Q&A: $2500 Budget for Round 3/4 Carat Diamond

The first thing I would like to do is thank you for what is a truly excellent website. I’ve been apprehensive over this whole process, but your website has been so informative and helpful. You do a great service for all of us guys (and gals!) who are pretty clueless about all this stuff. Thank you.

That said, I’ve been dating a certain lady for coming up on four years this summer, and the hints are getting so loud that even I can hear them now. It’s time to take the plunge.

After doing some research with my budget, I think I’ve settled on a 3/4 carat stone or so (approx), and the budget for the diamond itself is about $2500. I can go a couple of hundred higher for the right stone, but much beyond that would push my budget too far. All I’d care about for clarity is that it’s eye clean, and has lots of sparkle. For color I’m not too picky, from what I’ve read an I to J rating would be fine (the setting I’ve picked out at James Allen is white gold if that helps).

After looking at what seems like hundreds of diamonds on James Allen, I keep coming back to this one –

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1464803.asp

Is this a good stone? I’m no judge on whether or not something is eye clean, so I can’t tell if those flaws are something she’d see or not. If it’s not the best stone for me to go with, are there others that you would recommend for that budget and criteria which I’d be better off going with?

I’m hoping you can help me make this decision a little easier.

Thank you for the quick response. I was looking at a solitaire style ring. This one (18k White Gold 3.8mm Rounded Cathedral Diamond Solitaire Setting) from James Allen has caught my eye.

https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/solitaire-diamond-rings.html

Thanks for the quick response Mike. That one you found looks really nice (to my admittedly very untrained

eye!). Certainly my wallet would appreciate a diamond almost $500 dollars cheaper.

Just to play devil’s advocate though, if I were to go spending up to the $2500 I budgeted for a diamond, would I get any really noticeable improvement anywhere if I were to change one of my 4C’s to a higher level, such as bumping up the colour to an I? Or is it a case of really paying extra for something that you cannot really appreciate once it’s set in a ring and on her finger at that point?

Thinking on it, I think I’ll go with the original diamond which you suggested. I see James Allen has a full exchange policy if I decide it’s not up to par colour wise once I get it in hand, which should be enough security if it’s deemed “too yellow” by the female eye. I don’t think it would be an issue at all though.

Is there any sort of code or other method I need to enter at James Allen to make sure they credit you guys with the recommendation and know it came from you?

The order has been placed, payment done, and everything has gone off without a hitch. So far, James Allen have been tremendous to deal with. The order number for my order was #83690, if you want to check from your end. Now I just need to wait and see it.

Thank you so much for all your help in what felt a daunting prospect.