Help from the experts :) re: choosing diamond/vendor

[mjg]

Ok so my boyfriend and I have been looking at engagement rings for a very long time. The reason it's been a very long time is because I cannot make my mind up. I have been planning on a 1.5 ctw 5 stone ring from BGD or WF for the last few months and I had everything ready to go but when we went to pay...I got a knot in my stomach. There's a lot of reasons why this is difficult for me to decide (probably the biggest of which is that we live in a very rural area and our jeweler choices are zales or kay, so not much help in person). We happened to be out of town recently and I was able to try on some 5 stone rings. I liked them ok (although the settings were not very attractive) and I was feeling pretty confident until the end when the SA brought out a 1 carat solitaire for me to try on with the 5 stone (demonstrating that I would have options) and my heart just kind of skipped a beat. I realized that what I am really wanting is a solitaire, which has always been my preference, but I talked myself into a 5 stone to only have one ring (short fingers) and to save money, and I also liked that it's a bit different. Plus, I'm not sure if I want to upgrade ever and lose my original diamond and I always thought my idea of doing things a bit backwards (band now, solitaire later if I wanted it) was a great idea. It probably is logically a good idea, but it's not necessarily what I want right now, so we are going to go back to our original idea of a solitaire! I guess I'll upgrade later if I feel like it, and if not I'll be happy with it!

SO, like most people, I want to get the most bang for our buck. Now here's where my question really starts (start here if this is too much to read lol). I don't know if I should still go with WF or BGD for the ring or if I should buy from, say, blue nile to get more size for our budget. If I find an AGS 0 diamond on blue nile, will it still show arrows? And, do I/should I care? I mean honestly I've never seen H&A diamonds in person. There's a jeweler I've been to who does have GIA Excellent cut diamonds, but I've never seen a H&A and I don't know if I should care, or if it would really add to/detract from my enjoyment. I know that I want a diamond with great light performance, but how do I decide if it's worth it to go down in size to get a BGD signature or WF ACA? I also want as big of a diamond as possible (is that a given?! ). With our budget, we could get around .8-.9 carat from BGD/WF or we could probably make it around 1.1 from somewhere like blue nile. Maybe that's not a big enough difference to sacrifice the H&A.

The other issue is, we actually purchased a solitaire from JA months ago, and I chose the 6 prong comfort fit setting. The setting really didn't do much for my hand or the diamond. It was just so flat and blunt and shapeless. I've got my eye on the tapered Tiffany setting at BGD, and the only setting that's similar at blue nile is the classic 6 prong. I don't want to end up with a blah setting. Also the setting from JA was really, really dull looking (platinum, nickel allergy) and I don't want that either. I feel like if I go with BGD I'll probably get a much more attractive setting also, so that's what I'm leaning towards. I've never owned a diamond and I really do want something high quality and amazing.

Thank you SO much for reading all this, and I appreciate any advice the experts have for me!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am going to say that I think it is better to go with WF or BG, because in the event that in 5 years you want a larger stone, you can easily trade it in and have them replace the head of your diamond. Both WF and BG have beautiful solitaire settings, and I honestly would not settle for a lesser quality setting. I would never buy a diamond from a vendor without pictures. You should be able to tell from James Allen that all excellent cut stones don't look as good as others. So one without pictures is out of the question to me. You can save a little at James Allen, but then there is the setting problem. I have bought diamonds from both WhiteFlash and Good Old Gold with no regrets.

 

[mjg]

I am going to say that I think it is better to go with WF or BG, because in the event that in 5 years you want a larger stone, you can easily trade it in and have them replace the head of your diamond. Both WF and BG have beautiful solitaire settings, and I honestly would not settle for a lesser quality setting. I would never buy a diamond from a vendor without pictures. You should be able to tell from James Allen that all excellent cut stones don't look as good as others. So one without pictures is out of the question to me. You can save a little at James Allen, but then there is the setting problem. I have bought diamonds from both WhiteFlash and Good Old Gold with no regrets.

Thank you diamondseeker! That is great advice!

 

[Niel]

i do think you could go with James allen, or somthing, they have well cut stones that arnt deemed as "h and A" and i do not think with an untrained eye you could tell the difference. Ive heard many people on here say even with their untrained eye looking at two stones in real life that can be 100% certain (traid and such) whats your budget?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I will agree but James Allen has a much more restrictive trade-in policy. I think you have to spend double to trade! You can go with an expert selection stone from WF or a premium or superior non-H&A stone which will also save money over a true H&A.

 

[mjg]

i do think you could go with James allen, or somthing, they have well cut stones that arnt deemed as "h and A" and i do not think with an untrained eye you could tell the difference. Ive heard many people on here say even with their untrained eye looking at two stones in real life that can be 100% certain (traid and such) whats your budget?

The problem with JA is that they don't have any settings I like. We actually ordered one from JA a few months ago and they said the diamond we picked was great, HCA was <2, but I wasn't very impressed. Maybe I really do want H&A...I don't know. If they had a setting I liked, we would probably try that route again. Budget is 5-6 or so.

 

[mjg]

I will agree but James Allen has a much more restrictive trade-in policy. I think you have to spend double to trade! You can go with an expert selection stone from WF or a premium or superior non-H&A stone which will also save money over a true H&A.

I've looked at some of their non-H&A stones and I was very surprised to see GIA "fair" cuts in their inventory. I think we would probably stick to ACA, expert selection, or BGD signature or blue. BGD has a setting I like, and they have a blue fluorescence stone that we could go for to get over a carat stretching our budget a little, but I'm not sure how I feel about that, and it's a J. We may go for something smaller and upgrade in time.

 

[Niel]

Well some people dont care about cut. There is a market for everything, so thats why they carry fair cuts.
but you pick ideal/ex, then in the advanced search you narrow down by ex symm, and the optimal table/depth percentage. Then all you have to do is look ay what they found and read the report to make sure it scores well on the hca.
They sell ags000 and gia 3x that would be just as bright. So i can understand you wanting to but from othwr places too because its easier to get a well cut stone, but that doeant mean you cant find a perfectly bright stone that isnt h&a. All h&a is is symmetry

 

[WillyDiamond]

As far as comparison between Blue Nile vs. WF ACA and BGD Signature series, you will get what you pay for. The latter 2 co's have good upgrade policies as described earlier by others.
Sounds like you want a true H & A stone, so go for it, otherwise you will back and look at the stone everyday and have buyers remorse. Best of luck.