superbcert F I1 (inclusions not visible due to the SC cut)and a Vatche comfort fit round channel set X prong setting in platinum. The 1.17 carat to me, looked like a 1.30 because it gave off so much sparkle! I think the stone was $4200 and the setting was $2000. (I'll post pics when the ring is complete; setting still being designed by Vatche). Anyhow, give Superbcert a shot!

 

[valeria101]

.... not that one MORE diamond link would be missing, but...

here's one: 1.27, I-SI1, AGS0, $5600 at Abazias Since you say that sparkle matters and naught else, you could well accomplish that with a non H&A stone, as long as the proportiosn are right. There definitely is a premium on those arrows showing precisely down to the a tenth of a mm, while the jury is still out on wether they guarantee anything in the brilliance department.

Stones with great proportions (by different seller's standards, potential or known good HCA scores, nothing more) and price up to $6000 go from 0.65cts D-IF to 1.45 J-SI2... Not much help choosing. the serach engines at Whiteflash, DirtCheapDiamonds, BlueNile, Abazias (and probably many other too!) allow to set a max price and take it from there - which is just what I did.

A 1.36cts, E-SI2 caught my attention (LINK): color definitely means "whitediamonds", I would doubt the stone would be called "ideal cut" and get a bad mark on cut - maybe just ask BN for the Sarin data on this one? Non AGS cert and the medium blue fluorescence kept the price attractive on this one. There is no way to decide wether those inclusions are visible and how much from the cert - I lieked the fact that no "BIG" splotch is placed under the table to begin with. The "slightly thick" girdle kept the size to 7mm tight - same as the 1.27 above. "E" is white if anything is though...

I would compare this E-SI2 with a close brother (same weight, a bit bigger size, price, better clarity grade and lower color) LINK. No way to tell which would be cleaner to the eye, or wether E and F would appear far apart to you. I thought the comparison woudl point out why I considered teh E a good buy.

Hope some of this helps

 

[whitediamonds]

I have a small .60 diamond, think it's a high I color, with very strong
blue flouresence. Sometimes it faces up white, but not white enough and not sparkly enough. I NEVER ever want blue flouresc. again (i hate it!)

If i can only afford a small 1.16 carat diamond, i hope i can find a stunning platinum setting that is old fashioned (like the one i've had for 8 years) with
an "illusion" setting, in a square shape, so that it gives the small diamond a larger look...

I want a setting that is substantial in size, though. (LIke fthe profile of my hand
it will sit up very high and noticeable.. I need help with this one.

So for 6 grand will get me the 1.15 diamond and i still need another 1grand or so for setting. That's ok. I wonder if i should wait and save another 2 grand to put towards the diamond, so i get a larger size.


So i have more questions if u can help me>>..

If I want 1.5 diamond, how much would i need?

Is Heart & Arrows etc. any more "sparklier" than basic IDEAL cuts??

How bad is the EGL cert diamonds? Can i trust them?

Where can i find stunning settings to set off my diamond?? I want to get it right this time! (Particulary sparkly w/ old fashioned influence, including an "illusion" setting, etc)

If I get stuck w/ a 1.15 diamond, and it sparkles ALOT, What size will it REALLY
APPEAR TO BE?? ***

THANKS!!!

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 5/30/2004 8:52:05 AM valeria101 wrote:


I would definitely not decide in your place whether 'strong fluorescence' is fine - it does make an excuse for color, but not a strong one and must be seen to be believed. Anything below 'strong' - no second thoughts warranted, I would say - the efect is too mild to be visible, although the comment on the cert may bring the price of a 'colorless' down.

----------------

Again, and simply put, this is just not true in the real viewing world of a diamond face up. More often than not, med/strong blue *will indeed* make the diamond face up at least one color grade. My 3c I is a classic example.

 

[whitediamonds]

If i get a 1.30 carat diamond, and it sparkles ALOT,
what size will u think it will appear to be???