Q&A: Help Choosing a Round Diamond for a Pavé Setting With Around $8,500 Budget

I am looking for a round cut diamond with a budget of £6000 GBP.
Carat – 1.1 + ideally
Cut – excellent
Clarity – VS1 upwards ideally however will consider VS2 also as not sure how obvious the blemishes/inclusions are on the naked eye?
Colour – DEF

I have seen the below on James Allen – however notice some bubble – not sure how visible to the eye it may be?
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.10-carat-e-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3019092?a_aid=dmnd1357

Then a 1.04 carat:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.04-carat-f-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3087575?a_aid=dmnd1357

I do want a bigger carat diamond however not sure if there is huge difference in appearance over a diamond just over a carat eg 1.04 vs 1.1 for example? and would it be advised to consider a 1.04 with better clarity/colour instead etc.?

Any advice and suggestions would be welcome!

Thank you for coming back to me with the info and the suggestion.

I have looked into fluorescence in more detail and can see where you have concerns with haziness for a D-F cut.

You mentioned that the first diamond choice was of poor cut however it is labelled as ‘excellent’- how would i determine this when searching as i presumed this was the best cut according to the scales?!

I am really hoping to find a diamond that is over 1.0 carat which displays the qualities of the one you suggested even if this may push me over budget slightly to circa £6/6.5k however from reviewing the Blue Nile website I can see why you chose the 0.97 stone as anything hitting the 1.0 mark jumps so much in price!

However if it helps at all to reduce the quality of a ‘C’ that you class as less important (from my understanding the ‘clarity’) in return for a bigger stone – are there any recommendations of stones that would fall close to my budget?

I saw the below which is 1.01 carat however confused how the grade F costs more than the E colour?! Can you advise?
Blue Nile LD08629508
Blue Nile LD08501815

I understand why you suggested Blue Nile over James Allen due to the taxes however if there are better stones you feel suit, I am open to suggestions even if it is not a site from Europe.

Just out of interest, how much usually is the import duty into the UK on a diamond from the USA?

Look forward to hearing from you with more suggestions if any so I can make my decision soon!

Some good tips there as I would have never known.

In your opinion, the 0.97 one you first sent across vs the 1.0 and 1.09 below, how does this appear to the naked eye size wise? Is the size noticeably different across the board?

Of course I would like a larger size, however if it were to look really similar then out of the 3 in your expert opinion which stone is the best overall and value for money? Guess my worry is going from the 0.97 which appears to have strong characteristics to the H colour/VS2… Though bigger at 1.09 does it actually look much different?

Sorry for all the queries!!!!

Thanks.

Hope you ha a good weekend!

Please can you give some advice on the below i’ve seen?

1.14
Blue Nile LD08668778

1.07
Blue Nile LD08882512

1.06
Blue Nile LD08654499

1.09 – one you had sent me before, I seem to see a slight scratch towards the RH side – is this a mark or just part of the cut?
Blue Nile LD08451975

Please let me know if there are any better ones that you may have seen also.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the prompt reply!

I forgot to include this as it was filtered out accidentally – is this one a contender would you say? The clarity and depth seems quite decent:

1.11
Blue Nile LD08739582

In terms of the 1.09 you suggested and the below 1.09 I’ve just noticed, what is the difference overall as it appears to be really similar yet price wise is circa £300 difference?

1.09 at higher price point
Blue Nile LD08326723

In terms of ‘fluorescence’ for these stones, are they ok for H colour and would they appear hazy/milky?

So out of all the suggested, which would you say is the best stone to go for overall or is there any others with similar specs you feel are better suited?

Thanks.

My other query is in regards to the ‘H’ colour, as originally I was keen on sticking to D-F however ‘H’ stones do appear better value carat wise but the concern that it may appear ‘yellow’ as from reading ‘G’ would be the colour to go for to be safe.

Based on the symmetry / polish/ table% of both of the below two we chose – would you say the proportions produce a good balance of fire and sparkle in the diamond for a H colour? I just don’t want to appear yellow!!

1.07 Blue Nile LD08882512
1.09 Blue Nile LD08451975

Are you able to suggest any ‘G’ colour diamonds at all that you see to have good characteristics?

I did see this one but carat is slightly less – not sure if the G colour vs the two chosen H colours will be obviously perceptible to the naked eye and if it is worth going up in colour slightly or will it not make much if any difference would you say from your expertise?

Just want to make sure I am not sacrificing a near colourless diamond for something slightly bigger!

Blue Nile LD08918815

Your advice is much appreciated! I am finding it harder to decide the more I read up!

Thanks!

Thank you for your advice it has been great!

After much deliberation I’ve taken the plunge and went for the 1.07! Fingers crossed I will love it =)

I did not go for a ring setting it as wasn’t keen on their settings.

Any advice when getting a setting what type I should consider? I am thinking of a micro pave thin band – I do like a six prong as it seems to make the diamond appear rounder and was thinking of setting it high – however concerns it may get caught in clothing etc easily?

Any expertise is much appreciated! Again thanks for your help in guiding me to select a fab diamond!

Thank you.