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Q&A: Round “Sparkly” Diamond for $10K Budget

By Mike Fried,

Hope you are doing well and had a great holiday! First off I wanted to thank you for providing such an amazing service. I think it is a great thing you are doing and a very solid business plan. I really appreciate how you lay everything out in your explanation on how you make money. It is a great service and great idea! So I did want to preface this with saying that when I make my purchase, I definitely want to get instructions from you on how to MAKE SURE, you get credit for the purchase.

So anyways, here are the details I wanted to provide you. First off, I am looking to buy this rign for my girlfriend, but my first main question is “Is now the time to buy?” I ask this because I am in no huge rush to purchase the ring since I won’t be popping the question until this summer. I have read on websites that buying around Christmas/Valentine’s day is not a good time to buy diamonds because prices are inflated. In your experience is that true? Let me know your thoughts on if I should wait or what you think (I do have the money to make the purchase whenever).
Now when I do purchase, I definitely want to look at all the websites, but I agree, the James Allen site looks really good. So that would be an awesome one to start with. Now below I have answered the questions you asked:

• Is your goal cheapest price for given parameters, or best diamond for fixed budget?
o My goal is to get the best diamond for a fixed budget. Now there is something her to consider as well. My girlfriend has very small hands so anything larger than 1.4 Carats actually starts looking too big. So I am looking for a size in the range of 1.25-1.4 Carats. I also want to make it as “Sparkly” as possible (sorry for the poor terms, ha). So I know I want to go with an ideal cut. Also, while getting a good deal price was is definitely awesome, I want to keep my purchase definitely between 9-10k (with a 10.5k max).
• Shape
o Round
• Desired Color Range
o I would like your opinion on this, but I am thinking that I will go with an “H” for color
• Desired Clarity
o Again I would like your opinion on this and I actually think this is where I could use the most help. Before I found your website, I was looking at VVS2, but the more I have read, it looks like I might be able to knock this down a bit and get more “bang for my buck” (aka get a very nice, very shiny ring and save some money on this feature). However, I still don’t trust my judgment on what I should get. My girlfriend is definitely not the type to go “comparing her ring to other peoples or in jewelers” so again as long as the clarity is pretty good (no big visible spots) and it gives and overall very sparkly diamond, I think it would be perfect.
• Budget
o Again, my budget is 9k-10k with a 10.5 max. And to be honest, I have budgeted for this much, so I don’t really want to go below 9k.
• Anything else you might feel is relevant
o I think this pretty much sums everything up. Again, I really appreciate this and please let me know if I can give you any more info. When I actually go about purchasing this I will DEFINITELY make sure I have the cookies on so that you get credit. Thanks again!

THanks for writing, and thanks for the very kind words about the site! Listen, in all honestly, I would say you should hold off for a while. not because prices are higher now (they’re not) but because there’s no reason you should have a $10,000 ring sitting in your house for 6 months. Buy it within 30 days of the time you plan on proposing so if there’s an issue and she doens’t like it, you can return it.

Very good point and I think I’ll do that. Is it ok that I still reach out to you when it gets around that time? Thanks!

Of course!

Thanks again Ira! Really appreciate it and I’ll reach out to you in a couple of months. Have a great day!
…….
Hope you had a great weekend! I am still going to reach out to you in several months about my diamond purchase, but I was just wondering if you had any advice (or links to a website) that would give any information on the pros/cons of platinum vs. Gold. All these places keep trying to sell me on platinum and I really want to see if it is worth it.

Thanks again!!

I think the major benefits are that plat doesn’t require maintenance to stay white and it’s hypoallergenic.

Hope you are doing well!

So I just wanted to let you know that I am now somewhat open to buying my diamond earlier than I originally thought. While I still probably won’t give it to her until June, I am pretty confident I have a good ring in mind and that she will love it, so I don’t think I need to worry about the 30 day return policy. That being said, if I buy it early and I don’t like it, then I can return it (because I believe on your website you said Jared Allen is pretty good with their returns).

Anyways, I am in NO RUSH AT ALL, but if one of these days you are browsing and see something that fits this a little, just let me know (I changed what I was looking for a bit based on your website recommendations, and I went to a jeweler and actually looked at some stones that were S1 clarity and you really couldn’t see anything at all!): Anyways here is what I am thinking:

Cut: Ideal
Clarity: S1 or VS2 (probably go with a good S1)
Color: H
Carots: slightly less than 1.5 ish (can be slightly less based on your writeup that they get marked up when they hit 1.5, so a 1.47-1.49 would work just fine!)
Polish/Symmetry/Depth/Table/Girdle – Whatever you think is good based on your writeup
Florescence: I know you said that for colors H Floresence might actually help it, but again I will trust your judgment on this

Max Price: $10,500ish (Somewhat flexible) – but anything a bit lower would be great too!

Again, no rush, just if you see something when you are browsing.

Thanks again!!!

I took a look for you and here’s what I found:
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1357338.asp
and
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1353935.asp

I like the 1.43 better since it looks cleaner. But if this is what you want, you should jump on it soon as diamonds of this size are few and far between – I’m actually amazed that I found two 1.40-1.49s for you with H SI1. I didn’t think I’d find any!

thanks a ton Ira! do you think the 1.43 would look good to the naked eye?? that’s all that really matters to me

Oh yeah!

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