Q&A: Help Finding a Round Diamond for Around $1,500 Budget

Even though JA’s True Hearts (or BN’s Astor cut) aren’t our choice #1 when selecting a diamond for our readers, it’s sometimes possible to find a good option there that would be worth the money. We use our own strict parameters for picking out diamonds and we haven’t found those particular cuts to be noticeably or consistently more brilliant. Even if the hearts and arrows are perfect, we think the diamonds we select according to our criteria are also very bright and brilliant.

I personally like the third (www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.46-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-true-hearts-cut-sku-6138318?a_aid=dmnd1357) and fourth (www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-true-hearts-cut-sku-6144643?a_aid=dmnd1357) diamond from your selection, they’re superbly cut.

You can consider these options as well:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.55-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6045580?a_aid=dmnd1357

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.56-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5291728?a_aid=dmnd1357

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.55-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-4785556?a_aid=dmnd1357
These diamonds are superbly cut, eye-clean and brilliant. They are going to look colorless in any setting you choose (https://www.diamonds.pro/education/color/).

If you’re looking for a truly spectacular diamond, Brian Gavin Diamonds is the way to go. Brian Gavin is known as one of the world’s experts when it comes to perfectly cut diamonds (https://www.diamonds.pro/reviews/brian-gavin/). They focus on each aspect of the stone, therefore, all their diamonds are extremely brilliant. You can consider this stone: www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.423-g-vs1-round-diamond-bkags-104103075041?a_aid=y.

I wouldn’t recommend purchasing the first (www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-d-color-vs1-clarity-true-hearts-cut-sku-6259741?a_aid=dmnd1357) and last stone (www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-d-color-vvs2-clarity-true-hearts-cut-sku-6141820?a_aid=dmnd1357) because the strong fluorescence (on D-I diamonds) / medium fluorescence (on D-G color) may cause a hazy/milky look in daylight (https://www.diamonds.pro/education/fluorescence/).

All the other stones are perfect, any of them will be a great choice. There isn’t a significant difference between them in terms of brilliance. I personally like this one a lot:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-true-hearts-cut-sku-6144643?a_aid=dmnd1357.

From my previous selection, I would choose this stone www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.56-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-5291728?a_aid=dmnd1357. It’s also superbly cut and the biggest options so far (see the actual measurements).

You can consider these options as well:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6066903?a_aid=dmnd1357

www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.63-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-6100991?a_aid=dmnd1357
Unless you are going with a halo setting, both these options will look colorless. For a solitaire setting, you can drop the color to J ( J colored stones don’t look any yellowish in solitaire settings as you can see in this example: https://www.diamonds.pro/ring-gallery/stunning-solitaire-setting/).

We usually don’t recommend overpaying for VVS D-F rounds.

All of them are superbly cut and will be extremely brilliant. If it was up to me, I’d go with the last 0.56ct G SI1 stone as it’s the biggest and cheapest option. If you want to stick with True Hearts, then I’d choose the first stone (www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-true-hearts-cut-sku-6144643?a_aid=dmnd1357). But you can’t go wrong with any of them.