Q&A: Choosing a Center Diamond for a Pave White Gold Setting Within a £8,500 Total Budget

Hello Diamond Pro Team,

I am looking for an engagement ring and would appreciate it tremendously if you would help me out with this difficult choice.

The plan is to use a white gold, petite pavé ring, from the models I have seen online it will probably be in the £1,000 range. I was thinking about something like the Blue Nile Petite Cathedral Pavé Diamond Engagement Ring.

The total price of the ring should not exceed £8,000 to £8,500, hence the stone should be in the area of £7,000-£7,500.

I thought the matching diamond should be round cut, 1.25 carat+, ideally around 1.3-1.35 or more if feasible with the budget, but I’d rather compromise somewhat on size if that allows for a better quality stone. I’d stick with the guidelines you have suggested in terms of best quality/size ratio, hence priority of cut over colour, clarity does not need to be perfect if the blemishes are barely perceptible to the untrained eye.

I hope the above criteria is sufficient but please let me know if you’d prefer me to be more specific.

My girlfriend does not wear rings day to day, so I only have a vague idea of size, hence it would be good of the provider would allow free resizing.

It would be fantastic if you could help me out finding the right stone.

Thank you very much for your help!

I had a look at both stones you suggested. I like the one for £7,066. However, when looking at it, it seems like there is a small blemish in the middle of the stone. Is this just dust or an actual scratch/blemish?

Did you focus on Blue Nile since I suggested a setting from Blue Nile and hence, in combination with the Diamond, Blue Nile has the best package, or are you confident that the stones you suggested are generally the best you would be able to find when looking at the criteria I proposed across the platforms you normally sift through (even if disregarding the setting)?

I was wondering if you could kindly have another look according to the same criteria as below, to see if anything else has come onto the market that may be worth considering? One of the stones you suggested has already been sold but the other one, which is still currently available would have been my preferred option out of the two anyway. I really appreciate your help.

really like the second one (1.31ct – LD11195563). When comparing it to the first one you sent me a while ago (LD10302411) it seems like the 1.31 ct one you sent it is slightly bigger and has higher clarity. It seems strange that it actually is cheaper. Is there anything else “wrong” with it? Else it would probably the one I’ll go for.

I ordered stone and setting two days ago. Thank you very much for your help on this.

The stone and the whole ring looked great and my now fiancée loves it too. : )