Hello!
I am looking to get a loose diamond online, probably from James Allen, and after doing some research on the 4 Cs and knowing (more or less) what I’d like, I wanted to know if there’s anything else I should be aware of when looking at online pictures.
For example, I was told to look for the 8 black arrows when looking straight on the diamond – is that a good sign? Really necessary?
Like this one doesn’t have all 8 super distinct:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10779643?a_aid=dmnd1357
But this one does:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.72-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-9362036?a_aid=dmnd1357
However, I thought the first diamond actually has quite a bit greater brilliance and fire, but I also don’t have a trained eye…
Any and all help is appreciated. Thank you!
JA focuses on the technical side of the diamonds in their photos, not the brilliance. The brilliance is caused by the cut parameters that you can find in the cert. It doesn’t matter that one of the diamonds looks “less sparkly” than the other. That’s not important there.
As for the pattern you mentioned, that has more to do with the photographer than anything within the diamond. As long as the cut specs in the certificate are fine, it will look great.
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10779643?a_aid=dmnd1357
This diamond is a no go. It has strong fluorescence which might make it look hazy in daylight.
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.72-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-9362036?a_aid=dmnd1357
This one has a superb cut, but it has a Cloud as the only clarity characteristic. Since it’s only a VS2, there’s a chance of the diamond losing some of its brilliance, I suggest you ask JA if they could have it inspected by their in-house gemologists.
I can also help you find other options. May I ask what style setting you want to put the diamond into?
Thanks for your input on both those diamonds. I’ll ask about that second one I shared.
My budget for the diamond is under $2k. I plan to set this diamond in a 14k white gold, vintage/flowery halo.
As far as a halo goes, I’d recommend an H color at the lowest to make sure the diamond would still look white next to the smaller stones around it. Clarity grade can be basically anything, what matters is having an eye-clean diamond. You can find an SI1 (even an SI2) diamond that’s eye-clean as well as a VS2/VS1 that’s not. It always depends on a particular diamond and its inclusions. I always search for SI2+, but sometimes it happens that the best-priced eye-clean diamond has a VS or VVS grade.
I found the following options:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10630771?a_aid=dmnd1357
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.65-carat-h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10686661?a_aid=dmnd1357
They have a beautiful cut and are eye-clean. Either of them would make an amazing ring.
I also found this one that’s borderline eye-clean, but it doesn’t look bad and has a beautiful cut (which would also help hide the inclusions):
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.72-carat-f-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10779841?a_aid=dmnd1357
Those look great! I would be curious about the SI2 one you shared and how it looks once set.
What are your thoughts on this one:
Depending on your time frame for the proposal, you could order the SI2 diamond and see how you like it in person. It looks great on paper and it’s entirely possible it would look absolutely clean to the naked eye. If you weren’t happy with it, you’d just send it back and get a full refund/choose a different stone.
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10863147?a_aid=dmnd1357
This one is not very well cut, it’s a bit too shallow and it also has a Cloud as the only clarity characteristic. This means that it probably has very little brilliance.
If the SI2 does end up being eye clean, would your opinion be that it’s worth it over this one (that you found earlier). The SI2 is obviously a bit bigger, but would 7pts be that much size difference in a halo? What about cut comparison between the two?
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.72-carat-f-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10779841?a_aid=dmnd1357
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.65-carat-h-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-10686661?a_aid=dmnd1357
I also found this one:
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.65-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-8554705?a_aid=dmnd1357
If you look at the real measurements, you can see that the difference in size is minimal. 5.67×5.71 vs 5.59×5.61. The H VS1 has a slightly better cut, but I know it’s on the upper end of your budget so you could try the 0.72ct first and then figure out the next steps.
www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.65-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-8554705?a_aid=dmnd1357
This one has a Cloud as the clarity setter. I would skip it.
Ok great. If that extra $200 wasn’t an issue, H VS1 is the move? I’m thinking she’s worth the extra couple hundred if the cut is better – but if you truly think both are in the same realm, then no need to spend the extra money. (Again, I could always shoot lower first then reevaluate once I actually see the diamond like you suggested.)
I would give the H VS1 5* and the F SI2 4,5*. The cut being perfect on paper is something you probably wouldn’t notice in real life. I always try to recommend more “equal” options so if one of them got sold, you could just grab the other one without having to do the search again (some people make impulsive decisions and if they don’t have an approved diamond on hand, they just go with whatever they deem nice and most of the times end up with a pretty bad stone).
It’s up to you:
F SI2
pros: slightly larger, cheaper option
cons: you’d have to go through the return process in case you wouldn’t like the diamond when it arrives
H VS1
pros: beautiful stone that’ll for sure look amazing the first time you see it
cons: pricier
That’s great to know, thanks for being so comprehensive. I’ve so appreciated your help so far 🙂
I’ll do a little bit of thinking (maybe over the next couple days) and I’ll for sure get back to you to let you know which stone I choose.
Thank you for the nice words. Take your time, I know that the diamond buying process can be overwhelming at times!
Let me know if there’s anything else you might need from me.
Just wanted to reach back out and say I just purchased the H VS1 🙂 Crazy that I just did that…
The SI2 was already purchased sometime in the last couple days, so that made my decision easy! Again, thank you for your help. I greatly appreciate your desire to help me find the right stone.
That’s fantastic news, I’m glad it worked out so well for you!
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