So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please:).

[hathalove]

So I am ready to try again for my solitaire.

A little while back I bought an ACA .80 K from Whiteflash in the classic tiffany knife edge. The setting had some problems and even though they fixed those problems something was still off. I couldn't place my finger on it but I was not 100% happy and returned the ring. The original stone sold. There were also some personal reasons and I don't feel like getting into them now. Bottom line is my dh wants me to be happy and have something I love. So he suggested to start over

So I have this on hold. .85 ACA K VS2
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3059442.htm

Here is what I had and the stone was beautiful. How would you say these two compare? I am hoping since I liked this stone that I will like the new one on hold.
http://m.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2977526.htm

Thirdly do you have any other stone suggestions that I should consider? I want to try the legato sleekline setting and need to consider budget for that. I don't want to go over $4000 max. That leaves around $3100 for the stone and that K above is $2675

Thoughts?

I really do think that my problem was with the Tiffany WF setting. It just wasn't quite right.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Well, they are both K color ACA's, so if you loved the first one, you should love this one! Plus it's .85 instead of .80, which is great! I'd personally go to I or J color, but if you want K, then you should be all set!

They don't seem to have any J's in that range, but the closest I can find is this I color, .78:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3019465.htm ($3178 with discounts)

 

[hathalove]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Well, they are both K color ACA's, so if you loved the first one, you should love this one! Plus it's .85 instead of .80, which is great! I'd personally go to I or J color, but if you want K, then you should be all set!

They don't seem to have any J's in that range, but the closest I can find is this I color, .78:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3019465.htm ($3178 with discounts)

I know! I wish they had Js but they don't have any in stock in that range. If i up the diamond budget to $3500 would you still suggest that particular I or a different one?

 

[ariel144]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Here is an H SI1 eye clean:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11145/

 

[ariel144]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.87-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-good-cut-sku-187345

Here's a cool old cut....looks transitional to me...nice faceting...haven't seen one of these on JA before.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Well, they are both K color ACA's, so if you loved the first one, you should love this one! Plus it's .85 instead of .80, which is great! I'd personally go to I or J color, but if you want K, then you should be all set!

They don't seem to have any J's in that range, but the closest I can find is this I color, .78:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3019465.htm ($3178 with discounts)

I know! I wish they had Js but they don't have any in stock in that range. If i up the diamond budget to $3500 would you still suggest that particular I or a different one?

For me, too, I would go for the I color stone or similar. I think in that size and in a solitaire style, and an MRB, I think it will look brighter and more eye catching in a more near colorless range -- that was my experience.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

I too would definitely go for the higher color. I think you'll be happier in the long run.

 

[hathalove]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Thanks for the suggestions Dreamer and MissGotRocks.. This is why I come here! So if I go with I color do you have any other stone suggestions? I am considering the stone that DS suggested. I was hoping for an ACA but if expert selection would be as beautiful I am down for that too. I just want it to be amazing. Do you think I need to come down in size? Or is near .80 still possible under $3500 without sacrificing 000/XXX

The .78 she posted has a slightly larger spread then some of the .80s but is that table considered to be on the larger side or not really? Or is it that I am use to smaller table numbers?

Dreamer I wanted to try the legato this time. I am pretty sure that is a ring you owned once. Any opinions on that?

 

[hathalove]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Bump... Anything else I should consider under $3500

 

[Sunstorm]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Most definitely get a diamond with a better color and sacrifice a bit of carat weight, you will not notice 7 pts but the difference in color is very noticeable. I would personally recommend at the very least an I but an H would be better for sure, some SI1s can work if you inspect the inclusions carefully. That said K stones can have a character of their own and can be very nice, I own one but normally I would go as high as I can in color. Now I tend to buy E-F mostly with an occasional G or H and may sacrifice clarity sometimes as each stone is individual and I have even seen very nice I1s but you really need to know diamonds to find a good one within that clarity grade. Never sacrifice cut though.

 

[hathalove]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

So thoughts on these diamonds? What would you choose just looking at the image?

I VS2
$3277


I SI1
$3306


K VS2
$2675



The gemologist said that based on the measurements these three will look the same even though they vary a bit in carat weight. The I and K VS2s are AGS 000 stones and the I SI1 is a GIA XXX stone eye clean. He is going to pull them out of the safe to look at tomorrow.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

If the mental aspect of getting to .80 is important to you at all, there are the .80 I VS2's in Expert Selection for $100-200 more. You could ask them to look at those to compare to the .78 I stone, but I still prefer the I color over K.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

I had the Legato with a .80ct J VS2, it was the first diamond ring I owned almost 6 years ago! It is a gorgeous setting. The only down side in my opinion is the shank -- it is VERY low profile, only about 1.3mm, so you cannot wear it with a diamond band if you want the heights of the bands to match. This was one of the reasons I personally did not like the setting (I have the same problem with my current ring). If you plan to wear a plain band, its perfect.

My ring thread: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/dreamers-little-beauty.82376/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/dreamers-little-beauty.82376/[/URL]

Regarding color, I would get as far into near colorless as you can get, even if you dip below the .80ct mark. The brightness will really make a difference, whereas the extra .05ct won't. I have owned diamond ranging from I color to K color. I find the less tinted stone look brighter white in most lighting than more tinted stones. So for me in an MRB and especially in the under 1ct sizes, I personally prioritise color quite a bit.

 

[Sunstorm]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

Very true; high whites possess a whiteness that lower colors do not and while those can have a characters I find that the visual difference is tremendous; as I have stated again there are stones I would grade SI with one tiny pinpoint that you will never notice with your naked eye but anything above a G will really stand out noticeably because of its color. Again not to say lower colors are not nice but I am saying it the other way around, high colors are so gorgeous that they are worth considering for color alone. I would sacrifice a lot of carat weight to get an E-F personally and that is the advice I would normally give clients too; cut and color are far more important than anything else in making a visual impact and they affect brilliance the most.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: So I am ready to try again for my solitaire. Help please

To clarify -- my cuggestion of staying in the H range for your diamond, hatha, is not because I don't like more tinted stones. I own one! I just think if you CAN, in that size the extra oomph of the brighter white light return is really worth it because you don't have to pay thousands and thousands to get it, you know? In fact, regarding cut, I think a nice GIA XXX with a good IS and HCA score is a really good way to go to maximize your budget and also not compromise on cut or color. Also, if you can find a good SI2 then go for it. Especially in the under 1ct size I adore a good SI2. I just helped one of my graduate students buy her e-ring and she got a 0.78ct I Si2 for her center stone. It is utterly eye clean in every way, looks just as white as the FG sides in her ring, and sparkles like mad.

I like this one a lot. Its a 60/60 type stone so with favour white light return, which is important to me. But it will also be plenty firey. The long lower halves will make it have very fast pintpoint scintillation.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3063798.htm

ETA: It doesn't have an "eye clean" badge, but I don't think they would buy a stone for their collection that was not eye clean, and the image sure looks clean. Looks like nice white twinning wisps.