Q&A: Help Choosing a Princess Cut Diamond for a Thin White Gold Ring Within a $2,500 Budget

Hi,

First of all thank you for your in depth knowledge and explanations, it’s been very helpful. I started reading your guides about a month ago and the inside knowledge has been great.

I’m currently looking for an engagement ring. My budget is $2500. I’m willing to budge a few hundred if it’s a significant value increase, but I would like to stay at that number.

I’m torn between Princess Cut and Round cut. Both are beautiful. I have been going back and forth between Blue Nile an James Allen.

For the setting I’m wanting a thin white gold, simple solitaire band. She’s petite and the rings we have tried on at retail stores have been thin, I’m thinking between 1.5mm-2.2mm.

I love the inscription offer from JA, but I think I’ve been finding better diamonds on BN.

Here are 2 I’ve looked at:
Blue Nile FLD08468027
Blue Nile LD08389996

I also like this one, but I’m not sure the quality of it is enough for me to go that far out of my budget (factoring in the setting):
Blue Nile LD03161416

I didn’t find a guide for buying round cut diamonds, so I’ve been having a little trouble nailing one of those cuts down.

Some small details:
– I like quality, but I think I may have overanalyzed the color part too much. I don’t want to end up with a diamond too small (.50) just because I want quality.
– she fell in love with a Princess F/I1 at Zales that was retailed at $4,290 but by the time we were walking out of the store they were letting it go for $2600.
– I like the 3/4 of a carat on Princess, but I don’t think going higher would be a bad thing.

Can I have some suggestions? Thanks a lot for the good reads!

Ok, after a recent trip to the local jewelry store with my girlfriend we decided to change our specifications.

We now are looking for Princess Cut diamonds only. We saw a princess cut at Zales that she fell in love with, but it’s out of my price range and from what I’ve been reading on your site – I shouldn’t shop at Zales anyways! Here are the specifications for that diamond:
Store: Zales
“Celebration” style
Color: H
Clarity: SI2
Weight: .96
Dimensions: 5.30×5.29×4.09
Cut Style – 102 Facets.

I did some research on my own, I think the follow diamonds could compare to that one. Can you tell me if I’m on the right track, and can you suggest one for me? My goal is to purchase today.

—–
Blue Nile LD07876095
I like that one, and it’s dimensions look like it rivals the one at Zales. I know it’s an SI2, but from the video technology it appears eye clean. Thoughts?
—–
Blue Nile LD07733090
This one is also an SI2, but this one looks a little less eye clean than the other .91 diamond. However I notice that the depth is 71.1 & the dimensions look larger than the Zales one. What do you think of this one? Will it appear larger because of the LxW and the lower depth? Also – do you think those black marks in the middle will appear without the magnification?
——
Blue Nile LD07962359
This one is a little over my budget and a little smaller of a carat than I wanted, but it seems the quality is much better. The measurements rival the one at Zales, and it’s only .80! I know the lower the depth the better in some cases. Does that ring true for this one? Is this one worth the buy?
——
Blue Nile LD07249509
This one is another .91 diamond. The clarity looks a lot better, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra money. The dimensions seem like it would look smaller than the other diamonds I listed at .91. Also, how would that blue fluorescence look? Again, I’m going with a petite white gold setting.
—–
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.87-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-2675345?a_aid=dmnd1357
This one looks very eye clean, plus the dimensions look like they compare. I’m just skeptical about the I color on this one, this camera makes it look a bit yellow, do you think that will show on the ring?

Thanks for your help, also, I read that you may be able to provide a discount code for some sites like Blue Nile (not sure about James Allen). Again thank you for your help and I am looking to purchase this ring today!

Thank you.

Is the color on the JA diamond good enough to look white in a white gold setting?

Thank you so much for your time and effort. I have one last question. Do you feel like the diamond from BN that you suggested is worth the $500 extra from the JA one? Or when they are in the setting will they look similar?

Thanks! I’ll be purchasing today!

Hi! I ended up purchasing the ring/diamond from James Allen. I appreciate the guidance of the diamond pro, the blogs really helped me make an educated selection!