Help me pick out a diamond and a ring!

[emac11]

Hi all,

I'm looking to buy an engagement ring for my girlfriend, and I am overwhelmed by the ring selection process. I am leaning towards buying one online because my girlfriend has expensive tastes and I don't have the wallet to match it. I have some concerns about the quality of online rings, but online just seems so much cheaper, and I tend not to trust sales people. Should I be buying in a store though? How much do people here trust Blue Nile and James Allen?

I have done a fair amount research, but the amount of rings and diamonds I can find online is truly mind boggling. Even when I look at the 360 images of diamonds on James Allen, I am not sure what I am looking for or how to tell if it's a good looking diamond or not.

So here is where you can hopefully help me out. My girlfriend wants a white gold halo or solitaire ring and a round cut diamond. That's basically all I know about what she wants and she wants it to be a surprise so she won't tell me anymore. I have a total budget of $4k to $5k (diamond and setting combined). I am trying not to go too high with the setting so I can save money for the diamond.

Here are a few settings I like that I'm considering, but I am open to other suggestions:

https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/halo/14k-white-gold-pave-halo-and-twisted-shank-engagement-ring-item-17466
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/halo/14k-white-gold-petite-diamond-halo-engagement-ring-item-41066
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/halo/14k-white-gold-flowering-tulip-diamond-halo-engagement-ring-item-50697

Now help me find diamonds to match these rings. I'll pick out a few but let me know your thoughts on them or if you have any other ideas. I'm generally looking in the range of .7 - .9 carats with excellent or ideal cuts.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.81-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2056130
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.82-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2204825
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-i-color-vvs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1979830
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-h-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2104371
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.74-carat-g-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2129364
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.89-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1838650

To be honest, I really am not too good with figuring out what I should be looking for in these pictures. Occasionally I notice a blemish but not always. I have trouble telling if they're cloudy or not. Please give me any advice or tips or feedback you can!

Thanks so much for your help!

Your jewelry confused friend,
me.

 

[whitewave]

I like your second setting choice (its very on trend right now). For the diamond, I personally wouldn't do an I color. I would stop at H. You can also go VS2 or even SI1 (as long as you get them to confirm it is eye clean).

I have had great luck with Blue NIle, and I think they offer the most bang for your buck. Don't rule them out. Also look at whiteflash since they have the best trade up policy, which she may want to do after 20 years.

 

[ac117]

Hi emac! I really like the first setting you chose with the twisted shank but I strongly urge you to choose platinum for any of the settings because it will be better for the pave. None of the diamonds you selected are well cut but here are a few that will be beautiful. I color will be fine especially in a halo since color is detected most from the side and the halo hides that. You could get $100 off with a referral code and you could also ask JA for a PS discount which can save you a few bucks.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-1829110
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.83-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2208003
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.83-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2131815

These two are the largest but you'll have to ask JA how eye clean they are:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.91-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1943040
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.92-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2228995

 

[emac11]

Thanks so much for your help, both of you! Some good information already.

Where do I get a referral code?

And my concern about Blue Nile is the fact that I (or someone else) can't see the diamond first to verify if it's nice looking. For me that might not matter much since I'm not great at knowing what I'm looking at, but at least on JamesAllen I can ask people here if the diamond looks nice and they may be able to verify for me. Am I overthinking it and should I trust the diamonds on Blue Nile will be okay based on the information provided?

 

[whitewave]

I have bought blind woth good results from Blue Nile, including a 1.52 asscher cut. Love the stone. They have video of most super ideal cuts. I looked in your price range, and nothing really stood out to me for the price compared to james allen. I did not look at I color stones, though.

Anyway, Blue Nile is good if you have a time table where you can send it back if you don't like it. (30 day return policy).

James Allen is having a good sale.

You can also check ID Jewelry...

 

[tyty333]

Love this setting that you picked out
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/halo/14k-white-gold-pave-halo-and-twisted-shank-engagement-ring-item-17466

with this stone that ac117 posted
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.83-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2208003

If you look at the Recently Purchased rings under the big picture of the setting you can see what the setting looks like with a
.8 stone in it. If you look at the 1 carat next to it you can see what an "I" colored stone looks like in the setting.
With the 25% off settings now is a great time to buy from James Allen. They also have a good return policy so if you dont like
the way it looks in person you can return.

 

[whitewave]

Would a twisted shank feel like a normal shank, or would you be able to feel the twist? I also really like that one, but wondered if that shank might "bother" some women

 

[emac11]

Love this setting that you picked out
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/halo/14k-white-gold-pave-halo-and-twisted-shank-engagement-ring-item-17466

with this stone that ac117 posted
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.83-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2208003

If you look at the Recently Purchased rings under the big picture of the setting you can see what the setting looks like with a
.8 stone in it. If you look at the 1 carat next to it you can see what an "I" colored stone looks like in the setting.
With the 25% off settings now is a great time to buy from James Allen. They also have a good return policy so if you dont like
the way it looks in person you can return.

Eeek I really like that combination too. I listened to ac117 and went for platinum and it still falls right in my budget. Now there's a great sale and I'm tempted to make the purchase even though I was planning on waiting a little bit. Why must you people be so helpful so fast???

 

[gm89uk]

I'd advise you to reserve the diamond for free while you consider as lurkers come here and order stones suggested.

 

[emac11]

Okay I got it reserved... I have another 44 hours or so to make the decision if I want to take the first step down the plunge. I love her dearly and want to spend my life with her for sure, but buying a ring is scary!

Anyone have any last minute thoughts on the ring, diamond, or online purchasing that I should know about???

Thanks so much for all your wisdom!

 

[emac11]

Hey all, I bought the setting (in platinum) and diamond as mentioned above about a month ago, and it's beautiful, and I proposed last night, and my fiance loves it! It's absolutely beautiful on her and she's so thrilled with it. I'm convinced I couldn't have gotten a better ring in my budget than it, and I couldn't have done it without your help. Thanks everyone so much!

 

[ac117]

Yayyy so happy for you emac!! Congrats!! Any hand or ring shots?!