Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $8500

[silverqt]

I was going to upgrade my 1C VS2 G Very Good cut RB diamond to a 1.5C SI2, H, very good cut RB diamond with my local jeweller and the cost with the setting was $13k CDN, the setting ~$3k CDN for a cushion cut halo in platinum. After looking online and reading countless Pricescope forums (big shout out to all the contributors on this forum, I have learned so much about diamonds and realize what an art it really is to know what a good diamond is) I decided to start a post since I realized I am better informed but still don't know much so I should turn it to the experts.

The trade in seems like a bad idea considering we had paid $13k CDN for the ring, so I'm basically paying $25k CDN for a 1.5 C ring now with the upgrade.

So with that being said, I have a couple of questions.
1) For a halo setting in platinum would an I color diamond be too low or should I stick with H or higher?
2) With a budget of $8500 USD (hoping the Canadian dollar doesnt keep on nose diving) what is the largest RB diamond that I can find with an excellent cut that is eye clean (I understand that is an objective term but I dont care about the clarity grading as long as most people cant see any inclusions from an arms length away)

 

[rubybeth]

Re: Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $850

1) I think the halo stones could be selected to not be too many color grades from the main diamond, so an I color would likely be fine.

2) You can use the PS search on the main page to find stones, or if you are looking to get a specific style of setting, I'd suggest starting with the vendor who can make the setting you want, and then have them hunt down a diamond for you in your price range.

 

[silverqt]

Re: Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $850

So how does the PS search work? Are the diamonds that are listed on the PS search all suppose to be really good quality diamonds? What criteria needs to be met in order to be listed on the search.

 

[chrono]

Re: Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $850

The search brings up both well cut and yucky stones. However, there are selections that you can use to limit them to well cut stones such as:
1. HCA Excellent cut rank
2. AGS0 box selection
3. Stick with in-house diamonds

 

[dumbo]

Re: Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $850

Just keep in mind that the HCA selection deletes any diamonds that don't have both crown and pavilion angles listed. I set the parameters to what I was looking for in "advanced" but left the HCA untouched, found a lot more diamonds with HCA under 2 that way. It eliminates 90% of the sub 2 HCA JA diamonds, for example, using the HCA marker, as they don't post the crown and pavilion in the general info. The best one I found from B2C also was eliminated for some reason; it had a darn near perfect symmetrical cut and perfect ASET.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Re: Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $850

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3317441.htm?source=pricescope

Here's a top of the line cut stone within the budget. Many have bought I color, VS2 clarity stones and been very happy.

 

[silverqt]

Re: Looking for the biggest RB Diamond with a Budget of $850

Thanks everyone for the tips! That helps with my search for sure.