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Looking for Guidance in Purchase of a RB stone for engagement ring

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thatguy123

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Hi everyone, I hope you are all well! I am in the process of purchasing an engagement ring for my girlfriend and want to be sure that I am getting all of the necessary info and advice before making a final purchase. I have already purchased a setting and am looking for a center stone from 1.3 to 1.49 carats. I''ve been looking through a lot of the posts here and they have been extremely helpful. I''ve noticed that when it comes to RBs many people have suggested being able to go as low as SI1 for clarity. I am looking to spend between $6 - $9K on the diamond but would love to get a great stone towards the lower end of that spectrum.

Any information regarding the clarity, and probable cut and color that might yield a diamond in that range would be greatly appreciated! Also, I''ve taken to looking on some of the online sites like JamesAllen and BlueNile...would anyone suggest these or other sites?

Thanks!
 
Date: 1/11/2010 1:14:57 PM
Author:thatguy123
Hi everyone, I hope you are all well! I am in the process of purchasing an engagement ring for my girlfriend and want to be sure that I am getting all of the necessary info and advice before making a final purchase. I have already purchased a setting and am looking for a center stone from 1.3 to 1.49 carats. I''ve been looking through a lot of the posts here and they have been extremely helpful. I''ve noticed that when it comes to RBs many people have suggested being able to go as low as SI1 for clarity. I am looking to spend between $6 - $9K on the diamond but would love to get a great stone towards the lower end of that spectrum.

Any information regarding the clarity, and probable cut and color that might yield a diamond in that range would be greatly appreciated! Also, I''ve taken to looking on some of the online sites like JamesAllen and BlueNile...would anyone suggest these or other sites?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hi thatguy123. Welcome to PS!!!! People here are so fantastic at guiding and helping people with their diamond purchase, I''m sure you will have a great experience!!!

Have you read through the knowlege section? It may help you understand what people are talking about when they mention idealscope, HCA etc. There is alot to learn!!! I suppose what you have to decide on first is the colour and clarity. Some folks here prefer higher colour, lower clarity combination as they would rather pay for something they can see (colour) as opposed to clarity. It all depends on how colour sensitive you are (again the knowledge tutorials are of great help deciding this). I would also recommend having a look at goodoldgold.com. Jon has some great videos on diamond colour etc.

Once you decide what is most important to you folks here will suggest some stones (with cut being most important).

As regards online vendors, Brian Gavin diamonds, good old gold, whiteflash and james allen seem to be winners (from what I''ve read anyway!!)

Good luck in your quest!!!
 
That is not a huge amount of money for a 1.3 to 1.49, so you''ll definitly be making compromises in Color and Clarity.
Personally, I think the VS2 Clarity is the best ''value'' clarity which is still ''mind clean''. Nothing wrong with an Eye clean SI1, in fact, I think you''ll have to go SI1 to get a reasonable color. G or H SI1 might be doable with an Ideal cut.
 
For best bang for your buck (but not dipping to low on the color scale), G/H color with eye-clean SI1 seems
to be a favorite place to start. If you (or GF) or color sensitive you might want to go up to an F. If neither
of you are color sensitive you probably could go down to an I/J. Some PSers really love the look you get
with a lower color (more of a candlelight then bright white). Really depends what you like.

Like Round Halo Lover said, learn as much as you can from the knowledge section. You can use the
HCA to eliminate stones (you want it to score 2 or below). Lower isnt better...just score under 2.
https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp

Let me go look to see if I can suggest any stones in your price range...
 
Hi Round Halo Lover, thanks for responding! I''ve been educating myself on the whole process and you''re right, there seems to be tons to learn! As far as Color goes, i''d also sacrifice some Clarity for it...as long as the diamond''s inclusions are very hard to see unless magnified. For more details, these are the specs I have been looking at:

Carat: 1.25 - 1.49
Color: D - H
Clarity: IF - VS1
Cut: Ideal

I''ve been taking a look at Holloway''s Cut Advisor as well and have read up on the table, pavilion and crown measurements and their importance as they relate to "bling effect".

Finally, if it helps, I am having the setting custom made based on the Cartier Declaration ring with baguettes. I''ve attached a link of the Cartier ring. http://www.bridal.cartier.com/index.php?t=1&nav=ficheprod&ref=N4185000&cc=us&codeLang=en

Thanks again for your help!
 
Wow......beautiful setting.....I''m sure, with everyones help here you will get an AMAZING stone......
 
 
Date: 1/11/2010 1:33:25 PM
Author: thatguy123
Clarity: IF - VS1
Click to expand...

You will probably not see anything at VS1 level even with a loupe unless you know what you are looking for.
 
That one looks pretty great! One additional question regarding certification. I''ve read that GIA is the lab that most people look to but also know that AGS has stricter cut guidelines. Should I lean towards one or the other or would either lab provide a great diamond?

Thanks to all who have made suggestions, it is extremely helpful :)
 
GIA or AGS is fine as long as you''ve check out all the andgles/numbers for the stone (run it through HCS, and viewed Asset and IS images)...

Your setting is really cool, I can''t wait to see the finished ring!
 
Thanks TyTY333, I see a few stones in those selections that I will add to my list for comparison.

I am not extremely color sensitive but my GF is so I''d like to stay in the higher Color arenas. As long as the stone ends up being "eye clean" it will be great and I know she''ll love it.
 
I think G/H SI is the best way to get the size you are looking for.

Blue Nile is an ok site for certain buyers, but because it does not provide any images of the diamond prior to purchase it is not my preferred vendor. Also, they do not offer lifetime buyback or upgrade policies, which matter to me.

I like the following vendors, all of whom have a stellar reputation on PS:

www.whiteflash.com
www.goodoldgold.com
www.highperformancediamonds.com
www.briangavindiamonds.com (their site is in the works so you need to call)
 
Seconding Dreamers recs. It''s really important to see actual pics before purchasing online. Plus most of the vendors dreamer mentioned have better return/upgrade policies just in case you chage your mind
2.gif
 
Good morning,

I just found a diamond on JA I wanted to run by the group. I''ve attached the link here:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1277819.asp

Here are the specs:
Shape: Round
Carat weight: 1.40
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: VS1
Certificate: GIA

Depth: 61.7%
Table: 57.0%
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle:
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Faint
Measurements: 7.17*7.19*4.43

It is $8,820 with the PS discount and with a bank wire transfer, would be an additional 1.5% off of that price. I ran it through the Holloway CA and it returned a 1.6...good deal???
 
Seems to be some leakage in the loupe image, might just be the set up when the image is taken. Request for an idealscope to confirm.
 
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