Q&A: “Losing it Over Loose Diamonds”

I am a huge fan of your site both for useful information and a good laugh or two when the diamond searching has got me down. I am looking to get ready make the plunge here in the next month or so and have been looking for the perfect diamond to pop the question with.

That being said, I am a normal person and am on a tight budget. I’m looking for the best round brilliant cut diamond that I can get for $1500. I have been trying to find something in the G-H color range, eye clean up to VS1 clarity, preferably an ideal cut and a size around .70 ct (up to .75 ct max). I don’t have a problem with fluorescence up to medium and am really just trying to get the most impressive stone I can and stay on my budget.

This is the link to the wedding set that I plan on putting it into.

https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-matching-bands/18k-White-Gold-Thin-French-Cut-Pave-Set-Diamond-Wedding-Set.html

Any advice or help is greatly appreciated. You’re site has already opened my eyes to so many realities that I wouldn’t have gotten from anywhere else (especially not the industry that is trying to keep the wool over my eyes!).

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

I have. I meant that the highest clarity that I was looking for VS1. I really just want something that is eye clean. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for responding so quickly.

…….

I reread the article from the link that you sent me and understand what you were saying earlier. I definitely agree with it not needing to be “10x magnification” clean. Eye clean, or “everyday” clean, is all that I’m looking for. Just like D,E,F, very good ratings for polish and symmetry and VVS2 and higher clarity ratings, VS1 looks super sexy on paper. However, unless I plan on permanently displaying the certificate on the ring for onlookers to see, that’s where the sexiness ends and where the unnecessary spending begins. Too much emotion involved!

Sorry for all the emails, but thank you for being thorough with me.

Holy smokes! That is really awesome. Both of those look better than anything I was coming up with.

That being said, I do have one more question for you. I completely raided your website last night/this morning and read every article and most of the posts that I thought would pertain to my search. There were a couple that were close to what I was asking for in price range, but they differed in what they were asking for. After reading all of your truth about posts and their specific success stories, I wondered what you might be able to find if I told you that I wasn’t concerned about color at all. For instance, if I said that I just wanted the best diamond that I could get for $1500 (up to $1700 as my max limit), would it affect your findings? I think that I should be able to get a little bit bigger if I’m willing to sacrifice on the color, right? Besides, after following some of your links and using their coloring scale tools, it doesn’t seem like there’s a huge disparity between F and J colors. Let me know if I’m missing something or if the links are the best I’m going to get for my budget.

I’m completely impressed already and really appreciate all your advice and help thus far.

Okay, I understand what you’re saying and that’s originally why I was wanting to stay in the H color range since the accent stones in the ring set were G-H range and I wanted the colors to be similar.

I’m leaning towards going with one of the diamonds that you originally sent me the links to, but I came across this one in my final search and thought I’d send it your way. I don’t know how to tell if it’ll be eye clean or not just based on the picture. I see the problem area at the top of the, but don’t know if that’s actually the top of the diamond, off on the crown or how much it will really affect the diamond’s appearance in real life.

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-I1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1196912.asp

Thanks for lending me your expert eyes and opinion.

So you’re saying that it’s pretty much eye clean and that to “cover” or “hide” it as much as possible, I should request that James Allen orient the diamond so that one of the prongs holds the diamond in that area?

Whoohoo! I’ll give them a call tomorrow and see what they say about lining the inclusion up with a prong. Is there anything I need to do to make sure you get the credit you deserve? It was your site that led me there in the first place and I want to make sure you get recognized for that.

Will do!

Thanks for all the help!

xxxxx is my order number. I placed it this morning and used the coupon code you gave me.

If you need any other info, just let me know. I’m happy to help.

Ira,

Hello again and Happy Thursday. Man-o-man was I impressed when my rings got here. It looks absolutely wonderful and I think she is really going to like it. I’m not quite sure that I could be any more happy with my purchase on any fronts. You obviously gave me a wealth of knowledge and weighed in with your experience-based expertise. The people at James Allen were extremely courteous and helpful, as well. Not to mention, their customer service is some of the best I’ve ever been associated with from patient, knowledgeable staff members to honoring my mounting requests (to hide that inclusion) to tracking numbers that actually work. When I made the purchase over the phone the woman helping me told me that it would ship in three days and that it would be at my door two days after that and it was! That’s awesome.

Thank you again so much for all the help. Now my only challenge is keeping the secret until I pop the question when we go home to visit our families next month. Definitely can’t complain about that.

Have a great weekend

Done!

[LINK TO REVIEW ON IVOUCH]

Thanks for everything