Help choosing between 2ct+ round diamonds

[jrosen]

Lurker here in need of some advice. First off thanks to everyone in this community, it's made the process of looking at diamonds for engagement rings so much easier, you guys are awesome! I'm looking for a round cut diamond in the 2+ carat range with a budget around $20k to put in a 4-prong solitaire setting. After checking out some local options and not being super satisfied I decided to look for a Whiteflash ACA and found the following options:

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3932391.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3833679.htm

I think I tend to like the first one better based on the imaging but I'm a bit worried that the inclusions will be noticeable. Whiteflash notes that it's eye clean and I asked them to take a look at it for me -- they said the inclusions were not easily to noticeable but could be seen if one knew what to look for. At this point I'm leaning towards the VS2 to be safe but wanted to check with folks here to see if there are any red flags that I'm missing.

Is either one of these clearly a better choice than the other? Cheers!

 

[TreeScientist]

I like the VS2 better. Sometimes the videos can be deceptive. I would say both would look fairly similar regarding life performance in real life.

Just so you have options, I'll post two others here that you could consider that would likely be good performers and are a bit lower priced:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3602725
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3448663

Of course, you would need to ask JA for the IdealScopes of these.

 

[tyty333]

No red flags with an ACA...I like them both and I'm not particularly picky when it comes to inclusions however, since this is an ering I would probably
go for the VS stone. WF has very strict cut guidelines for their ACA line. Nothing to worry about there...plus you can look at their images (Idealscope,
ASET, H&A) and see that they are top of the line.

You could ask for a side by side picture if you think that would help.

 

[ac117]

Both beautiful stones...I'd ask for a side by side pic like tyty said and also ask them which is a higher I color (I wouldn't want a low I, borderline J) and about the visibility of the inclusions (distance/angle) of both before making my decision.

 

[jadesilver]

I would personally go with the SI because it’s a couple of mm bigger. I know you may say it doesn’t matter and it’s basically the same but seriously IMO every little mm does kinda help visually with eventually avoiding DSS. Like it kinda doesn’t matter but I’d still go for the extra 3 mm.

I wouldn’t go safe and more expensive and higher clarity yet smaller with an ACA. But that’s just me because I know an ACA is blinding and you and your fiancée most likely won’t be able to see the inclusions. It really depends on whether you think your fiancée is extremely particular about clarity and will squint at the diamond with a bright light pointing at it and nitpick, or doesn’t know much about diamonds and will be happy with an incredibly sparkly high quality diamond that is eye clean (WF will tell you honestly if it’s not eye clean). Or if you think she wants to show off and compare with her friends that she got a VS2, then maybe you should get that.

My vote is go with the 3mm bigger and cheaper which is more visible than the inclusions to me. Again, all depends on the wants and priorities of you and your partner. The diamond will be blinding.

 

[pfunk]

I would follow the advice of ac117. If Whiteflash has the SI1 labeled as eye clean, I would be pretty confident that picking out that inclusion with the naked eye is going to be really darn tough. The color bands in that H-J grade range get pretty wide, so I would want to know if the I’s fall closer to the H or the J area. May be that the color difference between the two is more noticeable to the naked eye than the clarity. If i had to venture a guess though, I think most average consumers are going to have a tough time differentiating any of these apects with the naked eye, but I would still ask their (Whiteflash’s) opinion.

Any idea how much clarity matters to the recipient? I know my wife has a tough time picking out inclusions in an SI2 of that size, sometimes even I1 (though I would say most people are going to be noticing things at this point). I have a pretty tough time finding anything up to SI1, unless it is a dark inclusion. It is easy to think these inclusions are gonna be ugly when you see these magnified images, but remember in real life it is much harder to do, especially with the light flashes that thing is going to be throwing off with a cut of that quality.

If it were me, I’d go with SI1 for sure and be putting that $1200 into an anniversary gift fund... but you gotta know how “clarity conscious” the wearer is. If they have particularly good vision and/or have good experience with diamonds and gemstones, I might opt for the VS clarity.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I prefer the VS2. Over a lifetime, that extra cost is not much. Worth it for mind-clean and eye-clean reasons, in my opinion.

@jadesilver The stones are 8.27x8.30 and 8.24x8.27, so maybe 3 one-hundredths of a mm different. These are so close in size they would make a perfect pair of studs!

 

[TreeScientist]

I prefer the VS2. Over a lifetime, that extra cost is not much. Worth it for mind-clean and eye-clean reasons, in my opinion.

@jadesilver The stones are 8.27x8.30 and 8.24x8.27, so maybe 3 one-hundredths of a mm different. These are so close in size they would make a perfect pair of studs!

Good advice. I really don't understand the comment about it being .03mm different. That would never be perceptible in a stone that large.

But I also like the advice above to ask the reps what is the "higher I" and go with that one. Color will be much more perceptible than .03mm in size or one grade in clarity (given that they're both eye-clean).

 

[tanalasta]

WF are pretty honest if you have a good rep. Just ask them which of the two stones are better and why!

 

[jrosen]

Thanks so much for the responses! After reading all the comments I think I'd be more worried about my girlfriend noticing a higher I than picking out the inclusions, and I know she doesn't care about what the diamond will look like on paper. My rep responded that the SI1 actually faces up a whiter and brighter than the VS2 so I think that's what I'm going with. Thanks for the guidance, you guys rock (pun intended)!

 

[ringo865]

!! Wow. Nice!! We will bug you for pictures, you know.

 

[jadesilver]

I prefer the VS2. Over a lifetime, that extra cost is not much. Worth it for mind-clean and eye-clean reasons, in my opinion.

@jadesilver The stones are 8.27x8.30 and 8.24x8.27, so maybe 3 one-hundredths of a mm different. These are so close in size they would make a perfect pair of studs!

Ohh man I read it as 3 one tenths of an mm. My apologies!!