I''m new and looking for answers

[Perkins]

Hello everyone. I am brand new to Pricescope and I''ve been trying to check out all these posts to help me figure out the best diamond to buy for my girlfriend. I think I''ve learned a little, but I do have a question. It seems everyone has been stressing CUT, CUT, CUT and now I read the latest post saying CUT isn''t all that important. Now I don''t know what to think.

My budget is very limited. I have about $1500 to spend on a diamond, even less actually. I''d like to get the diamond for about $1000. I figure I can go down to H (or mabye even I w/ platinum?) in color and SI2 in clarity - as long as it''s eye clean.

Now what do I do about cut? Since I don''t want to get my girlfriend a tiny, tiny diamond, I need to sacrifice on cut and definitely cannot buy ideal cut. But I do want a well cut diamond because I know that''s important. I know the ranges for depth, table, etc. for ideal cut, but how about just a well cut diamond or maybe even just a very good cut diamond?

Also, how about on the HCA? What will I be looking for there?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Mara]

Hi Perkins...




First off take the post about cut being least important with a grain of salt. In my opinion someone who finds this forum is not average joe C and most likely wants a great blend of the 4C's with an eye for the 5th C...cost.

Also, that post was really about people's varying priorities. You determine your own priorities and that is what you should follow. How important is cut to you? I will say that a well-cut stone will make the stone sparkle more and appear bigger than a non well-cut stone. So you may not need the hands down super duper louper ideal....but a very good make will maximize the visible look of the stone.




In my opinion, you'd be very well off with a fine-make but not superideal stone, H SI2 or similar as you noted. Your budget is very low, I am not sure what sort of size you are thinking of, but off the top of my head I would say around .60c or so. Still kind of small. If you were to drop the color to 'I' you'd get a bigger stone (maybe .70c) and the color difference IMO would be minimal. However I am not sure what your priorities are. I would just say..do NOT sacrifice cut for carat size to the point of getting a crappily cut larger stone. It will look smaller and dull...who wants a larger ugly stone? Not many women.




My two cents

 

[aljdewey]

I did a "search by cut quality" search on PS front page -


H to I, SI1 to I1, excellent to VG cut, .3 to .7




There were about 36 diamonds in the .5 to .6 range that were within your budget and all scored fairly decent on HCA.

 

[Mara]

This is the kind of challenge I love

Here is a quick snapshot of dirtcheapdiamonds.com 'very best' and 'very good' cuts. Now just because they label them that doesn't mean that automatically they are great diamonds. Alot of research still needs to be done by you. But there are some great looking options here.




For EGL certs--confirm it's USA..those are most accurate in grading. Israel sometimes is more lax, so something like an I SI3 with EGL Israel may be more like a J or K I1...not a deal after all. GIA is best for strictness, AGS is great as well.




Ask for crown and pav angles on the stones you would like to learn more about. Run them through HCA. For something like a good make stone, look for a HCA score under 3.0 IMO. Ideally under 2.0 but in this case to maximize size you could probably go up to 3.0 (and post the stone and info on here so that experts can comment on angles, etc.)




I'll also look around elsewhere. Let us know what type of size you are looking for. Is .70c an ideal size? Or are you thinking smaller? I can pretty much tell you you won't get larger than that...more like .60c is your average from what I saw.




Anyway

Enjoy!

 

[Mara]

Here are some more from whiteflash.com...their 'very good' cuts. Not bad options....get the crown and pav angles, pictures of the stones, idealscope images from them. See where the light leakage is. A company online that has IS images may be very helpful in determining a well-cut non-ideal make stone.

 

[sxn675]

Hello Perkins,

You've received some great advice if you'd like to purchase a new stone. Have you and your intended considered an antique ring? They are very charming and have lots of character. Two sites I like to look at are antiqueengagementrings.com (the rings are arranged by price from highest to lowest) and faycullen.com (they have a regular and discounted section for rings).

If you don't want an antique, another budget-friendly option is the three-stone ring. Check out dirtcheapdiamonds.com and look at their pre-set rings to get an idea of some styles.

