HELP! Only have a budget of $10,000

[Jewels]

I am looking for a RB in 1.5c. What can I get with a budget of $10,000? Help please.

Thanks

 

[tomatoe]

you could look at this $10500 1.506ct ACA diamond, scores '1.2 - Excellent - within TIC range' on the HCA.

or this $11094 1.4ct H&A diamond, scores '1.2 - Excellent - within TIC range' on HCA.

or this $10156 1.558ct Signature Series Ideal Cut diamond, scores '1.7 - Excellent - within TIC range' on HCA.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

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On 11/16/2003 9:56:26 AM Jewels wrote:





I am looking for a RB in 1.5c. What can I get with a budget of $10,000? Help please.

Thanks
----------------

Hi Jewels,

In the 1.5 carat range you can get yourself an eye-clean H/Si-1 Hearts and Arrows Diamond for 10k

You can tac on a little weight if you go up to an I/si-1 and try to find a stone with flouresence which will help the stone face up whiter...

Concentrate on cut and you can't go wrong!.

 

[pqcollectibles]

Keep CUT as the top priority. Look for AGS Ideal/Ideal or GIA Excellent/Excellent.

With a great CUT you can bend on color and clarity. Looking for an eye clean SI1 will give you the biggest bang for your buck. H and I colors are right in the middle of the near colorless range. Both are "bargain" colors to shop for. Check out the Show Me the Ring Forum. There are many great pics there of gorgeous rings with I color diamonds mounted in platinum.

On the Price Scope home page is a search engine. I entered G thru I for color, and VS2/SI1 for clarity. Then I clicked the H&A/AGS0 boxes. I got a list of about 25 H and I color diamonds that are within your price range.

Check out the various Vendors homepages. Look at their return/refund/upgrade policies. Call and chat with a few. Find one you are comfortable working with, give them your specs and price point, and let the Vendor be your eyes. Work with a Vendor that will eye ball the diamond and tell you if it is truely eye clean.

Feel free to post any possibles you find for Forum members to comment on. Happy Hunting!

 

[diane5006]

Good advice PQ...

So my only other thought is is the 10k for the RING or just for the STONE...if it is for the RING...my suggestion is get an idea what your setting will cost...settings range from a few hundred to several thousand...and subtract it from you total when looking for stones...

Best of luck in your search

 

[pqcollectibles]

Good point, Diane! And GORGEOUS ring too in your avatar!

 

[Mara]

Tomatoe gave you some excellent choices....also go onto www.pricescope.com (the homepage) and click on the 'search by cut quality' search near the search engine section on the left. It will only pull up stones that score under 2.0 on the HCA--so its kind of like an easy way to filter if you want to start comparing some well cut stones.




You have a pretty good budget, but if you want to maximize the stone, I would keep the setting very simple, e.g. tiffany style in plat for something like $400--that way you can spend more of the $$ on the stone. You will still have to go with H VS2 or similar to get that 1.5c mark but it can be done without sacrificing cut quality. Or maybe you will find something like a G SI1 which would be ideal in my eyes. G/H will face up very white still and SI1 as long as it's eye clean is no problem at all!

Good luck!

 

[Jewels]

Thank you all very much for your posts.

First of all, just want to clarify that the US$10,000 budget is for the stone alone. I will be going for a Tiffany 6 prong platinum setting from my local jeweler for $380.

I'm from Toronto, Canada and I must say that I am not confortable with buying online as I do prefer to see and compare the stones in person. The main reason why I posted this topic is that I saw a 1.56c, F, SI1 (bordering VS2) stone from my local jeweler for US$10,000 after tax. The only reason that's pulling me back is the cut - which the Gem Scan cert has it as "good". I am the type of person who doesn't base my decision on the papers alone. I think visual is more important than anything else. I have seen some "very good cut" stones that look better than "ideal cuts".

I like the stone overall but as I have mentioned above, I do not like the cut. It doesn't sparkle as much as I would like it to be. So, I just have to wait until my jeweler gets some new stones in that 1.5c range. In the meantime, I'm just curious as to what I can get, and how much I should sacrifice in the color and clarity for a very good cut, 1.5c stone that's within my budget.

Thanks again everyone. Wish me luck.

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

Hey post those pics when your done....

 

[canadiangrrl]

Hi Jewels,

I am in Toronto, too, and in my months of looking at diamonds and e-rings, I think I might have seen maybe half a dozen AGS or GIA certed stones.

I saw many Gemscan certs. I wasn't impressed. We purchased my stone and ring online recently through Dirt Cheap Diamonds, and are very happy. We could not have touched this ring for a price that was in any way close to what we paid if we had elected to purchase it offline here in Toronto. Note - my fiance lives in DC, and he took delivery, thus avoiding the tax and duties I would have paid if the ring were delivered here in Canada.

Diamonds in Toronto are expensive (hell, everything here's expensive), and a well cut diamond can be hard to find, unless you are prepared to pay a premium for a brand and go through someone like Tiffany...an American company.

The selection is poor in the ideal range. If you are dedicated to going through your jeweler and not shopping online, tell him what your parameters are (e.g. around 1.50 F/G VS2/SI1, ideal cut) and see if he can get it. But don't be surprised if he can't.

 

[hoorray]

You might get a price/per carat break if you stay just under the magic 1.5c weight. And if you put that $$ into the best cut you can get, it will look larger than a bigger, average cut stone.

I'd recommend shopping on line for your widest selection and best $. We did it with great outcome. The folks here can help you sort through choices before you have anything sent in for your evaluation.