Q&A: “Your site has, hands-down, been my go-to resource…”

After nearly four and a half years of dating, I’m more than ready to propose to my wonderful girlfriend. I’ve read, and read, and then read some more regarding the various aspects of engagement ring shopping (mostly on your awesome site!). I feel as though I have a decent grasp of the four C’s, and I’ve been scouring both local jewelry shops and the two big players online, Blue Nile and James Allen.

There’s no contest when it comes to price. The two online stores are simply the best bang for my buck. I’m leaning heavily toward James Allen because I greatly appreciate being able to see what I’m buying ahead of time.

All that being said, I’m still struggling with trying to maximize the potential of my relatively meager budget of $5,000 USD. I’d like to purchase both the loose stone and the setting from James Allen. I’ve looked at trying to get just the loose stone from JA and then finding a setting elsewhere and having a local jeweler take care of the mounting, but the added cost of doing things that way quickly eats up my budget. As far as I can tell, going with JA for the whole package will save me some money.

I have both a setting and a diamond picked out, but I’m afraid to pull the trigger. I’m looking at this:

Setting: https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/pave/18k-white-gold-pave-set-4-prong-diamond-engagement-ring.html?module=setting

Diamond: https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1529237.asp

My two major concerns are:

1.) Will the difference in color between the stones in the setting (F-G) and the center stone (H) be noticeable?

2.) More importantly, do I even need an H, VS1 for the center stone? Am I putting too much weight into characteristics that may only show up on paper? Do you think I could get away with a lesser color/clarity and possibly put that savings into a larger carat (or maybe just into my pocket)? I know I’m not going to get much larger than 0.75 with my budget, but I’d like to get as close to that size as possible, if not even a tiny bit larger. I struggle with being able to tell what is going to be “eye-clean” when looking at diamond photos on JA, so I’ve stuck with VS1 or greater clarity to take that doubt out of the equation.

One last thing, I believe I’ve decided on sticking with a true hearts and arrows ideal cut no matter what. I know dropping down to a lesser cut will save me money, but I also know that going with a top notch cut will make the diamond have that extra fire and brilliance that she deserves, and it may also make the 0.75 carat weight loom larger to the eye.

Thanks in advance for any and all help you can provide! Your site has, hands-down, been my go-to resource since I started shopping for engagement rings. I’d be lost if I hadn’t read through all the articles you’ve posted over the years.

I apologize for the very delayed response. The holidays have thrown a bit of a wrench into my ring shopping plans.

I really appreciate the advice regarding the True Hearts cut! The savings will help me out a ton.

In the time since my initial e-mail, I’ve had to adjust my budget. I’m now looking at about a max of $3,500 for my center stone. I want to stay between 0.75 – 0.80 ct, as close to the top end of that range as possible. I have my choices narrowed down to the following:

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds-search/?View=4&Tab=3&Comparison=1515006,1470502,1538476,1542070,1498654,1444667

Out of those six, I’d really love to pull the trigger on the 0.80 Carat I-SI1 Ideal Cut Round (https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1538476.asp), and the only thing holding me back is the clarity. I do not have enough of a trained eye (nor any diamond experience whatsoever) to tell whether or not this diamond is going to be eye-clean. I was hoping you could lend me a hand there?

If that stone is going to be eye-clean, I’d definitely go for it and gladly put the savings toward spicing up the proposal! 🙂

One final thing, the setting I’m looking at is a french cut pave. The diamonds in the band are G-H VS2-SI1. There’s 20 of them totaling 0.19 ct. I’m assuming that since they’re all such tiny stones, the color difference between them and the center stone will be virtually impossible to detect. Am I correct?

P.S. How do I go about purchasing from James Allen, but via your referral? I’d certainly like you guys to get whatever credit you can from my sale.