Q:  Hi Mr. Weissman,

You have a wonderful site and I really appreciate your taking the time to assist the diamond consumer.

Could you let me know what you think about this diamond I’m considering purchasing? I’m wondering how visible the inclusion in the center of the stone will be to the naked eye. In the photo it appears to be somewhat hidden by some of the dark shading in the stone.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-I1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1240092.asp

While I agree that a F color isn’t generally necessary, I’m planning to put it in a pave setting with side stones that’ll be in the F-G range.

Thank you for your time.

A: I really like your approach here, but unfortunately, that stone will not be eye clean. It’s a strong black inclusion dead center.

As for the color, you could definitely go down to H and still be fine matching it with G/H pave.

I looked hard for you, and these are the best I could find:
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-I1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1198451.asp – The pic is a but unclear, but I’m fairly confident this would be clean enough.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1338501.asp – This one is totally fine.

I know they’re smaller than what you had hoped for, but I just couldn’t find anything good over 90 points.

Let me know what you think!

Q: Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I need to reconsider my budget. I also have the issue that my girlfriend can’t really decide what she wants (other than size) so it may give me a little flexibility in choosing another shape. Once I have this better figured out, I’ll bother you again with a few stones I’m considering.

Thank you again for taking the time to help me out. I’ll make sure to write something nice on Ivouch for you.

A: Sounds good. I look forward to hearing from you when you’re ready!

Q: Hi Ira,

Hope you are well.

I’ve changed course and am now looking at radiant cut diamonds in the $3,000 ish price range. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get your thoughts on this particular diamond:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Radiant-Diamond-1325781.asp

A: That stone looks great! Go for it!

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