Engagement ring buying tips: Shapes, color, clarity and setting methods

Choosing a shape: 

At my first truly retail job (Robbins 8th&Walnut) there was a small library of trade books.  The owner, Jerry saw me pick up "Diamonds, Love and Compatibility" by Saul Spero.  He said, "Read that, I have 50 years in this trade and it's true; it will make your career a lot more interesting and a lot more fun." He was spot on!  I now have 41 years in the trade and could say the same thing.  Spero, a New York diamond appraiser, interviewed over 50,000 women over 25 years to develop a system correlating personality types to preferred diamond shapes. 

 There was a fun test in the book which I then gave to anyone who would do it. 

You rate your preferences your favorite being # 1, your least favorite being #30 

space them out in between according to your preferences. Shapes and their character's

according to Saul Spero's research: 

Different ways to set gems: 

Thoughts on Clarity grading

If buying a natural diamond the grades matter a lot more than when buying a lab grown diamond.  Once a gem is "eye clean", it doesn't get more eye clean.  In other words, if the internal markings are invisible, they will not get "more invisible". 

In 35 years of dealing with wholesalers hunting for the perfect stone for many clients I very often  gave the clarity as the lowest clarity you have that is genuinely eye clean all views. It is possible, but not common for a diamond that is eye clean face up to have a visible mark in the pavilion. Beyond that, the cost for microscopic  rarity factors seems more to me to be a market control that an actual quality issue. Flawless doesn't have to be flawless at 11 power magnification and you can bet the farm it isn't at 30 or 50 or 100 power.  Is that still a quality issue? In lab grown diamonds, the cost difference is so little so it's worth it if it rocks your world! In natural diamonds, it can be a massive amount of money for a completely invisible feature.

Thoughts on color grading

This issue is visible!  The hairsplitting differences in the colorless DEF range are rarely detectable to the average consumer in my experience.  The differences in the near colorless grades are huge.  G is much closer to D than it is to J.  Not to say J cannot be pretty especially if you like a little warmer color tone.  That's not my flavor and I am a believer in high color. Ultimately it is you who will decide what is most perfect for you!  My perspective is that I prefer to give up invisible issues to gain visible beauty.  Keep in mind, our money is visible! LOL!