opinions needed

[diamonewb]

I hate making big decisions, someone make it for me please

Anyway I am now leaning hard for a round diamond, but the problem with this is to get a 1 carat I go a little out of my budget. Here are two that I am interested in:

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-122962.htm
.91 carat J, SI1 (whiteflash expert selected)
$3,314.00

http://whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-78290.htm#
1.07 carat J, SI2 (whiteflash expert selected)
$3,970.00

My budget is $3500, and this is assuming that the setting my girlfriends friend picks out is under $1500.

So it all comes down to size/price here. Is the .16 of a carat difference worth the extra $656, top that off with the 1 carat being slightly worse on clarity.

My girlfriend will probably freak knowing that I am willing to pay over $2k just for the diamond, but I want this to be special. I have so far spent the past 6 months saving for this. It will sound so much better telling her its a 1 carat instead of a .91. I don''t want her friends or other people asking her the question and her having to say the same thing.

BTW do women ask these sort of questions to each other? If it is, then I don''t want her to have to tell them its .91 or almost a carat

 

[diamonewb]

If someone can point out a 1 carat that is of great quality in my price range that would also help. I really like the idea of buying from whiteflash since I can take a 4 hour roadtrip to see it in person, but I am willing to buy somewhere else if the price is right

 

[:)]

Date: 1/10/2007 4:57:22 PM
Author:diamonewb
I hate making big decisions, someone make it for me please

Anyway I am now leaning hard for a round diamond, but the problem with this is to get a 1 carat I go a little out of my budget. Here are two that I am interested in:

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-122962.htm
.91 carat J, SI1 (whiteflash expert selected)
$3,314.00

http://whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-78290.htm#
1.07 carat J, SI2 (whiteflash expert selected)
$3,970.00

My budget is $3500, and this is assuming that the setting my girlfriends friend picks out is under $1500.

So it all comes down to size/price here. Is the .16 of a carat difference worth the extra $656, top that off with the 1 carat being slightly worse on clarity.

My girlfriend will probably freak knowing that I am willing to pay over $2k just for the diamond, but I want this to be special. I have so far spent the past 6 months saving for this. It will sound so much better telling her its a 1 carat instead of a .91. I don''t want her friends or other people asking her the question and her having to say the same thing.

BTW do women ask these sort of questions to each other? If it is, then I don''t want her to have to tell them its .91 or almost a carat

Unfortunately women are weird like that, and yes, they do ask ''how big'' (guys ask that too though!) - but that doesn''t bother some women. Have you considered going with a nice simple 4 or 6 setting to have more $ to put towards the stone itself at this time? Then you could upgrade the setting in the future!

 

[diamonewb]

Date: 1/10/2007 5:24:00 PM
Author:

Date: 1/10/2007 4:57:22 PM

Author:diamonewb

I hate making big decisions, someone make it for me please


Anyway I am now leaning hard for a round diamond, but the problem with this is to get a 1 carat I go a little out of my budget. Here are two that I am interested in:


http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-122962.htm

.91 carat J, SI1 (whiteflash expert selected)

$3,314.00


http://whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-78290.htm#

1.07 carat J, SI2 (whiteflash expert selected)

$3,970.00


My budget is $3500, and this is assuming that the setting my girlfriends friend picks out is under $1500.


So it all comes down to size/price here. Is the .16 of a carat difference worth the extra $656, top that off with the 1 carat being slightly worse on clarity.


My girlfriend will probably freak knowing that I am willing to pay over $2k just for the diamond, but I want this to be special. I have so far spent the past 6 months saving for this. It will sound so much better telling her its a 1 carat instead of a .91. I don''t want her friends or other people asking her the question and her having to say the same thing.


BTW do women ask these sort of questions to each other? If it is, then I don''t want her to have to tell them its .91 or almost a carat

Unfortunately women are weird like that, and yes, they do ask ''how big'' (guys ask that too though!) - but that doesn''t bother some women. Have you considered going with a nice simple 4 or 6 setting to have more $ to put towards the stone itself at this time? Then you could upgrade the setting in the future!

