Hello all! I stumbled across this website while sifting through an ocean of questionable info, and I wish I had found you all sooner. Looking through these threads has been so helpful and y'all really have an amazing community here. I was going to try to get through this process on my own, but despite hours of learning and research, I decided I should probably suck it up and ask some true enthusiasts for help.
Basically, what I know is:
1) She wants a huge OVAL diamond. The ideal setting would be simple, thin and low profile (no halo, not cathedral, probably <2mm), and I was considering a micropave to dress it up a bit without getting too involved.
2) I have a modest budget of about $6000. Looking around online and at the local jewelers, a nice pave setting would run about $1500, so I'm hoping to keep the cost of the center stone around $4500, though I'd go up to $5000 if I found something truly remarkable.
Most of the online sites I've seen have some version of a simple thin pave setting, but I've been having a hard time finding a great center stone. I've actually been using a site called rarecarat that searches several vendors for diamonds, and I found a few ovals with good stats, but there was almost always something that would give me pause, like a VTK-XTK girdle or strong blue fluorescence. With a little more digging, I found that it's a lot more difficult to evaluate a good oval online than round, since there isn't a standardized cut or ratio. Not many of the sites I've found have pictures of the actual stone, which really limits the number of places I can look.
Cut: I understand this is the most important for light performance, but have heard varying things re: the reliability of GIA cut ratings for oval diamonds. I'd probably want something VG to X.
Carat: Right around 1.0-1.1 carat seems to be about the best my budget can sustain, though I'm hoping for more. I'd settle for something in the 0.9 range if everything else was perfect, but probably wouldn't go any lower than that.
Color: I've heard ovals show color more easily than round, so I'm trying to stay around H, though this is probably the least important of the things I'm looking at.
Clarity: She owns loupes (training to be surgeon), so I'm trying to do VS1 or better.
Bowtie: minimal, but a little bowtie doesn't bother me, as long as it isn't visible from far away
Ratio: 1.3-1.6, I don't care that much about the aesthetics of a rounder vs longer oval, as long as it has the best possible light performance.
Similarly, I've heard Table ought to be between 53-63 and Depth 57-62, but I'll end up getting whatever seems to sparkle the best.
Basically, the only sites on rarecarat that reliably offer pictures are James Allen, Brian Gavin, WhiteFlash and Brilliance. And most of the diamonds with the best ratings are on sites like B2C Jewels, or Blue Nile, that only have sample images. I know GOG is a local fave here, but they only have one diamond that fits my criteria:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond-search/1.01-Oval--GIA-H-VS1-diamond-stock-OV22868-cert-5213644354
Even when looking at the pictures, the only thing I can really tell is whether there are inclusions, so it's hard for me to discern a lot of the finer points of finding a quality stone. Despite my best efforts and research, I just can't get to the point where I feel comfortable picking one and I was hoping to get something done in the next few days so can propose before the New Year.
Am I going about this the right way? Any information or suggestions that could help me out would be greatly appreciated.
Basically, what I know is:
1) She wants a huge OVAL diamond. The ideal setting would be simple, thin and low profile (no halo, not cathedral, probably <2mm), and I was considering a micropave to dress it up a bit without getting too involved.
2) I have a modest budget of about $6000. Looking around online and at the local jewelers, a nice pave setting would run about $1500, so I'm hoping to keep the cost of the center stone around $4500, though I'd go up to $5000 if I found something truly remarkable.
Most of the online sites I've seen have some version of a simple thin pave setting, but I've been having a hard time finding a great center stone. I've actually been using a site called rarecarat that searches several vendors for diamonds, and I found a few ovals with good stats, but there was almost always something that would give me pause, like a VTK-XTK girdle or strong blue fluorescence. With a little more digging, I found that it's a lot more difficult to evaluate a good oval online than round, since there isn't a standardized cut or ratio. Not many of the sites I've found have pictures of the actual stone, which really limits the number of places I can look.
Cut: I understand this is the most important for light performance, but have heard varying things re: the reliability of GIA cut ratings for oval diamonds. I'd probably want something VG to X.
Carat: Right around 1.0-1.1 carat seems to be about the best my budget can sustain, though I'm hoping for more. I'd settle for something in the 0.9 range if everything else was perfect, but probably wouldn't go any lower than that.
Color: I've heard ovals show color more easily than round, so I'm trying to stay around H, though this is probably the least important of the things I'm looking at.
Clarity: She owns loupes (training to be surgeon), so I'm trying to do VS1 or better.
Bowtie: minimal, but a little bowtie doesn't bother me, as long as it isn't visible from far away
Ratio: 1.3-1.6, I don't care that much about the aesthetics of a rounder vs longer oval, as long as it has the best possible light performance.
Similarly, I've heard Table ought to be between 53-63 and Depth 57-62, but I'll end up getting whatever seems to sparkle the best.
Basically, the only sites on rarecarat that reliably offer pictures are James Allen, Brian Gavin, WhiteFlash and Brilliance. And most of the diamonds with the best ratings are on sites like B2C Jewels, or Blue Nile, that only have sample images. I know GOG is a local fave here, but they only have one diamond that fits my criteria:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond-search/1.01-Oval--GIA-H-VS1-diamond-stock-OV22868-cert-5213644354
Even when looking at the pictures, the only thing I can really tell is whether there are inclusions, so it's hard for me to discern a lot of the finer points of finding a quality stone. Despite my best efforts and research, I just can't get to the point where I feel comfortable picking one and I was hoping to get something done in the next few days so can propose before the New Year.
Am I going about this the right way? Any information or suggestions that could help me out would be greatly appreciated.