Diamonds! Who knows about Diamonds? Specifically of the Engagement variety (Houston: buy, middle school)

[ChristinaHamburglar]

I was particular about the clarity and colour though.... Size was secondary.

But how I regret that now!

[mikimou]

Cut is most important. A smaller well cut diamond will appear bigger and more brilliant when compared side by side to a larger stone with a poor cut. I laugh at the girls that brag about their big diamonds that look dull and dirty. Do some research on Premier Diamond and Jewelry Community | PriceScope before you make your purchase. Congrats!

[PedroMartinez]

Originally Posted by bu2

Depends on the girl. Some know the difference. Of course, they usually want size and quality.

Wait, what are we talking about again?

[tc1209]

Awesome response to my original post! I really appreciate all the help.

I will definitely have to check out Intercontinental Jewelers based on their reviews and that they are in the same building as Houston Diamond Outlet (where I have an appointment to look at some diamonds on Friday). I've been looking at bluenile a little bit but apparently need to seriously consider them based on yalls responses. I've also checked out Jamesallen a little bit online. Anybody have any experience with them? Their online portal is pretty nice because they have a 360 view of every diamond in their database. I'm still a little wary of the online aspect of buying such a large ticket item and something such as a diamond that seems like, to me, that its pretty important to see the diamond in person and how it really shines under light and what not and that there aren't any defects that you can see with the naked eye.

Sounds like I need to target a larger, G colored VS2 or VS1 with a very good cut (seems hard to find an "excellent" or "Ideal" cut oval diamond.

Here is my next questions how important is polish and symmetry to the beauty of a diamond to the naked eye?
From my understanding polish grades relate to how well it was polished and if there are visible marks from the polishing brush on the diamond which means I would want to target a very good and up rating and Symmetry relates to the symmetry of the facets on the diamond which....I have no idea how that will effect the beauty and brilliance of a diamond....


Just as an idea...this is pretty much exactly what she wants (in my opinion) Of course this is a 2.3carat and I am not paying for that kinda diamond. Trying to keep this between $10K-$14K

[Schumacher713]

Originally Posted by eastontracks

So this. Even S1 will be legit. I did what Schumacher says and people compliment the diamond my fiancé has all the time. It looks great. If anything, make sure you don't see anything with the naked eye, have a certified graded diamond and have a high rated color. Those were my priorities but again everyone has dif lists and criteria.

Don't bother with a high rated color either. That is another thing you can't tell unless you are trained. I took a course a very long time ago. It is so damn hard to tell which color is which grade even under magnification. There is no way you can tell with the naked eye. I doubt you can tell a D from a H. S1 or S2 is just fine. Again unless you are an expert no one can tell. Carat and cut is what matters. No girl goes up to her friends and says I have a VVS1, D, etc. They hold out their hand and they show off the size of the rock. You buy a tiny perfect one and it looks like you a broke. You buy a big flawed one and all her friends will be jealous. They both cost the same price.

Oval cuts are in right now and as a bonus it is a medium priced cut.

I just saw your last post. I think you are shooting too high with VS1/VS2. I would go lower. Don't believe the jewelry telling you that someone can see the difference. He can convince you that you can. I promise you that you can't. As for your polish and symmetry questions. Is she an engineer? Will she bust out some calipers and measure it all? I doubt this is something you can tell either. The sole way you can tell is the piece of paper that rates it for insurance. Polish can matter somewhat.

I am telling you. Buy the diamond loose and have a setting made. It will save you a bundle. I think you can do 2.3 carats easily on your budget.

[mikimou]

If you decide to have the ring custom made, I would recommend Leon Mege. He is the only person I use for delicate custom work such as the ring in your pic. https://leonmege.com/

[PedroMartinez]

Keep in mind that things like table size, depth and girdle depth (cutlet or whatever it is I'm thinking of) aren't as important if you aren't purchasing the round (American Standard) cut.

