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Trying to find the most quality for up to $12k

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zedy44

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 5, 2013
Messages
19
I've narrowed my search down to two diamonds at this point, but I'm open to suggestions. I have a diamond budget of anywhere up to $12k and my goal is to provide my girlfriend with the highest quality diamond I can afford within my budget. I've been saving for some time now so this is a comfortable budget for me.

All opinions are welcome...

The first diamond:

http://www.engagementringsdirect.com/1.02-carat-e-if-hearts-and-arrows-round-cut-diamond-gid-145275.html

6.45x6.46x3.98
color: E
clarity: IF
cut: excellent
Depth: 61.7%
Table: 57.0%
Polish: excellent
Symmetry: excellent
crown angle: 34.5
pavilion angle: 41
girdle: medium to slighty thick
culet: none
HCA: 1.9



The second diamond:

http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-3825630-1.00-carat-Round-diamond-F-color-IF-Clarity.aspx?sku=3825630&utm_source=pricescope.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=pricescope.com

6.47x6.50x3.90
color: F
clarity: IF
cut: excellent
Depth: 60.2%
Table: 59.0%
Polish: excellent
Symmetry: excellent
crown angle: 32.5
pavilion angle: 41
girdle: unknown
culet: none
HCA: 1.2
 
If you want to pay the extra for IF then that is fine but I still think it was a DeBeers marketing scheme meant to hit the male population- I hope that person got a huge bonus.

Honestly unless your lady love has specifically requested IF and it is super important to you then I would much rather drop down in clarity and get something larger- I'm pretty sure the majority of most females would. No one is ever going to ask what the clarity level is, where as everyone will notice size and color. As long as it is eye clean 99.8% of people are happy. No one but a PSer walks around with a loupe in their pocket and will ask to loop your diamond. And just show you know IF doesn't really mean internally flawless- it means it is clean up to 10x.
 
I AGree exactly.....I have an H Si1 GIA certified 3.66 emerald and there is a tiny inclusion at 11:00 only seen under microscope. the stone is gorgous and huge lol
 
I agree with SB. While I commend you for wanting to get the highest quality diamond you can afford (and you have an awesome budget), you're spending a lot of money to get that clarity grade. And you likely don't need to. And unless you've gone and looked at diamonds and are very color sensitive, you likely don't need to go that high to get a colorless looking diamond. Most ladies I know value an excellent cut and then size. That's not true for everyone, but the vast majority.
 
Thanks I will take this into consideration. Even if I stay at a single carat the savings would be nice. The girlfriend is a petite Vietnamese girl...so I figured going too large (anything over 1.15?) would look kind of strange because her hands are on the small side.
 
zedy44|1381023553|3532922 said:
Thanks I will take this into consideration. Even if I stay at a single carat the savings would be nice. The girlfriend is a petite Vietnamese girl...so I figured going too large (anything over 1.15?) would look kind of strange because her hands are on the small side.
Click to expand...

I don't know how petite your girlfriend is but speaking from looking at lots of my Asian friends' engagement rings, I can tell you you could go up to at least 1.5 carat. My partner's sister in law, Chinese and tiny (height around 150cm and she must weigh less than 45kg), wears a 1.38 carat ring on her size 4 finger and the ring looks impressive but not "strange" at all. She said some of her Asian friends even wear 1.7-2 carats. I agree with other posters, you could go down on clarity to get a bigger stone, for color, even down to G. Very few people would notice the difference between E-F color and G color on Asian skin tone, but the bigger size and super ideal cut will certainly impress!

Here are some diamonds for your consideration:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2777301.htm?source=pricescope

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2982216.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2674676.htm

Good luck with your journey. Your girlfriend is a lucky lady! :)
 
I'm from Japan and people love colorless diamonds there. It's the same for China and Korea. I believe most people get high color/high clarity stones for their erings. I don't know about your girlfriend, but if she wants a high color/high clarity stone, go for it. There's nothing wrong with it. If she prefers a bigger stone, going down to VS clarity will save you money. A petite girl can rock a big diamond. Good luck with your decision :)
 
I think you can balance things a bit.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.06-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-73611 F VS1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-d-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-107904 D VS1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows.
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.10-carat-e-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-107838 E VS1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows


These are pretty much top of the line.

