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Q&A: Experience Shopping for Diamond Studs on a $1,500 Budget

By Mike Fried,

Hi,

I wanted to reach out after reading your guides about purchasing diamond studs. My wife and I are having our first child soon and I wanted to buy my wife the studs I’ve been promising her for years!

I’m looking for right around 1ct TW. They don’t have to be exactly 1ct, I’m ok if they’re a little below from a cost standpoint.

I understand the differences in cut/clarity/color, but am unsure which exact diamond to pick . Blue Nile offers multiple diamonds that at first glance seem to be identical: The 2 links below are both SI2, Ideal cut, H color, but have ~$200 price difference.

Blue Nile LD09531838-LD12189081

Blue Nile LD12189081-LD12658972

Can you please provide some guidance/recommendations? Thank you so much!

As for the diamonds, we always advise our readers to avoid getting SI diamonds under 1ct that have clouds mentioned in the first place in the clarity characteristics (there is no clarity plot in the certificate that shows how big the cloud is and where it’s located). Such stones may look cloudy and milky.

I found these matching pairs for you:
Blue Nile LD10315411
Blue Nile LD11158739

Blue Nile LD12542159
Blue Nile LD11973088

They’re well-cut, eye-clean and brilliant.

Thank you so much for the information. I like the first pair you linked, but I don’t seem to have an option to put those in to an earring set on the website. Is their a pairing that is already paired together on the site that will let me make a pair of studs, or am I missing something from the first link?

If you contact BN directly (for example via their live chat or phone), they will be more than happy to help you and set them as earrings.

Perfect, thank you! They just called me back and got everything taken care of.

That’s wonderful news! It was my pleasure helping you

James Allen James Allen is the leader in online diamond sales. Their imaging technology is the same as inspecting a diamond with a jeweler's loupe. They have the largest exclusive loose diamond inventory online and fantastic prices. They also have the nicest collection of lab-created diamonds online.
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
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Blue Nile Blue Nile is the largest and most well-known internet jewelry seller. They have a very large exclusive online inventory. Their high-quality images are catching up to James Allens' and their prices are amazing. Save 25% on settings at Blue Nile!

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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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