Looking for more input on the following..

[njsnowboarder]

Hey every! I been lurking the site for a few months now been learning a lot. I just made an appointment to view the following three diamonds at JA's office in NYC. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time as I have finally have saved enough to go forward with purchasing an engagement ring for my girlfriend. I set the top end of the budget for just the diamond at $3,500.00 and will be placing it with a white gold six prong pave setting. When I first started looking into diamonds I wanted to be at 1ct but I quickly released at my budget I would be sacrificing quality. So I would like to know peoples thoughts on the following diamonds that I will be having the chance to view in person. One of them was suggest to me by someone on reddit and the other two I picked out myself. Am I on the right track??

This link is the one that was suggest by a reddit user.
$3580.00
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3185383

The other two I picked myself.
$3270.00
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...j-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3157497
$3210.00
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3158860

Any and all input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bmfang]

Of those 3, the I SI2 True Hearts is the best cut of the three you've chosen. The honking big black crystal in the middle of the table however is not the best visually...

The other stone chosen by the redditer is not too bad, though I would want to check how far the feather around the 11 o'clock area extends up to around the girdle (shouldn't pose a durability issue once pronged I would have thought). Stats for that stone are also within the ranges that I would normally search for too.

Did a search of the JA inventory and it's pretty slim pickings for XXX stones at that budget range in the SI1-VS2 clarity ranges.

The closest that I could find within your budget at Whiteflash is this 0.84 H-VS2 Premium Select which I think could be another contender. Also, WF do have a better upgrade policy than JA do.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3855515.htm

 

[njsnowboarder]

Of those 3, the I SI2 True Hearts is the best cut of the three you've chosen. The honking big black crystal in the middle of the table however is not the best visually...

Did a search of the JA inventory and it's pretty slim pickings for XXX stones at that budget range in the SI1-VS2 clarity ranges.

The closest that I could find within your budget at Whiteflash is this 0.84 H-VS2 Premium Select which I think could be another contender. Also, WF do have a better upgrade policy than JA do.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3855515.htm

Thank you very much for the response and input its greatly needed and appreciated.
I understand the the diamond with the black mark on the table isn't ideal but I had to see this one in person in order to be able to see the other two since neither of the other two are located in NYC. I was hoping the black mark wouldn't be an issue to the naked eye but I'm starting to think differently.

Really I'm interested in seeing the one that was suggest by the reddit user in person. As it seems like the best deal that I have been able to find on JA. It looks very clean in the photos much better then others at marked at a little more expensive.

The one you posted from Whiteflash is very pretty I must say. It cost a little more though, is that because of the color rating or other factors as well? Thank you for taking the time to do a quick search for me.

 

[bmfang]

Thank you very much for the response and input its greatly needed and appreciated.
I understand the the diamond with the black mark on the table isn't ideal but I had to see this one in person in order to be able to see the other two since neither of the other two are located in NYC. I was hoping the black mark wouldn't be an issue to the naked eye but I'm starting to think differently.

Really I'm interested in seeing the one that was suggest by the reddit user in person. As it seems like the best deal that I have been able to find on JA. It looks very clean in the photos much better then others at marked at a little more expensive.

The one you posted from Whiteflash is very pretty I must say. It cost a little more though, is that because of the color rating or other factors as well? Thank you for taking the time to do a quick search for me.

If you are paying by bank wire, the WF stone will be marginally more expensive than the JA stone.

It will partly be due to the colour grading and partly due to the clarity grading which is one grade higher for colour and clarity than the I SI1 that the redditer found for you.

If the JA storefront has an Idealscope handy, take a look at the I SI1 under it. You may want to save the IS image for the Whiteflash H VS2 onto your phone for comparison. Of the three stones in your original post, I'd venture that the I SI2 would have a comparable level of saturation in the IS image as the WF stone. The redditer's selection may also have a decent level of saturation as the angle combo there works as well (relatively shallow 34 crown angle coupled with 40.8 pavilion angle).

The upgrade policy for Whiteflash is also likely factored into the price as well as if you were to upgrade in the future, the full cost of the stone is creditable against any other more expensive stone, even if it is only $1 more than the current stone. With James Allen however, you will have to spend double the original cost for an upgrade to get the full cost of the original stone applied against the new stone's cost.