Need help... Don't know what I want.

[jmarshall]

I am in the process of putting together a plan/budget/timeframe for a ring.... But don't know what I want, am afraid a jeweler will up sell me way more than I need... Ie a e color stone when a g would have been fine....

I don't know what I need to be shopping for as far as color and clarity....

Here's what I do know.... Princess cut... And likely a minimum of one carat.

She would be happy with a ring pop if that's what I proposed with, but there are going to be two main criteria in making her happy... A, sparkly, and b, bigger than any of her girlfriends rings....

I can do some shopping myself, or at least figure out what kind of a budget I'll need if you guys can help me set stone criteria....

Neither she nor I, nor any of ur family or friends are diamond officionados....

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Welcome! I'll just tell you that most of us came here when researching a new diamond, and I thankfully ended up buying from vendors I learned about here. I found far better quality diamonds at better prices with return policies and lifetime trade-in policies. I tried to buy locally but the quality wasn't as good and the prices were much higher.

I personally really think G-H color is a great choice because they are at the top of the near colorless range. I like VS2 for an engagement ring, but many choose SI1 clarity as long as it is eyeclean. Your budget will determine a lot of things!

We can point you to ideal cut princess stones once you are ready and have the budget figured out. But I'll post a few ideal cut 1 ct princess stones for you to get an idea of cost of the diamond.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2835508.htm ($6299 with pricescope/wire discount)

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.064-g-si1-princess-diamond-ags-104062402001 ($5893)

I am not seeing many ideal cut princess stones available at the moment. Those are really the two best ones at 1 ct. And stones of this quality will be very difficult to find locally.

Oh, and you'd better find out how big her friends rings are! Or you can always set the diamond in a halo setting!

 

[SMC]

Welcome! I'll just tell you that most of us came here when researching a new diamond, and I thankfully ended up buying from vendors I learned about here. I found far better quality diamonds at better prices with return policies and lifetime trade-in policies. I tried to buy locally but the quality wasn't as good and the prices were much higher.

I personally really think G-H color is a great choice because they are at the top of the near colorless range. I like VS2 for an engagement ring, but many choose SI1 clarity as long as it is eyeclean. Your budget will determine a lot of things!

We can point you to ideal cut princess stones once you are ready and have the budget figured out. But I'll post a few ideal cut 1 ct princess stones for you to get an idea of cost of the diamond.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2835508.htm ($6299 with pricescope/wire discount)

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.064-g-si1-princess-diamond-ags-104062402001 ($5893)

I am not seeing many ideal cut princess stones available at the moment. Those are really the two best ones at 1 ct. And stones of this quality will be very difficult to find locally.

Oh, and you'd better find out how big her friends rings are! Or you can always set the diamond in a halo setting!

Brian Gavin's a great choice! If you can decide quickly, they're offering 10% off their Signature princess cut diamonds until 11:59PM tmw (Feb 13th).
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/Valentines-day-diamond-jewelry/

 

[JulieN]

I think you should decide on your budget, and then fit the other parameters to it, rather than the other way around.

 

[jmarshall]

I think you should decide on your budget, and then fit the other parameters to it, rather than the other way around.

I would rather determine what it will take to get a stone of the quality I am looking for and save for a little longer than determine the quality of the stone based on the size of my budget. Good things are worth waiting for.

 

[jmarshall]

Welcome! I'll just tell you that most of us came here when researching a new diamond, and I thankfully ended up buying from vendors I learned about here. I found far better quality diamonds at better prices with return policies and lifetime trade-in policies. I tried to buy locally but the quality wasn't as good and the prices were much higher.

I personally really think G-H color is a great choice because they are at the top of the near colorless range. I like VS2 for an engagement ring, but many choose SI1 clarity as long as it is eyeclean. Your budget will determine a lot of things!

We can point you to ideal cut princess stones once you are ready and have the budget figured out. But I'll post a few ideal cut 1 ct princess stones for you to get an idea of cost of the diamond.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2835508.htm ($6299 with pricescope/wire discount)

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.064-g-si1-princess-diamond-ags-104062402001 ($5893)

I am not seeing many ideal cut princess stones available at the moment. Those are really the two best ones at 1 ct. And stones of this quality will be very difficult to find locally.

Oh, and you'd better find out how big her friends rings are! Or you can always set the diamond in a halo setting!

The biggest one any of her friends/cousins have is a .75 center

 

[JulieN]

Ok, then what quality you are looking for? If you say D/E VVS, we will tell you that is unnecessary.

 

[jmarshall]

I don't know.... Somewhere between g and I, an eye lean si1 or better?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Is the price if the stones I listed above within the realm of possibility for you? I think they are a nice balance of color and clarity. If not, we could look below 1 ct and you maybe could put the diamond in a halo setting.

 

[ariel144]

Here are some nice princess cuts on James Allen. The better cuts have the smaller tables. I tried to find stones that were at least 6mm x 6mm

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/princess-cut//CaratFrom:1.15|CaratTo:10.00|Color:H,I,G|PriceFrom:400|PriceTo:999000|Sort:Carat%20asc,%20DefaultOrder|TabSelected:3|showAdvanced:show|ps:12||DiamondID:36539,178711,196693,191545,178675,182271,190785,82712,197483,178541,185728,197473,176684|PolishSymmetryLabFlourDepthFrom:45.0|DepthTo:70.6|TableFrom:50.0|TableTo:83.0|

Here are more with smaller tables:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/princess-cut//CaratFrom:1.02|CaratTo:10.00|Color:H,I,G|PriceFrom:400|PriceTo:999000|Sort:Carat%20asc,%20DefaultOrder|TabSelected:3|advancedParameter:pn|showAdvanced:show|ps:12||DiamondID:36539,178711,196693,191545,178675,182271,190785,197483,178541,197473,176684,186918,179699,183848,190242,196959,94634,164184,163633,196945,174686,190600,196960,180487,159567,182696,169509|PolishSymmetryLabFlourDepthFrom:45.0|DepthTo:74.9|TableFrom:50.0|TableTo:70.3|

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/princess-cut//CaratFrom:1.02|CaratTo:10.00|Color:H,I,G|PriceFrom:400|PriceTo:999000|Sort:Carat%20asc,%20DefaultOrder|TabSelected:3|advancedParameter:pn|showAdvanced:show|ps:12||DiamondID:36539,178711,196693,191545,178675,186918,179699,190242,196945,174686,190600,196960,180487,159567,182696|PolishSymmetryLabFlourDepthFrom:45.0|DepthTo:74.9|TableFrom:50.0|TableTo:70.3|

Largest with nice small table....beautiful:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.27-carat-I-color-VS2-clarity-sku-182696

This H is beautiful...looks pink to me...so interesting...nice small table too:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.02-carat-H-color-VS1-clarity-sku-164184

 

[jmarshall]

Is the price if the stones I listed above within the realm of possibility for you? I think they are a nice balance of color and clarity. If not, we could look below 1 ct and you maybe could put the diamond in a halo setting.

Not immediately, but I'm not looking to buy immediately.....I'm just a research nut on anything that I buy and wanted to start looking into things.