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Hi, you had helped me buy an engagement ring for my (now) wife 7 years ago – great advice back then.
I am now looking to buy her a gift, thinking of a platinum ring, ideally greater than 1ct, between G-I and with a clarity of SI or better. What would you recommend as a budget for this? I am thinking £2-3k. Please advise if this is realistic and of course if you have any other suggestions/offers.
Are you looking for a solitaire ring or something with additional diamonds in the band? And what diamond shape would you like?
I was thinking of a solitaire ring and for the cut I think it will be a cushion, princess or asscher – I want to make it a surprise to her so will have a clearer idea as and when I have conversations with her.
If you could give me an idea or a recommendation of a couple of rings, I could check in with her sister too so it would be useful to have a comparable idea.
Thank you for the info.
Fancy diamond shapes don’t refract light just as well as round diamonds and thus tend to show their true color more. I wouldn’t go below an I color (princess cut) or H color (cushion & asscher cut) to ensure the colorless impression.
As for the clarity, the actual grade is not so important. Clarity grade only tells you the size of the inclusion. That is one factor in determining eye-cleanliness. But harshness, location and reflection matter as well: https://www.diamonds.pro/diamond-clarity/. You can find an SI1 (even an SI2) diamond that’s eye-clean as well as a VS2/VS1 that’s not. It always depends on a particular diamond and its inclusions. I always search for SI+, but sometimes it happens that the best-priced eye-clean diamond has a VS or VVS grade.
Generally said, large and dark inclusions (such as crystals or large feathers) often are noticeable while twinning wisps are fine in most of the cases. Sometimes the diamonds look just perfect but the ‘clarity grade is based on clouds not shown‘ note is an issue.
That means that there’s a large cloud that saps the brilliance from the stone. I also recommend avoiding diamonds with knots and cavities and diamonds <1ct with clouds – they don’t have a clarity plot in the certificate so you wouldn’t know the size and location of the cloud and the diamond might end up being hazy and less brilliant.
I found the following options for up to 3k:
Blue Nile LD13962363
Blue Nile LD13872543
Blue Nile LD14548836
They have a beautiful cut and all of them would be very bright and brilliant.
How do I select the actual ring as well? Apologies about my lack of knowledge.
No worries. You can choose the setting here: Solitaire Engagement Ring Settings. Once you know which diamond you want to go with, you just click on “add this diamond to a ring”.
Or you can message/call the customer service and they help you with everything.
Thank you! I went ahead with the asscher diamond.
I’m glad I could help you find The One.
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. James Allen will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free International Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisals
- One free resizing within 60 days of purchase
- Free ring inscriptions
- Best-in-class high quality imagery of all diamonds in stock
- 24/7 Customer Service
- Best-in-class packaging
What we love about them:
- No questions asked returns within 30 days of shipment. Blue Nile will send you a paid shipping label to return the ring.
- Lifetime Warranty
- Free Shipping
- Free prong tightening, repolishing, rhodium plating and cleaning every 6 months
- Provide insurance appraisal
- One free resizing within the first year of purchase
- High quality images of about half of their diamonds
- 24/7 Customer Service
- 100% credit towards future upgrades (must be at least double in value)
- Best in class fulfillment
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