Seriously, just copy and paste your whole post over on the pricescope.com forums. Those people know everything there ever was to know about diamonds, and they do nothing but think about this shit all day long.
This is what I posted:
I''m starting to shop around for a ridiculously overpriced little piece of shiny stuff for my girlfriend and she doesn''t know yet. I came in to A/T and checked for a thread and found this so it looks like I should ask here.
School me on my diamond choices.
First off I''ve been to 3 local places so far with several more I want to check first, and have gotten a decent lesson on color/clarity and grading and all that jazz, so I think I know about the kind of stone I''m looking for.
The one that really caught my eye as being fantastic happened to be at Shane Co. Which, according to the OP, I should avoid due to cost, etc. Plus the fact Shane filed for Chapter 11, however according to the people who worked there they told me that it will not affect future establishment of the business. However forewarned is forearmed.
However, the one stone I reeeally liked down there was as follows: 0.53ct, color E, clarity I, brilliant round. Price was $1370 for the loose stone. I understand I is lower on the clarity grade, but I looked at it under the loupe and could only find one occlusion that was off to the side that wasn''t really noticeable by the naked eye. This diamond just exploded with light, and was extremely ''bright'' for lack of a better term.
The next stone I looked at was 0.44ct, color D, clarity SI-3, brilliant round. Cost was $1320 or something, it was close in price to the larger one. This one had a couple of tiny tiny bubbles in it according to the loupe, which were just barely noticeable with the naked eye due to location.
Either of these diamonds set in a white gold solitaire ring, combined with the wedding band that had 2 sapphires and 2 small diamonds that wraps around the solitaire engagement ring after tax came out to about $2200.
At another location there was a .56ct, color G, clarity SI-2, brilliant round already set in a ring for $2100, but that doesn''t include a wedding band.
Third location had a .47ct, color G, clarity SI-1, brilliant round loose stone for $1300, on sale for $1080.
I understand that once you get past a G it''s practically impossible to tell the color grading apart, especially if you don''t have the diamonds sitting next to eachother. However, after looking around at what I''ve seen so far I could definitely see the color difference between D/E and a G. I''d also like to be able to get a 0.50ct stone or larger. I know that you visually won''t really be able to tell the difference between a 0.48ct and a 0.52ct, but it''s kind of a personal pride thing to me to be able to say that it''s a half carat and mean it. Also, I wish I could go with a much larger stone, but realistically there''s a lot left to purchase so that''s why I want to get the biggest, brightest one that I can for within my budget.
My girlfriend has told me that she''s really inexpensive to impress but that''s not the point. I want to make sure I get the right stone.
All that aside, the reason I think we''re ready is for our 1 year anniversary I got her a very elegant white gold band with tiny little diamond chips in it, something sparkly because I thought it was pretty. She had it sized to her right ring finger but now all she does is wear it on her left. I asked about it one day to see why and she asked me if I was afraid of commitment, to which I replied no, I''d rather just get something appropriate if that''s where you want it. She laughed and reminded me to ask her dad first. To me, that''s kind of saying she''s interested.
What else should I be looking at? I kind of know the kind of stone I want to get, am I on the right track? I want at least 0.50ct, color F at the very lowest.
I''ve since had some questions answered and think I found a stone about what I like at another location, the info was:
It sounds like you''ve done lots of thinking about the stone, but do you actually know what type of setting she likes? For me, this would be as important if not more so than the stone choice. Some guys choose to get a very simple, cheap solitaire setting to present the rock with, then let the girl have a hand in choosing the "real" setting later. I personally think this is a great idea, but you know your girl best.
To which I replied:
Thanks for the other info, will do that but I figured I''d post a reply to this bit right here. I''ve seen all of the rest of her jewelry and all of it is white gold, some has sapphires, but all of it is very refined and elegant looking. Nothing huge or flashy, and I feel confident I''ll be able to pick something out to match.
I went to one other place yesterday that had probably the best looking stone yet. I kind of feel you need to pick the stone then pick a ring to match, based off of what I know about her jewelry I really want it to have some fire.
This stone I saw yesterday just exploded with white light. It looked like there were little silver and white needles all through the diamond, which the lady said had something to do with a narrower cut to the facets on the bottom part.
Info was .56ct, E, SI-2, GIA certified. Cost was $1512 for the stone which was a little more than I wanted to spend for just the rock, but really it was the best looking one I''ve seen yet, even compared to the larger .60+ct diamonds I was looking at. Looked at it under the glass and it looked near flawless (yes I understand flawless is a real grade, I''m just saying to an untrained eye it was fantastic).
Is there anything else you guys can help with or am I on the right track? Hopefully I followed all the rules, first time posting here.