Need help on choosing a diamond for e-ring

[papillon]

Hello everyone,
My gf and I have been reading posts on PS for some time. Here''s our story... We''ve been together for almost 10 yrs and now we are both ready to take our relationship to the next level. She is excited and can''t wait for me to put a sparkling e-ring on her finger. We are planning on spending around $6000 on the diamond. My gf loves both round and cushion cuts and she will be happy with either one as long as it''s cut nicely.
We think we should be able to get a 1.2+ ct, ideal cut, I color, and eye clean rock within our budget. My gf doesn''t mind if the diamond has a little color, but it needs to be clear and clean to her eyes. Of course, we are trying to get as big spread as possible without sacrificing the fire. ;p
We ran some searches today and found this round diamond on WF:
http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-441855.htm
Please let us know what you experts think of this diamond? Is it considered true ideal cut? Should we go for it? Please also feel free to recommend other rounds or cushions you find online. We are not very good with diamond searches... I did try ERD just now and it pop up with over 5000 premium cuts. I had no idea how to narrow down my search result... Oh, forgot to mention we are in NJ, so we have no problem visiting the diamond district in NYC. It seems that several PS vendors are based in NYC.
Anyway, sorry if I asked too many questions. This is going to be our first diamond purchase and it could be frustrating... I''m sure you understand what I mean.
Any input will be appreciated!

Kevin

 

[papillon]

Almost forgot to mention... The diamond is definitely going to be set in Platinum.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Kevin and welcome!!

Congrats to you and your GF, what an exciting time for you!

The WF diamond you posted is an excellent contender, great cut!! You should have no problem at all in setting an I colour in platinum, many have done so and also J colour with fabulous results!!!

Regarding the Diamond District, it seems it can be a bit of a minefield for the unwary and inexperienced!! I would suggest if you want to see some diamonds in person, contact Mark at www.engagementringsdirect.com as he is in the DD as you know. You could also try www.michaeljay.com

Also there is www.jamesallen.com in Maryland and in Long Island www.goodoldgold.com

Regarding the search for diamonds, you can use the Pricescope your Diamond tool at the top, punch in your specs and off you go. Stick to in house diamonds if you can, these are diamonds which the vendors actually own, so usually the cut analysis has been done on them to help you choose. Many of the overwhelming amount of diamonds you see on a quick search are what are known as virtual stones, they are released onto many vendor's sites from the cutting houses so the vendors have to call them in on request.

Regarding cushions if you decide to go for one, Mark at ERD is known as the Cushion King in the PS world for good reason.
He has found many stunning cushions for consumers, so if you decide to go for one, I would recommend you speak to him!

Also don't go by labels such as Premium cut, Ideal cut etc, these don't necessarily mean you are getting a great cut, and with fancy shapes such as cushions, you really need your expert vendor's eyes and opinions to help you.

These 2 are a bit bigger and are cream of the crop cuts, branded A Cut Above, for you to see.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-273581.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-358375.htm

This one is good too.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/3418/

 

[Lorelei]

Blast missed the edit! I just wanted to clarify Kevin that the second diamond I posted isn't an ACA as I got mixed up with my copy and pasting, also it has a very thin part of the girdle which the good folks at WF can advise you on if you wanted to know more about it. With their strict standards and expertise I doubt it is a problem, but just check if you want more info.

 

[papillon]

Hi Lorelei,
Thanks so much for all the information! It''s funny that your #2 WF Ideal cut is actually the same rock I found and posted in my thread. This is definitely a good sign showing that at least I''m on the right track.

Can you explain why the very thin Girdle is not good?
I noticed that your diamonds #1 and #3 are both rated SI1 by AGS, but #1 appears to have a lot of inclusions comparing to #3 by looking at the graphics on the AGS certs. It seems to me that #3 should receive a much better rating on clarity, do you agree? Do you think the inclusions on #1 is noticeable to the naked eyes when the diamond is face up? I''m afraid this will bother her in the long run. However, I also noticed that for #3, the two inclusions that were marked in microscopic 2 weren''t showing on the AGS cert. This is a bit confusing to me.
Thanks for suggesting the PS searching tool it is a very useful tool. Since you pointed out that J color diamond could be a safe choice if set in Platinum, we ran an in-house search using PS searching tool and found the following J color rocks appealing:

#1 from GOG. This one has Medium Fluorescence. I think it suppose to be a good factor for a J color diamond. The best of all, this one is BIGGER!

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/3044/

#2 from WF. http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-49733.htm#

#3 also from WF. Same ct weight with #2, but bigger spread. http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-49733.htm#

Now we have total of 6 options to choose from. Please help us picking the best choice.

Thanks,

Kevin