Help buying a 0,40 round diamond

[Tombowi]

Hi everyone,

I'm Tom and I'm looking for a diamond for a custom (rose gold 18k) ring. This is all new to me so i did some research, but of course i would like to ask for your advice.

The stone should be in the 0.40c range or slightly below. I had Whiteflash or Blue Nile stone in mind.

The budget would be about 900 dollars.
With Whiteflash, of course, import fees would be added while with Blue Nile i could save those. It's about the best diamond within the budget so i will not focus on Blue Nile only.
So up to 950 Dollars without fees would be allright for whiteflash.
But is the quality/cut difference in this case (size) that visible?

https://www.bluenile.com/de/diamond-details/FLD14805427

https://www.bluenile.com/de/diamond-details/FLD12548444

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

Diamond | 0.423 ct J VS1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4361893

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.423 carat J color VS1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4361893

www.whiteflash.com

Diamond | 0.445 ct I SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4361894

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.445 carat I color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4361894

www.whiteflash.com

 

[lovedogs]

Hi everyone,

I'm Tom and I'm looking for a diamond for a custom (rose gold 18k) ring. This is all new to me so i did some research, but of course i would like to ask for your advice.

The stone should be in the 0.40c range or slightly below. I had Whiteflash or Blue Nile stone in mind.

The budget would be about 900 dollars.
With Whiteflash, of course, import fees would be added while with Blue Nile i could save those. It's about the best diamond within the budget so i will not focus on Blue Nile only.
So up to 950 Dollars without fees would be allright for whiteflash.
But is the quality/cut difference in this case (size) that visible?

https://www.bluenile.com/de/diamond-details/FLD14805427

https://www.bluenile.com/de/diamond-details/FLD12548444

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

Diamond | 0.423 ct J VS1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4361893

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.423 carat J color VS1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4361893

www.whiteflash.com

Diamond | 0.445 ct I SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4361894

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.445 carat I color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4361894

www.whiteflash.com

Where are you located? I ask because Crafted By Infinity (sold by HP Diamonds and often recommended here) has partner vendors in Europe (I think) so you might be able to get a super ideal stone which is the same quality as WF without paying import fees.

 

[Tombowi]

Where are you located? I ask because Crafted By Infinity (sold by HP Diamonds and often recommended here) has partner vendors in Europe (I think) so you might be able to get a super ideal stone which is the same quality as WF without paying import fees.

I heard about them and did sent them an e-mail asking if they could name an online shop / dealer for the netherlands or germany since i travel between both. But they haven´t replied.

 

[Tombowi]

I I would probably stick with BlueNile and Whiteflash.

 

[Tombowi]

Sorry but these links work:

https://www.bluenile.com/de/diamond-details/LD12548444

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

Diamond | 0.423 ct J VS1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4361893

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.423 carat J color VS1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4361893

www.whiteflash.com

Diamond | 0.445 ct I SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4361894

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 0.445 carat I color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4361894

www.whiteflash.com

 

[sledge]

You have some decent choices selected.

The one I would eliminate is the BN 0.40 J-VS1 w/ the the medium blue fluor & 36/40.8 combo. Primary reason is the 36/40.8 isn't complimentary. The pavilion is too steep with that 36 crown. You'd want a 40.6 pavilion at most. On a side note, it also has medium blue fluor. Not a bad thing necessarily, but something that requires some due diligence and should trade for less $ over a stone with none/faint/negligible.

The thing you said that resonates with me is, "I want the best stone for the budget".

To me, best means superior cut & sparkle performance. And I think this is where WF pulls ahead in this race. Both the WF stones are their top of the line ACA collection with true hearts & arrow (H&A) symmetry that is designed for maximum performance & sparkle. Out of all the diamonds in the world, only about 5% or so fall into this elite category! And they have a full array of light performance & symmetry images to confirm they are indeed the best of the best. To me, that matters because all this helps provide assurance you are truly getting the best stone available!

As a perk, they also have a lifetime trade up program where the rules are stupid easy: simply trade for a stone of equal or greater value! While you may think you would never upgrade, that probably isn't realistic. As incomes grow, etc many times our ladies want a bigger stone and this is a nice option to have. Also, if for some reason, size was okay but she wanted a more white stone then you could trade within the same size and go up in color. So the program ca be used not only to incrementally grow as you see fit, but to also hedge against desires changing as we mature.

