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Q&A: Round Diamond for 3 Stone Engagement Ring on $16-17K Budget

By Mike Fried,

your website is very informative. I originally had started out with bluenile and reading up some diamond info (4c’s), but once i found your website I was much more well informed.

Can you help me pick out 3 diamonds? I plan to place it on a platinum solitaire setting to keep it simple and classy but need help picking the right diamond.

Here are the specs:

Goal: Best Diamond for my price range

Shape: Round

Color: H or better

Clarity: VS2, though I see that SI is a possible option. as long as the naked eye doesn’t pick it up

Budget: I plan to spend about 2k on the setting and 16-17k on the diamond.

Extra info: Looking to get this asap so please advise. thanks.

Thank you for the prompt response. I actually spent this whole morning sifting through JA and saw that I got a better deal if I included the “I” color diamonds. So i did just that and lowered my budget by 2-3k.

Would you mind reviewing the finalists below?

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1307888.asp

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1375649.asp

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1378718.asp

I kind of want to go for the TrueHeart diamond since it’s “perfect”, but i’m wondering if I would’ve missed out on the deal for the larger diamond (the 1.59 one since it’s larger in size)

And for pictures of the 1.57 I VS2 and 1.59 I VS2 diamonds, i tried looking hard for the inclusions based on the GIA certificates…but i couldn’t find them! I think that’s a good thing, but also worried that the picture isn’t as accurate as I hoped it to be.

Can you advise?

I’ve also narrowed it down to this setting:

https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-sidestones/ring/item_58-4150.asp

……

I have a question for the setting. If the two pear shape diamonds on the setting are F-G Color and a min total carrat weight of 0.36.

Will the F-G pear diamonds stand out against the center round I diamond? and how small should the pears be so that the 1.5 round still stands out?

The TH stone says it’s unavailable now – did you just order it?

I wouldn’t worry about not finding the inclusions – VS2s are very very small and you have to remember that a photograph is only focused on one plane of depth, so if a VS2 was either above or below that plane of focus, you would definitely not be able to see it.

As for the setting, I don’t think it would be a problem since pear shapes show color much more strongly than rounds do.

just went you sent the e-mail, i was ordering the stone. Good timing!

Yeup…indeedy.

I’ll update you once I receive it and show you some pictures.

thank you very much for your guidance!!!

Sounds great! Please let me know what you think when it arrives!

Looking back on the JA inventory, there were actually a handful of 1.5-1.6 diamonds in the 12k-14k price range. I dismissed most of them when i saw some dark inclusions in the middle etc. I tried really hard to focus on black-free marks.

Do you think I paid a heavy premium for the TH, I VS1?

……

actually, for my own info……

do you think the TH I VS1 is better or the 1.59 I VS2 one? they’re about the same price.

JA doesn’t charge a real serious premium at all for TH. You did a great job 🙂

I think it’s a better choice than the 1.59 because all the 1.59 has over the 1.51 is size, and the difference in diameter anyway isn’t enough to be noticeable.

Thank you Ira. i got a confirm from JamesAllen that they are confident to hit my delivery date of 6/16. At first it was a bit shaky since manufacture had to go back and forth to get the setting confirmed.

quick question…

i took a look at a diamond today and it was a G SI 1….the SI 1 inclusions were noticeable if i focused closely on it with my naked eye, but the G color was facing white beautifully.

My latest concern is that i picked an I diamond + the 2 pear shaped setting….will it face white nicely? Should I change the diamond to a higher color?

You should ask JA about this since they know what the color of the pear shapes really is. They’ll be able to tell you if it’ll match or not.

Sorry, what I meant is…should i switch out the center i color diamond?

I know that’s what you meant. What I’m saying, is that without really knowing anything about the pear shapes other than what they write on the website, I can’t really answer fully. If the pear shapes turn out to be D colors, then the center stone will look off-white if it’s anything less than an F. But if they’re Hs, then the I colored center stone will look totally fine. So you really need to speak with the JA people to confirm that the I color center will look OK next to those pear shapes. I know it’ll be fine, but just to relax your concerns, it would probably help for you to hear it from them directly.

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.
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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.
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