I wanted to let you know that there are some other beautiful options out there which can suit your budget. Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

 

[diane5006]

HI I welcome...here is a pic of my ring with sapphires I think using colored stone as accents is a great idea (obviously)...you can work with the vendor to get the size you want in perspective to you center stone...I looked at the stones loose and chose the size sapphires I wanted...

All of the vendors mentioned will be happy to help you with this...

(I never miss an opportunity to post a pic of my ring

Best of luck in your search...

Of FYI my ring is a Regent cut .90 with ceylon sapphires in a Vatche truffle...they vatche will blow your budget but there are other great 3-stone settings out there

 

[Mara]

Diane...you can always refer people to your lovely avatar

 

[Perkins]

Thanks to everyone who has written so far.

Do you think I color will be o.k. with a platinum setting?

Well, I would like as big of a diamond as possible, without sacrificing too much on the rest.
I mainly saw diamonds around .6 for $1000. Measurements on those were around 5.4-5.5.
Do you think I can get something bigger than isn't quite as well cut, but is still nice? Or should I just stick in the .6 range?

 

[Mara]

Just look at what I posted to see the max on what you could get with your budget for size. The 'sacrifice' is all up to you.




I color will be fine in platinum as long as the stone is well-cut.




Did you see a .6c for $1k offline? The numbers on that would have to be confirmed of course--but if it's H SI as you noted above...that's a really good price. Not too sure on what sort of 'cut' that'd be...

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 12/8/2003 5:37:51 PM Perkins wrote:

Thanks to everyone who has written so far.

Do you think I color will be o.k. with a platinum setting?

Well, I would like as big of a diamond as possible, without sacrificing too much on the rest.
I mainly saw diamonds around .6 for $1000. Measurements on those were around 5.4-5.5.
Do you think I can get something bigger than isn't quite as well cut, but is still nice? Or should I just stick in the .6 range?----------------

An I color in this size will face up plenty white. You may even consider a "J". I see nothing wrong with going SI1, 2 or 3. An SI3 grade is an EGL grade. It probably is an I1 grade by GIA; BUT - big but - more than likely will face up eye clean.

Try looking closer to the 65-68 point mark. I think you can get that with an I/SI grade.

Good luck. Also, Do you already have the platinum setting? If not you are going to have to drop some bucks on that. I would seriously consider a gold band w/ platinum head or a white gold setting at 1/2 the cost. One can always upgrade the setting later. The diamond is what everyone will be looking at.

 

[Perkins]

I've read some of the posts for/against going with EGL as well. Do you think that since my budget is so limited, I should consider this certificate?

No, I don't have the platinum setting yet. I realize it's pricey, but I've read about white gold and platinum. Platinum just seems the best way to go in the long run.
My girlfriend is very traditional in the sense that the ring that I propose with she wants to wear forever - no upgrades. She's made it clear that it's perfectly all right to buy her tons of jewelry once we're married. But the ring I propose with is what she's keeping on her finger.

Also, she wants a ring with some sidestones, which is another factor in my limited budget. She realizes she could get a bigger diamond with a solitaire setting, but she just doesn't like them. Whatever makes her happy.

She's shown me some she likes and they're all about $1000. Anyone know of a place with them any cheaper than that? Then I could up my diamond budget.

So I should look for I color and SI2-3 clarity and see what I can find?

 

[pqcollectibles]

You didn't say what type of side stone ring your FI is interested in. I found some possibles for a typical 3 stone style that will work within your budget. They are White Flash, A Cut Above diamonds.

0.383 H SI1 4.71-4.72x2.87 $741
0.215 I SI1 3.86-3.89x2.38 $358
0.217 I SI1 3.86-3.90x2.37 $358

Total price for all 3 diamonds is $1457.

I have to say that I am not the best at sizing diamonds for the 3 stone past/present/future look, so I don't know if this combination would look appropriate. This is just a combination that I pulled up quickly for you to get an idea of color, clarity, and pricing.

You might consider a semi-mount that is preset with baguettes on the sides that lie parallel to the shank of the ring.

Just a couple thoughts for you.

