When I first joined PS, about 6 months ago, I was having my engagement ring remade by a local jeweler. The jeweler has been in business for 35 years. The jeweler was sourcing some diamonds for me. Just for fun, I posted the GIA certs here and I thought PSers would say “great job”! But they didn’t and over the past 6 months I have learned so much. My original jeweler swears that HCA is crap and the people on PS are full of it. Therefore, over the past 6 months, I viewed many diamonds from different vendors with my OWN eyes—both super ideal diamonds and regular diamonds. I have made many costly mistakes, like buying a non super ideal stone. I ultimately found that super ideal diamonds outperformed other stones IMO. But, you should absolutely decide for yourself. One idea— You can have your jeweler source diamonds and you can buy a diamond from a super ideal vendor and compare face to face and see what YOU like. That is all that matters. All the vendors recommended to you have nice return policies. Vendors Like WF and VC carry the top of the top of the top diamonds. But, top of the line vendors will cost more. It is like a Honda verses a Mercedes— both are nice cars, but the Mercedes may be a little more top quality (I’m bad with car analogies, sorry).
People on PS will support you no matter what you decide! But, I can tell you my super ideal VC diamond will knock your socks off with its sparkle