Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Solitaire ring $2300 budget: .55 BGD or .7 blue nile

S

Spotlight2112

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 14, 2016
Messages
4
Hi all

I am looking to purchase a solitaire engagement ring for my SO. I am looking for a knife edge setting with delicate prongs.

My budget is about $2300 USD.

For a long time I have been looking at Brian Gavin diamonds. In the price range I am looking at a .54 I VS1 Diamond from their Blue line.

Though through looking at Blue Nile it looks as though for a similar amount I could go with a larger stone such as https://www.bluenile.com/au/build-your-own-ring/diamond-details/LD09116867

The difference aside from the diamond size (all other qualities equal) would be the BGD ring I am looking at (the knife edge) Can come in 18k white gold whereas the Blue Nile is 14k or platinum.

What would you recommend in the circumstances BGD or Blue Nile. I should say, the ring size is size 6.

I appreciate your feedback.
 
Your BN diamond is a keeper. HCA scale rating, below:

IMG_7619.PNG
You have an EX EX EX Cut Diamond, and the clarity is beautiful at VVS1 or VVS2.
I think it's a beautiful diamond!! If your budget allows, consider the BN diamond.
 
Can I throw another one into the mix (which would be my choice). Same size as the bluenile stone you have picked out (mm wise) but Expert Selection
Whiteflash stone (win, win!) $2198. If you ever should need it, Whiteflash has an excellent upgrade policy.
Also has all the images to go with it to show that its and excellent performer.
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3880140.htm
 
Thank you both, that is very helpful. It seems as though for the extra couple of hundred I will have better options (including the diamonds you both picked out).

Time now to settle on a setting. I'm looking white gold, the main detractor for me on the BlueNile nouveau is that it's in either 14k or platinum whereas Whiteflash has 18k for the knife edge.

Is there practically much of a difference between 14 and 18k white gold?
 
Spotlight2112 said:
Thank you both, that is very helpful. It seems as though for the extra couple of hundred I will have better options (including the diamonds you both picked out).

Time now to settle on a setting. I'm looking white gold, the main detractor for me on the BlueNile nouveau is that it's in either 14k or platinum whereas Whiteflash has 18k for the knife edge.

Is there practically much of a difference between 14 and 18k white gold?
Click to expand...

https://www.google.com/search?q=wha...old?&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
 
Hi Spotlight -

I wanted to step in and say I think you're making a mistake. You need to take into consideration the size of your stone. For something under a ct, I think an SI1 is by far your best bet. ALL stones - up to FL - have inclusions - it's just a case of how many and can you see them. An eye clean SI1 (and the vast majority of them ARE eye clean - and I'd go so far as to say that, at the size you're considering, they almost definitely would be) will look every bit as clean to your eye as an eye clean VVS1 - so you need to ask yourself where the advantage is. For people on a budget, clarity is normally the best feature of a diamond on which to compromise.

What you WILL see, tho, is color and size. An I colored stone normally has visible tint (I have an I stone, for what that's worth) and on a finger of 6.5, you want to get as much finger coverage as you can. But you also want a perfectly cut stone. So I took a look in BN's inventory (I am a huge BN fan and have bought many, many stones from them) and found this one:

https://www.bluenile.com/au/diamond-details/LD09049321

It's bigger, whiter, and its cut stats are every bit as good. The difference between a 5.4mm stone and a 5.8mm stone is very obvious, so I'd definitely be going with that. As for upgrade policies, WF policy is that you have to spend half again to upgrade. BN's policy is that you have to spend the original purchase price again. My guess is that, were you to upgrade, you'd be looking at spending double what your current budget is anyway, so this shouldn't be a factor.

If you can get a larger, whiter diamond, which is just as beautiful - you should consider it and ask yourself 'why not?'

As for settings, I'd recommend James Allen 1.5mm comfort fit solitaire. It will do the most to make your stone look as large and elegant as possible. And just in case you don't know - 14kt and 18kt white gold are both rhodium plated - so you'll be looking at rhodium, not gold, with both of them regardless of which you were to choose. I always recommend higher karat color if you're going with yellow gold - because you actually see the metal. But I NEVER recommend 18kt white gold; either go 14 and save some money and it will look the same as 18kt anyway, or go platinum and get the extra heft, which I, personally, like. In 14kt white gold, this setting is $430. You can also ask for the prongs to be slimmed down as much as possible.

https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...d-15mm-comfort-fit-engagement-ring-item-22606

If you go to this page and scroll down to my post from April 12th, you'll see this same ring (in yellow gold - but it's the same style) - also on a size 6.5 finger, with a stone just a little bigger than the one I've linked above.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/under-1ct-diamonds.25028/page-83

This should give you an idea of how it will look.

Hope all this is of help - on a diamond of this size, go for cut, size and color - clarity is an easy compromise. Good luck!
 
IMG_0327.JPG
I just want to correct Whiteflash upgrade policy. You only need to spend equal or greater value.
 
Thanks kmarla. I inquired about upgrading an external stone with them, and I had to pay an increase of 50%.
 
I'm in total agreement with @mrs-b. I do like high clarity. But, for smaller stones, the color and cut and size are what matter provided you avoid large/dark centrally located inclusions. Go for bigger and whiter.

