Last Updated on 24th March 2025
Hi Sebastian, thank you for your articles, I’ve found them very helpful! Looking for a center diamond for an engagement ring, (possibly this one):
Considering the following diamonds:
 |
 |
 |
 |
Which would you suggest? They are all within a few hundred pounds of each other and overall, I am after the most impressive looking diamond as ultimately that’s what is most important for me/my partner!
In terms of the ring, it has colour G-H around the band and as much as I want the center stone to stand out, is there a chance if I got an E colour for example, it could make the rest of the ring look dull or out of place perhaps? Many thanks for your help!
Your Diamond Teacher |
|
Thank you for your inquiry. I am happy to help. And I appreciate the positive feedback regarding the articles on my website. I am glad it helped! All the below diamonds you selected from JamesAllen.com are an incredible choice. You can’t go wrong with any of them, really.
If, however, you twisted my arm, so-to-speak, and I had to choose one out of the four, I would pick the following:
The reason being, this one has more optimal crown and pavilion angles compared to the other three diamonds. And it is these two angles that are the most crucial in optimizing light reflection/sparkle. Furthermore, the Idealscope image represents excellent light reflection. As for the ring setting below, you selected a really beautiful setting. You do not need to worry about an E, F, G color center stone not going nicely with G-H side stones. It will look perfectly fine.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I am here to help!
|
| Anonymous Reader
Thanks Sebastian that’s helpful!
She’s got very small hands (G size finger) so I didn’t want to get a diamond much bigger than a 0.9ct. Of course, the cut is probably most important, but for a diamond that size, would I be better off choosing a more clear diamond but with more inclusions (but no more than a vs1) or stay with perhaps a G and vvs1/2?
Also, I’ve read somewhere about the difference between GIA and AGS classification is that AGS use a different further test (I think to do with light refraction perhaps?) – does this mean that the highest rated AGS is perhaps a further step up from a similar rated GIA diamond? Thanks again.
Your Diamond Teacher |
|
When you say clear diamond, I am assuming you mean the color grade. The color grading system is very subtle. It is difficult to see the color difference between D, E, F diamonds and even G diamonds. My feeling is, it is not necessary to pay a premium for a color higher than G, unless that is important to you or you are very color sensitive and can see the difference. Regarding clarity, the main objective is that the diamond is eye-clean, meaning inclusions cannot be seen by the unaided eye and that the inclusions will not impede the diamonds ability to sparkle/ reflect light. With that being said, you can look at VS2 and even some SI1 diamonds, if you’d like to be more economical. As for GIA and AGS, I would not over concern yourself between the two, since they are comparable in their grading standards. I hope this information sheds a bit more light (pun intended!). Let me know if you have more questions!
|
| Anonymous Reader
Thank you for getting back to me and for your wisdom! A lot to think about. 🙂
Thanks again!