Q&A: Help Choosing a Round Brilliant for a Pavé Ring With Shipping to Australia and $3,500 Total Budget

Hello,

We live in Australia so are looking for an engagement ring that can be shipped here. I’ve been doing a bit of research and found that the price of the rings online are substantially lower than walking into a shop. The whole process is quite overwhelming though! I’ve been looking at Blue Nile and Brilliant Earth’s rings so far.

Ideally I would like 1 carat (or close to one carat), round diamond. Can you please tell me which of the criteria I should make most important for a diamond of this size/cut (carat, cut, color, clarity). And what I should be looking to pay for a ring of these characteristics. Any suggestions of where to buy/what to buy would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Thank you for getting in contact. My first choice would be a solitaire ring in platinum or white gold. I would also consider a halo ring.

The maximum for our budget is $5000 for the full setting. But I’d feel more comfortable spending a little less if possible. I’ve read people advising to just go down a little in size to help reduce the cost. But happy to hear your advice!

I run a website that earns its main income through commission so completely understand your service. Really appreciate your help.

That’s our limit in Australian dollars.

Kind regards.

The solitaire diamond is a great price and certainly looks good to my eye.

What would our option be if we went a little bit larger gem?

Am I best getting the diamond made into a ring by Blue Nile?

Thanks very much.

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Don’t worry about looking for a larger gem. I think that size is big enough after looking at some rings here.

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Today I went to try on some rings to get a feel of the diamond size and to find out my ring size. I tried on a couple of rings that were .7 of a carat and found the size to be fine on my little fingers. Which Blue Nile round diamonds around .7 would you recommend as an option for a solitaire ring? I’m considering the .83 carat diamond you found, but after trying on today, would consider smaller too.

Thank you.

It lists a number of clarity characteristics – would it be better if it only had ‘pinpoint’ flaws? I don’t like the sound of ‘cloudy’. How does it compare to these diamonds I was looking at last night?

What’s your professional opinion on these..
Blue Nile LD08811812 – 0.65 round
Blue Nile LD08640684 – 0.7 round

Is it worth going to the signature ideal cut or is ideal enough that you can’t notice the difference?
Blue Nile LD08724086

Would you say this 0.7 (the one you found or I found) or the 0.8 you found is better value overall?

And is the colour of these diamonds acceptable to be used in a micropave setting?

Thanks so much for your expertise. We have limited budget so it’s important to us that we get this right the first time and as my fiance says – I’ll have to look at the ring for a long time.

Good to know we don’t have to pay the extra for their top cut. They seem to speak highly of it – but it is their benefit!

Yes, I do like the very fine pave ring style that Blue Nile offers, so could you help me find a diamond one colour up? An option for .6, .7 and .8 round diamond would be good. Then we can make a final decision.

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And just so you know I’d feel most comfortable with the ring coming in around $4000AUD. The pave setting I like is AU$ 1,160.00 in white gold or AU$ 1,625.00 in platinum. So if we could find a nice diamond of a decent size for around $3000 AUD that would be perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you for your patient help getting me through this most important life purchase. I can see that the .7 stone is a very nice cut.

I’m just a little concerned about the colour. I was showing these to a friend today who has a bit more experience with diamonds and they said they wouldn’t go below a G colour. Looking at the higher colour grades I can see how they sparkle so brightly! I watched a few videos that truly displayed the magnificence of a diamonds sparkle and colour reflection in the sunlight (now I fully understand what the fuss is about a nice diamond!) I’d love to have a diamond that looks and sparkles like those! I’m a visual perfectionist which is part of why I’ve seeked your wisdom.

From looking at higher colour grades (H and up) on Blue Nile it looks like my budget will fit for one of those if I drop down to a .6 diamond. What is your opinion about this? What would you suggest?

I really want to make a final decision on this ASAP. We’ve been engaged for a month now with now ring… Everyone keeps asking where it is. But I feel like you’ve helped me narrow down to exactly what I want so I think we are very close to finding ‘the one’.

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Sorry I meant looking at G and up.

That diamond is beautiful! Now my only problem is that I don’t like any of the settings at Brian Gavin – they all have a bit too much going on for me – even their simpler solitaire settings. I would have preferred to have the ring arrive ready to go – rather than a loose diamond. Any ideas?

Otherwise would either of these Blue Nile ones come close to that one gorgeous one? Blue Nile told me that they both have good light performance.
Blue Nile LD08202575
Blue Nile LD06992269

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Just wanted to let you know that I have purchased the most recent .7 diamond you recommended. I’m happy with that size and colour and think that you found a great cut for a great price.

I am now the proud owner of this diamond!
Blue Nile LD08715713

Thank you very much for your help. I ended up choosing a setting that made the ring come in to $4048AUD – exactly the amount I felt comfortable spending. Please pass on this thanks to your boss so that they can see what a happy customer I am (from your help).

I can’t wait for the ring to arrive now!

Just wanted to give you the feedback that my diamond is beautiful. As an I color I find it white enough. My fiancé was surprised at how big the diamond was (it’s a .7). He thought it was going to be tiny for the price we paid.

I’ve had lots of comments about how sparkly it is. A girlfriend yesterday said that ‘diamond rings are so sparkly when they are new’. But I suspect it is sparkly because you choose a good diamond and it will always be sparkler than my girlfriends diamond! 😉

I love the design of my ring from Blue Nile but unfortunately it arrived with a crack in the platinum and some little nicks where the diamond was set. I have had to send the ring away to have it fixed ehich is both sad and an inconvenience. They are being good about fixing it but I’d prefer the ring to arrive perfect in the first place.

Thanks for your help. All in all i think you helped us find the best value for our precious dollars.

Happily wrote a review for you. 🙂