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Need Help with 2.0-2.3 carat round recommendations

M

mm44

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Messages
2
Hi everyone,

Looking to purchase a round engagement ring. Budget is up to $30k. Looking for a round diamond with a basic four-prong platinum setting for a woman with classic tastes - she doesn't want to sacrifice size for quality but appreciates good value. She is a size 5.5 ring size.

Here are the basics I've gathered from our conversations and my research:

- Cut is most important. We discussed "Ideal" as being a good choice. "Brilliant" seems out of the price range.
- Need help on Clarity/Color. What I've gathered from research is that I don't want to go any lower than VS2 to keep it eye clean. Seems that I could go as low as "G" in terms of color with an "Ideal" cut it will still look sparkly. I think this is where I need the most help. Thoughts on both of these?
- Blue Nile searches reveal that I could find a nice diamond with these specs at ~$30k at a size of around 2.25 carats. Does this seem accurate to all you experts?
- What else do I need to be aware of here? I've heard about GIA Ex/Ex/Ex specs? Fluorescence?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you!
 
mm44|1392583739|3616446 said:
Hi everyone,

Looking to purchase a round engagement ring. Budget is up to $30k. Looking for a round diamond with a basic four-prong platinum setting for a woman with classic tastes - she doesn't want to sacrifice size for quality but appreciates good value. She is a size 5.5 ring size.

Here are the basics I've gathered from our conversations and my research:

- Cut is most important. We discussed "Ideal" as being a good choice. "Brilliant" seems out of the price range.
- Need help on Clarity/Color. What I've gathered from research is that I don't want to go any lower than VS2 to keep it eye clean. Seems that I could go as low as "G" in terms of color with an "Ideal" cut it will still look sparkly. I think this is where I need the most help. Thoughts on both of these?
- Blue Nile searches reveal that I could find a nice diamond with these specs at ~$30k at a size of around 2.25 carats. Does this seem accurate to all you experts?
- What else do I need to be aware of here? I've heard about GIA Ex/Ex/Ex specs? Fluorescence?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hello mm44 :wavey:

First off, you have a great budget -- she is a very lucky lady! :bigsmile: I wanted to clear up the inaccuracy in the bolded statement above... Color has nothing to do with sparkle or performance -- cut is what affects the brilliance of a diamond. G color will be very white, but so will H. You will be able to get more bang for your buck with an H... I promise you it will be plenty white! :D Fluorescense is a preference, but it tends to make colors appear "whiter" in certain light. Personally, I love fluor and wish my stone had it.

I would buy this stone in a heartbeat. It's AGS 0, so no need to do the HCA (AGS grades for performance). It's a little larger than you listed at 2.34 and within budget at $29390 (you can get a small percentage off if you tell them you're a PS member!!). I'd call JA and put it on hold ASAP before a lurker grabs it! :))

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...arat-h-color-vs2-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-288309
 
One advantage to James Allen is that you get to see a video of the actual diamond. :bigsmile:
 
If you absolutely must have a higher color, this one is within budget. It's an F color and scores 1.2 on the HCA, so it's worth looking into. It is an SI1, however, it may still be eye-clean. It has medium blue fluor, so I would have JA hold it for inspection of inclusions and to make sure the fluor doesn't have any negative effect on the stone. You can put up to 3 diamonds on hold with JA. :))

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-f-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-266130 $28,190
 
The problem with Blue Nile is that they don't provide photos of the stones and light performance info on most of their stones. There are vendors who do, and a lot of people prefer having these when spending thousands of dollars. If a car maker came out with a new model, would you order it without seeing what it looked like?

I have personally bought ideal cut diamonds from both Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash. Both carry high quality diamonds and have full value trade-in policies should you want to upgrade in the future. Both have storefront/showrooms. Blue Nile is a drop shipper for the most part. I think their signature stones may be in-house and there is some info on those.

Here is an example from WhiteFlash and my favorite 4 prong setting that they make:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2696795.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/legato-sleek-line-solitaire-engagement-ring-728.htm

Good Old Gold doesn't have one with your specs at the moment, but they are in NY and can get a couple in for you to look at, if you wish.
 
mm44|1392585761|3616473 said:
Guys - Is it worth splurging for Signature Ideal vs. Ideal? Here is a BlueNile 2.26 carat, Signature Ideal, VS2, H color for $27.7k....

It seems BlueNile is not very popular on this site? Am I looking at the wrong place?

http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-own-diamond-ring?forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP&track=tab#diamonds_forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP|builder=BYOR|pid=LD03157190
Click to expand...

The name 'Signature Ideal' given by BlueNile is just that a term they use for the stones they sell, that they consider their top of the line. This is not the same as the AGSL Ideals that vendors such as Whitefalsh ACA and Brian Gavin Signature Cut Beyond that are true Hearts & Arrows super ideals. Does not mean you can't buy a nice diamond from BlueNile, but information on their stones is harder to come by and everything you can put your hands on for Lab Reports, Picture Images, Idealscopes, ASET, Sarin Reports, etc the more you can make an informative buying decision.

There are several vendors that sell AGSL Ideal cut diamonds and some of those vendors have their branded AGSL Ideals, check their web sites, tons of information on what they define as an ideal cut diamond. Best of all they have Picture Images, Idealscopes, Lab Reports, ASET, Sarin Reports.

I like that H VS1 that diamondseeker posted, very nice!
 
If you find one on Blue Nile--see if Wink Jones can get it. He will probably even beat their price.
 
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