Need your advice on an ering - Newbie

[malaur]

Hi gents,

I have been reading this forum for the past 2 months, and it has been a real pleasure and a treat to read so many informed opinions. I am really glad to have stumbled upon this chat group.

Now to detail a few things about myself. I am currently looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend.
I like to make a sound and an informed decision whenever I buy something. My original thought was to pick the Diamond myself, and let my GF choose the ring setting as she is really picky and fussy: She can go from liking really classy, timeless rings to some bizzare ones (bizzare from my point of view).
She likes surprises, and I would like to surprise her with a ring which she will really like, and I thought I would much rather stick with a classy setting for an engagement ring.

From what I have gathered from this site, I am looking for a diamond :
-around 1 ct mark
-IDEAL or EXCELLENT cut
-F,G, or H colour
-VS1 or VS2 clarity

Browsing through james allen and bluenile website I have found these diamonds that I would like to get your advice on:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4931573
https://www.bluenile.com/fr/en/diam...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab
https://www.bluenile.com/fr/en/diam...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab

And for setting, i was thinking of these ones:
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...-gold-twisted-vine-engagement-ring-item-53523
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...ld-entangled-vines-engagement-ring-item-63054
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...ld-marquise-shape-three-stone-ring-item-59173

What is your opinions? Will the diamonds look good on those settings? Any other diamond-setting suggestions?

Much appreciated.

 

[Lykame]

Hi gents,

I have been reading this forum for the past 2 months, and it has been a real pleasure and a treat to read so many informed opinions. I am really glad to have stumbled upon this chat group.

Now to detail a few things about myself. I am currently looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend.
I like to make a sound and an informed decision whenever I buy something. My original thought was to pick the Diamond myself, and let my GF choose the ring setting as she is really picky and fussy: She can go from liking really classy, timeless rings to some bizzare ones (bizzare from my point of view).
She likes surprises, and I would like to surprise her with a ring which she will really like, and I thought I would much rather stick with a classy setting for an engagement ring.

From what I have gathered from this site, I am looking for a diamond :
-around 1 ct mark
-IDEAL or EXCELLENT cut
-F,G, or H colour
-VS1 or VS2 clarity

Browsing through james allen and bluenile website I have found these diamonds that I would like to get your advice on:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4931573
https://www.bluenile.com/fr/en/diam...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab
https://www.bluenile.com/fr/en/diam...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab

And for setting, i was thinking of these ones:
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...-gold-twisted-vine-engagement-ring-item-53523
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...ld-entangled-vines-engagement-ring-item-63054
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...ld-marquise-shape-three-stone-ring-item-59173

What is your opinions? Will the diamonds look good on those settings? Any other diamond-setting suggestions?

Much appreciated.

Hi and welcome!

Firstly where are you based? And what's your budget? I note your Bluenile is euros so Whiteflash etc will include customs.

Has your girl given any opinion on anything to a greater degree over another option? Tried on rings and diamonds? Expressed what she can tolerate or not?

I'm being naughty in a lecture so I only quickly looked at your first diamond, it looks nice angle wise but think you can get triple excellent at the very least regardless of your budget!

I'll try to look at your other options a bit more later and maybe by then all the American help will be awake too! But knowing your budget as a start will help everyone. I'm excited to look at your Whiteflash choices!

Best,
Lydia

 

[Lykame]

Ok serves me right for writing that message quickly; don't think I can edit it but wish I could as I say some confusing things. Oops. Sorry.

For a start you don't mention Whiteflash, not sure where I got that from! Biased clearly .

Also when I mentioned the 'first diamond' and the angles etc, it wasn't clear which diamond I meant and I didn't actually mean one of the James Allen ones, it was one of the Bluenile ones.

Let's start again.

Have you done an HCA score on these stones? It's good at helping reject stones. If I can I'll have a look at doing that in a bit for you (although yes, as you can tell, a bit tied up currently!)

Sorry for any confusion and I'll start trying to compose my next message!

 

[Lykame]

Firstly I think all your setting options are really pretty.

Secondly this is nearly impossible to do on my phone so I've looked at one of your choices and then I'll stop for now - sorry.

https://www.jamesallen.com/mobile/l...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732

Wow I'm learning a lot too. Interestingly I thought this would be a dud because of the crown angle but I got an HCA of 1.8, so perhaps worth considering. It gets excellent on fire and very good on spread, scintillation, and brilliance.

I wonder whether experts (I am not) would be able to give an opinion on that, I personally thought that was too deep an angle.

...
I'm sure there will be another message from me later.

 

[rockysalamander]

JA will provide up to 3 Idealscope images per requestor if they have them. Make use of that by putting your favs on hold and then request the IS.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732
I like this. Nice angles and a nice high crown. Clarity plot looks good. Request an IS Image.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4931573
Good angles. Being picky, not a fan of the crystal under the table. I'd put this on your backup list.