I personally would go with the WF 0.445 ACA I-SI1. It's the largest of the group. I love the proportions, and it gets you in an I color which I think is better. Clarity is lowest of the group, but it's eye clean and really, in this size range, VS+ is overkill and spending dollars where you don't have to do so.

Oh yeah, and it's a sparkle bomb.

 

[Tombowi]

Thank you for all the helpful information. I'm leaning towards Whiteflash right now because there are other benefits besides the cut itself ( as you mentioned). But of course it's tempting to invest the importing fees etc. which would probably be about $220, directly into the stone. Is there perhaps a Bluenile with better sparkle than the ones i posted before for up to 900 euro (not necessarily larger) to widen my options as great alternative to whiteflash? I can enter the optimal filtering specs at BlueNile, but unfortunately my knowledge stops at the evaluation of the data.

 

[elizat]

On this one, being European, I would recommend staying with Blue Nile simply because of the issue with tax. The additional cost for the import duty for a white flash stone of this size is likely not going to be worth it. In addition, most Europeans do not upgrade diamonds. It's really very much an American thing to upgrade a diamond versus a European mindset. Just like the large stones that are purchased mostly on this board are not by Europeans.

@yssie do you think you could help this person find a stone within their budget at Blue Nile?

 

[johnjo56]

...Yssie helped to find me a gorgeous diamond from Blue Nile and I would highly recommend them especially with you being in Europe they add in all the extra tax and duty to your total so you know how much you will be spending, my experience with them was faultless (I’m in the UK)

Also if it helps I have a discount code that worked for me and saved £100 when entered at the checkout on Blue Nile. I have no idea if it still works or not but give it a try and it may give you an extra £100 to spend.

Promo code: DPRO7DZ3QWT

Good luck I’m pretty sure you will find a lovely diamond from somebody on here.

 

[sledge]

We can change gears and focus on BN if that is your preference. My mindset was pretty simple in the fact WF is a sure thing. We can use video & lab reports to find a nice BN stone. You just don’t get that reassurance of the advanced images like WF.

Also right now, while 20% or so is a static percentage for VAT & duties, the dollar amount seems less impactful in the long haul. Sort of like $5 is still 5% of $100. Yet $50,000 of $1 million is more impactful, although it too is just 5%.

 

[Tombowi]

Thanks everybody. As i said Whiteflash is still an option and from what i read before there are two great stones listed in this thread. But i would still like to see what BlueNile has to offer in the mentioned Budget so i have some options. So any help on this is very much appreciated.

 

[yssie]

@Tombowi What setting are you thinking of? You mention a "custom rose gold" mount. Do you have photos of what you want?

Some stones will suit certain types of settings better than others. If you tell us what type of setting you want, we can find a stone that will perform best in that setting style. Ditto elizat and others, I too would buy from Blue Nile if possible, since import fees will swallow a non-trivial portion of the budget. You don't need a superideal to get a beautiful stone - buying a superideal is an easy way to guarantee that you'll get a beautiful stone, but as Sledge said earlier, it's not necessary if you're willing to do some legwork.

Question:
Is the budget for the stone only, or does the budget include setting?

Question:
Do you want a solitaire (one stone) or a ring with smaller stones down the shank?



Question:
Do you want prongs holding the stone, or do you want a bezel (metal fully encasing the outline of the stone)? Prongs are traditional - you typically choose either four prongs or six prongs to hold a round brilliant diamond. Bezels are sleek and easy to wear (fantastic choice for a woman in healthcare who is constantly putting gloves on and taking them off, for example), and a white metal bezel can make the diamond look bigger from afar.

 

[Tombowi]

@yssie I dont have a drawing or photo at the moment, but you can imagine the ring similar to the one in the link with a thin Band and more delicate with just 4-6 fine leaves and 4-6 very small diamonds on every on of them ( smaller than the ones in the photo). There will be a thin bezel around the Main Diamond with 6 prongs.