I am letting her best friend have full control over the setting. My girlfriend said that if I ever had a problem picking out a setting to ask her friend. I think it would be special to her and her friend if its chosen by her...plus I have terrible taste in jewelry

I just hope her friend doesn''t choose a $2000 setting!

 

[Gypsy]

Start with the setting and work backward. Make it clear to the friend that she has a budget of X $$, have her come on here with pics and designs are we can help her pick a nice setting similar to the style that she thinks is good... and is within your budget. THEN pick a stone. You know you want a round around 1 carat... that''s all you need to know to pick a setting.

 

[:)]

**remember to factor in tax if you buy in state..



$3243 with ps - has strong fluoro which may help it out and a nice spread - table a little bit larger than I prefer, but could be a nice stone, worth inquiring about
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-127315.htm

$3412 with ps - not as much fluoro and is a J with only faint, but worth asking about
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-171986.htm

I sorta like the intial # on this for $3224 - wish it had a little fluoro
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-179783.htm

coudl ask about for $3071
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-156038.htm

has potential for 3410 with ps
http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-154257.htm

all are ''four star'' on WF website

at JA for $3180 with ps, could ask about:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=995139

Lemme take a look at BN too

 

[brilliantround]

Thought I''d post the size.

6.20x6.23x3.86 mm -3% for the 0.91

6.56x6.58x4.04 mm -2% for the 1.07

 

[diamonewb]

Date: 1/10/2007 5:39:15 PM
Author:
**remember to factor in tax if you buy in state..




$3243 with ps - has strong fluoro which may help it out and a nice spread - table a little bit larger than I prefer, but could be a nice stone, worth inquiring about

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-127315.htm


$3412 with ps - not as much fluoro and is a J with only faint, but worth asking about

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-171986.htm


I sorta like the intial # on this for $3224 - wish it had a little fluoro

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-179783.htm


coudl ask about for $3071

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-156038.htm


has potential for 3410 with ps

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-154257.htm


all are ''four star'' on WF website


at JA for $3180 with ps, could ask about:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=995139


Lemme take a look at BN too

I like some of these, I will defiantly have them checked out. And I will have to worry about sales tax with whiteflash, but maybe I can use that as some leverage when buying. 8.25% tax is going to be close to $300 for $3500 purchase.

 

[:)]

nada on BN.
I already checked GOG

JA has these nice looking ones in house - these came up when I limited budget to 3500, although listed for higher I am not sure how much off they actually are with ps or wire discount (but again they came up when I cut off budget at 3500)

this one looks like from the pics it would be eye clean and they could tell you for sure
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&item=992242

this is also in house, but need to check eye cleanliness
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&item=974094

 

[Midway]

Just a couple of more general suggestions. Consider having the stone shipped out of State to a friend or family member. Someone you''re close to that may be visiting between when you purchase the stone and when you plan on proposing, that way you can avoid the sales tax (definitely adds up on a purchase this size).

I''m sure you know this already, but WF offers a pricescope discount of 5% and that''s on top of any wire transfer discount you will get from them. So be sure to ask for the PS discount if you end up purchasing your stone through WF.

Also, check on www.questjewelers.com for diamonds as well. I got a beautiful diamond from Quest and found that they were generally a few hundred dollars cheaper than other online vendors.

And I don''t think you should worry so much about buying a stone that''s just under 1 carat. That''s actually very smart shopping. Don''t think of it in terms of carat weight, but always pay most attention to diameter. That''s the size she''ll really see. A .98 carat can look bigger than a 1.05 just based on how they are cut.

 

[diamonewb]

Found another at JA, tell me what you think:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=994456
Carat weight: 1.01
Cut: Ideal
Color: J
Clarity: SI2
Certificate: GIA

Depth: 61.2%
Table: 57%
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Girdle: Thin
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Faint
Measurements: 6.46*6.51*3.97

The diamond above would run me $3360 with PS discount + 1.5% off for wire transfer.
I called JA and they are checking if this one and http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131&item=995139 are eye clean.