The D VS1 you let you maximize the color and get the whitest color, and drop in clarity (which you absolutely will not notice at all). The F would save you some money and still be white bright sparkly and super clear. It would also let you put a little more toward the setting, if you have the mind.
 
Daisyoz|1381026853|3532934 said:
zedy44|1381023553|3532922 said:
Thanks I will take this into consideration. Even if I stay at a single carat the savings would be nice. The girlfriend is a petite Vietnamese girl...so I figured going too large (anything over 1.15?) would look kind of strange because her hands are on the small side.
Click to expand...

I don't know how petite your girlfriend is but speaking from looking at lots of my Asian friends' engagement rings, I can tell you you could go up to at least 1.5 carat. My partner's sister in law, Chinese and tiny (height around 150cm and she must weigh less than 45kg), wears a 1.38 carat ring on her size 4 finger and the ring looks impressive but not "strange" at all. She said some of her Asian friends even wear 1.7-2 carats. I agree with other posters, you could go down on clarity to get a bigger stone, for color, even down to G. Very few people would notice the difference between E-F color and G color on Asian skin tone, but the bigger size and super ideal cut will certainly impress!

Here are some diamonds for your consideration:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2777301.htm?source=pricescope

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2982216.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2674676.htm

Good luck with your journey. Your girlfriend is a lucky lady! :)
Click to expand...

Very nice diamonds right there. Without hunting for the hearts and arrows ones specifically it was pretty rare that I find one with an aset and ideal scope image that resembled anything close to one. It's cool to see some real ones out there that I can afford :)



Sakuracherry|1381030431|3532945 said:
I'm from Japan and people love colorless diamonds there. It's the same for China and Korea. I believe most people get high color/high clarity stones for their erings. I don't know about your girlfriend, but if she wants a high color/high clarity stone, go for it. There's nothing wrong with it. If she prefers a bigger stone, going down to VS clarity will save you money. A petite girl can rock a big diamond. Good luck with your decision :)
Click to expand...

A local jeweler around here gave a similiar response when I mentioned the GF was asian. She said colorless + clarity are the priorities around here. I don't think my GF cares that much. She'll be happy with anything as long as it sparkles. I just want to make sure I get the most value for my money and I want to make her happy :)




Gypsy|1381034978|3532967 said:
I think you can balance things a bit.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.06-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-73611 F VS1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-d-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-107904 D VS1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows.
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.10-carat-e-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-107838 E VS1 AGS 0 Hearts and Arrows


These are pretty much top of the line.

The D VS1 you let you maximize the color and get the whitest color, and drop in clarity (which you absolutely will not notice at all). The F would save you some money and still be white bright sparkly and super clear. It would also let you put a little more toward the setting, if you have the mind.
Click to expand...

Wow those are some nice diamonds! Those are some clean heart and arrow patterns in those images. I'll admit I was hunting mostly GIA diamonds until I figured out some of the metrics like ratio's, depth/table, and angles that I should be looking for. I'll need to add AGS into the mix :)


Thanks for all the responses!!
 
1.15ct E color VVS2 "HNA" I spotted while roaming around..

http://www.engagementringsdirect.com/1.15-carat-e-vvs2-hearts-and-arrows-round-cut-diamond-gid-145604.html

I had to drop them an email to request Aset/Ideal scope images, pictures of the diamond, and access to the GIA report though...

Does anybody have opinions on the hearts and arrows cuts? Whiteflash doesn't have any VVS1 or VVS2 in their A Cut Above category...just VS1's and VS2's. But they do have E color, which is nice. They also supply all their photos nicely.

A 1.15ct E color VS2 "HNA"

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2982216.htm
 
American size 4 ring size 0 cloths 5 1' 105 lbs 3.66 carat ring and I rock it.....emerald cut 1" patinum solid band.
 
Thanks Ice!!

Ok I'm feeling a little stupid right now....I've been browsing hardcore for two days straight...comparing left, right, up, and down. I think I've been on the James Allen site for like 7 hours straight today. I just realized this diamond is going into an 18k yellow gold setting. Should I be looking at G/H/I color because the setting may put a slight color tone into the diamond anyways? I was looking at tons of color comparison photos and I'm pretty OCD and the G/H/I are pretty darn white to me. The J/K start to get the yellow tint in low light it seems.

