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Hi, I’m looking for a 1 ct. diamond; my girlfriend wants something fairly high quality. My maximum budget for ring and diamon is 10k. I have been looking at James Allen because I like seeing the diamonds, but find myself getting caught up in seeing those little flaws all magnified as well as other miscellaneous stats (table,depth, fluorescence, etc.)
My girlfriend placed a high emphasis on color but I have read that cut is most important. I have been looking at some of the true hearts and arrows, but the price obvious escalates much faster (not sure if this is worth it). I’m looking for maximum brilliance, fire, light return, “wow” factor, but feel like if I go with a lower clarity diamond the stone is “dirty”. Am I psyching myself out by seeing the magnified images? HELP!!
It’s true that the most important aspect of a diamond is its cut. This is what makes the diamond beautiful and sparkly (fire and brilliance are the terms we use). The more brilliance there is, the more unique the diamond will look. Obviously you see that we like James Allen, but when it comes to their best cuts (they call them the ‘TrueHearts’) we find it a bit lacking.
For something unique, I’d turn to Brian Gavin and his extremely brilliant diamonds Brian Gavin’s Signature Signature Hearts and Arrows.
I’d be happy to make some recommendations, but I need a little more info.
What style setting (solitaire, pave/side stones/halo) and metal (yellow/white gold, platinum) do you want to use? This may affect the colors that I recommend for the center diamond (as we explain in our post on color).
Once I know this, I’ll be able to help you more.
Thanks for your response. I am looking at a solitaire pave setting with no halo in platinum.
I have looked at Brian Gavin’s selection recently and felt like it was slightly more expensive and the picture quality was not quite as good as James Allen’s (which is important for me buying a diamond online). That being said, I am more than open to see what you recommend.
I found a diamond I really like on James Allen last night and wanted to get your opinion. The SKU is 1987767. It seemed like the cut was in the super ideal range, color was in the colorless range, and the inclusions seemed fairly unnoticeable under magnification which I would assume would be eye clean. I’m interested to get your opinion on it.
Thanks for the additional info.
For the type of the setting you have in mind, you can easily drop in color to an H or even an I and it’ll still look great. Different settings suit different colors better.
The diamond you selected is beautiful and eye-clean, but we’re not huge fans of the ”True hearts” collection. The diamonds are usually way too expensive with no additional bonus.
I know that the pictures on BGD are a bit different than the JA’s, but that doesn’t affect the diamonds at all. In fact, in some cases (when the diamond is VS1+) you don’t even have to see the picture, because all the important information is listed in the diamond’s report.
As I already mentioned, Brian Gavin specializes on cut and when purchasing from them, you can be sure that your stone will have an amazing fire. We saw their diamonds in person and were truly amazed. However, you have to decide if the added brilliance is worth the premium to you. If you want something special and the fact that you got the best cut possible means a lot to you, then I wouldn’t think about it twice.
Here are some options you might like:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.02-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2091151?a_aid=dmnd1357
www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.008-i-vs1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104087126032&a_aid=y
These diamonds are both fantastically cut and will be very brilliant.
What do you think?
Thank you for your reply, sorry for my late response. I like the Brian Gavin diamond, but the I color makes me nervous. Are there any similar options that would maybe sacrifice a grade of clarity in exchange for a grade or two of color? Also, I have heard mixed opinions on diamonds with strong blue fluorescence which makes me nervous; it seems some people like them and others don’t.
Also, could you please recommend another James Allen diamond as it appears the one above has been sold. Thanks!
Sure, here’s a new option from JA:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1944265?a_aid=dmnd1357
It’s fantastically cut.
Regarding the BGD’s diamond, thanks to its superb cut you can cheat on color a little as there will be a lot of added brilliance and the difference won’t be noticeable.
Here’s a couple more options without fluorescence:
www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.944-i-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104087405086&a_aid=y
www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.930-h-vs1-round-diamond-ags-104087405042&a_aid=y
What do you think?
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
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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