Thoughts on these two ovals...

[teamnowak]

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.51-carat-d-color-si1-clarity-sku-2489862

vs.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.61-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-sku-2221763

 

[arkieb1]

Both stones are not eye clean to me does that bother you, have you contacted them and asked them if they are eyeclean under close inspection?

 

[ac117]

I'm not a huge fan of either - they both have a lot of mush/dead areas. Could you post your budget so we could help search?

 

[tyty333]

The 1.6 is better than the 1.5

Can you drop down to an H? Here is a really nice H.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.58-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-sku-2477772

Here is a relative size difference of the 2 stones. The 1.61 on the left and the H I picked on the right.
Size 6 finger, 2mm shank.

 

[teamnowak]

Thank you for the replies. I’m not necessarily into the “stats” of the diamond, but I had not been looking at anything below VS until I read SI1 diamonds are often really nice as long as they are eye clean. I’m really just looking for a nice looking oval stone, approximately 1.5 carats. And since it will be set in a halo ring, I want it to have a L/W ratio of over 1.4 because it will lose some of its oval-ness in that type of setting. These longer diamonds seem harder to come by. Budget is about 10.5k give or take (obviously, I would prefer to spend less).

Curious: What should I be looking for in “eye clean?” I was surprised to hear that the two I linked would not be (although I obviously don’t have experience). What would indicate something you could see with the naked eye vs. something you couldn’t?

 

[tyty333]

You really need to talk to JA and ask them about how eye-clean that stone is. I dont recommend the
1.5. Just not that nice of a stone. Both those stones you posted would be eye-clean for me. There
is something on the edge of the 1.6 table that some people may be able to detect.

When I looked I tried to keep the length over 9mm but let me look and try to stay in the 1.4 and above ratio.

Edit...didnt see any other nice ones.

 

[teamnowak]

Does my limitation of 1.4 LxW ratio make sense or is it too stringent? Again, this will be set in a halo ring and I want it to maintain its oval look.

 

[tyty333]

I think you should pick the oval based on whether you/she like long ovals or like fatter ovals. I can tell
you that fatter ovals tend to perform better than longer ovals (but you can find good and bad of both).
The halo is going to follow the outline of the oval and will look "oval" unless you go to some extreme
ratio. I think if you stay in the 1.35-1.45 range you'll be fine.