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Q&A: “I Feel Lost in a World of Sparkles”

By Mike Fried,

Love your Blog,I’m ready to take the plunge with my GF and i am looking for a diamond ring.I live in Australia but plan on proposing when we visit America early 2013.

I have read everything on your site and other places and i have reached the stage of reading so much i am back to confused

Im looking for around a 1 carat diamond

Round shape

Eye clean

around $3-4.5k

hopefully 5-5.5k including setting

its going to be in 18K gold setting probably 4 or 6 point

After reading your reviews it seems bluenile is sometimes cheaper but without seeing what im getting its hard to commit.

Any help would be appreciated im hoping to buy before the end of the year 🙂

I’d be happy to make some recommendations and guide you through the process. What type of setting are you considering? Will it be a solitaire or does it have sidestones/pave? This may affect the colors that I recommend for the center diamond (as we explain in our post on color).

Let me know and I’d be happy to send you some suggestions.

Thanks for the reply.

For the setting i am looking for a Solitaire setting, it will most likely be on a 18k Yellow gold band but im still undecided on a 4 or 6 prong style.

Since i emailed i have been looking a lot on James allen etc and found that if i drop just below 1 Carat i can get higher levels in the 4c’s for around the same price, my issue is im a noob to diamonds.I know the size is about right and i know i want it to be clear to the eye but when i view for the Loupe i dont really know what im looking at/for haha

I dont know if i mentioned before but my budget for the diamond would be 3-4k leaving me enough for a nice setting.

hope you can help as i feel lost in a world of sparkles.

If you want to go up in quality, I would go with this diamond:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1523184.asp

There is no reason to go any higher.

James Allen James Allen is the leader in online diamond sales. Their imaging technology is the same as inspecting a diamond with a jeweler's loupe. They have the largest exclusive loose diamond inventory online and fantastic prices. They also have the nicest collection of lab-created diamonds online.
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
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Blue Nile Blue Nile is the largest and most well-known internet jewelry seller. They have a very large exclusive online inventory. Their high-quality images are catching up to James Allens' and their prices are amazing. Save 25% on settings at Blue Nile!

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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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