I also totally agree about the metal also 14k white gold, 14k unplated palladium white (when available), platinum (if you can afford). For convenience, if you buy from BN, maybe get the setting from them. These are all coming up in AUD, so just change to your local currency.

upload_2017-8-24_9-38-10.png

Match to JA solitaire: https://www.bluenile.com/au/build-y...old_20372?elem=img&track=product&vtype=sample

Tapered: https://www.bluenile.com/au/build-y...ing_20374?elem=img&track=product&vtype=sample {I think tapered shapes really make smaller diamonds appear bigger without sacrificing a strong setting}

Tapered Cathedral: https://www.bluenile.com/au/build-y...ing_20373?elem=img&track=product&vtype=sample
 
Spotlight...SI1 stones can provide good value but you need to be cautious of SI1 stones without images. You have no idea whether the stone is
possibly eye-clean or not. You might be able to find the stone at another site that might have images so you can have a look at the inclusions or
maybe you can call BN and inquire. And without images no one can say that another stone has the same cut quality or is just as nice/beautify/same.
That's what asets, idealscopes, H&A images, pictures and up-close videos are for. Ask BN if they can provide these images.

Also, AGS000 stones have been evaluated to have "Ideal" light return. Not an assurance you get with a GIA stone. Learn more about how
AGS determines Ideal light return here
https://www.americangemsociety.org/en/light-performance-cut-grade

No issues with you making a conscious decision to go bigger (people do it all the time), it just needs to be an educated one. I have nothing against
GIA stones either. I hope I have clarified some of the mis-information that has cropped up in this thread.
 
I agree with @mrs-b . Go for an SI1, get a larger stone. Size will have far more impact than clarity at this price point.
 
Other options that play with the 4C to give you some things to consider.

Maybe this is a good option, give you a bigger stone with the certainty of ACA cutting and available imagery.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3857537.htm {0.714 J VS1 ACA, as long as you can wire funds, tiny bit over budget with simple setting}

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3880140.htm {@tyty lovely choice little smaller, I color ACA}

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3876828.htm {@Matthews1127 suggest, smaller, very high clarity}
 
Last edited:
tyty333 said:
Spotlight...SI1 stones can provide good value but you need to be cautious of SI1 stones without images. You have no idea whether the stone is
possibly eye-clean or not. You might be able to find the stone at another site that might have images so you can have a look at the inclusions or
maybe you can call BN and inquire. And without images no one can say that another stone has the same cut quality or is just as nice/beautify/same.
That's what asets, idealscopes, H&A images, pictures and up-close videos are for. Ask BN if they can provide these images.

Also, AGS000 stones have been evaluated to have "Ideal" light return. Not an assurance you get with a GIA stone. Learn more about how
AGS determines Ideal light return here
https://www.americangemsociety.org/en/light-performance-cut-grade

No issues with you making a conscious decision to go bigger (people do it all the time), it just needs to be an educated one. I have nothing against
GIA stones either. I hope I have clarified some of the mis-information that has cropped up in this thread.
Click to expand...

Just in case this is directed at me....

Pls be careful with the terms you use. I said the stats were as good. And they are. Check 'em out and compare them; you'll see they're comparable. I also didn't say the inclusions would be invisible - I said most likely they were. it is a given that this is something to check with Blue Nile; they won't mislead you on this.

My comments were not misinformation; they were made carefully and accurately. I'm grateful to kmarla who filled me in on the different levels of WF's upgrade policy, but I think the statement remains the same. For a stone bought at this price, one is unlikely (not impossible - just unlikely) to upgrade less than 100% of the purchase price, so it's unlikely (not impossible - just unlikely) that this will be prohibitive.

My very firm opinion is that we flog and flog super ideal diamonds when we would be hard pressed to see any difference in a stone below a certain size and even - for the untrained eye - in stones of much larger size than the ones OP is considering. And just to add - BN carries AGS stones - not a lot - but I have 3 of them in my check-out BN basket even as we speak.

I am all for clean stones and great light return; they're the only stones I buy. But we are often overly cautious on these boards, pushing people with limited budgets to buy a quality they don't need for a difference they won't see. Does that always happen? Definitely not. But does it often happen? Oh yes.

I hope OP gets the best value for money, because it's the one variable that tends to be intractable. tyty333 - if your comment wasn't directed at me, then my apologies. In the interests of accuracy, I felt I needed to point out the difference between what I said, and what it was inferred that I said.
 
Thank you mrs-b, rockysalamander, Doberman, tyty333 and kmarla for the responses provided. I haven't found any of the responses to be misinformative. The suggestions and points of view are essentially what I would be after in looker for a smaller stone, being well under 1ct.

I have followed up with Blue Nile in regards to some of the suggested diamonds (while BN could not get images on the particular diamond mrs-b recommended they are following up as to whether it is eye clean), which has meant also looking at settings again as the favoured (on dimensions and customer service to date) was the BGD knife-edge.

I do like the assurance of being able to see the ACA and Expert Selection diamonds at Whiteflash, so will also look at setting options there too again (I recall their knife edge was around 2.5mm- which I thought might be overpowering for the size of diamonds I am looking at).

I also like the idea of tapered.

At the end of all the research and viewing many diamonds online, I just want to have the ring that is right for my partner and our finances. We've been together around 7 years but have always prioritised other finances. So I know I am probably putting pressure on myself to get it right now.

Your views and information has helped with that - I've just now got a bit of looking around to do, and perhaps taking off the blinkers from BGD in that regard.

Thanks again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top