Q&A: Brilliant Earth Vs. James Allen

Hi, I’d like to start off by telling you I sure am glad I found your site!!! My fiance proposed about a month ago, and did so with a sapphire ring that matched an earring/bracelet set he gave me in the past… but he said he wanted me to pick out my engagement ring, and that is another thing I’m glad about! He was intimidated by diamond shopping, and I don’t blame him. Zales has been his go-to store, but after being unimpressed with diamond quality and prices they offer, I decided to look into more. I had a little more knowledge than my fiance, but I now know how little I had, and how close I was to making costly mistakes!

So I think I have read pretty much everything I can find on the internet about diamonds (whew!) Your site has been the most helpful by far! I do prefer to shop online rather than dealing with salespeople and the overhead of the B&M places. So when I was very close to purchasing a ring from Brilliant Earth (I really would like a conflict free stone), I managed to *finally* uncover some pretty disturbing reviews… Do you know anything about them? The setting I wanted from them was pretty unique and I have not found anything else similar, but don’t want to sacrifice quality for uniqueness.
http://www.brilliantearth.com/Willow-Diamond-Ring-White-Gold-BE156-192670/?first=diamond&did=296251

Anyway, after reading your site, I have been looking at James Allen. Here is the bridal set I’m considering:
www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/wedding-sets/14k-white-gold-33mm-cross-prong-solitaire-engagement-ring-063ct-channel-set-wedding-ring-item-5383?a_aid=dmnd1357

My budget for the center diamond is $1300. I still am not decided on a few things:
1. I have very petite/small hands and fingers. I had been looking at some more ornate settings, but I don’t want something that is going to be big and bulky, or too busy.

2. That being said, I want a stone that looks big, but not too big for my finger… My ring size is 4-4.5.

3. I think for this setting from James Allen, to keep the theme consistent, a princess cut would be best… but I also know round brilliants and princess cuts may be the same carats, but the princess cut will look smaller (I think I read that…).

So, if you could help me find the biggest, prettiest, most sparkly, eye-clean, probably-preferably-princess-cut-without-looking-too-dinky diamond you can for about $1300 that would be awesome!

James Allen’s site is great, in my little experience of diamond-examining I have done using his site, I have definitely been about to tell some inclusions and also the difference in color grades (of course, I would prefer the most colorless stone I can get without sacrificing too much in other areas).

Sorry this is so long. Look forward to your response!

Thanks for looking out for diamond shoppers!