So many decisions, so many choices

[carbonriot]

So I've been shopping for a diamond online for the past few weeks. I started out at H-SI2. I started reading more and was looking for eye clean stones. I went to Costco and saw that they sell I-VS2, so I figured if I color grade passes muster with Costco, I can look into it. So I expanded my search to I and then further to J after reading about the difference between I and J; I have since definitely gravitated towards the bigger stones I can get in J.

I don't care much as much about the clarity grading as long as I get something that is eye clean. Since most stones are out of the country (from B2C and other online dealers) I'm concerned about the "gemologist's" assessment for whether it's eye clean and I'm leaning towards SI1 or VS2 minimum for clarity. I've had chats with a couple of different B2C online reps and asked for images on a couple of stones and asked if it is eye clean, but I guess their answers didn’t necessarily instill confidence in me. Aside from B2C, I've looked at James Allen, Adiamor, and Whiteflash. I also just learned about Briangavin, one more site to kill some time on.

My budget is about $5000 to ~$6500 (~$6300 with wire discount) for a loose diamond. I hope to get something around 1.25-1.4 CTW, and more than 7mm in size (bigger better) that has excellent cut and HCA below 2. I’m getting a basic platinum solitaire 6-prong setting.

I know that might be asking too much, but any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I do have the following questions, and I welcome any advice you may have.

1. Do I go with a J stone or should I be looking at a smaller I or even smaller H?
2. I would like hear some people’s thoughts on the analyses done by the overseas gemologists.
3. Is there someone at B2C you’d recommend working with?

Thank you all!

 

[JulieN]

Even going to J SI2, to get to 7 mm I'm hitting up against or surpassing your budget.

 

[sha4000]

So I've been shopping for a diamond online for the past few weeks. I started out at H-SI2. I started reading more and was looking for eye clean stones. I went to Costco and saw that they sell I-VS2, so I figured if I color grade passes muster with Costco, I can look into it. So I expanded my search to I and then further to J after reading about the difference between I and J; I have since definitely gravitated towards the bigger stones I can get in J.

I don't care much as much about the clarity grading as long as I get something that is eye clean. Since most stones are out of the country (from B2C and other online dealers) I'm concerned about the "gemologist's" assessment for whether it's eye clean and I'm leaning towards SI1 or VS2 minimum for clarity. I've had chats with a couple of different B2C online reps and asked for images on a couple of stones and asked if it is eye clean, but I guess their answers didn’t necessarily instill confidence in me. Aside from B2C, I've looked at James Allen, Adiamor, and Whiteflash. I also just learned about Briangavin, one more site to kill some time on.

My budget is about $5000 to ~$6500 (~$6300 with wire discount) for a loose diamond. I hope to get something around 1.25-1.4 CTW, and more than 7mm in size (bigger better) that has excellent cut and HCA below 2. I’m getting a basic platinum solitaire 6-prong setting.

I know that might be asking too much, but any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I do have the following questions, and I welcome any advice you may have.

1. Do I go with a J stone or should I be looking at a smaller I or even smaller H?
2. I would like hear some people’s thoughts on the analyses done by the overseas gemologists.
3. Is there someone at B2C you’d recommend working with?

Thank you all!

I would recommend Franco over at B2C. He was very helpful and emailed me ASETs, Ideal Scopes and pictures of the diamond. He also spoke to someone in India to assure me it was eye clean. I was pretty emphatic about that and told him that if it was not that I would send the stone right back.