Need help in choosing size!!!

[Rye956]

I am very new to this forum and there's a great deal of information. Most of the questions I googled led me to this forum and answered my questions. My real dilemma is I'm planning to get engage 2 months from now and I'm having a hard time deciding the size of diamond should I get. I am currently looking at a GIA .75 ct Round G-H in color VS2 in clarity excellent cut for about 3600-3800. But when I went to a jewelry store to see how they look its pretty amazing but the size compared to a 1.0 ct is quite huge. Now, I'm leaning towards 1.0 ct but my diamond budget is limited to 4k. Should I sacrifice quality over size? Can I still get a decent clean eye bright 1.0 ct diamond with my budget? Also, my girlfriend is 4'11, with a finger size of 5... Does .75 would look big enough on her finger? The jeweler said that you would only notice that .75 is small when there's a 1 ct beside it... lol. Thanks in advance. Really need anybodys opinion.

 

[Dreamer_D]

For your budget I would stay under the 1 ct mark. I don't think you can optimize cut quality and get over the 1ct mark for your budget, even if you luck out and find an eye clean SI2 J color. On her finger, a .75 will look wonderful!

 

[stone-cold11]

0.75c should be fine for a size 5 finger but personal preference. From the chart below, the difference in finger coverage between a 0.75c and 1.0c on a size 5 finger is only 3%.



You could drop your color and clarity to I SI1 and get a stone that is slightly below 1 carat mark. There is a mark $/carat jump in certain magic numbers, 0.7, 0.9, 1.0, so a well cut stone just below these points will look almost the same size as those above it and cost slightly less.

 

[minmin001]

i'll take a smaller quality diamond over a larger lower quality diamond any day.

 

[tyty333]

Here is a .9 J/SI1 just under $4k. Might be worth a look...
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1390144.asp

Edit - probably not a good choice for an e-ring but I'd love to see what this looks like. Its a faint brown K wtih
med fluor. Very intriguing...

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/K-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1394001.asp

 

[Rye956]

Thanks for all your quick response. What would be a good 4 prong setting for a .75 ct? She likes the cathedral but I think the petite knife edge solitaire setting would make the diamond stand out.

 

[tyty333]

Can you give us a link to the one you are thinking about?

 

[yssie]

w/ a 0.75ct I'd go w/ a 6+ prong or bezel/semibezel if she likes the look of a round stone, or 4prong if she likes the stone to look squarish from afar.

What is your total budget for stone + setting? There may be some wiggle room.

If size is very important to you here are a couple of options in addition to tyty's -
Here's a 0.9 H SI2, bit out of budget though $4.6k (request IS if interested) http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1372003.asp
0.82 G SI2 branded Expert Selection $4.3k I think will be lovely once set http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2645960.htm
Or here's a just under 1ct antique round you might inquire about http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/Jewelry/Rings-Antique-diamonds/98ct-Old-European-Cut-Diamond/17508265_s9dqXZ#1335809625_6w6bKHR
(vendor http://www.jewelsbyericagrace.com/antique_vintage_and_reproductions_rings)

 

[Rye956]

Here's the link;

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.77-carat-round-h-color-vs2-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12202020


http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.80-carat-round-g-color-si1-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12157751

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-g-color-vs2-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241793

above are my choices! thanks....

 

[yssie]

They're all the same size (diametre) so they'll look the same once set, you won't see differences of hundredths of a mm.
the 0.75, then the 0.77 (as far as downgrades go a "thick" girdle on a 0.7ct is not the end of the world.)

 

[Rye956]

w/ a 0.75ct I'd go w/ a 6+ prong or bezel/semibezel if she likes the look of a round stone, or 4prong if she likes the stone to look squarish from afar.

What is your total budget for stone + setting? There may be some wiggle room.

If size is very important to you here are a couple of options in addition to tyty's -
Here's a 0.9 H SI2, bit out of budget though $4.6k (request IS if interested) http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1372003.asp
0.82 G SI2 branded Expert Selection $4.3k I think will be lovely once set http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2645960.htm
Or here's a just under 1ct antique round you might inquire about http://jewelsbyericagrace.smugmug.com/Jewelry/Rings-Antique-diamonds/98ct-Old-European-Cut-Diamond/17508265_s9dqXZ#1335809625_6w6bKHR
(vendor http://www.jewelsbyericagrace.com/antique_vintage_and_reproductions_rings)

my total budget is 4500 for diamond and setting.

 

[Rye956]

They're all the same size (diametre) so they'll look the same once set, you won't see differences of hundredths of a mm.
the 0.75, then the 0.77 (as far as downgrades go a "thick" girdle on a 0.7ct is not the end of the world.)

but the cut grade is different the .75 is excellent and the .77 is very good...

 

[Rye956]

They're all the same size (diametre) so they'll look the same once set, you won't see differences of hundredths of a mm.
the 0.75, then the 0.77 (as far as downgrades go a "thick" girdle on a 0.7ct is not the end of the world.)

but the cut grade is different the .75 is excellent and the .77 is very good...

should I go with .75 then?

 

[yssie]

They're all the same size (diametre) so they'll look the same once set, you won't see differences of hundredths of a mm.
the 0.75, then the 0.77 (as far as downgrades go a "thick" girdle on a 0.7ct is not the end of the world.)

but the cut grade is different the .75 is excellent and the .77 is very good...

should I go with .75 then?

Yes - 0.75 is my first choice. Cut grade reduced for the 0.77 b/c thick girdle.

 

[Rye956]

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-h-color-vs2-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241797

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-h-color-vs1-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241801

How about these?

 

[yssie]

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-h-color-vs2-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241797

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-h-color-vs1-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241801

How about these?

Also fine.. you are paying a few hundred more for higher clarity.
If you want to know that your stone is of high clarity then it's a good bet by the numbers, though numbers don't tell the whole story - if all you want is an eyeclean stone then in this size range VS2 will suffice, no need to spend the extra.

 

[Rye956]

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-h-color-vs2-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241797

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.75-carat-round-h-color-vs1-clarity-super-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12241801

How about these?

Also fine.. you are paying a few hundred more for higher clarity.
If you want to know that your stone is of high clarity then it's a good bet by the numbers, though numbers don't tell the whole story - if all you want is an eyeclean stone then in this size range VS2 will suffice, no need to spend the extra.

Thanks a lot....