Rose gold engagement ring Diamond Cluster ring Unique moissanite Delicate leaf wedding women Bridal set Promise Anniversary Gift for her - Fine Jewelry Ideas

This Rose gold engagement ring Diamond Cluster ring Unique moissanite Delicate leaf wedding women Bridal set Promise Anniversary Gift for her is just one of the custom, handmade pieces you'll find in our engagement rings shops.

finejewelryideas.com

The Budget is 900 Euro on the Diamond without the setting. I was thinking 0,40-0,45. But Everything in the 0,40 Range would fit perfectly.

 

[yssie]

Normally you have either a bezel or prongs - can you qualify what you mean here? In the inspiration, there are 6 prongs holding the stone. There is no bezel. However, metal underneath the stone (we often call this the "gallery" of the ring) is visible face-up, surrounding the stone like a very thin bumper. Is this your intent - to have this metal in the gallery visible face-up, but have prongs holding the main diamond?

The table facet in a diamond is the big flat facet in the middle, when you look down at the stone. All the angled facets around the outside of this big flat center facet - all those angled facets together make up the crown of the diamond. All the angled facets of the bottom of the stone together make up the pavilion of the diamond.

For an actual bezel or semi-bezel - for any mount that's got a lot going on at the girdle - I like a high crown, to give the stone as much chance as possible of catching face-up light (because the metal at the girdle will necessarily block some portion of the crown). For this type of setting I might choose a stone with proportions like this:

0,45-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

For a prong setting, I like a shallow crown and shallow pavilion, to increase spread. For this type of setting (and for your inspiration setting exactly as-is) I might choose a stone with proportions like this:

0,46-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

These are just examples, doing a very quick search - I haven't vetted them for actual purchase. I'll look for some options later tonight when I'm home.

 

[Tombowi]

Thank you for the explanation yssie. You have expressed it correctly. There is metal surrounding the stone like a very thin bumper. I thought its called bezel as long as there is metal around the stone.

Just found this one which comes very close to what i had mentioned before:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/01/9f/d1019f47c3f9a063a175a78ff88e1571.jpg

Thanks for looking at the stones. It would be great to have an alternative to the BN 0,40 too ( if there is potential to improve).

 

[yssie]

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

This, one of your original selections, is a lovely stone. Recent report, no flags in report or video. Beautiful patterning. I like medium fluor, especially in the near-colourless range. There’s no reason not to choose this stone, unless you wish to go up in colour or diameter.

In this size a reputably-graded (GIA certainly qualifies) J coloured round brilliant will look white to the eye unless compared side by side with more colourless stones. @LaylaR has in the past compared choosing white diamond colour to picking paint swatches. There’s a wall of “white” swatches, and they’re all clearly and indubitably white, but some are bright blazing icy white, some are softer off-white...

I personally default to advising men looking for diamonds for their partners to stick to D-I, for round brilliants in the under-carat size, unless the gentleman knows something more about his intended’s preference for colour or visual acuity than we do


If you’d like to go up in spread I like this stone a lot:

0,46-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

It’s quite shallow, which distributes diameter horizontally rather than vertically, increasing face-up diameter. Proportions are nice, I/VS2 is a “mind clean” combo (a feather in a VS2 at this size will have no impact on durability whatsoever, no worries), and there are no flags in report or video.

This is a stone many would pass over because the table is large. You’ll often see 54-58 (or something close) recommended here. A large table isn’t a negative when the remainder of the stone is proportioned appropriately - which this stone is. But of course proportions dictate how the stone plays with light, and light play determines the character of the stone! I expect this stone to be very, very bright. Very white. But if you took this stone and your original selection side by side into a number of spaces with different lighting (sunlight, office fluorescents, outside in the shade, etc.) you might notice that the original choice throws off more coloured light than this one. This one is more consistently bright white.

This is largely personal preference. Many PSers develop tastes for coloured flashes of light, even if at the expense of some brightness.

 

[nojs]

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile

www.bluenile.com

This, one of your original selections, is a lovely stone. Recent report, no flags in report or video. Beautiful patterning. I like medium fluor, especially in the near-colourless range. There’s no reason not to choose this stone, unless you wish to go up in colour or diameter.