If that's the case I can take the savings from a lower color and put it to a bigger carat.....and I'm definately looking for a minimum VS1 at this point for clarity. Those high def photos on james allen and brian gavin do nothing but cause the worst of my OCD to take over during inspection. I browsed VS2's for like 3 hours trying to find ones that I absolutely couldn't see anything at 5x, but I couldn't find one :D
 
NO. You are fine. Just get a platinum head (we recommend that anyway, for any setting) on the yellow shank. You are fine.

As for hearts and arrows: It's like the clarity. It's overkill, IMO and something you can give on if you have to. Here's a thread that will help you on that score; [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/likelihood-of-finding-a-signature-super-ideal-diamond.174235/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/likelihood-of-finding-a-signature-super-ideal-diamond.174235/[/URL]


The reason you are having trouble finding VVS in a round at BGD and WF and GOG is... most people don't spend their money on something you can't see at all. VS1 is really the max you need for the really eagle-eyed or super worried customer. VVS is hard to move, so vendors don't stock it. Or if they do, they couple it with D color, and hearts and arrows..... which shoots the price to around 15k and over your budget. And they do that because really the only people who want VVS in a round are also wanting the whitest stone they can get and the most perfectly cut. Because at that point, it's not about anything but buying something rare. So... the vendors carry the rarest out there: D IF D VVS and Hearts and Arrows and AGS0.

We've had a number of people come on here wanting to selling their VVS rounds, and they are shocked that jewelers won't offer to buy them, and regular people don't want them either. But there is a reason for that. Most people aren't looking for the rarest diamond. They are looking for the largest they can get for their budget without sacrificing too much of anything. And that means F-G-H color and VS2-SI1 or thereabouts.
 
Thanks for the info! I went back and weeded out my selections based on your explanation about the premium ideals and I tried to find the best quality for the value. I chose the below three diamonds and in particular chose WF/BGD because they offer some really nice 18k yellow gold settings that I can pair with a diamond purchase. I noticed several sites had limited 18k yellow offerings...but maybe they just don't list them and I'd have to call for availability. Anyhow these are my picks and they all look really really nice! Great HCA scores to boot.


$9,704 (PS Member + Wire Price)
1.17 ct H VS1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round (HCA Score of 1.9)
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2724958.htm

$10,402 (PS Member + Wire Price)
1.26 ct G VS2 Expert Selection Round Cut Loose Diamond (HCA Score of 1.3)
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2674676.htm?source=pricescope



$10,634 (Wire Price, but maybe greater savings if I mention PS and purchase setting)
1.216 H VS1 Signature Blue Round (HCA Score of 0.8 )
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.216-h-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104052029007#!prettyPhoto[gallery2]/1/


Now these are three beautiful diamonds. Any opinions here or should I just go with my gut? Everyone on here speaks so highly of the BGD and it did get the best HCA score. I hate to be cliche, but you only live once comes to mind when making my selecton :mrgreen:
 
zedy44|1381202362|3534018 said:
Thanks for the info! I went back and weeded out my selections based on your explanation about the premium ideals and I tried to find the best quality for the value. I chose the below three diamonds and in particular chose WF/BGD because they offer some really nice 18k yellow gold settings that I can pair with a diamond purchase. I noticed several sites had limited 18k yellow offerings...but maybe they just don't list them and I'd have to call for availability. Anyhow these are my picks and they all look really really nice! Great HCA scores to boot.


$9,704 (PS Member + Wire Price)
1.17 ct H VS1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round (HCA Score of 1.9)
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2724958.htm

$10,402 (PS Member + Wire Price)
1.26 ct G VS2 Expert Selection Round Cut Loose Diamond (HCA Score of 1.3)
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2674676.htm?source=pricescope



$10,634 (Wire Price, but maybe greater savings if I mention PS and purchase setting)
1.216 H VS1 Signature Blue Round (HCA Score of 0.8 )
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.216-h-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104052029007#!prettyPhoto[gallery2]/1/



Now these are three beautiful diamonds. Any opinions here or should I just go with my gut? Everyone on here speaks so highly of the BGD and it did get the best HCA score. I hate to be cliche, but you only live once comes to mind when making my selecton :mrgreen:
Click to expand...



