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First off, I have to thank you for putting together such a fantastic website to educate newbie diamond buyers on what to look for and what to avoid. When I first started my journey to buy an engagement ring, all I had was a brief article on the 4 C’s that emphasized doing cursory diamond research online and then going to jewelers to figure out the rest. Since we’re trying to save for a downpayment on a house, my budget is small ($2,000 total) and some initial research into loose diamonds and ring settings grounded my expectations. I found a few I liked at Blue Nile (after finding your site and viewing jamesallen.com, I guess I can’t say I “liked” the Blue Nile diamonds since I never saw them!), I printed out a bunch of info on diamonds and rings and headed off to Benari Jewelers to see what they had to offer. After a quick conversation with the jeweler where I covered what I had to spend and what I was looking for, he said he would see what he could order in and email me in 2 days to set something up.
Well 2 days turned into 3 turned into 4 without an email in my inbox and I grew slightly frustrated. I returned to google and continued to do more research, in particular looking for reviews of Blue Nile, which quickly led me here. Wow, what an incredibly invaluable website! I read the review of Zales in which you discuss the mark-up at brick and mortar stores and how online retailers can provide a significant advantage for the buyer (which led me to realize that the reason I haven’t heard anything is because there’s no way Benari could meet the specifications I was looking for in my price range from online retailers). The youtube video that breaks down the perception (the most important factor after all) of the clarity/quality of diamonds and how that doesn’t necessarily correlate with price was fantastic and gave a man with a small budget a lot of hope. After reading through the wealth of information on your website and doing some work on jamesallen.com, I find myself a little stuck trying to balance everything out to get a great diamond in my price range and I would really appreciate some guidance.
As I had mentioned previously, my budget is $2,000 total with some wiggle room up to $2,250. I’m looking for a round brilliant, Ideal/Excellent or better cut, J or better color, and at least/hopefully a 0.5 carat or bigger diamond. The clarity is where I find myself getting stuck as I’m not sure what diamonds on jamesallen.com would be “eye clean” since the pictures/movies are 9x(?) or more and a lot of imperfections are easy to see but may not be noticeable once the ring is on her finger. As for settings, I’m looking for a narrow band, 14k white gold, and on jamesallen.com had it narrowed down to these two:
I have a lot of wiggle room on the setting and would be fine with changing to the most economical 14K white gold solitare setting provided the diamond was a knockout in my price range. I was leaning toward the Pave setting since my specification is “narrow” for the band but then your site advises it’s best to get a center stone that matches or exceeds in color any of the smaller stones around it. I read that shortly after finding and really, really liking this stone for the Pave setting:
I then read further in your Q&A section to find that it wasn’t the best choice to buy a VS1 stone with a J color so that sent me back to hunting and hemming and hawing again. While I have done just some brief searching again in the brick and mortar world, I’ve found that by far my best value will be had with an online purchase.
And so here I am, looking for some help and direction to find the best stone I can for what I can afford. I really appreciate everything you’ve already done for me with such a wonderful, informative site and any further help you can provide would earn my enormous thanks (don’t worry, I’ll already tell anyone/everyone that they should start their diamond buying experience at your site!). While I know she’ll love it, I really want to get her the absolute best ring I can!
As much as we love JA (and it’s pretty obvious we do from our site), their ‘True Hearts’ aren’t worth the money. I’d recommend this diamond over the one you selected:
If you really want a perfectly cut diamond, we’d recommend Brian Gavin’s Hearts and Arrows. I like this one for you:
Thank you so much for getting back to me.
After looking through your site a bit more, I did see your recommendation to someone else about JA’s “True Hearts” collection and I had actually come across the diamond you suggested in my search. I had not done much searching on briangavindiamonds.com and that diamond does seem like a great one, thank you for the suggestion!
I spent a bit of time going through your site again and bouncing back and forth between a number of different sites and diamonds and I actually purchased the following set last night:
It’s in the process of being assembled and I look forward to receiving it soon. I tried to follow your advice of trying to get the best quality for the price and not looking at it as an investment but rather something that would look great on her finger (which took a lot of pressure off!). I hope the diamond is “eye clean” (I think it will be, the feather to the left of center looks pretty small in comparison to others I have seen!) and I think the sparkle of the diamond will really catch her eye. It is a very simple setting but then a better ring is what a 10 year anniversary is for, right? Please let me know what you think of my selection. I wanted to order it soon in case the right moment comes up sooner than I had planned and to provide time to assemble and deliver the ring. James Allen’s 60 day return policy was something that also appealed to me in case tweaks need to be made to the ring after proposing, though I have a pretty good feeling she’ll love it.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me to suggest a few great diamonds and for putting together the best resource on buying a diamond there is!
That is a great combo.
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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