Starting over with e-ring... need help please!

[JenniJ]

Hi all -- I was engaged in December (yay!) but after 4 times of losing sidestones and finding out there were undisclosed faults with my center stone, we finally gave up and returned the ring. It was a pretty awful experience. The good news is we are starting all over and we are armed with much more diamond education (thanks mostly to PS). The total budget is under $8000 (this has grown, I think the fiance feels bad) and we are considering this setting from Precision Set:

http://precisionset.com/product.php?pid=94&line_id=1

Now for the stone. There is about $6000 left in the budget.

I am considering this stone from James Allen:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1249195.asp

I like the price with the PS discount, but am a little concerned about the SI2, so I have the stone on hold pending having someone look at it. My last stone was a .92ct E SI2, and I didn''t mind the clarity because the color and cut were great. I am excited to have something a bit bigger...

Any thoughts? Would you go ahead with this if the JA people say it is eye clean? Are they pretty trustworthy? Or would you go for something closer to SI1 and lose size?

Thank you!! I will post pics of the final product in exchange for advice.

 

[JenniJ]

Btw, here are the specs on the center stone, but the GIA report is posted at the link above.

1.22 ct, F, SI2
Ex polish, Ex symmetry
No fluoro
Medium girdle
HCA = 1.6

I forgot to mention one of my concerns is that the magnified picture posted on the JA site looks like there is a big inclusion just left of center. But are those pictures accurate?


Again, thank you for any help you can offer...!!!!

 

[Lorelei]

Just fixing the link...

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1249195.asp

The diamond shows potential, ask JA for an Idealscope image and also if the diamond is eyeclean to your standards, you can't go by these photos to discern this. Yes JA are trustworthy, make your expectations clear - for example if you don't want to see any visible inclusions from any angle, let them know that so you are both on the same page.

If you aren't familiar with Idealscope, this page explains

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance

 

[JenniJ]

Thanks Lorelei for fixing the link!