In this size a reputably-graded (GIA certainly qualifies) J coloured round brilliant will look white to the eye unless compared side by side with more colourless stones. @LaylaR has in the past compared choosing white diamond colour to picking paint swatches. There’s a wall of “white” swatches, and they’re all clearly and indubitably white, but some are bright blazing icy white, some are softer off-white...

I personally default to advising men looking for diamonds for their partners to stick to D-I, for round brilliants in the under-carat size, unless the gentleman knows something more about his intended’s preference for colour or visual acuity than we do


If you’d like to go up in spread I like this stone a lot:

0,46-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

It’s quite shallow, which distributes diameter horizontally rather than vertically, increasing face-up diameter. Proportions are nice, I/VS2 is a “mind clean” combo (a feather in a VS2 at this size will have no impact on durability whatsoever, no worries), and there are no flags in report or video.

This is a stone many would pass over because the table is large. You’ll often see 54-58 (or something close) recommended here. A large table isn’t a negative when the remainder of the stone is proportioned appropriately - which this stone is. But of course proportions dictate how the stone plays with light, and light play determines the character of the stone! I expect this stone to be very, very bright. Very white. But if you took this stone and your original selection side by side into a number of spaces with different lighting (sunlight, office fluorescents, outside in the shade, etc.) you might notice that the original choice throws off more coloured light than this one. This one is more consistently bright white.

This is largely personal preference. Many PSers develop tastes for coloured flashes of light, even if at the expense of some brightness.

If find that brightness is a bit more important on small stones, since the diamond is not that large and the colorful flashes are not as noticeable as with a larger stones. I’m sure both diamonds will be beautiful in person.

I would go for a higher color, since color is an attribute that is much more noticeable than inclusions, especially under 0.5 ct stones.

 

[Tombowi]

Hey Guys, thank you so much for all the helpful information and your time.
i appreciate that.

I will probably got for The 0,46 BN.

THX

 

[sledge]

Hey Guys, thank you so much for all the helpful information and your time.
i appreciate that.

I will probably got for The 0,46 BN.

THX

Here is the HCA on the 0.46.

Let me have another look, I had lost track of this thread.

 

[yssie]

@sledge BN provides video, which renders the HCA prediction irrelevant. HCA will knowingly toss babies out with the bathwater in order to conservatively weed through a vast inventory when the only information available is the report - I know that this stone is one of those babies because we do have more information than only the report (we also have photograph/video).

I would happily choose this stone for myself for the mount style that OP wants - or recommend it to a real world friend.

 

[sledge]

@yssie I agree the 0.46 is a nice stone. Not my particular style with the large 61 table, and a personality that throws more white light (brightness) than rainbow light (fire). However, gotta love the spread at 5mm.

Here are two alternates to consider. Although we have videos to consider, I am including HCA's for reference.

GIA 3X 0.45 I-SI1 @ €821

0,45-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

This one gets close to the same spread, but still falls a little short at 4.90mm. I like the 35.5 crown combined with the 56 table to produce 15.5% crown height to help with the bezel setting. Also, the 40.6 pavilion is a nice compliment. And the 80 LGF's help offset obstruction.



GIA 3X E-SI1 @ €768

0,40-Carat Round Cut Diamond | Blue Nile DE

www.bluenile.com

This one is definitely loses the spread game at 4.70mm. However, it's lower carat weight and is to be expected. The advantages are E color and a 34.5/40.8 combo with a smaller 56 table to help raise that crown height to 15%, which again helps with the bezel set.

 

[yssie]

I also prefer a high crown, small table type of stone, personally. I actually take that preference to an extreme! But in this case, given the specific mount that @Tombowi wants to use (it’s not actually a bezel
- I had the same thought ), I’m thinking a shallower/lower crown flavour is likely a better choice.

My reasoning is that the gallery is covering a portion of the pavilion, and is extending out past the diameter of the stone face-up, so there’s going to be a lot of rose gold going on near the pavilion. Shallower crowned stones with non-deep (if not outright shallow) pavilions do well when the crown is grubby and the pavilion is prone to picking up colours other than white - they tend to stay nice and bright. Whereas steeper crowned types will quickly look “darker” and will start showing their body colour. Had OP wanted a white metal mount I’d have gone exactly the direction you did!