All three of those look beautiful but I don't know as much as all the pros. You are in good hands. Just wanted to add that a few of the deciding factors in my recent purchase that should ship Friday (when the stones were about even) was who had the best return policy and who had the best upgrade policy. Something maybe to think about.
 
Just a little correction, the BG stone did NOT get the best HCA score. A lower score is not better than a higher score up to 2.0. Of those three stones, the Whiteflash ACA is the only one we know to be a true hearts and arrows stone. I happen to like fluorescence so the BG stone might be appealing to me, but fluoro is something you have to decide you want. Plus the price is too high compared to the WF stone. The BG stone should cost less due to the fluorescence and the sizes are almost identical. I would not pay $900 more for that diamond.

I do think VS1 is a great choice for someone who likes a very eyeclean stone (and it is my personal choice, as well). I like H color, but you need to be sure she is not expecting a D-F color stone.
 
I like the G the best, got good size too. Not sure if your girl is superstitious but the Chinese like numbers ending with 6 or 8 as they rhyme with good luck. My partner's sister in law chose a 1.38 carat stone for that reason, she even chose the setting with 0.28carat so the tcw is 1.66 the best number to her :?
 
diamondseeker2006|1381206301|3534042 said:
Just a little correction, the BG stone did NOT get the best HCA score. A lower score is not better than a higher score up to 2.0. Of those three stones, the Whiteflash ACA is the only one we know to be a true hearts and arrows stone. I happen to like fluorescence so the BG stone might be appealing to me, but fluoro is something you have to decide you want. Plus the price is too high compared to the WF stone. The BG stone should cost less due to the fluorescence and the sizes are almost identical. I would not pay $900 more for that diamond.

I do think VS1 is a great choice for someone who likes a very eyeclean stone (and it is my personal choice, as well). I like H color, but you need to be sure she is not expecting a D-F color stone.
Click to expand...

Oh my mistake. I thought the HCA scores were better the lower they are...i.e. everyone wants a score below 2.0 so under 2.0 a 1.0 would be better than a 1.5? I'm a newbie so I'll have to re-read the HCA info page again.
 
Daisyoz|1381227335|3534076 said:
I like the G the best, got good size too. Not sure if your girl is superstitious but the Chinese like numbers ending with 6 or 8 as they rhyme with good luck. My partner's sister in law chose a 1.38 carat stone for that reason, she even chose the setting with 0.28carat so the tcw is 1.66 the best number to her :?
Click to expand...

She loves the #9...so either the ACA or ES would be nice in terms of the number superstition since they both add up to 9 haha. She doesn't care how it gets to 9, if it adds or ends in it etc...but interesting mention!
 
diamondseeker2006|1381206301|3534042 said:
Just a little correction, the BG stone did NOT get the best HCA score. A lower score is not better than a higher score up to 2.0. Of those three stones, the Whiteflash ACA is the only one we know to be a true hearts and arrows stone. I happen to like fluorescence so the BG stone might be appealing to me, but fluoro is something you have to decide you want. Plus the price is too high compared to the WF stone. The BG stone should cost less due to the fluorescence and the sizes are almost identical. I would not pay $900 more for that diamond.

I do think VS1 is a great choice for someone who likes a very eyeclean stone (and it is my personal choice, as well). I like H color, but you need to be sure she is not expecting a D-F color stone.
Click to expand...


By the way thanks I went to search for clarification in the HCA info page again!

"Stones near the center of the red region (the lowest scores) are least affected by symmetry variations. Alternatively hearts and arrows diamonds, which have excellent optical symmetry, but often HCA scores around 2, may out-perform diamonds with lesser symmetry and lower HCA scores."
 
I'm going to say that with what you've told us about your lady, I would stick to safer colors: F/G and not go down to H.

The G ES diamond is a good buy, and WF has a lot of nice solitaires.
 
Thanks Gypsy!

I did settle on the WF 1.26ct G VS2. I browsed their selection of G VS1/VS2 again just to be safe and I couldn't find one I like more than that first one I picked.

I'm debating between two solitaire settings right now...

