Dear Diamond Pro,
I was given your contact from my brother-in-law who received your help to buy my sister’s diamond and who spoke very highly of you.
I am also looking for a diamond for an engagement ring and I was wondering if you could spare some of your time to share some of your guidance on the matter with me. I was told the best online retailers are James Allen and Blue Nile, and I am browsing through their collection to get a diamond that is as close to perfect cut as possible, while sacrificing clarity and some color.
As of now, I am concentrating solely on the diamond as I may be looking to have the setting made by a jewelry store. She wants the ring to be a solitaire, with as small a metal presence as possible so to accentuate the diamond. I was looking for a round diamond, XXX or above cut, and potentially under the $10,500 mark tax included.
For a simple solitaire setting, I’d recommend a J colored diamond – this color grade looks absolutely colorless when set as a solitaire.
I came across these options:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.61-carat-j-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-8016027?a_aid=dmnd1357
Blue Nile LD13133086
They are beautifully cut and all of them will make an amazing ring.
Or, if you were interested in something exceptionally stunning and perfect in every single way, you can take a look at Brian Gavin and his extremely brilliant diamonds. https://www.diamonds.pro/reviews/brian-gavin/
www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.363-i-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104109041011?a_aid=y
This one is absolutely gorgeous and will be incredibly bright and brilliant. They are a bit pricier, but if you care about the added fire and brilliance, it’s worth it.
Do you think the size would make the color more obvious?
Is there something about these diamonds that makes them particularly good brilliant, like imperfections being covered by the ring or such details?
The diamonds I sent you would look colorless, we even recommend 2 or 3ct J colored stones with no problems at all (as long as you put them in a solitaire setting). As for any differences between them, they are very slight. All three diamonds are eye-clean and have no visible inclusions (despite the different clarity grades – once a diamond is eye-clean it’s simply eye-clean regardless of the actual clarity grade). Size-wise, they are going to look the same (save the BGD stones that are slightly smaller) and cut-wise, they all will have a lot of brilliance thanks to their beautiful cut. You can’t go wrong with any of them, they all would make an amazing ring.
Thank you again for all the advice you have given me.
I just wanted to go past this final hurdle and decide on a diamond. I think I am happy for it to be around the 2 carat range (1.9-2.1), which is what guided me in putting on hold these three diamonds:
I would not recommend diamonds with IGI certificates. This lab is looser in grading than the GIA and their I SI1/VS2 can be anywhere from JSI2/SI1 to lower color/clarity grades.
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.90-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-9099120?a_aid=dmnd1357
This one is a very nice option and the cut parameters will work very well together. It’s a great example of an eye-clean SI diamond.
Blue Nile LD13981049
The cut on this one is nothing special and the feather inclusion is long and large. I’m not a huge fan of this stone.
I think the 1.90ct is the One. It looks great both on paper and in the video and would look beautiful in the setting you decided on.
Thank you so so so so much!
You really helped me very much throughout all of this and there is no way I could have chosen this diamond without you! You have been super kind!
Thank you so much for the kind words, it means a lot much to me!
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. James Allen will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free International Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisals
- One free resizing within 60 days of purchase
- Free ring inscriptions
- Best-in-class high quality imagery of all diamonds in stock
- 24/7 Customer Service
- Best-in-class packaging
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. Blue Nile will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisal
- One free resizing within the first year of purchase
- High quality images of about half of their diamonds
- 24/7 Customer Service
- 100% credit towards future upgrades (must be at least double in value)
- Best in class fulfillment
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