??I/1 G Confused

[derek13]

am thinking about purchasing a 1.05 carat diamond engagement ring. Here is the deal my girlfriend always talks about how a ring doesn''t matter to her. I do not have much money. I have seen a 1.05 G color I/1 clarity (no cert) very inexpensive round cut. We hang out with people that have large rings. If I went for the best color and clarity it would be .13. Would it be better if people may see the larger diamond and think I got a bad deal or it is inferior or see a little speck on her finger. I know they say when chosing a diamond look at the ones in her circle. Help what do yo think.
Oh yeah I need advice not to be made fun of like when I asked this in antoher forum. Thanks

 

[Shata Rock Hunt]

I would try to bump the color down to H and try to bump up the Clarity to at least SI. Or even bump the size down to a "light carat" like .92. You won't notice too much and the price goes down pretty significantly. If the inclusions on the 1.05 diamond are towards to end of the crown maybe the setting could cover it up a little. Be careful of non-certified diamonds, although it costs a little more to certify the diamond you at least know what you have! I dunno, just my 2 cents worth.
The people here are very nice. As you can see I am not a 'regular' and I have gotten some great advice!

Good Luck!

 

[rbjd]

I think the best advice would be to figure out your exact budget first and then find the best cut stone within your budget and think about going down a few colors to I or J and maybe up in clarity to SI1. Then buy the largest carat size you can afford with those characteristics. A well cut I or J will face up very white and that will allow you to buy a bigger diamond than a G.

Also, pay attention to spread. 1.05 carats doesn't tell you what the diameter spread is. A 1.05 carat stone could look like a .9 carat stone or a 1.20 carat stone depending on the depth. If you are buying a smaller stone, you may want to look for something with a total depth of around 60%. That will give you a bigger spread and the diamond will look larger than the carat size if it is well cut.

 

[dancingmelimel]

I'm sorry people made fun of you!

This is actually a tough question to answer without knowing more about why a ring doesn't matter to your girlfriend. Does she actually dislike big stones? Is it just that she knows you're not in a financial position to get her a big stone, and marriage is more important to her than a rock?

I think it's important to have some sort of engagement ring as a symbol. In my case, my husband proposed to me with a ring of his mother's/great grandmother's. The stone is an older cut which was recut for his mother, (don't get me started,) and weighs a little under 1/2 carat. At first I was totally thrilled with this, but I guess it suffered from the "shrinkage" phenomenon I keep hearing so much about. So now, 3 years into our marriage, I'm upgrading! (And I expect I will upgrade once or twice more eventually, but first we need to buy a house.)

There are alot of options open to you, both traditional and creative. If you can give us more of an idea of your girlfriend's likes and dislikes, and of your budget, we can give some you some concrete ideas.

-Melissa

 

[Abazias]

Another suggestion is to consider a princess cut or a fancy shape diamond.You will be able to receive a larger stone for your budget.Many customers are very pleased with square modified brilliant diamonds.In addition, you would go as low as an I color and still obtain a nice white stone.Good luck with your search.

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Felicia

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[Hest88]

Good advice from everyone. There is a good in-between choice that means you wouldn't get over a 1 carat, but you wouldn't necessarily get a .13 either! Definitely go down to H, get yourself to maybe a .8-.9 (which would still be a substantial size) and up the clarity so you don't have any eye-visible flaws that could make the stone look ugly. Fancy shapes are a good compromise. If your budget is really tight, would she like a sapphire or another colored stone? You can get a nice, very large sapphire for a lot less than a diamond. Princess Diana and Fergie both got colored stones, so your girlfriend would be in royal company.

 

[NewbieHere]

Derek - I think for people to give you the best advice, we need to know what your budget is and how much they are asking for this 1.05 G I/1. Or, if you prefer to keep this information private, go to the "price stats" pic at the top of this screen and plug in your budget to see what kind of stones it comes up with and/or plug in variables that match the stone you are looking at to see if it is a good deal or not. Good luck.

 

[Mara]

I agree with also considering a fancy shape stone or even an older cut, like an old Euro cut or similar. The older cuts are significantly cheaper and to many people's eyes look almost the same as a more modern round brilliant. Or if you go with another cut like a pear or a marquis, people end up having no idea what the real carat weight of the stone is because of the shape of the stone, it just ends up looking big! Take for example that a .70c pear will have a measurement that rivals a 1.2c round stone or similar. Because of the pear and marquis having the odd shapes, its hard to gauge their real size. Plus they can be very beatiful, esp when set in a solitaire setting!

Or if you want a round, definitely go H or I color and SI clarity. The G color is very beautiful, my stone is a G but you can easily go down more in color to bump up that clarity and keep an excellent cut. I definitely think that you should pay attn to the cut of the stone and not just go for size. Regardless of what your circle has (big stones etc), no one is impressed if you show up with a crappily cut big stone...I think people are more impressed (if that is what you are going for!) by you doing your homework and making the best educated decision for you and your girlfriend/fiance.

Good luck!

 

[DP]

I only know what I've seen on this site and in local jewellers' shop windows but my first impression is that a 0.6 or 0.7 I or J that's well cut will make a badly cut 1 carat G put next to it look like a piece of glass. I'm only a rookie here but see if you can compare a slightly smaller lower colour diamond then the difference can be amazing. As for clarity I'm afraid I'm going to have to refer you to the experts on that...