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Hi,
I have been looking at these settings from Blue Nile:
Pear Shaped Halo Diamond Engagement Ring
Marquise Cut Halo Diamond Engagement Ring
Oval Halo Diamond Engagement Ring
All similar pave/halo, platinum designs and want to find the best diamond in either of those shapes (marquise, oval, pear) to fit within my £4,000 – £5,000 total budget.
Diamond size would ideally be larger than 0.7 carat.
I am happy to take your guidance on the colour, cut, clarity. Although I have looked through several different stones and combinations I would really appreciate the experts opinion!
There are two main rules when choosing oval, pear and marquise cut diamonds:
1) The depth shouldn’t exceed 74%.
2) The bowtie should be as minimal as possible.
Regarding the color, we usually recommend H+ color as fancy shapes tend to show their true color more than rounds (https://www.diamonds.pro/education/color/). For J-H color, you can get diamonds with none, faint and medium fluorescence. The medium fluorescence may help the diamond look a tad whiter. In case of G-D stones, it’s better to avoid medium or strong fluorescence as it may cause a hazy/milky look (https://www.diamonds.pro/education/fluorescence/). Ideally, it’s better to avoid extremely thick and extremely thin girdles (if possible). Other thickness is okay and won’t have a significant impact on brilliance.
Fancy shapes don’t have their own official cut scale given by GIA. Some companies use their own internal grades, but we don’t put any stock in those. We just use our own guidelines and strict parameters to find the best stones possible. Therefore, I wouldn’t pay attention to the cut grades you see at all.
Symmetry and polish grades can be Excellent or Very good. Culet should always be None/Pointed.
For metal, we always recommend white gold over platinum because of the huge disparity in upfront costs: https://www.diamonds.pro/jewelry-precious-metals/. Both metals require upkeep every few years. WG needs to be dipped to retain its color and luster while PT needs to be cleaned and polished because it gets scratched and duller over time. So in the end, platinum costs you more in the beginning and doesn’t end up saving you any money in the long run.
I found the following options that looked great to me:
Blue Nile LD14365887
Blue Nile LD11170800
Blue Nile LD13602767
Blue Nile LD14384264
Blue Nile LD14410967
Blue Nile LD14314658
Blue Nile LD12915794
Blue Nile LD14494763
They all are fantastically cut, eye-clean and have a minimal bow-tie.
Your response was perfect. Exactly what I was looking for.
All of the information is very helpful and thank you for the diamond recommendations.
After reading into your information further and looking over the recommendations I have decided to go with:
Do you still think this is the best pear shaped stone potentially that fits within my budget? With the setting I have chosen it is coming in around the £4,000 mark which I am very happy about but if there are any other exceptional stones that now we’ve narrowed down the choice to a pear that you would think are worth considering I would appreciate your opinion.
If you think the stone you have already recommended is the best fit for my consideration then I will proceed with the order.
Thank you for the nice words 🙂 I’m glad you found my advice helpful.
Blue Nile LD13602767
This diamond is absolutely perfect, it checks all the boxes. I double-checked and it’s currently the best option I found at this carat weight and price. It’s going to make an amazing ring.
Thank you so much!
I’m glad I could help!
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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