Can I buy a 1 carat diamond ring for $3000?
“I am looking for a 1 carat round diamond to be set into the fishtail pave setting with truth head by Brian Gavin. My total budget for the ring is around 5K, so my goal is to find the best value diamond that can be bought for the remaining 3,000 dollars. Ideally, I would like for the diamond to be around one carat. I would also like the diamond to be eye clean and face-up white. Based upon some of the tutorials I’ve read online, I think I’m looking for a diamond that is F-G in color and at least VS-2 in clarity. Obviously, I want it to sparkle like crazy. If I can’t afford a one carat diamond for that price, I’d like to know what you recommend for that price range, no higher.”
Balancing the Diamond 4C’s with Price:
As with most things in life, having reasonable expectations is the key to being satisfied and not disappointed. I understand that you might want to be able to buy a spectacular looking 1 carat diamond that is F-G color and VS-2 in clarity for $3,000.00 however that simply is not possible.
Sure, you can buy a 1 carat diamond for $3,000.00 but it’s not going to be cut to the same degree of precision exhibited by our Brian Gavin Signature round diamonds. It’s also not going to be F-G in color, nor VS-2 in clarity, because diamond prices are dictated by their characteristics.
For instance, I found this 1.01 carat, I-color, SI-2 clarity, HRD Excellent cut round diamond for $2,795.00 by searching our Virtual Inventory. It’s a 1 carat diamond for less than $3K, but it’s not F-G color, nor VS-2 in clarity.
One look at this diamond and it’s obvious that it is pretty included, and the inclusions within this diamond are pretty obvious. It isn’t a bad option for three thousand dollars if somebody really wants a one carat diamond that is going to face-up white.
But just to be clear, this is not a Brian Gavin Signature round hearts and arrows diamond. This diamond was not produced under the direction of Brian Gavin, it is virtual inventory provided by another diamond cutter. Thus the cut quality and degree of optical precision is not as high, and frankly neither is the light performance.
Best Diamond for $3000 with Spectacular Sparkle:
Personally, I’d prefer to see you approach this scenario from a different perspective. Rather than focusing on size and carat weight, let’s focus on the light performance of the diamond. They say that good things come in small packages, and in my experience, that is true. I just don’t see the point of wasting your money, buying a large diamond that simply doesn’t compare.
And that is why, I recommend focusing on the sparkle factor. After all, if you’re going to spend $3000.00 or more on a diamond, it makes sense to buy the most spectacular looking diamond you can find, doesn’t it? In this case, that’s going to be this 0.648 carat, G-color, VS-2 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature round diamond with medium blue fluorescence. The light performance and sparkle factor of this diamond is going to show up from across the room! It might not be one carat, but it’s got all the personality of one! People can’t see size from across the room, but they can sure see sparkle!
Of course, if you prefer something a little larger, you can always drop down in clarity or color a bit. Doing so will enable you to afford a slightly larger diamond. You might even want to explore the more affordable options provided by the Brian Gavin Cape series if you think she might be open to diamonds that are a little warmer in color.
But for right now, I’m sticking with G-color, and VS-2 clarity, because that is the range you indicated. It is also worth remembering that Brian Gavin offers a generous lifetime trade-in and upgrade policy. So, you can buy a great looking diamond now, within the price range you can comfortably afford, and then upgrade to a larger diamond when you have more money to play with.
