It's been 5 (!!) years since I bought a diamond and got engaged. I spent quite a bit of time on the forum learning about cut and performance. In the end, I decided that my priorities were the following:
1) Budget (what was the maximum I was willing to spend)
2) Cut: get in the sweet spot of PS-recommended stones. It's not hard. Highest grade AGS, or at the very least GIA Excellent. Don't bother with anything else. Get the crown angle, table size, pavilion angle, depth in the PS ranges. Make sure it's symmetric.
3) Size: get as big as you can go
4) go as low as possible on clarity and color to maximize size.
I ended up with an H, SI2 with a side inclusion that was easily covered by prongs. I would have been okay with a high I color. If I hadn't found my acceptable SI2 then I would have gone SI1.
Unless the woman (or guy) really values clarity, I see no reason to go above SI. Color is even less important--environment of viewing matters a lot for color. I started seeing a little color at I if I compared it to an F in the right light.
What makes you smile and what gets your attention is a ball of sparkle. To this day I'm glad I didn't force myself into VS2+ or F+ territory because the ball of sparkle simply would have been noticeably smaller for my budget. No one is pulling out a loupe, and no one is looking at the certificate. I've also seen some big rounds that are noticeably poorly cut--they look lifeless and fake (maybe they were fake idk).
Before you buy, I recommend you convince yourself that color and clarity don't matter much so that you can maximize cut and size. In fact, I would even argue that once you're in the PS range of cut, the premium for the branded super ideals is better spent on size for most people. Go to Tiffany or Cartier and also to other reputable jewelers around you. Bring the stones to a window, put them under a shadow, etc. Look at the certificate for those stones. What I found was that as long as you're in the range of PS recommended diamonds (34.5-35.5 crown, ~55% table, etc), you'll be fine. In my own home, I compared BGI, JA True Hearts, a good old gold pick, and a regular JA stone that had all the general characteristic angles of a great diamond (I compared 2 at a time, not all 4). Just like in the jewelery stores, my lay-person eye didn't much of a difference either up close or far away. Each diamond did play with the light a little differently to a barely noticeable extent, but I definitely wouldn't say one was preferable to another. Small differences in size were definitely noticeable.
EDITED TO ADD: I forgot that I used the HCA pretty extensively, and I basically just defaulted to what HCA says was a good combo after I was in the general range.
Lastly, most people don't get the grime off their diamonds frequently enough... don't be bashful to ask your fiancé/spouse to clean it often to keep it looking good. That's a sure way to make sure your diamond stands out, as most people never clean them at all.
Best wishes!
1) Budget (what was the maximum I was willing to spend)
2) Cut: get in the sweet spot of PS-recommended stones. It's not hard. Highest grade AGS, or at the very least GIA Excellent. Don't bother with anything else. Get the crown angle, table size, pavilion angle, depth in the PS ranges. Make sure it's symmetric.
3) Size: get as big as you can go
4) go as low as possible on clarity and color to maximize size.
I ended up with an H, SI2 with a side inclusion that was easily covered by prongs. I would have been okay with a high I color. If I hadn't found my acceptable SI2 then I would have gone SI1.
Unless the woman (or guy) really values clarity, I see no reason to go above SI. Color is even less important--environment of viewing matters a lot for color. I started seeing a little color at I if I compared it to an F in the right light.
What makes you smile and what gets your attention is a ball of sparkle. To this day I'm glad I didn't force myself into VS2+ or F+ territory because the ball of sparkle simply would have been noticeably smaller for my budget. No one is pulling out a loupe, and no one is looking at the certificate. I've also seen some big rounds that are noticeably poorly cut--they look lifeless and fake (maybe they were fake idk).
Before you buy, I recommend you convince yourself that color and clarity don't matter much so that you can maximize cut and size. In fact, I would even argue that once you're in the PS range of cut, the premium for the branded super ideals is better spent on size for most people. Go to Tiffany or Cartier and also to other reputable jewelers around you. Bring the stones to a window, put them under a shadow, etc. Look at the certificate for those stones. What I found was that as long as you're in the range of PS recommended diamonds (34.5-35.5 crown, ~55% table, etc), you'll be fine. In my own home, I compared BGI, JA True Hearts, a good old gold pick, and a regular JA stone that had all the general characteristic angles of a great diamond (I compared 2 at a time, not all 4). Just like in the jewelery stores, my lay-person eye didn't much of a difference either up close or far away. Each diamond did play with the light a little differently to a barely noticeable extent, but I definitely wouldn't say one was preferable to another. Small differences in size were definitely noticeable.
EDITED TO ADD: I forgot that I used the HCA pretty extensively, and I basically just defaulted to what HCA says was a good combo after I was in the general range.
Lastly, most people don't get the grime off their diamonds frequently enough... don't be bashful to ask your fiancé/spouse to clean it often to keep it looking good. That's a sure way to make sure your diamond stands out, as most people never clean them at all.
Best wishes!
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