Q&A: Choosing a Round and Oval Cut Diamond for Two Platinum Rings With $20k Total Budget

Unfortunately, the D-color diamond has a strong fluorescence. That’s a kiss of death on such a high color, it’s practically guaranteed to have a hazy/dead look in daylight. Also, D IF is not the best value. Unless the diamond is exceptional in other ways (superb cut, more carats), getting a D IF quality is a waste of money. Diamonds are a terrible investment and unless you are getting a colored stone or going really high in carats, they wouldn’t hold their value. It’s better to get the best bang for your buck now than overpaying for features you wouldn’t even be able to see.

Blue Nile LD13598558
This one is not very well cut (it’s better to keep the table % between 54-59) and I’d rather avoid strong fluorescence as well.

Blue Nile LD14024208
This one is a nice option.

I’m happy to make some recommendations to you, can you tell me what style setting you want to put the diamonds into? It may affect the color grade that I recommend, different colors suit different settings better.

One last question: the settings are going to be plain solitaires or something with additional diamonds in the band/around the center stone? I just want to make sure the diamonds wouldn’t look yellow in them.

The reason I asked was that different color grades suit different settings better (talking round diamonds; with ovals, I would definitely stick with an H+ for a white gold/platinum setting). While J color looks fantastic in a solitaire setting, it might have a yellow hue in a pave or a halo. I color is a great choice for a pave, but it still wouldn’t be enough for a halo where the smaller diamonds are directly next to the center stone. So not knowing what type of setting the diamond will end up in, I’d rather opt for an H – it would look great in any setting you would put it into. What do you think, would you agree with me?

1) Here’s the round option with the qualities I’d recommend:
Blue Nile LD13726652

I know it’s lower in carats than what you originally wanted, but I didn’t find any decent larger options for around 10k. The first good 1.5ct stone I found was this one and a 1.6ct would be even pricier.

2) Here’s a gorgeous 1.5ct oval diamond:
Blue Nile LD13298380

Awesome! I’m glad you liked my suggestions so much.