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Q&A: Looking for Round Brilliant Stone for $8K Budget and White Gold Pave Setting

By Mike Fried,

I’m looking for a Brilliant round cut in the $8,000 price range. Can you help me out?

I’d be happy to make some recommendations and guide you through the process. What type of setting are you considering? Yellow gold or white gold/platinum? 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.

White gold for sure. She likes things simple, something like the Pave for setting. Here is what I picked out…what do you think?

Setting

Item#: 17158W14

14k White Gold Thin French-Cut Pave Set Diamond Engagement Ring

#20 stones, 0.19 G-H VS

Price: $575.00

View Item Details

Diamond

Item#: 1522063

Round 1.50 carat J color SI2 clarity diamond

Price: $8,360.00

Sorry mate, but I don’t recommend that diamond.

1) It’s not eye-clean.

2) With that style setting, you need to stick with H+ on the center diamond (you don’t want the center diamond looking yellow compared to the setting).

I would recommend this diamond:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1512061.asp

Thanks Mike! Any 1.5 carat you recommend, even if its past my budget?

How can I tell if it is eye clean? I used the tool and couldn’t see any visible mistakes..

An eye-clean H 1.50ct costs about 11k. Is that in your budget? I normally don’t recommend diamonds that are way above the budget, but if you want to bump it up, let me know.

if you look at the diamond you selected, you can see lots of grey marks right in the middle of the table. Those are fragments of the twining wisps on the certificate. It takes some practice picking them out. Fortunately, I’ve had lots of practice 🙂

Thanks Mike. I think 11K is a bit out of budget.

Do you think the stone you chose will look good in this setting? https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-sidestones/14k-white-gold-common-prong-30ct-brilliant-diamond-engagement-ring-11104w14.html

I put the one you recommended on hold. There are 2 inclusions I can see, and a rep said they can put a prong on 1 inclusion.

Almost ready to pull the trigger, thanks for the help.

Yes, I think that diamond is an excellent value and will look great in that setting.

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