Q&A: Best Round Brilliant Diamond for $20K Budget

Ira, first… I really enjoyed reading your web site and all the straight, sensible advice and experience you share. It is a fantastic resource! I also went to Penn/Wharton and of course have a soft spot for fellow graduates, esp. OPIM guys (they called it DSCI in my days… I did DSCI/FNCE).

Anyways, I think I’m ready to pull the trigger on a diamond and went about it looking for the ”best” diamond, according to your recommended search parameters, given a $20K budget. I came up with the following, sorted by price. The most important thing is that it looks great to the naked eye, without any obvious flaws:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1376930.asp $19,620

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1370637.asp $19,780

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1371624.asp $19,790

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1307892.asp $20,650

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/K-VVS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1381249.asp $20,730

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1351749.asp $21,050

So:

(1) would you mind taking a look and telling me what you think? Also, if you happen to see another stone I might have missed, I will definitely take a look?

(2) I was thinking about the simple 6-prong setting, but they said ”stones above 1.5 carat can be set for an additional price.” Is there any disadvantage to this setting? I don’t mind paying more to accommodate the diamond, but if I wanted the most simple, classic, solitaire diamond look, is there a particular setting you would recommend?

(3) When I’m finally ready to pull the trigger, are there any other special instructions I need to follow to ensure the web site knows I used your recommendation? Of course I would be happy to – and would insist on – the recommendation credit for your excellent web site and help.

Platinum/white. Thanks v much!

Great… I’m going to get this one. Out of all the stones you’ve seen over the years, and given the price range, do you think it’s a good, average, or below average purchase? I’ve fully accepted this is purely an emotional purchase and not an investment… so please be as brutally honest as possible. I’m just curious, that’s all, since I have zero operational experience in this area.

A couple of quick questions:

1. So I was thinking about just a solitaire, platinum 6-prong setting (looking for the simple, clean, classic look.) Do you have any thoughts or recommendations there? Is there any technical or functional advantage of using a 4-prong vs. a 6-prong, or some other setting?

2. Do you have any recommendations or thoughts on insurance? Both in terms of what/when/how to do it for the ring, and/or any particular vendors you trust or deal with that specialize in engagement rings and such?

3. Finally, is there anything special I need to do to ensure your web site gets referral credit for this purchase? I’ll probably make the purchase online at home, so I’m not sure if certain cookies or referral links will work properly since I’ve done much of the searching at work? Let me know if there’s anything I can or should do to make sure this happens.

Thanks again for all the help. I think your web site and advice are superb.

Ugh, absolute tragedy… I got home this evening and went to make the purchase, and the diamond is no longer available.

Damn, I guess these things happen.

I will keep searching and will keep you in the loop… thanks again for your help so far.

Don’t know if you remember, but I’m your fellow Quaker classmate that tried to buy your recommended diamond from James Allen but it was snapped up right before I wanted to buy.

So I took a bit of a “breather” and let everything settle down and the web site refill and change around. I’m pretty sure I’m ready to pull the trigger again, and this time I will execute the transaction as soon as I hear back from you re: a recommended stone.

Would you mind taking a look at what I think were the best selections, given your recommendations on your web site? I am looking for a solitaire diamond, single classic setting, platinum. Overall I’m just looking for the best “value” and suspect all observations will be done with a naked eye for example. Thank you in advance… and of course if you have any other recommended stones from whatever vendor, I will definitely take a look.

Here were the best ones I could find (untrained) in the $25-$28K territory in the “comparison” format.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds-search/?View=4&Tab=3&Comparison=1370747,1375354,1395451,1379687,1379696,1395390,1333281,1372030

Please let me know what you think and I’ll get this done! I’ll also send you the order number as requested so you get well-deserved referral credits!

thanks again for your help.

I had to place this over the phone in the end due to shipping, payment, and delivery issues… couldn’t seem to get it done exactly the way I wanted online. I did of course state you were the referral.

Will this be sufficient for you to receive your referral? Please let me know if it is not, and/or if there’s anything I can do on my side to help.

…….

Ira… I got the finished product yesterday and it looks great.

Thanks again for all of your help. Did everything go okay with the referral?

Quick question… I was a half or full size too big on the ring. Is James Allen in New York, or is there a place you could recommend to do a resizing? I’d hate to ship it back that’s all… or is this something that can’t be done “while you wait” at a jewelry store?

Thanks again for everything.