Need help deciding between several diamonds and ASET images!

[Noncona]

Hi everyone!

I am looking for a diamond for my upcoming engagement / proposal plans Here are some details of what I looked for:

Size: 1.05 - 1.25 carat
Color: I don't mind some color, I filtered by D through H (although will H diamonds larger than 1 carat look noticeably yellow?)
Clarity: As long as it's eye clean, I don't mind some small inclusions that don't affect the diamonds performance! I searched for SI2 and up in order to save some money.
Cut: This is probably the part I need the most help on - definitely prioritizing this as my most important feature - I want to be sure that the diamond is as brilliant and shiny as possible.
Budget: $7,500 max, but the lower the better (I would prefer like $5000 max to be honest but seems like it's not really possible without compromising too much)

I looked on several websites, and here are a few that I locked down.

1.18 Ct. H-SI2 Diamond - 1.4 HCA Score ~ $6250
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.18-carat-h-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1145676

1.10 Ct. H-VS2 Diamond - 0.8 HCA Score ~ $7000
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R110-4BUSW3

1.08 Ct. H-VS1 Diamond - 0.9 HCA Score ~ $7500
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R108-BJ33RA

1.20 Ct. G-SI1 Diamond - 1.4 HCA Score ~ $8000
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/R120-LFHEPD

1.101 Ct. H-SI2 Diamond - 0.9 HCA Score ~ $6200
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3138166.htm

1.096 Ct. H-SI1 Diamond - 1.1 HCA Score ~ $7500
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3590799.htm

1.11 Ct. G-SI1 Diamond - 1.1 HCA Score ~$7600
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3253504.htm

I really like the first one (1.18 Ct. from James Allen) but they can't get an ASET image for it, so I am afraid if it is not as brilliant as I would like.

For the Enchanted Diamonds, do the ASET images seem to have too much white areas? I can't really recognize the difference between these diamonds too well.

Finally, the 1.101 Ct. from Whiteflash is probably one of my favorites, as the ASET looks pretty clean (I think?) and the price is just great compared to the rest. How much worse is it compared to the 1.096 Ct. and 1.11 Ct. ones though? They seem significantly more expensive, and I feel like the colors on their ASET definitely seem much brighter but I don't know if that's how I'm supposed to be looking at it.

Anyways, would love any feedback that you guys might have regarding these diamonds! And if there are any that are even cheaper that you might have seen I would love to hear about it On those lines, I actually found a bonus diamond which I thought might have been a great diamond - https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.11-carat-h-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-915477- 1.11 Ct. H-SI2 Diamond for $4700, but the inclusions are definitely everywhere, I was just hoping that they were small enough to be eye-clean. The representative told me she thought it would probably not be eye-clean however, do you guys agree?

Thank you so much for taking a look and helping me, and I really very much appreciate it and can't wait to hear what you all think!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Need help deciding between several diamonds and ASET ima

I would not deal with SI2's via distance, and you really have no way of knowing if the inclusions would affect light return or if they are 100% eyeclean. WF does indicate whether the stones are eyeclean or not, and that SI2 is not eyeclean. (By the way, you don't use the HCA on AGS graded stones. It's to help you find GIA Ex stones that fall into the AGS Ideal cut range.)

Easy choice for me. This stone is fabulous and obviously near ACA. Nice value, too (just a couple hundred more than the H)!

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3253504.htm

 

[WinkHPD]

Re: Need help deciding between several diamonds and ASET ima

<Snip>
Color: I don't mind some color, I filtered by D through H (although will H diamonds larger than 1 carat look noticeably yellow?)
<Snip>

I can emphatically state that to most viewers, looking from the top that if the stone is even relatively well cut that it will not. The better cut the diamond, the whiter the diamond will look from the top.

I would venture to say that you could go easily as low as I and possibly even to a J in a well cut stone and not see noticeable color from the top. Of course, YOU would need to use YOUR eyes to know for sure.

Wink

 

[Gypsy]

Re: Need help deciding between several diamonds and ASET ima

ON COLOR:

It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. So... no. Not really. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H in a round. But MANY people have happily bought white I or even J diamonds when trying to eek out a little more size.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white.


I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.

ON CLARITY:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/SI/ and http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/VS/ Generally we say that eyeclean SI1 and VS2 are as high as you need to go with round brilliants, have your vendor check the diamond for this. VS1 will always be eyeclean, but they do cost more and an eyeclean SI1 and a VS1 will look the same to the unaided eye.

 

[seekingshiny]

Re: Need help deciding between several diamonds and ASET ima

Hey, I think you've received a lot of good information, but I wanted to point out that the best test of what color you can do is going in person to see stones. I bring this up because being able to go with a lower color will expand your stone for money. Some people are more color-sensitive than others so being able to find out in person will be helpful to you I think. Remember that cut has a great influence on what is perceived, so make sure that you are comparing apples to apples, e.g. a well-cut I to a well-cut J or K and not comparing a well cut G to a poorly cut I or J for example.