Please critique my first diamond purchase

[druidtime]

Greetings, all! Lurked for about a week and finally selected my ER. Thank you very much for your knowledgeable community. I joined PS today to share with you what I chose. I received this ring maybe an hour ago and this is my first diamond purchase. I welcome your expert opinions on my selection.

stone: http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?saction=PAGE&startIndex=0#diamonds_pid=LD01695706

Stock number: LD01695706
Price: $984
Bank wire price: $970
Price per carat: $2,187
Carat weight: 0.45
Cut: Signature Ideal
Color: D
Clarity: VS2
Depth %: 68.1%
Table %: 67%
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle: Thin to Slightly Thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 4.30 x 4.30 x 2.93 mm
Length/width ratio: 1


my apologies in advance for poor camera, and poor lighting.



so how do you guys think I did? the setting was only 200 because I wanted the harder 14K white gold, and the stone was 984 for a total price of 1184 USD shipped. I hope she'll love it. her ring size is a Size 7.

Thanks, PS'ers!

 

[minmin001]

glad you found this place and learned about the diamond. if you would have posted here and gave a budget we probably could have helped you more~ but it looks nice, let us know how things go~

 

[diamondseeker2006]

It looks beautiful! Congrats!!!

 

[druidtime]

glad you found this place and learned about the diamond. if you would have posted here and gave a budget we probably could have helped you more~ but it looks nice, let us know how things go~

My budget was 750 - 1150 for the stone, knowing the setting will run me 200.

Here are some other stones that I considered, occupying various budget segments.

http://www.bluenile.com/princess-cu...very-good-cut-j-color-vvs2-clarity_LD02030456
http://www.bluenile.com/princess-cu...ture-ideal-cut-f-color-vs2-clarity_LD01986450
http://www.bluenile.com/princess-cu...ture-ideal-cut-g-color-vs2-clarity_LD02070465
http://www.bluenile.com/princess-cu...ure-ideal-cut-d-color-vvs2-clarity_LD02070514

These were the five stones that I was comparing when I made my purchase. I made my decision in my head already, but before placing the order I asked the BN rep which one he thought was the best. His opinion matched mine, although he suggested the best cut for best appearance and a G/H color for best value, that the .45ct D VS2 was extremely underpriced in comparison to the rest, and represents the best value while not being at the limit of my budget.

When it comes to making purchases, I am a firm believer in getting the biggest bang for your buck, so that was the basis for my selection. And since my budget is unfortunately limited, I have to go with quality instead of carat weight. That might change in the future though, so I'm glad PS will be sticking around until then.

 

[Dreamer_D]

It looks like you made a nice choice! I can't see the links (I'm not in the US), but is it a GIA or AGS graded stone? Had you asked in advance, that might have been my only recommendation, to look for an AGS stone for the cut grade. But based on what you presented, I think you made a nice choice.

 

[yssie]

GCAL looks fine, and it sounds like you are very happy with it - that's the most important thing! Congrats

 

[stci]

I think it's important to ask before buy! Cause now, if you change your mind it will be a little trouble.