Buying ring, 7k budget

[totototo1]

Hi,

Just curious if anyone has any advice on purchasing a diamond/ring for a 7k budget. A Platinum band is a MUST so that will dig into the price of the diamond for sure so maybe a 5k stone? (Looking around it seems it's about 2k for a platinum band). Will I be able to get a decent diamond at this price? I am pretty new to diamond shopping so I am not exactly sure what would be a good diamond for the price.

Thanks.

 

[aron42486]

Depends on what your criteria are for a "decent diamond". I think $5,000 is plenty to get you a great diamond. You definitely want to get the best cut available, since this is the biggest contributor to the sparkle and fire. Do you know what shape you are looking for? Do you have a size range in mind? Is it important to you to have a colorless diamond or are you ok with near colorless? What kind of clarity are you ok with?

Tell us a little more about what you would like and everyone here can find you some very great diamonds.

Edit: Here is an example of a round brillant http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2792430.htm

 

[totototo1]

Well, I am looking for a .9- 1.00 carat. I would like the best cut possible for the price I can afford and I think that is the most important thing for me. Not too worried about color, maybe I ? I am not very versed on the SI1, VV2, etc grades but someone suggest VS1 or better. Would I even fall into this range with a 5kish budget for just a loose diamond?

 

[totototo1]

Forgot to mention - ROUND

 

[jkozlow3]

I'm in a very similar situation...

1. What is your girlfriend's finger size - any idea? The same size stone looks very different on small fingers vs. larger ones. My girlfriend has a size 4.5 finger and I know that stones of around 1 carat look very nice on her without looking too large or small (we've tried on various sizes). If she had a size 8 finger however, a 1 carat would look quite a bit smaller for example.

2. Do you have any idea what she likes? Round cuts, square cuts, etc? (EDIT: I see that you posted round as your preference while I was typing this)

My budget is around $7k as well. I showed my girlfriend a ton of settings from a ton of websites and the one she likes most is about $2k in platinum (link: http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/diamond-settings/legato-sleek-line-pave-diamond-engagement-ring-1120.htm). They also make a version of this ring without the pave diamonds in the shank which is around $6-700 cheaper as well. The nice thing about this style of setting is that it will make the center stone appear larger due to the taper near the head. You have to get a setting that she'll like however and that could be a simple solitaire, a 3-stone setting or a halo setting. Just depends on her taste.

For me, that leaves $5k for my center stone.

For around $5k, you should be able to get a beautiful round cut stone of about .9 carats which will look very close to a 1 carat stone of comparable cut but is much cheaper (the price jumps significantly at the magic 1 carat mark - expect to pay a lot more to hit this magic number).

Cut is the most important quality in a diamond. It is often stated that ideal cut diamonds will look bigger than "average" (shopping mall quality) stones that are 10-15% larger in carat weight, as ideal cuts sparkle significantly more under a variety of lighting conditions. For the best cut possible, a stone that is AGS graded with a cut score of 0 (ideal) is a foolproof way to go. AGS graded stones are a bit rarer and carry a little bit of a premium as well. GIA is the other good lab and you will find many more GIA graded stones than AGS ones. GIA graded stones with an "excellent" cut (their top rating) can also be good, but they use a much broader range (i.e. GIA excellent could equate to as low as an AGS 2 or 3 rating from what I've read).

Color - you will find a lot of opinions on color, but for most people a G or H color is kind of the sweet spot for maximizing your dollar and staying within the "safe" range of near colorless. Some people are comfortable going down to an "I" color, as an ideal cut stone will mask color in the diamond due to how much it sparkles. It's also much harder to see color once the stone is set. Personally, H was my cutoff - just for peace of mind.

Clarity - VS2 should almost always be eye-clean (no visible inclusions with the naked eye from a few inches away) and is pretty safe. That said, if you down a grade to SI1, you will get an even better value but you risk the stone not being 100% eye-clean. Some SI1 stones are, some aren't. You'll want to work with a good retailer who can inspect the stone and advise you in this area.

