http://www.theparadeofbrides.com/radiant-cut/
Radiant Cut
I am buying a solitaire engagement ring with a princess cut diamond. What should I look for in a diamond?
The setting she wants is white gold with no diamonds on the band. Since this is a solitaire my focus is on carat, cut, color, and clarity in that order.
I’m thinking I will cut costs because I am sacrificing clarity and color, but the cut must at least be very good. What carat size should I go for? Am I right by sacrificing clarity and color for cut and carat. If I’m looking to spend 2.5 – 4k on the diamond alone what can I expect to get? I don’t want to be ripped off and I want to get the biggest diamond I can find within my budget without sacrificing too much quality.
Would a radiant shaped diamond allow me to get a bigger carat but still look very similar to a princess shape?
Thanks.
Yea I can get her a fat diamond (carat) but then it would be yellow and flawed.
I’ll try to hit all of your questions:
Princess vs. Radiant shape:
Radiant cuts are usually a little more expensive than comparable (same carat, clarity, color, cut grade) princess cuts. So, the way to save money is to go with the princess cut.
Cutting costs by sacrificing clarity and color:
Cut: Of all the Cs, cut grade is the most affordable “upgrade.” Cut grade has the least impact on price, so don’t be afraid to ask for a better cut grade on any ring–you can probably afford it.
Color: The larger the diamond, the more apparent color will be. This is especially true with a white gold setting. (Yellow gold tends to mask the yellow tinge in some lower grade diamonds.) So, if possible, set a minimum of J grade (the lowest in the “nearly colorless” group).
So, really the sacrifice is carat for clarity. With that in mind, you can play around on some of the diamond search engines (http://www.diamondpriceguru.com/, PriceScope, etc.) to see what matches your budget.
(You asked what to expect in the $2.5-$4k range.)
For example, I plugged in princess cut, “ideal” cut grade, J color (or better). At $2,500, most of the diamonds are 1-carat and clarity VS1 or VS2. At $4,000 the largest I see is 1.5 carats, and it’s a clarity VS2 ($3,820). Slightly smaller is the 1.24-carat, with a clarity of VVS2 ($2,743). Anyway, there are plenty to choose from, from about 10 different retailers. (When you get to the search results, you can sort by price or by carat size–I sorted by carat size since you said you wanted the “biggest” you can find within the budget.)
And, yes, it’s easy to get ripped off. Pull prices from every source you have and make sure retailers know you have that information. Most brick-and-mortar retailers won’t match Internet prices, but they might drop their prices a little if they know you’ll walk.
I hope this helps.
Radiant Cut Diamond Ring 3.10-carat in pave mounting
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