6k budget for round solitaire engagement ring

[Riesz]

Thanks for all the help!

I didn't know platinum is such a pain to work with. I would prefer platinum for my ring but as of now, not sure if it will fit into the budget. I might consider palladium as an alternative to white gold. Having to replace the rhodium plating on white gold isn't appealing to me at all. Still mostly undecided on which metal I'll go with.

At first I was hesitant about the JA band but the more I look at it, the more I like it. If milgrain could be added to the round stones, I think it could be a keeper. If the round stones could be slightly evened out with the flat stones, I'm definitely 110% going with the JA band. Thank you again for suggesting it

I also found this diamond on JA.
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.01-carat-I-color-SI1-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-146916

It's a bit bigger than the other I linked and is excellent cut instead of very good. It's SI1 instead of VS1. 1.3 on HCA. The customer service rep said the mark at around 11 o'clock on the stone could probably be mostly covered by a prong. It's $4870 for that one. For the price, I'm not sure if the slightly better cut and slightly larger size is worth the inclusions.


Stone #1:
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.96-carat-I-color-VS1-clarity-Very-Good-cut-sku-175811

$4600, HCA 1.6, .96 carat I, VS1, VG, faint fluo

Stone #2:
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.01-carat-I-color-SI1-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-146916

$4870, HCA 1.3, 1.01 carat I, SI1, EX, no fluo

 

[bunnycat]

Thanks for all the help!

I didn't know platinum is such a pain to work with. I would prefer platinum for my ring but as of now, not sure if it will fit into the budget. I might consider palladium as an alternative to white gold. Having to replace the rhodium plating on white gold isn't appealing to me at all. Still mostly undecided on which metal I'll go with.

At first I was hesitant about the JA band but the more I look at it, the more I like it. If milgrain could be added to the round stones, I think it could be a keeper. If the round stones could be slightly evened out with the flat stones, I'm definitely 110% going with the JA band. Thank you again for suggesting it

FWIW- I have some rhodium plated rings, and have no trouble with it. It's probably going to wear off some day, but I think it may depend a little on how hard you are on your rings and also personal chemistry perhaps. I know some people say it wears off quickly, but I am not one of those people, I guess. I wouldn't knock white gold out without even knowing how you are with rhodium plating. If it's something I need to have done every few years or so, I am cool with that. It's certainly not an issue where I look at a ring and say "gosh! that was rhodium plated last week and now I'm gonna have to take it in..." but YMMV.

 

[Riesz]

My main concern about the rhodium plated white gold is having it wear off quickly since while at work I'm in a dusty environment and using my hands constantly. I've only owned yellow gold and sterling silver rings so far but I do have a 2 year old white gold necklace I wear everyday and it still seems to have a very lustrous sheen. Sometimes the necklace is against my skin and other times over my clothing, but it's never really in the way and getting banged around like a ring would.

I guess the deciding factor will be cost and whether or not palladium is available at JA.

 

[Riesz]

Just thought of a question --

Would a GIA "very good" grade cut with an excellent HCA score still be worth looking at? I've read to only consider "excellent" cuts for round, but if the light return and fire are excellent on HCA, wouldn't it still be a beautiful stone?

 

[bunnycat]

Just thought of a question --

Would a GIA "very good" grade cut with an excellent HCA score still be worth looking at? I've read to only consider "excellent" cuts for round, but if the light return and fire are excellent on HCA, wouldn't it still be a beautiful stone?

HCA is not a selection tool, it's only a tool to help you weed out the poorer possibilities and help you decide what stones are worth investigating more.

There may be ways to further tweak the options to get you where you want, but I am definitely not one who would know what to tell you to look for other then most people will say don't compromise on cut (EX or Ideal) but it's possible to let polish slide in to VG. Others may know more about odd angle combinations or other things to look for that might still give you a nice stone.