But, to gain a bit of size, this is gorgeous. I'd put on hold and get that IS!
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4888352

At this price/size/specs, you can also get a super-ideal. I know you said VS2, but WF actually owns these and can pull them from the vault to tell you if they are eyeclean at 6-8" (they use 10" as there "eye clean").
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3986324.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3929359.htm

Setting. Did she want marquise side stones? If she has not give you much direction, I'd consider these.
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...gold-sleek-diamond-engagement-ring-item-49507
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...e-flower-solitaire-engagement-ring-item-50125

If she is looking for something more unique, have a look a Maevona. These rings are very well made and have a unique vibe. Stroll through her Instagram site to see these.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjaVvdWhBf7/?taken-by=maevona
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjVY8cVhizc/?taken-by=maevona
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhrcjhWhwUG/?taken-by=maevona
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWm10zhteY/?taken-by=maevona (middle ring)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeVb96LgvVz/?taken-by=maevona

 

[Kaycee2018]

Firstly I think all your setting options are really pretty.

Secondly this is nearly impossible to do on my phone so I've looked at one of your choices and then I'll stop for now - sorry.

https://www.jamesallen.com/mobile/l...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732

Wow I'm learning a lot too. Interestingly I thought this would be a dud because of the crown angle but I got an HCA of 1.8, so perhaps worth considering. It gets excellent on fire and very good on spread, scintillation, and brilliance.

I wonder whether experts (I am not) would be able to give an opinion on that, I personally thought that was too deep an angle.

...
I'm sure there will be another message from me later.

I’m far from an expert, but my recent upgrade has the exact same cut specs as this .93ct diamond and mine performs beautifully (my report is at https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2195260920&s=1530713418939). From what I’ve learned, a 36 CA can work with a 40.6 PA. Of course due to GIA rounding, there are no guarantees that they would perform the same, but I second @rockysalamander that it’s worth further investigation. And I’m sure you will get lots of other great suggestions. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Lykame]

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732
I like this. Nice angles and a nice high crown. Clarity plot looks good. Request an IS Image.

I’m far from an expert, but my recent upgrade has the exact same cut specs as this .93ct diamond and mine performs beautifully (my report is at https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2195260920&s=1530713418939). From what I’ve learned, a 36 CA can work with a 40.6 PA. Of course due to GIA rounding, there are no guarantees that they would perform the same, but I second @rockysalamander that it’s worth further investigation. And I’m sure you will get lots of other great suggestions. Good luck with your decision!

Hi Kaycee, yes I could see from Rockysalamander's enthusiasm that clearly that crown angle doesn't cause an issue on that stone (or least therefore that the stone is worth looking at - and then of course the HCA agrees with that. I presume it would be a firey stone?

I think I've been slightly biased by my own stone (and I'll try not to hijack this thread with this; I probably need to do a new thread myself because despite reading quite a lot I'm still confused...) - it's got a table of 57, crown 35.5, pavillion 40.8, depth 62.1... but the HCA is only 2.7 with 'very good' for fire/brilliance/scintillation/spread. I bought it before I realised quite about these more 'ideal' considered numbers. In person looking at my stone I feel it performs pretty darn well (although I've never seen a super ideal in person - that's on my game plan.) I think I had simplified things by feeling that my one area was the crown angle of 35.5 but obviously with 3D objects it's how everything interacts. I can't say I quite understand why a 35.5 with 40.8 doesn't work quite so well as 36 with 40.6 but clearly something about the angles makes a massive difference??? But it did mean when I saw that crown angle of 36 my immediate reaction was oh, that's not small enough... hence my surprise to see such a good HCA.

Basically it shows what I [don't] know.

 

[Lykame]

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4931573
Good angles. Being picky, not a fan of the crystal under the table. I'd put this on your backup list.

I also saw that crystal and was put off...! Smack bang in the middle of the table.

But, to gain a bit of size, this is gorgeous. I'd put on hold and get that IS!
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4888352

Oh that's beautiful! I note it has strong blue fluorescence, not sure what the OP thinks of fluorescence. It should hopefully help the stone face up more white (perfect therefore that it's an H colour) and I presume James Allen can pull the stone to inspect it and make sure the fluorescence does not interfere with transparency in different light sources???

At this price/size/specs, you can also get a super-ideal. I know you said VS2, but WF actually owns these and can pull them from the vault to tell you if they are eyeclean at 6-8" (they use 10" as there "eye clean").
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3986324.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3929359.htm

Oh my gosh both of those are beautiful. I really like that H SI1, it's a carat, it'll be super white face up because of the cut, and eye clean... droolworthy! And their upgrade policy is great too.

This diamond buying through other people is quite the satisfying vicarious experience.

 

[malaur]

Hi and welcome!

Firstly where are you based? And what's your budget? I note your Bluenile is euros so Whiteflash etc will include customs.

Has your girl given any opinion on anything to a greater degree over another option? Tried on rings and diamonds? Expressed what she can tolerate or not?

I'm being naughty in a lecture so I only quickly looked at your first diamond, it looks nice angle wise but think you can get triple excellent at the very least regardless of your budget!

