Managing my own expectations & finding the perfect rock

[Punn]

Hello,


I live in Toronto, Canada and am finding that a lot of the good deals on diamonds on in the US. I really want to get a 1.3-1.5 ct. (obviously want bigger!) triple excellent cut (GIA, AGS certified) in a F colour. As per clarity, I am looking for a ‘gem’ (no pun intended) SI2 but I know that can be an unrealistic expectation if my budget is $8500 USD max for the loose diamond alone.


The setting I am currently considering is the following from James Allen. I wanted the pave and diamonds on the side. And I love the details on the crown!:

https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...pave-crown-diamond-engagement-ring-item-53057


I obviously want the diamond to have a great shine in multiple lights and angles, and not have an noticeable inclusions to the naked eye. Can you guys please help me out with some suggestions or key points I should be considering when choosing the diamond with the abovementioned setting. I have already been advised that I should probably drop in colour, but I am finding some SI2 / F colour in my price range but I just don’t have the experience in finding the key painpoints when selecting a great diamond.

Thank you for reading this and appreciate all the help

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hi Punn,

Your questions stand out, because you so eloquently explain your initial thought process. That thought process leads to a search-strategy. Please allow me to explain what the probably end-result is of that thought-process and strategy.

Here are your requirements, in order of being mentioned:
- I want 1.30 to 1.50, the bigger, the better,
- I want really good cut-quality,
- I want F in color, or higher,
- My budget is $8,500.-, and I realize this pushes me into a clarity-category of SI2. Need eye-clean though (I presume).

What you are doing is setting very strict criteria, knowing very well that it will be difficult to meet all. Eye-clean SI2 may already be hard to find, so you will have little options. And most likely, in the end, if you are extremely strict on your other criteria, you are likely going to end up with a 1.30 F-SI2, that just fits your budget, but may not perform as much as you like.

Here is my suggestion to change your thought-process. First, your budget is set. Consider that a given. Next, what is most important to you? The fact that the diamond sparkles like hell, that it is a certain size or that it has F in color? My argument is to choose for cut-quality, as it will create a bigger appearance for the same size (you could go smaller) and it will hide body-color better. But that is up to you.

Once you have budget and your most important necessity in C set, be open to options. Within the same budget, see whether you can live with a lower carat weight, or a lower color, even combined with a higher clarity than SI2. The end-result is that you will have far more options than following your strict criteria, and you can freely decide which diamond suits you best. You will surely feel a lot better than following strict criteria, ending up with a diamond, because you can afford it, not because you have chosen it as the perfect one.

I hope this makes sense.

Live long,

 

[TreeScientist]

I'm not seeing anything in the F+ color and 1.3+ carat range that is even close to eye clean within your $8.5k budget. All of the SI1s and SI2s that I'm seeing below $8.5k in that size range have nasty black carbon spots. You may need to drop the size a bit if you want to keep it under $8.5k.

Here are 2 good options around 1.2 carats.

This one is a little shallow, but with the small table still has plenty of crown height. Looks eye clean without any worrying inclusions:
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R120-837641049?

I think this one has a lot of potential. No photo/video posted, so you would need to ask Enchanted for a video, but what intrigues me about it is the GIA certificate mentions that it has the "Astor" inscription. In case you don't know, "Astor Ideal" is BlueNile's line of well-cut diamonds. Not all of the Astor diamonds would meet the strict SuperIdeal standards, but they're all very well cut. I would personally ask for a video of this one to see what the inclusions look like.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R121-153Z18619?

 

[sledge]

I would personally ask for a video of this one to see what the inclusions look like.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R121-153Z18619?

Proportions are quite lovely. I'd inquire about this one as well.

@Punn, I believe some good advise has been given about how to manage your expectations. My own 2 cents is you need to worry less with carat weight and make sure you get a killer cut and the right color combination.

As you can see below an AVERAGE sized 1.20 vs AVERAGE sized 1.30 carat stone is only about 0.10mm difference. That is about 1/256th of an inch. Most people can't detect a difference until the 0.20+ range.