If it were me (this is what I did), I would go to the Whiteflash site and search their "virtual" selection (you must click "advanced" and specify virtual and de-select the other options). The virtual stones are ones that they can have sent to them for analysis and are typically $1500+ cheaper than their in-house stones of similar specs. Search for a .89-.99 carat, ideal cut, G-H color, VS2-SI1 clarity stone. If you see something that looks good, give them a call and ask them about the process for bringing the stone in for evaluation.

Here are 3 good candidates in the .9 carat range for around $5k:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2788395.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2781906.htm
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2796300.htm

There are several other good retailers which are often recommended here as well and I'm sure others will chime in with their favorites. I just happened to use Whiteflash for my search and they helped me out quite a bit (no affiliation). I found a gorgeous stone on my first try by doing exactly what I recommended.

Hope this helps!

 

[E B]

If Blue Nile can confirm this is eye-clean, it'd be worth a look in person, I think:

http://www.bluenile.com/build-your-...02633507&builder=BYOR&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP

http://www.bluenile.com/solitaire-diamond-engagement-ring-platinum_1

 

[totototo1]

Great thank you for the great advice. Her ring size is 5 (she's tiny), so I don't think a HUGE diamond would work for her hence why I am trying for a .9 - 1.00.

 

[OCgirl]

Here are some options to consider:

1.04 ct I VS2 $6,501 after PS discount http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1490436.asp
1.01 ct I VS2 $6,737 after PS discount http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1486026.asp
1.09 ct I VS2 $6,531 after PS discount http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1440742.asp

Solitaire settings are typically less than $1,000, like this one:
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/diamond-solitaire-rings.html

The diamonds listed by the poster above are virtual stones. Whiteflash do not have those stones in inventory therefore the pictures are not of acutal stones. We usually recommend buying in-house stones so you can get an imagine, ideal scope and ASET images to compare.

 

[jkozlow3]

The diamonds listed by the poster above are virtual stones. Whiteflash do not have those stones in inventory therefore the pictures are not of acutal stones. We usually recommend buying in-house stones so you can get an imagine, ideal scope and ASET images to compare.

Yes, they are part of their virtual selection indeed. However Whiteflash will take pics of the stone and provide ideal scope and ASET images as well once they get it in-house. It's all part of their virtual selection service described on their site and it's a nice way to save $1500 over their in-house stones if you get lucky and find something nice like I did. My virtual stone's ideal scope and ASET images were as nice as most of their Expert Selection stones listed on their site, all of which were $1400+ over what I paid for stones of the same size, color and clarity.

 

[OCgirl]

The diamonds listed by the poster above are virtual stones. Whiteflash do not have those stones in inventory therefore the pictures are not of acutal stones. We usually recommend buying in-house stones so you can get an imagine, ideal scope and ASET images to compare.

Yes, they are part of their virtual selection indeed. However Whiteflash will take pics of the stone and provide ideal scope and ASET images as well once they get it in-house. It's all part of their virtual selection service described on their site and it's a nice way to save $1500 over their in-house stones if you get lucky and find something nice like I did. My virtual stone's ideal scope and ASET images were as nice as most of their Expert Selection stones listed on their site, all of which were $1400+ over what I paid for stones of the same size, color and clarity.

Virtual selection is not included as part of their lifetime upgrade policy. That's also another thing to consider.
"Diamonds in our Virtual Selection category and other diamonds that may be sourced for customers are not part of Whiteflash in-house inventory and are therefore not included in our Trade Up Guarantee."

 

[tampabull]

I found when looking at stones in person, the difference between a VS1-VS2 and a SI1 stone wasn't enough to worry about. Especially if you are shopping online and can find an SI1 with inclusions that aren't visible to the naked eye.

Making that clarity compromise allowed me to look at larger stones within my budget, and not compromise on the other criteria (like good dimensions and light performance).