I'll try to look at your other options a bit more later and maybe by then all the American help will be awake too! But knowing your budget as a start will help everyone. I'm excited to look at your Whiteflash choices!

Best,
Lydia

Hi Lykame,

I am based in Paris, France. My budget is around 6-7k for the diamond. But it depends if I find something that I like I could go higher.
Yes, she kinda let me know that she prefers round shaped diamonds, and she can't tolerate pear shape.
She wouldn't like a simple setting, that is why I chose the side stone settings.

 

[malaur]

JA will provide up to 3 Idealscope images per requestor if they have them. Make use of that by putting your favs on hold and then request the IS.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5175732
I like this. Nice angles and a nice high crown. Clarity plot looks good. Request an IS Image.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4931573
Good angles. Being picky, not a fan of the crystal under the table. I'd put this on your backup list.

But, to gain a bit of size, this is gorgeous. I'd put on hold and get that IS!
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4888352

I like the last one you posted.
Just a quick question. Is the size increase from a 0.9x ct to a 1.0x ct noticeable? And how would that size increase be translated into the price? I am a bit clueless on that topic of size.

At this price/size/specs, you can also get a super-ideal. I know you said VS2, but WF actually owns these and can pull them from the vault to tell you if they are eyeclean at 6-8" (they use 10" as there "eye clean").
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3986324.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3929359.htm

So basically I could drop in clarity as long as they are eye clean?

Setting. Did she want marquise side stones? If she has not give you much direction, I'd consider these.
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...gold-sleek-diamond-engagement-ring-item-49507
https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...e-flower-solitaire-engagement-ring-item-50125

If she is looking for something more unique, have a look a Maevona. These rings are very well made and have a unique vibe. Stroll through her Instagram site to see these.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjaVvdWhBf7/?taken-by=maevona
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjVY8cVhizc/?taken-by=maevona
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhrcjhWhwUG/?taken-by=maevona
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfWm10zhteY/?taken-by=maevona (middle ring)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeVb96LgvVz/?taken-by=maevona

She didn't say anything about the marquise side stones, I just asked her best friend what setting she would prefer, and we both agree that the solitaire setting would be to simple for her. She would like something more intricate. I like the first 2 from Maevona.

Thank you for your reply

 

[rockysalamander]

I like the last one you posted.
Just a quick question. Is the size increase from a 0.9x ct to a 1.0x ct noticeable? And how would that size increase be translated into the price? I am a bit clueless on that topic of size.

See below. But, a small change in diameter is a big change visually at this weight of diamond. Above 2 carats, small changes are less visible.

So basically I could drop in clarity as long as they are eye clean?

If we assume that cut is not compromised, than the only things you can do are drop color or clarity (or both) or increase budget. At a quick glace, color is often more visible than clarity. And, if you can't see anything with your bare eyes, many feel it unnecessary to pay for it. Diamonds are graded for clarity at 10x magnification, not with bare eyes.

WF owns every diamond I posted and can physically pull them, take photos, give your their opinion and such. We've had many occasions where the prefer a less expensive stone. Being cut specifically for light return, these stones can be perceived at being larger, but hey will certainly be the sparkliest diamond in the room. That's the job of a diamond! I looked at the other super-ideal vendors we often use and could not find anything for a better price.

Maybe have the online sales person put these two on hold. Ask that the gemologist pull these and compare them for you in terms of body color and visibility of any inclusions at 6-8" vs. 8-10"
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3172023.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3986324.htm

She didn't say anything about the marquise side stones, I just asked her best friend what setting she would prefer, and we both agree that the solitaire setting would be to simple for her. She would like something more intricate. I like the first 2 from Maevona.

The only European retailer is in Scotland. If buying from them has a tax advantage, you can contact them and see if they will set a diamond you provide. In that case, you would ship your diamond to them and they will ship the finished ring to you. Otherwise, you can buy directly from her website (she's in New York, USA) and have the setting shipped to the diamond vendor (wait until you have "the" diamond because the setting must be made to fit that diamond). JA won't order a setting from an outside vender, but this will use a setting you provide. WF might be able to order directly from her and save you a step.

http://www.maevona.com/ring-detail.html?rid=1389
http://www.maevona.com/store/daniel-henderson-jewellers.html

What does your girl do professionally (or if in school, hoping to do)? That will help with setting choice.

WF 1.044, WF 0.93; size 5 finger. 2 mm band

 

[sledge]

Being in France, this may not be a good option for you but I bought my stone from BGD. Like you, I had struggles on the setting. Ultimately decided to custom build something for her, which recently completed.

Prior to getting to that point, Lesley @ BGD made me a killer deal I almost took. Set the stone in a simple TEMPORARY solitaire, do the proposal and then pick a setting together. Send the ring back to them, and they would set the stone in the permanent setting and apply the few hundred bucks spent on the temporary solitaire towards the purchase of the permanent setting, making it a risk & hassle free operation.

With overseas shipping, this may be more difficult. But may be a great option if you can't really nail the setting and don't want to waste money.