How to buy the best diamonds made simple

Randy,

I am looking for a 1 carat or larger G color Princess cut diamond for $6000-$6500 budget. What clarity and cut grades should I be looking at? Why are cut grades for Princess diamonds not listed on the certs? Can I trust the cut that James Allen lists with the diamond?

Thanks,

R

Answer:

I have some good news for you. Given the size and color\clarity grade you are looking for I think your budget is too high! You should be able to find a beautiful diamond in the $5000-$5500 range.  As for clarity I would stick with a VS2 if possible. In many cases you can even drop to an SI1 with a Princess cut and still find a clean diamond and a great value- as a rule of thumb I start out looking for VS2. I do think you can afford to go down in color to H (and even I ) without sacrificing and having the diamond look yellow.

As for Princess cut not being on the certification- no fancy shaped diamonds have Cut listed on the cert. There is a broad leeway given to the retailer in terms of specifying the cut grade and you do need to be careful. One thing to look at (at least in Princess) is that the ratio of the length to width be as close to 1 as possible. The closer to one you are the more perfect square the diamond is.  I would not recommending going with anything over a 1.05 ratio.

Some other things to look for in a Princess are:

-          A depth of 65% to 75%

-          Table below 75%

-          Polish and Symmetry at least  Good

Given all this I would recommend this 1.00 G-VS2  diamond on James Allen.  It comes in at jut over $5000 so leaves you lots of room for a really nice setting.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1490680.asp

Randy

Randy,

Your site is really a wealth of information – thanks so much for organizing and putting this up.

My girlfriend and I are getting engaged soon and have been talking about diamonds. She is convinced that since she is getting a white gold setting we need to look at F or G color diamonds but after reading your site it looks like we can go for an H color. Does the color of the setting really make a big difference? If we do go with white gold can I still get an H color and be safe? The diamonds we are looking at are between 1.15 and 1.25 carat and generally in the VS2 clarity range.

Thanks,

Marc

Marc,

Thanks for writing in and I am thrilled that you and your girlfriend found the site useful.  You should definitely be looking at H color diamonds- with a white gold setting I would probably not recommend going to a J color but I have no problem recommending H color.

I noticed that you mention color, clarity and carat size – but you left to the most important of the 4Cs! Remember always look at the cut of the diamond as well as the other 4Cs. You didn’t mention a budget range you were looking at but here is a diamond that is a 1.2 carat  H-VS2 that looks great. If it’s not within your range let me know and I will help you find one that meets your budget.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1483121.asp

Randy

Q:

I am interested in buying diamond stud earings for my wife. I have
been told that for earings, better to get bigger size than quality of
diamond. Do you agree with that? Also – What cut, clarity, etc. should
I be interested in AND what size should I expect to be able to find
for my budget? I am willing to increase my budget number a bit if it
proves to provide a fairly substantial upgrade in size. Thanks for
your help!

A:

I agree that for diamond stud earrings you should focus less on quality. For the size you are looking at (based on budget) you don’t need to look at anything over an H-SI1. What is important is the quality of the matching- how close the 2 diamonds look alike.

Based on the budget you provided you are looking at about a 3/4 carat total weight for the pair of earrings.

Take a look at this pair and let me know what you think:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond-studs/earrings/item_421-8223.asp

Randy

Question:

I need to find the best value for my money getting as close to 1 Ct as possible. She prefers white gold or platinum and a pear shaped diamond.  Any suggestions? Which should I look for first….cut clarity or color?

This is so confusing!!
J

Answer:
Thanks for writing in and don’t worry- I am here to help!

As with all diamonds, I always recommend you start with cut – all around it has the greatest impact on how well your diamond will sparkle.

For a Pear shape diamond you want to look at a stone that has a length to width ration of no less then 1.5 and no more then 1.75. Anything in between is acceptable. Within this range the smaller the ratio the more “short and fat” the diamond will look and the higher that number (closer to 1.75) the longer and thinner – these are just 2 different looks and there is no “better” as long as you are in this range.

Be careful, cut grade is not indicated on the certificate of Pear shapes so always see a picture of the actual diamond before buying to make sure it looks symmetrical and has a nice rounded round side.

Clarity- the good news is that Pear shaped diamonds hide inclusions really well so you can be very comfortable going with an SI1\SI2 clarity grade and still be getting a clean diamond.

Color – Pear shapes tend to show off color more then others so your absolute minimum is an H color and unlike in rounds- I would even look at G color.

Here are 2 diamonds I picked out for you that are very good options – clean and within budget.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Pear-Diamond-1478003.asp?a_aid=4d4527e041e66

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Pear-Diamond-1459255.asp?a_aid=4d4527e041e66

I hope this has helped and let me know if you have any questions.
Randy