Q&A: Help Finding a 2-2.5 Ct. Round Diamond for a White Gold Verragio Setting

I could really use some advice. I am divorced for a few years now from a woman I was married to for a long time. She is the mother of my children, I have a good relationship with her and will always love her. 10 years into our marriage, when I could afford it, I traded in the small original diamond for a very nice 2 ct. color E VS1 non enhanced princess cut solitaire.

OK so now I am with a wonderful woman who I want to propose to. She is not the kind of woman who would ask for something extravagant, but I also know that whatever I give her must at the very least compare. I prefer it to not completely blow away the diamond I purchased for my ex wife either. I am thinking that avoiding princess cut is the smart move here. Do you have any suggestions? Also, regarding enhanced Vs non enhanced. When I purchased the 2 ct years ago I don’t remember even knowing about enhanced. Is this something to avoid? I really don’t know much about diamonds.

I definitely want a round diamond greater than 2 ct. but less than 3 ct. I love the vintage and very fancy settings. I particularly like many of the Verragio designs on the James Allen website but many of these seem limited to 1.5 ct. but either way, there will for sure be lots of pave stones and engraving on the setting. I like the Tiffany, the cathedral and the prong settings. I do not like the halo nor the bezel. I think I will be going with white fold but I am also somewhat interested in rose gold as its a bit unique so on this I am on the fence. I think $30,000 would be a comfortable amount to spend but I am not firm on that number. I don’t think I could get myself to spend more than $50,000 though for sure. I know I am being difficult here in that I kind of know what I want but am not 100% sure. Sorry. I appreciate the help though 🙂

Hi, thank you so much for getting back to me. I have spent all weekend going crazy trying to learn as much as I can about this subject that I know very little about.

One thing that I’m concerned about, but it might just be my naivete, is the color h. I am just so worried that a stone this large with a color greater than f is going to look yellow against any side diamonds and also if she happens to compare it with rings of her girlfriends. I honestly don’t think any of her girlfriends have expensive rings so that may not be a problem but I just don’t want to regret going cheap on the color unless it really is a non-issue that I am concerned about because of good marketing by the diamond industry.

The other thing is that I have completely fallen in love with this designer that seems to only be available through James Allen. This designer is called a Verragio. I am particularly fond of the Parisian Style. The problem that I see on the James Allen site is that it appears the center diamond maximum size is 1.5 carat but on other websites It seems as though for the same ring the maximum size is 5.25 carats so I do not know if it’s possible to purchase something on the James Allen website outside of the basic setup that they probably buy in bulk. I do not know if there’s any customization available?

Also my question to you is regarding the color if I wanted to stay within a certain budget is it better to sacrifice a little bit of size for a better color or is it better to go big and sacrifice the color? The reason I ask is that I probably would not be completely opposed to a stone that was two carats or larger but that was less than 2.5.

Maybe what I need to do is take a trip to a local jewelry store and take a look at 2 carat vs 2.5 carat and color h vs color f so that I can really have an understanding with the caveat that I am not buying from the local jewelry store of course.

Last thing I noticed that the diamonds you gave me have faint fluorescence. I am wondering if fluorescence in a color age of a stone that size will make it appear cloudy. I know I’m asking a lot of dumb questions I just really want a really pretty ring for my girlfriend.

Thank you so much for all of your time and effort on this.

Honestly, I can’t decide if the 2.20 D color for 34k or the BGD 2.07 H color for 31k or the James Allen 2.5 H color for 31k is the best deal and would look best.

I was relooking at the first one you sent me. There is another one on the JA site that is nearly identical specs but is 10,000 cheaper. This makes me so confused? Can you help me understand?

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/2.52-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2538748?a_aid=dmnd1357

Oh, OK got it. Makes sense.

……

I kick myself because I did not order this one in time:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/2.51-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2463727?a_aid=dmnd1357

I waited too long and I loved that stone 🙁

I have gone ahead and put this one on hold and am working with James Allen on a custom Verragio setting that will cost me around 4k it’s the 6505 setting white gold with rose gold lace custom made to fit this size stone:

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/2.34-carat-g-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2402755?a_aid=dmnd1357

I hope this one looks as good as the first one I missed out on. I notice it has quite a few pinpoints when viewed at 40x. What I read says don’t worry about those. Can you confirm?