Help with diamond purchase

[MissGotRocks]

Thank you! Analysis paralysis is a great description for what I am feeling right now. Lol.

Take a deep breath, sleep on it tonight - sometimes the morning brings clarity. It is a big purchase and I so understand not wanting to make a mistake. I just don’t think you can go wrong with either of them. I have been a repeat buyer of ACAs so I am fully confident of them. I have not purchased from Brian Gavin although his diamonds give me no pause either.

 

[lovedogs]

You definitely can't go wrong here. Definitely sleep on jt

 

[newtojewels]

Because the diamonds are so similar, does one of the vendors have a setting you prefer? I may have missed what your setting plan is.....

 

[Ashley Hoffman]

Thank you everyone. I didn't see your extra responses last night because my email didn't alert me. I ended up posting in a new thread. I'm so sorry!

I do think BG has a setting I prefer more. I gravitate towards very classic looking solitaire 4 prong setting so it shows off the diamond the most at all angles. https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/collections/engagement-rings/products/jasmine-6663

Do you think either stone would demonstrate more fire compared to the other? I like seeing both fire and brilliance in the diamonds but do gravitate towards fire more. The BG diamond has somewhat thicker arrows so I was reading that can sometimes contribute to bigger fire flashes? Both have a 55% table. Both have a crown angle of 34.5. BG has pavilion angle of 40.6 and WF has 40.8. Star facets and lower girdles are pretty identical. BG is a little deeper than the WF stone but still less than 62%.

 

[MissGotRocks]

So looks like the Whiteflash diamond went back in inventory and the Brian Gavin diamond says sold. Is that the one you ended up choosing?

 

[Ashley Hoffman]

Thanks for the follow up! I had selected the WF diamond thanks to your recommendation and was just about to order it. But while I was waiting for something with my credit card company, the BG diamond was uploaded that very day so I inquired about that one as well. Both companies have been wonderful and were able to send videos of the actual stones to help me decide. I ended up choosing the BG diamond because it was 1k cheaper and I thought maybe it looked like it had slightly more fire but it was so hard to tell because they were very similar. So I will soon get it in the mail and see it in person. I am excited for it.

Thanks for your help and patience and understanding!

 

[MamaBear]

Im certain it will be beautiful!!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Thanks for the follow up! I had selected the WF diamond thanks to your recommendation and was just about to order it. But while I was waiting for something with my credit card company, the BG diamond was uploaded that very day so I inquired about that one as well. Both companies have been wonderful and were able to send videos of the actual stones to help me decide. I ended up choosing the BG diamond because it was 1k cheaper and I thought maybe it looked like it had slightly more fire but it was so hard to tell because they were very similar. So I will soon get it in the mail and see it in person. I am excited for it.

Thanks for your help and patience and understanding!

I am glad you were able to make a decision and yay on saving money! Please come back with pictures for us when you receive the ring!

 

[Ashley Hoffman]

For those who helped me with this decision a few months ago, I wanted to update you on my purchase!

I ended up purchasing both the BG diamond and the WF diamond simultaneously and had both to compare to each other side by side. I blinded myself to the diamonds and labeled them diamond 1 and diamond 2, and took them to compare in various lighting situations both inside and outside of the home. I did this at least 15 times mixing up the diamonds and relabeling them each time to see which I thought I liked better. Both diamonds were of course stunning, but interestingly enough, I ended up picking the WF diamond 80% of the time when blinded. For whatever reason, it seemed to speak to me more than the other one, at least to my eye. And so I went with the WF diamond even though it was about $800 more expensive than the BG one.

I'm so glad I did go with WF though because they offered a few other things that BG didn't. With WF, I was able to make a custom Tiffany setting with the exact parameters I was looking for using the 900/100 iridium platinum alloy which looks stunning (BG didn't offer this alloy, only 95/5 ruthenium). And I was able to do a custom wedding band with D/E color ACA melee to match the colorless primary diamond (BG only had F/G color melee).

In the end, I am thrilled with the purchase and am very happy with the result. The ring is truly stunning. I think both companies were wonderful overall and very helpful and accommodating. I am forever grateful for the experience, and I would not hesitate to use either company in the future. But for this particular investment, WF was the right choice.

Thank you everyone who chimed in and gave advice in helping me make my decision!