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Please help! Looking to buy an engagement rock

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markg84

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Messages
9
Budget is $15000
Round diamond
1.5ct or higher, otherwise I don't really know what I'm looking for.

I've done some research but feel that I'm fumbling a bit trying to narrow down my choices.

I've been using HCA as I've searched some of the major sites (blue nile, white flash), and I am struggling to find parameters that will give me a good HCA score.

Any advice you may have for a complete newbie is absolutely welcome. Is a color of "H" worth paying for over an "I" for example? I also feel like a VS2 seems to be a good enough clarity compared to VS1 or the VVS1/2.. But I would love to hear otherwise if I'm wrong.

Thank you for your time
 
what setting do you want? You can get an H with your budget.
 
Oh, well that is good to hear if you think it is worth it! Is an H noticeably better than an I? Or should I go for a slightly larger I instead?

Setting wise I just want either a plain platinum band or something like this one: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/id-jewelry-sleek-micro-pave-1-28-rb-hand-shots.185759/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/id-jewelry-sleek-micro-pave-1-28-rb-hand-shots.185759/[/URL]

I honestly haven't put much thought into the setting yet. I was planning on finding a local jeweler for the setting but use a loose diamond that I liked online.
 
I think H/I VS2 is a great place to start. Even SI1's can be very nice. That way you can get the biggest stone possible, with the best cut possible.
 
I see.. Yes that is also a nice one!

I seem to be very hit-or-miss trying to narrow my search parameters so I get diamonds that score well on HCA.. Do any of you have advice on how to do that?

I really want to find something that scores "excellent" in everything. Seems like all of my top choices so far are excellent for everything except spread (which is usually very good, much like the one you posted).
 
Try searching for depth = 59-62%, table = 53-58%, crown angle = 34-35 degrees, pavilion angle = 40.5-41 degrees. That will help narrow it down to more HCA worthy candidates. I would probably start with the depth & table measurements first, and if you're still getting too many, then add in the angle measurements.

You can also use the Pricescope diamond search on the home page and filter so you get only diamonds that score under 2.0. A lot of diamonds that don't have complete info will slip through the cracks though.

OR, if you don't want to search at all, just get an AGS 000 diamond - these are all graded for ideal light performance. I'd start with diamonds from Brian Gavin's Signature H&A or Blue lines, or Whiteflash's A Cut Above. I think Good Old Gold and IDJ also offer those types of diamonds too.

Edit: I see that you are trying to get an EX in every category of the HCA score. That seems like overkill. The HCA is meant to be an elimination, not selection, tool. Diamonds that have perfect H&A and superior light performance often score 1.8 or 1.9 on the HCA score but they still exhibit superior light performance (paraphrased from the HCA score page's fine print) and they still don't have EX's in everything.
 
You're just looking for HCA under 2, or under 3, it matters less if they are all Excellent. HCA is elimination tool, not selection tool. Let's just say eliminate those which score over 2.5, unless it is a really good deal.
 
sortmon and JulieN thanks for your advice!

I guess I was just relying on HCA a lot since it seemed like a good tool for weeding out "bad" diamonds. It sounds like I took it too far with trying to get the best possible score there. This more reassuring to me since several of my top choices are below a 2.5 on HCA.

My goal is still to find something that scores an 'excellent' on spread, though, since it seems that it suggests a more visibly impressive diamond (looks bigger than it really is?).. But if I can't find that component I'm not going to stress myself out over it too terribly much! I've tired out my eyes looking through stuff tonight but I will be back at it with more questions tomorrow 8)
 
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