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Q&A: Looking for a Diamond for a White Gold Petite Pave Setting With a $3,000 Budget

By Mike Fried,

I’m looking to get an engagement ring diamond and setting for around $5500.

The setting is a solitaire pave 14k white gold. Diamond would be a round cut around 1 carat and looking at H/I and SI1 color and clarity.

The setting looks like this.
14K WHITE GOLD PETITE PAVE ENGAGEMENT RING (FLUSH FIT)

I found this diamond priced well that has one small speck on the table but in the notes, it says clouds not shown. Is this a good choice or can u help me choose?

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.01-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6371233?a_aid=dmnd1357

Unfortunately, the diamond you selected is not a good option. The note “clarity grade based on clouds not shown.” means there is a very large cloud that covers a large percentage of the diamond and saps the brilliance from it. You should never buy a diamond with this note.

This diamond is going to look much better:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6340719?a_aid=dmnd1357
It’s eye-clean and beautifully cut. It’ll be very brilliant.

What do you think?

Thanks for your suggestion. That looks like a great diamond. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to drop my budget for the ring to $4k now. so that leaves around $3k for the diamond.

Can u help me find the best value for that price? I did a quick search and looks like carat wise will be around 0.80.

Thanks, I bought the one u recommended! Should receive it in 10 days.

You are really good at choosing clean diamonds!

Thank you for the nice words 🙂

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