Proposal Ring - Part 3

[meshpenstand]

Tough to choose between these 2 options.. But my vote would go to the Brellia; it is both cute and elegant at the same time!

talking about cut...

Which Cut is suppose to be blinker?

Brellia
Octagon
Emerald
Round

 

[mero_cwj]

talking about cut...

Which Cut is suppose to be blinker?

Brellia
Octagon
Emerald
Round

Probably the octagon because it has the highest number of facets out of the ones listed. A Solasfera would be even more "blingy" because it has more facets than the octagon. This is based on fire and scintillation - more facets generally translates to more fire and scintillation, but which are smaller pinpoints compared to the large flashes of a normal 57-facet round brilliant.

I assume you mean an emerald cut diamond and not an emerald gem (sorry if it sounds stupid but for the sake of clarity haha ). An emerald cut is a "step" cut, which generally does not have as much fire and scintillation as hearts and arrows cut diamonds (which the Brellia, Octagon and Round Brilliant are). Not to say that step cuts are inferior, but it is a very different style compared to the other 3. Looks much more vintage, and if you are after bling, would probably not be a good choice.

 

[Marco_surf]

Usually they will assign someone to you unless you request. My first appt was with Casey and then Joy took over when he was overseas. Both of them are good. If you're shopping alone and want more female perspective on your ring design, you can ask her for past customised ring designs that she done.

After getting my ering, we went down and she helped us for wedding bands too. We managed to get matching bands that sits well with my ering. Very happy with my rings

Before my visit, I was msging with her over FB and discussing about designs first

Thx. I booked her this week. They asked a number of qns to for them to prep for my appt. Not really sure how to answer them with my limited knowledge. Should I do more research first or just show up?

 

[meshpenstand]

Thx. I booked her this week. They asked a number of qns to for them to prep for my appt. Not really sure how to answer them with my limited knowledge. Should I do more research first or just show up?

My opinion is just show up. You do not need to make a decision when you are there, just show up and they will teach you what is necessary.

Then, go research yourself, and decide if you want to go back to them.

 

[meshpenstand]

Probably the octagon because it has the highest number of facets out of the ones listed. A Solasfera would be even more "blingy" because it has more facets than the octagon. This is based on fire and scintillation - more facets generally translates to more fire and scintillation, but which are smaller pinpoints compared to the large flashes of a normal 57-facet round brilliant.

I assume you mean an emerald cut diamond and not an emerald gem (sorry if it sounds stupid but for the sake of clarity haha ). An emerald cut is a "step" cut, which generally does not have as much fire and scintillation as hearts and arrows cut diamonds (which the Brellia, Octagon and Round Brilliant are). Not to say that step cuts are inferior, but it is a very different style compared to the other 3. Looks much more vintage, and if you are after bling, would probably not be a good choice.

Thank you for the detailed reply.

Yes, I meant a emerald cut. I have seen Emerald cut, which have equal or even better specs but does not blink as much as the round and octagon.
Solasfera sounds good... but I think it is at a premium. I will stick with round... I think.

 

[mero_cwj]

Thank you for the detailed reply.

Yes, I meant a emerald cut. I have seen Emerald cut, which have equal or even better specs but does not blink as much as the round and octagon.
Solasfera sounds good... but I think it is at a premium. I will stick with round... I think.

It is to do with the nature of the step cut. In fact a lot of step cut diamonds, including the designer step cuts like the Octavia, suffer from light leakage in the center manifesting in a bowtie shape. If it is shininess and sparkle that you are after, step cuts will not be your cup of tea.

In that sense, comparing the grading of a step cut diamond to the grading of a hearts and arrows diamond is like comparing apples and lemons, and finding that only the apple is sweet. Step cuts appeal to an older generation, or those who prefer vintage designs IMO.

 

[dearmisterj]

Thx. I booked her this week. They asked a number of qns to for them to prep for my appt. Not really sure how to answer them with my limited knowledge. Should I do more research first or just show up?

What kind of questions? Is it regarding size, shape of diamond, budget etc? Those are most probably questions to help them target their diamond education specific to your needs (for example I was never interested in squarish diamonds, so they never showed me the Brellia). If not I'm sure they would not scold you if you say "I don't know" haha

 

[Crexzz]

Bluenile purchase experience

To those interested in purchasing off bluenile,i've went ahead to purchase a ring off bluenile, base on knowledge obtained from google uni. Choosing, purchase and take delivery within 5 days

And here's me sharing what i've learnt.

