Looking for a Radiant in Philly

[ambition]

Hello everybody,

I''ve been perusing the forums for a while now and wanted to get some advice/input from everybody here.

I''m taking my gf on a trip abroad in about 6 months and am planning on proposing. This will be a surprise, as will the ring! I plan on picking out the center stone myself and then going with her to choose a setting. I really like the Radiant stones and am looking for something with the following features:

-Radiant Cut
-Somewhere over 1.4 ct and under 1.75 ct (likely right around 1.4-1.5)
-Color H-D
-Clarity VS2 - VVS1
-From looking online, it looks like Table% should be 60-65.5% and Depth should be 60-65%. This seems really hard to find in stones from the searching I''ve done thus far.

Any suggestions on my ''feature'' list? Should I worry much about crown height% and girdle thickness? What other things should I look out for?

I have no problem buying from an online store, but realize I won''t know whether or not it''s the stone I want until I see it. Does anybody know of a good store in the Philly area I might be able to look at some sample stones?

Any advice, information, etc. is much appreciated!

 

[UCLABelle]

Well, I am sure more diamond experts will chip in, but for radiants, I always find that looking at the actual diamond is so important, cuts vary, esp with radiants, and you may prefer a different ratio than someone else....If that makes any sense

I would go in the F/G and VVS2/VS1 area to get the best of both worlds.

 

[Cravin My Emerald cut]

There is a Diamond District in Philly. I haven''t been to this store personally, but the Pennsylvania Diamond Exchange was recommended to my boyfriend by several of his friends. They sell online but also have a store. I figure it would at least be worth going to view a wide variety of stones.

http://www.penndiamondexchange.com/component/option,com_phpshop/page,shop.browse/category_id,37/

 

[ambition]

Thanks for the advice so far everybody.

I will certainly need to look at a few in person, and won''t make a final decision before seeing the stone with my own eyes.

Anybody else have any suggestions for shops in the Philly area?

 

[Kaleigh]

If you go to jeweler''s row, make sure you do your homework beforehand. I love Kellmer''s on Walnut street, they are wonderful to work with. They also have a store in Haverford.

 

[UCLABelle]

I bought a setting at Golden Nugget. I hated their name, but they had a HUGE selection, nice SA, and good prices (the best I could get on in the Diamond District in Philly!....

Have fun!