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Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & video)

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Bubbly03

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 6, 2016
Messages
4
Hello fellow diamond lovers :-)

I hope I can get some help here from you guys! We are on a tight budget (need to stay under $3000 for the TOTAL - diamond & setting!), and I've been working with a beyond wonderful jeweler to try and locate a diamond that fits my budget.

She suggested going lower in color, specifically an L-colored diamond. I was instantly skeptical, believing that anything lower than an I-J diamond would be too yellow.

She sent over videos of a diamond today, and it looks VERY pretty indeed! However, it does have a yellow-ish tint in the setting next to the other diamonds... or am I just being too nit-picky? I never thought I was color-sensitive, but perhaps I am!

What do you think? Should I hold out for a whiter stone on my tiny budget? lol :-)

Any advice appreciated!


Video of the ring/diamond here:

**edited by moderator, no videos to protect privacy**


SPECS:

Carat weight 0.90
Shape Round
Cut Grade Ideal
Certificate GIA
Color L
Clarity SI1
Length/Width Ratio 1
Polish VG
Symmetry VG
Fluorescence F
Depth: 61.60%
Table: 56.00%
Girdle From: Medium
Girdle To: Medium
Symmetry: Very Good
Polish: Very Good
Culet: None
Measurements: 6.19 x 6.21 x 3.82l_color_2_0.jpg

l_color_3.jpg
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget?

Is the $3000 for the diamond only or for the stone and setting? Can you post the dimensions and angles of the stone, as well?

We always recommend sticking to GIA XXX stones and even that is a broad range that needs to be narrowed down.
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

For diamond + setting :-)

This ring would accomplish that, entire thing is priced at around $2800. Which is wonderful! I just worry that the yellow-ish tint might bother me... it is a GIA stone. I'm so sorry, I don't have the angles/dimensions!
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget?

Colour is a very personal choice and if you like the lower colours then that's fine! I think you could do a bit better within your budget- I'm assuming the $3000 is for the diamond only??

I've just had a quick look but I'm sure you could find more, hopefully some other posters will add others:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3719433.htm

This one is a bit speckly but would hopefully be eye clean at VS2, also has strong blue fluorescence which might disguise a colour tint:

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.90-carat-k-color-vs2-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-2460464
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

Both of those are amazing! Thank you so much! But my budget is $3000 total, unfortunately :-(

Struggling students :-)
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

ac117: That one does look great! I need to do some of my own research, it seems. And maybe buy the diamond from one place, and the setting from another - to get the best price. ( I've already got the setting I LOVE picked out :-) )
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

Yes, it would be a nice choice! Just so you know, you could get $100 extra off from JA with a referral code and you could ask for a PS discount. Every little bit helps! :wavey:
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

You're getting some great advice here.

I have an L OEC (which is a vintage round) and it faces up really white and I don't see any color even from the side so I'm not particularly color sensitive. But even I can see some tint from the stone you showed and that may be because of the contrast between the color of the center stone and the color of the melee in the halo. Only you know if that contrast would bother you. It would probably bother me. If it does bother you, the solution would be either to go higher in color with the center stone or stay with an L and pick a setting that doesn't have pave or melee so there isn't the contrast in colors.
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

I love warm diamonds, but not in white metal. My L diamond is set in rose gold. It was in white metal and it bothered me (in my profile picture), so I reset it into rose gold. I think it looks best as a solitaire, without small melee out-whiting it.
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

But there's nothing actually "wrong" with having a light yellow center stone and bright white sidestones. Having looked at vintage and estate jewelry for 13 or 14 years now, there are a lot of vintage rings from probably '30s through '50s that have a pale yellow stone like L / M / N range in white metal with bright white sidestones. I have a Brian Gavin recut L or M 1ct-ish H&A diamond in white gold and it still faces up very white much of the time. At other times, it has a definite buttery tint to it. I think warm diamonds are gorgeous in modern RB cut. But there are a lot of PS people who like warm tones for OEC and OMC antique diamonds only. Personally,I'd go for the larger diamond in an L or M. The J and K colors tend to bother me more, because they are "tinted" but not enough to be a true yellow. They just look off-white to me. I'd rather take the leap to the pale yellow of L or M.
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

Bubbly03, can you please tell us who is the jeweler you are working with? Your pictures remind me of IDJ in NYC..is it them? If so, they are really wonderful to work with and could possible find you a better performing diamond within your existing budget..
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

So from personal experience... my first ER was a K color OEC and although it looked white in many lighting settings sometimes it just looked totally yellow to me and it bothered me. So when I got to upgrade I went up to a G because I was craving that ice look. Like others have said though color is a personal choice.
 
Re: Need advice! L Colored Diamond on a budget? (pics & vi

An K stone in a halo is going to look very light yellow or champagne. You either have to embrace the color or go with a smaller stone no lower than I-J color. I mind color less when the stone is an antique cut such as OEC.
 
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