Help! Opinions on this diamond...

[audball]

Hello All.

I am helping a friend's BF shop for her ring, he hopes to propose sometime this summer. They are very young, just out of college, and they have a small budget. She thought a diamond was out of the question, but I don't think it is. The TOTAL budget for ring AND setting will be ~$1000. Another kicker...she is allergic to gold so the setting must be in palladium or platinum. I've contacted WF about a setting she liked and they are able to recreate it through the custom shop in palladium and I was quoted $700 and 4 weeks.

The Setting

They will likely never upgrade, so she would like a setting that appeals to her more than just a very simple, plain one.

This is the diamond I've found that I will show her BF this week if it checks out by all you lovelies!

The Diamond

The PS price on the diamond is $352, so the total would be within acceptable for the budget I think. She is not a flashy person AT ALL and they do lots of missions and charity work where she likely will only wear a band so this size would be great for her, she also has very slim fingers. I think she'd love a diamond and if in fact he can afford something she'll love, she'll be so happy!

Diamond info (WF rated it 5 stars):
Report: AGS
Shape: Whiteflash ACA
Carat: 0.277
Depth %: 62.4
Table %: 53.8
Crown Angle: 33.9
Crown %: 15.6
Star : 49
Pavilion Angle: 41
Pavilion %: 43.3
Lower Girdle %: 78
Girdle: Thin Faceted
Measurements: 4.16-4.18X2.60
Light Performance: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Culet: Pointed
Fluorescence: Negligible

I ran it through the HCA (if I did it right):
Score - 1.5, Excellent
Light Return - Excellent
Fire - Excellent
Scintillation - Very Good
Spread - Very Good

So....what do you think? Please be honest!

ETA: I'm having a hard time finding may options in the sub 1/3 carat range, suggestions?

 

[audball]

Sarin

 

[audball]

Idealscope

 

[audball]

ASET

 

[audball]

Hearts

 

[audball]

Diamond

 

[stone-cold11]

Looks good.

 

[Lula]

Beautiful! Nice work on getting the best quality stone and setting within their budget. Tell him to reserve that stone ASAP! And bravo to Whiteflash for making the setting in palladium.

 

[phoenixgirl]

It sounds lovely. How nice of you to help! It sounds like the perfect ring for her!

 

[audball]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Dreamer_D]

You should try contacting Brian Gavin Diamonds http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/ before you make your fianl choice. As you may know know, Brian Gavin invented the ACA and now has another company where he sells similarly amazing diamonds. They aren't up and running big time yet on the internet, but they are in business and if you call you may find that they have a slightly larger supply of the smaller diamonds and that the prices are just a little bit less than WF right now. I love WF and you can't go wrong with that choice, but since the budget is tight I recommend contacting Lesley at BGD with a link to the setting and tell her your budget and see what they can do for you. I was quoted prices in the .3ct range that were about $100 less than WF lists and that makes all the difference with your budget!

 

[whitby_2773]

ditto dreamer dachsie.

also audball - the setting he''s looking at is 3mm wide. this is quite wide for a stone that will be between 4.1 and 4.4 at the widest. if i were him, i''d be looking for settings in the 2mm range. james allen has a nice 2mm ring for $600 in platinum.

but if you go to palladium, obviously you save a lot. so have you looked at rings like this?


http://www.seaofdiamonds.com/item.asp?invky=2673914&prodnav=4&catky=5764123&subcatky1=7349467

this ring is $279 and could easily be engraved on the outside by a competent engraver if your friend is keen on that kind of pattern. and it would cost a LOT less than $700. it would perhaps leave you with something closer to $500 to spend on a stone. i would look at stones from bluenile or james allen if i were you. here''s an example of a james allen platinum ring plus .31 G SI1 H&A stone for $1080 in total;


http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire-rings/?cid=57&module=diamond&item=1236829

or how about this .34ct H VS2 H&A stone again from James Allen?


http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1225106.asp

if you add this to the palladium setting from sea of diamonds (or something similar), you could get it engraved and have something quite lovely for very close 1k.

anyway, just a few thoughts on how you might maximize your friend''s budget and still get something terrific.

if it was me, i''d probably go for the last JA diamond and the Sea of Diamonds setting and have it engraved, or perhaps go with the JA platinum 2mm band and try to scrape together the last hundred dollars. either way, it would be a shame if this precious little diamond was swalled up by a band too wide for it.

good luck on this, audball, and i wish your friends well!