 

[sxn675]

Hi Perkins,

I think it would be a good idea for you to look at some stones and settings and get an idea of what various stones look like. It is amazing how small they look when you think about how much money they cost! It will also help you figure out where you want to compromise (because for all of us without unlimited budgets, there is some compromise involved!). Once you see where your budget will take you, you'll be able to figure out the best way to maximize it. Good luck!

 

[DEVO]

Without breaking your gf wishes... invest in a real nice ring now and don't spend too much on the diamond.... upgrade the diamond later and keep the ring.

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 12/9/2003 1:31:56 PM DEVO wrote:

Without breaking your gf wishes... invest in a real nice ring now and don't spend too much on the diamond.... upgrade the diamond later and keep the ring.
----------------

How about a gorgeous piece of art and a CZ? Some do it... I'l go for it if needed (maybe white sapphire instead though)? Does this make sense?

 

[Mara]

Other options:




1) bump up budget to around $2k. This gets you alot more stone and you can stay pretty well cut. Say around .75c which if she doesn't want to upgrade in the future at least gives her something to build on (e.g. 3 stone ring with center being the original stone).


2) wait a little longer to get engaged? maybe 6 more months or similar?


3) get a sim for now and then upgrade later, maybe around the wedding time get a whole new set?


4) get a beautiful larger sapphire for the center stone and flank it with something like .25c each super-ideal H&A stones--that would be breathtaking and different (and cheaper)




Don't know if your GF wants a larger stone or if she is fine with a .60c but me personally...I'd want to wait until I got something that was more my style, especially if an upgrade in the future wasn't happening.

Just some other thoughts....

 

[Mara]

This is an example of something that's very beautiful with a large center sapphire stone. This stone is 2+ carats sapphire which is a little out of your price range at $2400, but something like a 1.5c or similar sapphire will be beautiful.




See more info below and also another link to a similar style ring:






http://www.faycullen.com/sapphireringscloseup2.php?id=386




http://www.faycullen.com/sapphireringscloseup2.php?id=1450

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 12/9/2003 1:31:56 PM DEVO wrote:

Without breaking your gf wishes... invest in a real nice ring now and don't spend too much on the diamond.... upgrade the diamond later and keep the ring.

----------------

There is a saying that in the best jewelry the craftmanship is as expensive as the gems (I think this is Russian, as the source where I first found it, but it could be of different origin). This is my mantra! What does a top ring setting mean to you?

Maybe you'd want to check the online sources listed in THIS post...

Best of luck!

 

[Hest88]

Also, is her heart set on a RB? If you go with something like a princess you can get something larger for less.

 

[Perkins]

Thank you again to everyone who has offered their advice. It gives me some things to think about and consider.

As for waiting 6 months to get engaged, we will be waiting a couple but I want to do it before May because we would like to get married May 2005 and I know she will need at least a year to plan the wedding.

I am sure she would like larger than a .60 ct stone, but luckily for me, I know she'd rather marry me sooner and have that size stone than wait a long time just to have a larger stone.

I just kind of wanted to have some idea what size of stone I could get with my budget and just how low I could go in cut, but still have it be good and full of life.

I am also lucky in the fact that most people in the area we live don't have very large diamonds. And if they do, most are very dull and nothing to be jealous over. She's seen a few people with nice, large stones, but they are in the minority. I am just hoping to be somewhat equal to what her friends have.

Thanks again to everyone who shared their thoughts and anyone who does in the future!

 

[Giangi]

If you want a diamond, at your price point I would consider a J-K I 1 stone. J or even K, at this size, looks fairly white and the I 1 (or SI 3) clarity is not that bad.

Take a look at this one, for example... It's a K color, I 1 stone, but it's GIA graded, so you know that you'll get what you're paying for... GIA is great even though it's not necessary at this size and quality. Even non certed stones are usual and acceptable... Just be sure to buy from a reputable seller...

4 1831901 0.76 K I1 GIA $1,095 61.8 60 EX VG None 5.84x5.88x3.62

 

[Perkins]

O.k. I'd need to get crown and pavilion angles on both, but just going by this info, what do you think?

1) .65 G SI2 depth- 60.3% table - 58% vg/ex
5.6x5.64x3.36
$1092
GIA

2) .69 H SI2 depth - 61% table - 56% vg/g
5.7x5.77x3.5
$1094
EGL