Quote:
Originally Posted by ckaynyc
I think F-H color and SI clarity is a good middle ground. You won't see the color difference unless you have the stones next to each other to compare.
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not all SI are eye clean. Even some GIA certified VS2s have visible inclusions with the naked eye. I went through this process little over 5 years ago (today is actually my 5 year anniversary). I did an extensive amount of research and its not just about he "4 Cs". There is a priority of the Cs for the $ and there are also things like florescence you have to be aware of.
Most important to least...
Carat Weight...most will want the largest quality diamond they can afford
Cut...this is what makes the diamond shine/sparkle (I would suggest ideal/excellent) they REALLY sparkle
Color...don't want too much yellow (you can get away with a little more yellow if its in a yellow gold setting or slight florescence will offset the yellow and make the diamond appear more white). I would suggest nothing lower than H
Clarity...see the diamonds in person and make sure its eye clean. I would suggest nothing lower than VS1 but if you find a VS2 or even SI1 that is eye clean you can save some $$$. Or where the inclusion is and can be covered by the setting.
Go on
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-sea...iamondSearchRD
and start playing with the specs you want in your price range and find a nice balance then you have a good baseline to look a local stores.
and I would ALWAYS get a GIA certified diamond. They have some of the most consistent grading systems and the diamond will have the laser serial number that can come in handy. My wife's ring was stolen by our nanny. She pawned it and the pawn store replaced the diamond with a lower quality one for when the police came looking. We were able to call him out and get the original diamond back and get $10k from him for a new setting. The nanny ended up with 2 felonies because of the cost of the ring.