$5000 in hand... what are our options???

[nutmeg]

Okie dokie....

Soooo.... we have a budget of $5000 (and I don't want to say, give or take a few hundred because everyone will readjust the number!!!) for a diamond. Its gonna be a center stone. Round brilliant, princess, or even an assher if the price is right. We'd like to pay a bit less if possible ya know. Anyway, what sort of stone would be the best deal and where is my wiggle room. What sort of color drop and what kind of inclusions can we tolerate and will inclusions look different on different cuts?

[Yosef]

Generally speaking, the more facets a diamond has, the more the inclusions are hidden from sight. So a round would like cleaner then a princess which would look cleaner then an asscher. Of course this is a broad generalization and has little bearing in real life. Because inclusions can be anywhere in the diamond, of various types and colors, etc.

With a $5,000 budget you should be able to get a very nice 1 carat stone in any of the shapes mentioned. When I say very nice I mean G+ color, SI1+ clarity, and a really good cut. Try and figure out what shape you're looking for then go from there.

Best of luck,
Yosef

[Mervyn L. Cohn ASA]

Hi and sincere wishes for a very happy marriage. Except for fashion, the fancy shapes will be the more expensive and least desirable for the reason above. For lasting and traditional look you should consider either a Round Brilliant or a Square Princess which mimics the round most closely. The Cut which determines the Sparkle should be as close to IDEAL or eCS = 1.000 as you can choose. Your choices of color should range from H to L, if you choose a Yellow gold ring then choose closer to the H, in white gold or platinum you can go the other way (which is less money). As far as clarity, choose the best you can find, though it won't matter to what it looks like until the grade goes down to about SI2 (which you can't see without magnification) the further down you go the cheaper the price. But if you ever need to trade it off or sell it clarity will be used against you as a negotiation tool.