Needs Help with Limited Budget Purchase

[soxfan]

My son was looking for stones a while back and his girlfriend wanted Jared's - I have never seen such horrid reviews of a company aside from Time Warner cable.. I know you were just suggesting a look/see not buy.. but seriously their reviews were scads of pages of angry, felt ripped off customers.. sad..

Time Warner cable! LOL! Oh I remember them..... I agree. Jared's is along the lines of Kay's. Mall crap...

 

[woofmama]

Thank you sox fan.

Sound advice. Glad you're back in RT Gypsy

 

[mousiegirl]

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-j-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-189333 If eyeclean, I think this one has a LOT of potential for you.

I like the other vendors suggested here, but I wouldn't spend my budget on a brand name diamond, and feel that is a waste unless you plan to use the upgrade polices quickly. A great GIA Ex/Ex with a good HCA and an good idealscope image is the best value by far, and JA's upgrade policy on those is actually BETTER than the upgrade policy offered by WF and others on similar, not-branded diamonds.

I really appreciate your advice and I agree with you about getting the most bang for our buck. I'm gonna look at that diamond right now. It's just too bad I can't try the pave setting on first! It's a great price but I'm nervous about getting it sight unsee. I'll keep you posted on what we decide to go with.

 

[mousiegirl]

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-j-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-189333 If eyeclean, I think this one has a LOT of potential for you.

Do you think this will be eye clean? Should I call or get more pictures to find out? It seems like there are some rather large carbon spots

 

[Gypsy]

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-j-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-189333 If eyeclean, I think this one has a LOT of potential for you.

Do you think this will be eye clean? Should I call or get more pictures to find out? It seems like there are some rather large carbon spots

You don't need more pictures. There is a chat function on the JA page. Get a Representative on there and ask them to have a gemologist pull the stone and tell you if it is eyeclean to the average person.

They will tell you true.

 

[mousiegirl]

Will do. THANKS!

 

[yssie]

My son was looking for stones a while back and his girlfriend wanted Jared's - I have never seen such horrid reviews of a company aside from Time Warner cable.. I know you were just suggesting a look/see not buy.. but seriously their reviews were scads of pages of angry, felt ripped off customers.. sad..

Time Warner cable! LOL! Oh I remember them..... I agree. Jared's is along the lines of Kay's. Mall crap...

Oh my GOD. Time Warner... Peyton Manning's first game w/ the Broncos. Cable down.
Call in. "Thank you for calling. Due to unexpectedly high call volumes we are unable to take your call at this time. Please try again later".
Click.
No "your hold time is one hour and twenty minutes", no "leave a message"... THEY JUST HANG UP ON YOU!!!!

We got DirectTV the next day.

 

[yssie]

I finally just read the previous replies and... mousie, my 2c: just listen to whatever Gypsy says. She's helped thousands of people through this same purchase and she knows what she's talking about, and her opinion is one I'd trust implicitly

 

[mousiegirl]

It's perfectly eye clean I put a hold on it....eek!

 

[Niel]

I just wanted to say I have 0.84 VS1 I bought a few no this back for 2k..... I never think its too tinted.

 

[Gypsy]

It's perfectly eye clean I put a hold on it....eek!

Perfect. And on the off chance that you have amazing eagle eyes that are better than the gemologists (happens once in a blue moon) you have the security of JA's return policy, which, IMO is the best return policy out there, period. It's nice and long, so you can live with your purchase and see what you think of it, it's bullet proof (no questions asked as long as it is in the original condition), and free shipping both ways.

I'm excited for you! Now we just have to wait for the idealscope image.


Also... if you do happen to see a tint in the stone. Be careful that what you are seeing is actually body color and not reflections. My engagement diamond (pre-PS less I would have gone lower in color and up in size, no question) is an F. If I am wearing a yellow or beige shirt or if the walls are the wrong shade of beige even my diamond will look yellow. As a trade off, it looks nice and blue when I'm outside on a blue sky day and the lighting conditions are right.

And again, if you see a slight tint (from the side most likely)--- that just means your eyes work. It doesn't mean you are bothered by it, or that there is anything wrong with the stone.

ETA: Thank you Yssie, that's high praise. Thank you too woofmomma, I just needed a short break.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Have you seen any diamonds in person?

Unfortunaly we cannot tell you whether J or K color will be acceptable to you.

You need to see the diamonds in person. Any local jeweler who stocks GIA or AGS graded stones will have diamonds you can see. You need to see them in natural lighting.

Especially if you are going to wear your diamonds with a pave band or setting with melee, you need to see the setting/diamond combo in person to be sure the color is right for you.

For me personally, I don't like J/K color RBs paired with smaller melee stones. It highlights the body tint in the larger diamond. Others feel quite differently. You can only tell how you feel by seeing the diamonds in person.