Help shopping for a blue BGD ring for the budget-minded

[bunnycat]

It's good to know the color bands get wider as you go down in the color scale! I thought the 1-2 grade color different wouldn't matter so much. Anyway, the reason why I would like to have (strong) fluorescence is because I think it would be cool--also, some have mentioned the masking effect of the tint when it's glowing blue. I've done a quick google search and some have complained about their quality control and it looks like they have had quite a few unhappy customers. Their settings look like they are significantly cheaper than BGD.. are there any quality difference between GA and BGD settings? I really wanted to go with #2 setting that I mentioned in my first post.. but I would prefer to have the setting done at the same place--wherever I buy the diamond.

I just browsed ERD.. they also have some diamonds that fall into my price range. How's their Tiffany setting compare to BGD's?

One last thing. Since I was looking at BGD's diamonds where practically all are rated "ideal" in cut, polish, symmetry.. but other vendors seem to carry lower graded diamonds.

If I go down to "excellent" or "VG" in any of those, how noticeable are they in real life? I'm most likely going to get an "ideal" cut, but how critical are polish and symmetry if they are rated "VG" or "E"?

Again, thanks so much for all your comments and time!

J is also the last color listed in the "near colorless" range. Starting with K is "faint yellow". Possibly not a problem for you, but if there's a J that looks good too, I'd go with that.

Color an clarity is where I would give in if I were going to give somewhere, but not cut. Even GIA EX range you have to filter through. Someone else might be better to tell you where else you could give in, possibly polish....

If you are getting a simple setting, could you get the stone from JA and have it set locally with a simple Stuller solitaire? My e-ring stone came from JA and I had it set at the store where I was getting my setting from, without any issues. I think if you're getting a simple solitaire though, you probably won't have to worry about getting it all done through JA.

 

[stargurl78]

about 1% can have negative effects from what ive read. So if JA looks at it and tells you it doesnt have any ill effects, then you only get the positive ones
I agree though go with the J posted here! put it on hold right away so this one wont get snatched up

Thanks for sharing, I didn't realize the percentage was that low! I still think that you will get a cool effect from stones with medium fluorescence.

mufjp, in regards to your questions:
GIA's highest grade is Excellent, they don't use Ideal. BGD signature stones are graded by AGS and their highest grade is Ideal. Many of GIA's Excellent stones will have great optics like the AGS ideal stones but many of them will not be. That is why you want to use the HCA calculator and for all of those that score under 2, request additional images (Idealscope, etc) from James Allen. You can then post the images here and ask the experts what they think.

Here is where you can find the HCA calculator:
https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

The one that I suggested previously scores less than 2.

I honestly don't think you are going to see any visible difference with VG Polish or Symmetry but others may prefer those to be Excellent/Ideal as well.

BGD's Tiffany repro is definitely my favorite too but the James Allen one looks nice. You can see images of actual rings if you scroll down the page a little bit. I think ERD would be great to work with as well, if they have something in your budget (I haven't seen their Tiffany repro though). If you do see stones on any of these sites that you are interested in, please put them on hold so you are not disappointed again.

 

[Enerchi]

Did you get a chance to look at the stones that were 12% off today only (the 12-12-12 special)?? There are a few blues there - maybe there's one that would fit your requirements?? (I missed what your budget was so sorry if this is not appropriate) The .8 and the .5 are reserved/sold.

for example...
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.021-f-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104050981014

 

[mufjp]

What do you guys think about this stone? http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?track=NavDiaSea#diamonds_pid=LD02836763

A fluorescent diamond with upgrades in color and clarity. Does GIA's highest rating for polish and symmetry "excellent"?

 

[PintoBean]

How about this BG Blue? http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...0.805-i-vs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104061868006

It also has the strong blue you desire.

 

[Sakuracherry]

The blue nile diamond is probably located outside of the U.S. Pick diamonds with a delivery date within a few days. Most likely those are in the country and can be called in by a diamond vendor of your choice. Yekutiel from IDJ did this for me. There are some ugly GIA ex stones, so please see pictures before you commit.