Need Help Picking out a JA diamond

[socalmatt]

Hello everyone, I am new here, and trying to pick out an engagement ring to purchase sometime soon. I''ve been looking around here a bit, I think I have some clue of what is going on, but was hoping some experts would want to help me figure out which diamonds are best.

based on looking with my gf, this is the best setting I could find on the online sites based on what she wants:

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-sidestones.asp?pos=1&cid=58&module=setting&item=175

Now, I am just looking for a round diamond to go in it. I think I like the hearts and arrows diamonds, so I have been looking at those, and probably, based on price, looking to get a stone around .7-.8 carats (I need to keep the ring under $5000). I feel like that stone is a little small, so getting one that looks as big as possible, while still being good quality is important. I am looking for a stone that is:

~.7 carats
probably around g-h in color
no less than SI1

this seems like about the stone I am looking for, what do you think?

http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-sidestones.asp?cid=58&module=diamond&item=896873

any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated...I know this is a broad topic, and I do search the other threads, but just looking for some help.

 

[:)]

Hi ya Socal - do you have ''mind clean'' issues? In other words, do you mind what can only be seen microscopically? Most of us don''t care as long as things cannot be seen with the naked eye, although certainly there are people who want the diamond itself to be as clean as possible whether they can see it or not. I only ask b/c if we find you a nice eye clean SI stone (even a nice eyeclean SI2), then you could save some $$$ and get the bigger stone you wanted!

 

[socalmatt]

no, I don''t really have issues with anything beyond "eyeclean", and really I think I care more about the quality of the diamond than my girlfriend, who just wants something that looks nice and is being very cool about it all, I don''t have to worry about her wanting the "perfect on paper" diamond or the blue box or anything.

So you think I can go lower in terms of clarity while increasing the size, and still have a good diamond?

 

[horseloverfat]

I just bought a stone from JA and was very pleased with the advice, service, and price.

 

[Regular Guy]

Socalmatt,

You found a nice one. I just "went in," and am dizzy, because it seems like you''d really want to maybe look at about 3 infobases to even consider his options...JAs, the in-house search, and the search by cut db. Or not.

Anyway, you might want to raise the view, and consider this one, getting you AGS certification, still keeping you under your $5K mark. But seems like some good choices. Yeah, you could trade up in color & down in clarity, and depending on how close you want to go to hit $5K, you can come up in size...with one option even at .9