Help me decide! Princess ACA Solitaire

[Bmw816]

Hi. I'm new here and have found this site very informative. However, I'm still struggling a bit with the ASET and IdealScope pictures as to determine the difference and figure out which diamond is the better choice.

To give you some information about myself, I have been with my GF for 3 years now and am ready to pop the question. Her finger is only a size 4 and my budget is topping out around $2500 for the diamond + setting. She has mentioned princess solitaires before and after reading several places, I am really liking what I'm hearing about whiteflash's ACA Princess cut. My GF has also mentioned that she is much more concerned about quality than size. Some of her friend's rings are large but not eye clean and she has stressed how much she doesn't want that. I really want this ring to be as bright as possible considering it will not be huge.

Right now I am looking at 3 diamonds and would like to gather some input. Thanks in advance.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2594757.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2594755.htm

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2594758.htm

 

[tyty333]

Honestly, you cant go wrong with an ACA. I would call Whiteflash and have them give you their opinion of the stones since
they can look at all 3 stones side-by-side.

 

[minmin001]

what's your total budget? and what kind of setting are you thinking of getting?

 

[marchesa6989]

i agree with tyty333 that you can't go wrong with whiteflash ACA, but i personally feel that for people in a budget who can do some research (or get us to do the research ) there are alternative options for top quality that mean you can increase in size without compromising on quality. whiteflash IS good though in that they provide all that information for you already with ASETs and idealscopes (which actually tell you the same thing)

what you're looking for is the AGS000 graded princess cuts. AGS are known for their ideal cuts which have maximum light performance. and whiteflash are not the only vendor that stocks them. the good news here is that AGS stones already have an ASET printed on their certificate so it takes one step out of the process!

secondly, as for being eye clean if you're willing to take time to ask each vendor whether the stones are eye clean you can go down to SI1 (or even SI2) depending on what type of inclusions there are.

here is a link to the list on the pricescope search, which goes through some of the vendors listed on here:
https://www.pricescope.com/results/ajax/?vendor__latitude__gte=-180&type_color=1&vendor__region__contains=&clarity__lte=21&table__lte=83&vendor__longitude__gte=-180&shape=PR&price__lte=999999&city=Sacramento&hca_index__lte=10&size__lte=0.8&polish__lte=7&l_country=us&price__gte=100&depth__lte=76&vln_l_ct=180&symmetry__lte=7&size__gte=0.6&latitude=38.6960983276&vlt_g_ct=-180&clarity__gte=13&color_m=G-&table__gte=57&l_region=CA&lab=AGS&type_search=1&depth__gte=56&pair=&fluor_strength__lte=2&vendor__latitude__lte=180&color_p=H%2B&color__lte=H&vendor__country__contains=&f=3&hca_index__gte=0&region=CA&symmetry__gte=0&vendor__longitude__lte=180&longitude=-121.561096191&fluor_strength__gte=0&vln_g_ct=-180&color__gte=G&country=US&polish__gte=0&vlt_l_ct=180&sort=price

here's one that catches my eye:
http://www.eternitydiamonds.com/diamond_detail.php?id=592830&ref=pricescope eternity diamonds has great reviews on here with positive experiences - i would give them a call and ask whether it is eye clean and performs well in person. you can also ask for an idealscope.

here are also some GIA excellent cut stones that you might want to look into:
http://www.eternitydiamonds.com/diamond_detail.php?id=570381&ref=pricescope
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS1-Premium-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1431270.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131

 

[jstarfireb]

The ACA diamonds you picked look like great choices - you've clearly done your homework and can't go wrong with any of those. But if you want a slightly larger stone for the money, you could go with a non-branded stone with a GIA cert. These require more effort to find good ones (AGS ideal is pretty much idiot-proof, but picking an equivalent GIA stone requires some searching and sifting). Here are a few that I've picked out from the photos. They all leave room for a simple 14k gold solitaire setting within your budget.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VVS2-Premium-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1419856.asp - my favorite based on the pics, also the largest in dimensions and carat
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-VS2-Good-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1345406.asp - second choice
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VVS2-Premium-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1419865.asp - third choice

You could call JA and ask for ASET images and their gemologist's opinion of these, since JA will give you up to 3 ASETs. They will all be eye-clean, certainly the VVS2s and almost certainly the VS2.

I have no experience with Eternity diamonds, but the photos on their diamond description pages look like stock images rather than actual photos. I'm not sure if Eternity will provide images or ASETs, but the images at JA are real, and JA does provide ASETs.