Help Buying Loose Stone

[thundacat]

Hi,

I've been doing a bit of research and came across this site and hope you guys can help me with making my decision.

I have a budget of about 6000 taxes in for stone and setting.
Setting is just something simple - solitare style 14k white gold so I assume will be $1000 or less.

Diamond wise I am looking for:
Princess
Very Good - Excellent Cut/Symmetry/Polish
VS1-VS2
E colour
Carat - hoping for something around 1ct., but if I have to go smaller that is fine by me.

I went to a jeweler here and they were wanting 4212 + tax for a .72 ct VS2 E GIA Excellent Cut and Polish. Haven't tried talking him down at all yet though.
He showed me a bunch of stones and helped me see what was good and bad, between cut and colour, to actually understand the differences. No pressure for buying etc. So that was great. However, looking at Blue Nile and James Allen, everything appears to be so much cheaper there. I didn't like any of the settings on Blue Nile so hence just looking for a loose stone.

I'm not looking to learn a ton about angles and all the super particular stuff. I am just looking to make a relatively informed decision to buy an eye clean, as sparkly as possible, and decent sized diamond.

I live in BC Canada. Any recommendations (my above choices are guided by what I saw when looking at diamonds up close in the store for my first time ever), links to dimonds that you think would fit this, tips on things to do should I buy via James Allen or Blue Nile, etc. I would very much appreciate. I am hoping to pull the trigger very soon with my gf

I've seen stuff like A 1.01ct. E VS2 75.7% 68% GIA Excellent VG X N N 5.34x5.23x3.96 $4973 $5022 from B2C
and it just makes me think twice about buying from my local shops.

Thanks in advance.
I will keep digging through the forums here as well.

 

[JulieN]

Anything from B2C needs pictures.

Look into one of the Whiteflash ones I found using the PS search: https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-search-results/2269237

 

[thundacat]

THanks.

https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-search-results/2269237

Looking at the stats of these they are virutally identical, however the pictures look like one has quite a bit more bubbles or flecks in the diamond. I assume that is a bad thing.

If I buy from James Allen or Whiteflash vs Blue Nile, is there an imput duty cost at all that anyone as experienced?

Girdle question: For princess cut, I understand that the edges are already quite sharp. If I am getting an excellent/ideal cut, does it matter the girdle width eg. thin to med, or med to thick, etc. My understanding is this adds non visually realized ct. weight once the diamond is put in a ring; however, you do not want it too thin due to potential chipping. Since the diamond is ideal/excellent cut, I assume the brillance is not affected by girdle thickness as long as it falls in this cut type?

For example, something like this http://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-search?track=NavDiaSea#diamonds_pid=LD02787345
or the difference between these 2 diamonds: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/compare.aspx?idnos=2835507,2826015

Thanks!

 

[thundacat]

Nevermind. I found in another forum post that this should not affect brilliance.

Colour question. I figured high colour is best - D E F. I saw diamond set side by side by side to see the difference in colour. Rule of thumb was to go no less than G. I noticed the slight "dirtiness" between E and F side by side on white paper, but is it worth going G and getting higher ct. size or just saving money. It doesn't look like it affects the price super drastically from my limited research.

 

[JulieN]

THanks.

https://www.pricescope.com/diamond-search-results/2269237

Looking at the stats of these they are virutally identical, however the pictures look like one has quite a bit more bubbles or flecks in the diamond. I assume that is a bad thing.

If I buy from James Allen or Whiteflash vs Blue Nile, is there an imput duty cost at all that anyone as experienced?

The Whiteflash ACA princesses are fairly consistent and very well cut, so which one you pick comes down to your weighting of the other Cs (carat, color, clarity, cost.) In that search link, they are all VS2 to VVS1, so if you see actual bubbles or flecks in the magnified picture they are highly unlikely to be visible IRL

Yes, there are import duties.

G is very white.