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Q&A: Looking for a Round Diamond for a Platinum Solitaire Setting for Around $3,500

By Mike Fried,

Hello! I’m looking to spend roughly $3,500 on a round-cut diamond for my girlfriend’s engagement ring. I read through your articles and while I feel like I could go forward and choose a decent diamond I’d really like to get your advice. I could probably go up in price by maybe $500-700, if there’s a significant difference in quality. The setting I’d like is linked below.

Solitaire Platinum setting:
https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/platinum-2mm-knife-edge-solitaire-engagement-ring-item-7028?a_aid=dmnd1357

Finding a diamond to fit my budget and figuring out a proposal that my girlfriend will find at least somewhat romantic has been a little daunting and I’ve been lagging a bit on the whole process. I have no experience regarding diamonds or jewelry and am afraid of making a bad decision and poor investment.

Thanks for your time and help! 

You can get a beautiful ring within that budget. No need to stretch it. I love this diamond for you:

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-242724?a_aid=dmnd1357

Its bright, eye-clean and superbly cut. It will look great with that setting. What do you think? 

 I have to say I really like that diamond. I was looking at a number of them on jamesallen and couldn’t find anything that looked better to me. Ideally though I would like to get her something a little bit bigger and I came across this one. What’s your opinion on it – maybe too yellow?

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.01-carat-k-color-vs1-clarity-very-good-cut-sku-94006?a_aid=dmnd1357

Thanks again for the help! 🙂 

K color is too much of a stretch for a platinum setting. Even J is a bit of a risk. But K will definitely look yellow. 

Yeah, I can see the slight yellow. It takes a lot of time to look through these! There’s always something wrong. That said I couldn’t find much to criticize on this one – I was even having trouble finding the inclusion at first. What’s your opinion?

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.94-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-very-good-cut-sku-229415?a_aid=dmnd1357

I went with your first suggestion. Just wanted to thank you. 🙂 

 

 Sounds great. Let me know how it looks when it arrives. 

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:
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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)
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