Help Building a 3 Stone Emerald Cut Engagement Ring in the UK

Before I give you my full answer: will the ring be plat/white gold or yellow gold?

First of all, congratulations and thanks for writing! I really hope I can help you out. Unfortunately, with an emerald cut, you really do need to buy a diamond with a high clarity grade. Since the stone doesn’t have “brilliant” facets, but rather stepped facets, it’s very easy to see what’s floating around inside the diamond material. I did a quick run-through of James Allen’s inventory (since they have pictures) to see if any of the SI’s were decent. But since they were almost F colors anyway, none of them were really any cheaper than what you found. Especially considering the extra shipping fee and %1 commission they charge for international shipping.

Since the ring will be Platinum, I’m afraid I’d have to advise you to go with the “G” color stone. This is also due to the fact that it’s an emerald cut. Since there are no brilliant facets that break up the light, the color is much more easily seen. An I color will definitely have more of a “warm” feeling to it compared to a G color in an emerald cut.

I went on BN UK and checked the details of the stone in question, and it reads very nicely. The only thing that concerns me is that a VS2 can still be quite noticeable, especially in an Emerald cut. If you take a look at my site in the “Truth about Clarity” article, you can see a good example of this. And that’s a round cut! In any event, I would say go for it, and if the diamond has a black center inclusion, you can always return it within 30 days.

Regarding the side stones, in your drawing the side stones take up about 40% of the length of the center stone along each side. If you use the 1/4cts you picked out, they would take up about the same, so it should have the same balance as the drawing (6.88 length of center stone / 3.10 width of side stones). As for whether they match or not, I would need to see the rest of their parameters. Would you mind sending me the links to those 2 stones? One thing you might want to consider, though, is getting stones that are slightly lower in color (1, 2 grades max) than they center stone. It will make the center stone really pop out at you.

Unless your jeweler is a reliable wholesale type operation, you probably won’t save any money having him source the emeralds.

As far as the setting goes, a bezel setting (what you are calling “rub over”) won’t affect the diamonds beauty. But just keep in mind that emeralds don’t “sparkle” so much regardless of their setting. They’re not designed for sparkle.

I hope this helps! Please follow up with the side stone parameters.

A: Firstly thank you very much for taking so much time in your reply. This represent a sizable outlay for me and the advice is really appreciated. Interesting to know that the diamonds can be returned. I found the two quarter carat diamonds on BN UK. I have put the details of the diamonds below including the stock number. Hopefully this is enough for you to find them. If not there is an option to ‘email to a friend’ which i guess sends a link to the page.

Once again thank you for your help.

Stock number LD01147484
0.24 carat
VG cut
G colour
VS1 clarity
4.13×3.13×2.15 size
£184 price

Stock number LD01167987
0.24 carat
VG cut
G colour
VS1 clarity
4.08×3.07×2.11 size
£196 price

A: I checked the two diamonds, and their parameters match up quite nicely. Just fyi, I was double checking that their table % and depth % were a match as well. The depth % is exact, and the table is only off slightly (which is fine). As I’m sure you did, I checked to see if there were any small stones at slightly lower colors, but unfortunately there aren’t. This should make a beautiful ring! It’s a wonderful way to start off your lives together!

As I mention on my website, I never ask for any kind of payment from the people I advise. The only thing I ask — if you’ve found my advice helpful — is to click on an “affiliate link” of mine before you make your purchase. An affiliate link basically tells Blue Nile that I referred you to their website (it works for 30 days from the day of the “click”). I will then earn a 5% commission on the sale. You, of course, will still pay the exact same price. In fact, you’ll never notice any difference at all to your order.

Thanks again, and I really hope I was helpful!

Best Wishes for a Loving Happy Marriage! (We just celebrated our 10th anniversary this year!)