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/broadway-solitaire-engagement-ring-505.htm

and

http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/sierra-solitaire-engagement-ring-271.htm

I really love the broadway, but I'm a tiny bit hesitant because it's four prong. The Sierra offers the split prong, which to me looks a little nicer than the 6 prong solitaires the offer, but it doesn't look as nice as the four prong broadway. I imagine millions of people have four prong settings and don't think twice about any "risk factor" when they are cautious of when to wear their e-ring during certain activities.

I'm going to call WF tomorrow and see if I can arrange some additional shots of the diamond just to try and curb my excitement a bit. This dang thing isn't even for me and I'm pumped to see it first hand!
 
Done deal!

I asked for additional photos of the diamond along with a shot of the hearts pattern since that wasn't listed on the site with the ideal scope and aset images. The hearts looked 99.7% symmetrical, but just a tiny bit off on one heart. All the additional follow up shots of the diamond looked amazing. I also asked for additional photos of the Sierra and Broadway rings and the extra shots of the Sierra did it for me.

So for the totals....

1.26 ct G VS2 Expert Selection Round Cut Loose Diamond: $10,942
18k Yellow Gold with Platinum Head "Sierra" Solitaire Engagement Ring: $1,495
Total before discounts: $12,437

New Registration discount: -$50
2% Pricescope discount (diamond only): -$218.84
3.5% Wire Discount (diamond only): -$364.04
Final Price: $11,803 with a total savings of $634 (and no sales tax of course...)

I'm off to vacation for a week...so they said they'll drop it off for Fedex delivery on the Monday that I return. Pictures will be posted upon arrival :bigsmile:

Thanks everyone for all the help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Congrats in your purchase!
 
I was going to vote for the Sierra. Glad to see you chose it.

Great purchase. Please come back with pics when you get it!
 
Ok sorry for the delay! I had my brother's wedding and then the GF and I were off to Florida for a week of vacation. The ring arrived as soon as I returned and upon inspection I was blown away. It really is that amazing. It's so bright I could blind someone with it in the right light. The sierra setting is perfect..I love the split prong!

The engagement will be in early December because of a bit of a proposal timing conflict with another close friend of mine. My GF definitely has ring obsession right now though...since my Brother's wedding last weekend it's all she can talk about. Asks me every day for one lol.


Here are some photos...though they really don't do it any justice at all because I took them with my phone in the kitchen in kind of a rush. Sorry I didn't have time to upload them to PS this morning!

http://imageshack.com/a/img443/9229/axn4.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img837/3559/ijat.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img35/1979/l541.jpg
 
The ring looks amazing! Congratulations! She is going to be blown away! By the way can I ask what size is it?
 
Congratulation!!!! The ring indeed looking amazing!!!! Thanks for your help on my thread for the advise on E-ring, I too bought a ring from Whiteflash as well. It should arrive next week. Can't wait to see the ring for myself!!!!

Just curious since you bought the G color VS2 clarity, do you find the diamond color still very white? How about the clarity? I bought a H color VS2 clarity, just want to hear your finding on your ring.
 
Daisyoz|1383055386|3546709 said:
The ring looks amazing! Congratulations! She is going to be blown away! By the way can I ask what size is it?
Click to expand...

It's a 5.5 and it's a tiny bit snug on my pinky there. I have a feeling it will look bigger on my soon-to-be fiance's hand.

andythlee|1383069631|3546834 said:
Congratulation!!!! The ring indeed looking amazing!!!! Thanks for your help on my thread for the advise on E-ring, I too bought a ring from Whiteflash as well. It should arrive next week. Can't wait to see the ring for myself!!!!

Just curious since you bought the G color VS2 clarity, do you find the diamond color still very white? How about the clarity? I bought a H color VS2 clarity, just want to hear your finding on your ring.
Click to expand...

The diamond is extremely white in my opinion. I may not be color sensitive as other people are, but I cannot tell in natural light if there is any hint of color that could be detected. I was initially looking at E/F color diamonds and honestly I'm glad I stopped over-focusing on the color too much. I think you'll be very happy with the H.

As for the clarity it's certainly eye clean. I tried from every possible angle with the naked eye to see if I could see something. Not a chance at all of seeing anything except brilliance and fire. It shines so darn bright I think I'd consider going even lower on the clarity scale to get an even bigger diamond in the future if my fiance ever wants to trade upwards. I really couldn't be more happy with Whiteflash and the entire process.

Thanks for the comments!!
 
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