 

[audball]

Date: 6/4/2009 3:05:36 AM
Author: whitby_2773
ditto dreamer dachsie.

also audball - the setting he''s looking at is 3mm wide. this is quite wide for a stone that will be between 4.1 and 4.4 at the widest. if i were him, i''d be looking for settings in the 2mm range. james allen has a nice 2mm ring for $600 in platinum.

but if you go to palladium, obviously you save a lot. so have you looked at rings like this?


http://www.seaofdiamonds.com/item.asp?invky=2673914&prodnav=4&catky=5764123&subcatky1=7349467

this ring is $279 and could easily be engraved on the outside by a competent engraver if your friend is keen on that kind of pattern. and it would cost a LOT less than $700. it would perhaps leave you with something closer to $500 to spend on a stone. i would look at stones from bluenile or james allen if i were you. here''s an example of a james allen platinum ring plus .31 G SI1 H&A stone for $1080 in total;


http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire-rings/?cid=57&module=diamond&item=1236829

or how about this .34ct H VS2 H&A stone again from James Allen?


http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1225106.asp

if you add this to the palladium setting from sea of diamonds (or something similar), you could get it engraved and have something quite lovely for very close 1k.

anyway, just a few thoughts on how you might maximize your friend''s budget and still get something terrific.

if it was me, i''d probably go for the last JA diamond and the Sea of Diamonds setting and have it engraved, or perhaps go with the JA platinum 2mm band and try to scrape together the last hundred dollars. either way, it would be a shame if this precious little diamond was swalled up by a band too wide for it.

good luck on this, audball, and i wish your friends well!

I did think of that late last night and was going to email WF (since it would have to be custom anyway) and see what it would do to the cost to replicate the setting in palladium but at 1.6-2mm for the band instead of 3.

Thanks for the other suggestions! I will check them out over lunch. You guys rock! Keep it coming!

 

[audball]

Date: 6/3/2009 9:44:16 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
You should try contacting Brian Gavin Diamonds http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/ before you make your fianl choice. As you may know know, Brian Gavin invented the ACA and now has another company where he sells similarly amazing diamonds. They aren''t up and running big time yet on the internet, but they are in business and if you call you may find that they have a slightly larger supply of the smaller diamonds and that the prices are just a little bit less than WF right now. I love WF and you can''t go wrong with that choice, but since the budget is tight I recommend contacting Lesley at BGD with a link to the setting and tell her your budget and see what they can do for you. I was quoted prices in the .3ct range that were about $100 less than WF lists and that makes all the difference with your budget!

I''ll try this as well! Thanks DD!

 

[whitby_2773]

hi audball

my own personal opinion on this is that you could get a nice band without spending so much of the budget on it. getting a custom made band when you only have 1k to spend in total is probably an unnecessary expense. if there''s something she feels she MUST have - then no problem - i mean, it''s the lady in question''s ring. but if there''s a way around it, i''d be going that route.

if it was me, i''d get a band like the one i mentioned for $279, then get the best diamond i could from somewhere like James Allen (where you can get the PS discount). for instance, here''s a diamond - H VS2, .43ct, H&A for $710 after the PS discount;


http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1225071.asp

your friend could put something like this, in something like the palladium setting and have 10 bucks to spare from 1k. and there''s a LOT of difference between a .27ct diamond and a .43ct diamond - especially if she''s never upgrading.

audball, i''d just make sure that your friend (the man you''re doing the shopping with) is aware that even for 1k there''s quite a sweep of things he can afford. palladium should give him options, as it''s not an expensive metal; if i was him i''d be trying to milk those options to give my FI to be the sweetest diamond i could get.

good luck!

 

[audball]

Thanks whitby. I agree with you for sure, I''d much rather the best diamond possible.

My concern with going much bigger than 1/3 carat (under .4 for sure) is his viewpoint on the matter. She asked him what the budget would be and he said he didn''t want to spend more than $600. She asked for a $1000 (which he can spend without straining, he''s just not a very materialistic person and thought it was excessive, I''m working on helping him to understand the importance and significance of this purchase and I think up to $1000 will be acceptable in the end, but we''ll just have to see.)

One of his underlying concerns was finding something period, all they''ve seen is what mall store have to offer and the didn''t even think a diamond would be in their budget period (though it seems to be what she''ll really like to have if possible). But even for $600, the stone from WF (or if BGD has a similar size for a little less) and the setting you found for $279 would keep at his original budget.

I''ll keep you posted.