I’m looking for some quick and dirty advice. My budget is between $5-9k depending on the rock – I want to get either a round or cushion diamond in a cushion halo w/ platinum. The C’s are where it gets iffy – I don’t know whether to buy online vs. in store, and for that type of a setting should I stay above a certain color? clarity?
I’m not going to skimp on cut – definitely going for the best available, but after that I’m clueless.
Any help you could provide would be FANTASTIC!
This site is a life saver.
You should focus on H+ for the diamond with that style setting. What do you think of this set?
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1522646.asp
Those look great – I’m a bit wary of SI1 though. I know you obviously know a lot more than me – but am I going to get that killer bling with an SI1? Or so I need to get into the VS?
There is no point going with a VS. Once a diamond is eye-clean, its eye-clean. Wouldn’t you rather spend your money on something you see with your eye (the size) than something you will only see if you look at the paper certificate (the clarity).
Honestly it just needs to sparkle – if it’s not a “wow” type of diamond I’d rather keep saving my money and buy the right one that’s all. I definitely want an ideal/excellent cut. When it comes to color – wont an H start to look slightly yellow? I want it to be crisp looking…. Let me know what you think!
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I really just want a diamond north of 1.1 ct that is eye clean, has no yellow tint, and will sparkle brilliantly. Whatever that costs is what i’m in the market for! Canyou help me out on Blue Nile or James Allen?
I have a tough time looking at James Allen diamonds and noticing the yellow tint in the pictures…
I would recommend this diamond for you:
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1524983.asp
It’s 100% eye-clean, bright and a great value.
That diamond looks great – I have one question, in your professional opinion… Should you trust these pictures etc and buy diamonds online? Or should you go to the brick and mortar stores, see it and buy it. I’m having a hard time surrendering $7k on a diamond that I’ve never seen (I know they have great return policies – I just dont’ feel like I know enough to say “yeah this is worth $7k).
Your professional guidance would be appreciated – and this will be the last of my emails! Thank you.
On average, Ira and I help about 150-200 a month buy a diamond. More than 95% of those people end up purchasing a diamond online. Based on my experiences doing this for more than a year, and my 10 years in the industry, I honestly feel that buying a diamond online is the best way to go. I think you are far more likely to get screwed at a retail shop than you are by taking a methodical approach and finding the right diamond from a reputable retailer (like we’ve done).
Consumers walk in and are absorbed by the retail experience. They see this beautiful shiny diamond (under the perfect lighting in the store) and build this emotional attachment to the diamond. Then they start going through the technical details. The problem is that they consumers have a very hard time keeping all the necessary information in their heads when they go to a store. And they’ve already gotten that emotional attachment. It is so much easier for them to miss something important in the process.
Buying on-line is not perfect. We have had people who were unhappy with the diamond we recommended and returned it (16 people out of about 1,900). But they all had smooth experiences returning the diamond.
I know that making a big purchase is difficult and this is probably your biggest online purchase (unless you bought your car online). But I just don’t see any logical reason to stick with a B&M shop.
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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