Hi, thank you for your suggestions below in my previous post (https://www.diamondscreener.com/questions/looking-for-a-diamond/). However, after seeing the prices are lower than I expected I think I can spend a bit more. I figure I can go up to say $4000-5000 CAD since the settings don’t seem to be that expensive.
I still want something similar: 2 ct or more round lab grown diamond, VS1 or better, F or better, and fits into the ideal part of your estimator. Also I have a few more questions:
- I wanted to ask what you look for when making your recommendations? Are you simply evaluating the Table and Angle parameters and making sure they fall into the ideal zone and then looking at the diamond video to make sure when it’s face-on that it has those 8 black arrows at the vertices?
- What else are you looking for and how can you tell these things from the video alone? Just experience?
- Because I want a round diamond, will your cut estimator still work on it since in another post you mentioned it’s based on princess cut?
- I kind of chose round arbitrarily because I thought it looked best. I realize it’s mostly personal preference, but what do you think? Are there any advantages to other cuts?
- In the diamonds you previously suggested it says the following at the bottom of the page: “Looks Like Smaller This will look smaller than a 2 carat diamond”. Why is this? Wouldn’t it better to select one that looks bigger?
- Which method of preparation of lab diamonds is better in your opinion for lab diamond? HPHT or CVD? I’ve read mixed things but it seems HPHT is closer to the natural process and therefore “better”? Should I opt for one made with HPHT only?
- If I send you a picture of my gf’s hand would you be able to estimate the approximate size? I tricked her into holding up a tape measure so hopefully that could help. I used photoshop and simply measured the diameter and came up with size 4 to 4.5 based on that, but I’m not sure I did it correctly.
- Regarding the setting, my initial plan was 14 k white gold, plain solitaire, but is that best in your opinion? What about just going for the platinum? Are there any disadvantages other than the added price? What about 6 prong vs. 4 prong.
Sorry for the all questions, but any guidance is much appreciated.
- For James Allen, the work is done by computer vision. You can judge nice optical symmetry and proportions from the appearance alone. And you can check for blue hue using vision as well. So then it’s evaluating the inclusions and if it’s CVD, the hue and strain. For Ritani, the images aren’t as consistent, so the “ideal” diamonds are only automatically screened by proportions. From there I manually check the optical symmetry, the color hue, the inclusions, and the CVD strain.
- Experience, although better video quality makes it easier.
- My cut estimator only works for round diamonds – it doesn’t work for other shapes.
- Round is the easiest shape to buy. Everything else requires more evaluation because the other proportions are just a guide. Some shapes go in and out of fashion, some shapes look bigger (and might be cheaper) for the given carat weight. But they will look different.
- Who knows how they come up with that judgment. I’ve created a chart of average diameters for EX cut round diamonds by carat weight. You can look at that for actual empirical results.
- If it’s nice, it doesn’t matter. I prefer HPHT though to avoid any issues with CVD strain (which can’t happen with HPHT).
- No, you can’t estimate ring size from a 2-D picture of a finger.
- Platinum is less maintenance since you don’t need to get it rhodium plated like white gold as the rhodium plating wears off. 4 vs. 6 is just personal preference.
Maybe minimum 2.5 ct would be a good sweet spot.
I like the options below.
Shape,Carat,Color,Clarity,Cut,Price (USD),Affiliate Link
Round,2.7,E,VS1,Excellent,2515,https://www.diamondscreener.com/ri/D-4O1QYNIAIT/2-70-carat-round-lab-diamond-ideal-cut-e-color-vs1-clarity-igi-lg520292037-sku-d-4o1qyniait
Round,2.55,E,VS1,Excellent,2630,https://www.diamondscreener.com/ri/D-2LLYB400B7/2-55-carat-round-lab-diamond-ideal-cut-e-color-vs1-clarity-igi-lg551285651-sku-d-2llyb400b7
Thank you, those look great! I will probably choose one of those and pair with a platinum solitaire. But given that I can go higher in price, say up to $4500 for the diamond alone, is there anything better? Perhaps go up to VVS1/2 or D color or even higher carat, although I imagine this will be big enough for a small finger?
You won’t be able to tell the difference between VS1 and VVS2/VVS1 or E and D.
You’ve already seen how far prices have dropped from your first post in September – the 2.7 E VS1 is the same price now as the 2.2 E VS1 then. It does not make sense to spend more money on something that continues to drop in price. Save it and spend it on something with more value.
Wow, thank you for the concise answers.
Can you pick out a couple of more diamonds from Ritani (or even James Allen although they seem to be more expensive) that pass your muster according to what I want –>
2 ct or more round lab grown diamond, VS1 or better, F or better, and fits into the ideal part of your estimator, higher than $4K, up to $5K.