Q: Hello, I have been dating my girlfriend for 8 and a half years ever since the beginning of high school, and now that we are both graduated and working, it’s time to propose. On top of that, we are taking a trip to europe in the first week of February, and I would love to have a ring to propose with in Paris!

I think I have decided to buy online. The lack of tax on most of the online retailers is a big price advantage over local jewelers, and I would love to spend that extra cash on a better diamond. I am looking to spend about 8000 dollars or less on a round diamond, with an absolute max around 8500.

I am a scientist, so I love reading about the specs of a diamond, but I am still unsure how important each is. After all the reading, I think I would like something with VS1 clarity, G color, and ideal cut or better, but from reading your wonderful website it seems I could get away with less in the color and clarity categories. I looked at James Allen’s Diamond Color Tool, and the jump from G to H color seemed more noticeable than the other jumps.

After looking at so many rings, I really like the Nouveau Diamond Ring in Platinum at BlueNile.com. Since I like this setting the most, it feels like I am limited only to the diamond selection of Blue Nile. What do you think? It doesn’t seem possible to order just the setting from Blue Nile. If Blue Nile’s diamond selection isn’t good, do you know of any close alternatives where I might get a similar setting and a better deal on a diamond?  What’s your opinion of Blue Nile’s diamond collection? They have a 1.20 carat, VS1, G color, with strong blue flourescence for $7795. Is this a good deal?

I know your website says that the strong blue will make the G color actually look worse. Is that why this diamond is much lower priced than other 1.20 carats? I also like the color blue so I keep wondering if a strong blue flourescence is really a bad thing? I think I’d like to maximize the size of the diamond within my price range, but I also don’t want to sacrifice on the color or clarity too much.

Yesterday Blue Nile also had a 1.38 carat, VS2, H color for just 50 dollars more than the 1.20 I mentioned above. Which one do you think is the better deal? Sadly, the 1.38 seems to have sold today so that is no longer an option. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated! I am in somewhat of a rush since I leave for Europe on Feb 27th. Is this cutting it too close? I have really enjoyed reading your website, and I will recommend your site to anyone looking at diamonds in the future.

Read More→