[eastontracks]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

Don't bother with a high rated color either. That is another thing you can't tell unless you are trained. I took a course a very long time ago. It is so damn hard to tell which color is which grade even under magnification. There is no way you can tell with the naked eye. I doubt you can tell a D from a H. S1 or S2 is just fine. Again unless you are an expert no one can tell. Carat and cut is what matters. No girl goes up to her friends and says I have a VVS1, D, etc. They hold out their hand and they show off the size of the rock. You buy a tiny perfect one and it looks like you a broke. You buy a big flawed one and all her friends will be jealous. They both cost the same price.

Oval cuts are in right now and as a bonus it is a medium priced cut.

I just saw your last post. I think you are shooting too high with VS1/VS2. I would go lower. Don't believe the jewelry telling you that someone can see the difference. He can convince you that you can. I promise you that you can't. As for your polish and symmetry questions. Is she an engineer? Will she bust out some calipers and measure it all? I doubt this is something you can tell either. The sole way you can tell is the piece of paper that rates it for insurance. Polish can matter somewhat.

I am telling you. Buy the diamond loose and have a setting made. It will save you a bundle. I think you can do 2.3 carats easily on your budget.

That's very true too about color. Mines an E and I've seen a few on the lower end and I could tell a little so I felt better w what I got. Your advice was great.

To the OP, what those recent questions and photos, id go to those jewelers you've narrowed it down to and ask them. My brain still hurts from the research I did for mine last year lol. The store will have much insight and detail for ya!

[eastontracks]

Oh, if your significant wants a diamond like in that photo, why shoot for such a high rated clarity? That type can hide any small imperfection without noticing at all. If It was me, I'd be getting an S1, GIA, with the highest cut and carat size I can afford. I know you might want vs and that's understandable too in getting.

To give you an idea, I got an emerald cut, in the S clarity grade. Those diamonds you can see right through them (unlike yours or princess and others) and there is nothing you can see with the naked eye.

[tc1209]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

Don't bother with a high rated color either. That is another thing you can't tell unless you are trained. I took a course a very long time ago. It is so damn hard to tell which color is which grade even under magnification. There is no way you can tell with the naked eye. I doubt you can tell a D from a H. S1 or S2 is just fine. Again unless you are an expert no one can tell. Carat and cut is what matters. No girl goes up to her friends and says I have a VVS1, D, etc. They hold out their hand and they show off the size of the rock. You buy a tiny perfect one and it looks like you a broke. You buy a big flawed one and all her friends will be jealous. They both cost the same price.

Oval cuts are in right now and as a bonus it is a medium priced cut.

I just saw your last post. I think you are shooting too high with VS1/VS2. I would go lower. Don't believe the jewelry telling you that someone can see the difference. He can convince you that you can. I promise you that you can't. As for your polish and symmetry questions. Is she an engineer? Will she bust out some calipers and measure it all? I doubt this is something you can tell either. The sole way you can tell is the piece of paper that rates it for insurance. Polish can matter somewhat.

I am telling you. Buy the diamond loose and have a setting made. It will save you a bundle. I think you can do 2.3 carats easily on your budget.

Where in the world can I find a GIA rated 2.3 carat diamond for less than $12k?

I went to Intercontinental today and they had a 1.5 H VS2 for around 10k and she would custom make the ring to look like the one in the picture (for only $1,200, Wow) and so the total weight might be around 2.3 carats but from all the online databases ive looked at there is no way I can get a 2.3 carat center stone. The highest I could do online is like a 1.8 from what I've seen. and in reality that's like a 0.3mm x 0.2mm size difference and I wouldn't be getting the perfect custom ring for only $1,200 bucks. I imagine if I get the diamond somewhere else that ring price is gonna pop. I did see a slight difference in color when comparing a D to an H side by side but when the H was not next to a D I definitely couldn't have told you what color rating it was, looked flawless to me.