Q&A: $4000 Max Budget for Woman with Large Fingers

Thanks for writing. To be completely honest with you, my professional experience is really limited to the loose diamond trade. Questions such as yours about ring sizes and what looks good on different hand sizes are really more part of the retail jewelry business.

Having said that, though, I would think that logic would dictate that a wider band would be in order for a larger hand to make things look more proportional. If there are budget constraints, then perhaps it would be best to go with a solitaire setting that would gain width in exchange for giving up the side stones? From my readers, I think the most popular solitaire setting on JA is this one:

https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/diamond-solitaire-ring.html?a_aid=dmnd1357

Don’t forget, you can use coupon code TAD0611 to get 10% off the setting, so this one would cost you about 470.

So that leaves just over 3500 for the stone. Here’s what i think would look great with that ring:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-I1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1274570.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357 – this one is very iffy in the “eye clean” department. I think you should request from JA’s customer service to pull this stone to check if it’s eye clean or not. It’s a bit of a long shot, but if it is, this is an amazing find.

Let me know what they say. If this stone doesn’t work, then there’s a ton out there available. Basically, the option will be either to go with a J SI2 that’s just over a carat, or an H or I SI2 that’s in the 90s.

I look forward to hearing from you.

I just noticed that your message was sent to the spam box. I’m lucky I caught it, as I only check it once in a blue moon.

Would you prefer to go for a 1ct+ stone in a J Color, or a 90 point stone in an H or I Color? I’ll be happy to send you some suggestions once you let me know in which direction you’re leaning.

Actually, that gives you a bit more. You can use the coupon code TAD0611 to get 10% off the setting. So the cost of that setting will be about 1280. That leaves you with 2720 for the stone.

As far as matching side stones is concerned, you don’t need to worry about clarity, as that has nothing to do with matching. The only thing that you need to be concerned about is color. Since the side stones are baguettes and princess stones, though, you could definitely get away with an I color round center since rounds show much less color than the other shapes.

These stones will do you just right:

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1278951.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1272000.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1269242.asp?a_aid=dmnd1357

All 3 are “Excellent” cuts from GIA. All are eye clean. Out of the 3, I like the last one the best since the VS2s of the first ones don’t give you any visual benefit over the eye clean SI2 of the 3rd one, but the 3rd one is a G color which will be just slightly noticeably whiter than the I colors.

let me know what you think!

That’s great!  I can’t wait to hear your report.