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Q&A: Experience Shopping for Diamond Studs on a 4k Budget

By Mike Fried,

Hi there,

I am looking at buying a pair of diamond studs and was hoping you could give me a little guidance.

I found the below pair that look eye clean to me, but the first one has a cloud inclusion someone from James Allen told me could make the diamond look hazy and less sparkly. Is there any way to tell this?

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.65-carat-f-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-6682057,6776059?a_aid=dmnd1357

Appreciate your thoughts on whether these look good or whether I would be better off looking at something slightly smaller and/or lower colour with higher clarity. Thanks in advance for your help!

It’s true that the 0.65ct diamond does look a bit hazy. Clouds listed as the first inclusion in the clarity notes are a big problem on SI diamonds.

I found a couple of options that look much better in the videos, so ask for the certificates please so that we know which ones are the best match:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-7032163?a_aid=dmnd1357

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-i-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6029843?a_aid=dmnd1357

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4803000?a_aid=dmnd1357

The difference in colors is not at all an issue, I color looks perfectly colorless in earrings.

What do you think of these ones? 6780678 still says in the certificate that it has a cloud – do you think it looks hazy?
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.64-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-6780678,6842962?a_aid=dmnd1357

Or these ones? One also has a cloud inclusion…
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.63-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-6682643,6883655?a_aid=dmnd1357

The emails from James Allen with all the GIA cetificates are attached. Sorry not sure if I’m being pedantic, but the sparkle is definitely an important quality for me and I’m finding it very hard to recognise in the videos myself!

Definitely not pedantic. When it comes to diamonds, one can never be pedantic enough 🙂 Brilliance (“sparkle”) should always be the number one priority. Frankly, I don’t really understand people who prefer size over brilliance because I’ve seen how poorly cut diamonds look like and they are just dull-looking small pieces of rock. When we search for diamonds, we always make sure we recommend the best cut possible.

I checked the certificates and I like this pair better:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.63-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-pair-6682643,6883655?a_aid=dmnd1357
It’s better cut.

However, I had a feeling that you could still do better in terms of cut and I was right and I found these two stones that are absolutely fantastically cut and will have a lot of added brilliance:

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4803000?a_aid=dmnd1357

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6998428?a_aid=dmnd1357

They look good, I’m just not sure whether I can add two single diamonds to an earring setting on the site. I’ll ask them. Would the slightly smaller size of these ones be quite negligible? I’m happy spend a bit more to get the slightly larger size whilst maintaining the cut and brilliance – I plan to have these for a long time!

Just put the diamonds in your shopping cart and call (message) the customer service. They’ll ask for the order number at the top of your cart and take it from there.

If you check the real measurements of all discussed diamonds, you can see that my recommendations are basically the same size as your pair. There’s no way the difference in size would be noticeable as there really is none.

Just wanted to let you know that I ended up purchasing the 0.6ct pair you suggested.

Thanks for all your help!

That’s fantastic news! I’m glad I could help 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.
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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
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