Basically, the following filter is applied in my search -

CUT : Sig Ideal
Colour: G - D
Clarity: vs1 - IF
Polish : EX/ID
Symmetry: EX/ID
Fluorescence: none

Depth: 59 - 61.8
Table : 53 - 57.5
L/W ratio : 1-1

From the shortlisted rocks, i went thru all the GIA report, to further shortlist the rocks which has:

Crown angle: 34.3 - 34.9
Pavilion angle: 40.6 - 40.9

Reason being that this parameter is touted to be TIC range. TIC the balance performer between brilliance and fire. The other 2 would be BIC & FIC. All of which, if dimensions are put to the HCA calculator, it'll be indicated as within BIC,FIC or TIC range

Spoiler

i went on to check the photomicrograph available on the GCAL to check that nothing is drastically out of place


Because diamonds less then 1carat weight will not have the inclusions plotted on GIA cert, i made sure to skip any rock with "internal graining" & "crystal"



Finally, i've selected this 0.41 G color IF rock, click for dimension

GCAL cert for ref




I've done a comparison on payment method as well -

1) bluenile USD to SGD is surprisingly better then CC rate on the day i've checked

2) Overseas transaction in SGD will incur a 1% fee

3) USD transaction would have incur a 2.5% fee


Total cost including a very simple 6 prong platinum setting - S$2917.40 incl 1%cc fee and 7% gst (cash collection by UPS on delivery - if CC payment, additional 3% of the gst amount)

Here are some pictures & video

Spoiler

Lighting condition - on my bed with my ceiling light

Shot with the camera of my xperia xa

Noob "artistic" approach with my rx100 (with room lights off and sunlight from window) - somehow couldn't get a proper focus, maybe my camera is dying

A short video shot with my xperia xa

All in all, satisfied. Merry Xmas to all



Additional notes & links to resources

Spoiler

Enchanted diamond cut score - base on GIA cert
HCA tool
TIC FIC BIC write up
Type of diamond inclusions - clarity

 

[thecat21]

don't be so defensive lah dude. I said "I'd rather get buy online from a retailer that is willing to send scope images. ASET is best, but I'd take an idealscope over nothing." Obviously I know of the retailers like Whiteflash, BGD, James Allen who do provide the scopes but are generally more expensive than bluenile

At the same time, guys, do feel free to post about your purchase from any other jeweler or online retailer. There's so many to choose from.

I actually would like to share my experience with hunting for a diamond engagement ring.

#1 - Went down to Jannpaul, good service was my first impression, was amazed at the new knowledge gained. Eyed a 0.4 stone ring for around $4,000k SGD

#2 - Went down to Love N Co, service was okok, but very secretive with their diamond GIA specs, cant bring copies home. Then was given conflicting information about HCA score, where the salesperson used HCA score to prove a point that their diamond is good, and end the pitch with "HCA is an outdated system"

#3 - I knew there was more, so i did research on online retailers, HCA scoring and diamond dimentions. I also learned from diamond forums (pricescope.com etc) where members discussed how to find great deals.

#4 - Found out that while local jewelers such as jannpaul give good service and introduction to diamonds, their teachings were biased towards you paying a significant amount of price difference for an insignificant (to the naked eye) increase in quality, always pushing their cuts/color/clarity at the expense of carat size. Also at jannpaul, want to reduce the cost of these stones ? Ok allow me to find you a diamond with strong fluoroscence! (YUCK!)

#5 - Went to James Allen, which is highly reputable online jeweler and praised for it's service. The thing about James Allen, is that all their stones have 3D imaging. The key is to go down on color and clarity, while finding an "EYE CLEAN" diamond, that has a HCA Score close to 1.0. My eye caught this SI2 Diamond (which jannpaul frowns at when you ask about it), that actually looks more like a VVS ! : https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-g-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1963743
Here is the GIA Cert :

#6 - Besides having an awesome HCA score of 1.1, excellent in all four categories and absolutely NO FLUOROSCENCE , as you can see on the far left, a very small inclusion that is almost an invisible cloud. Requested Idealoscope and ASET, but only received Idealoscope, great service and response so far ! Here is Idealoscope of the stone :

#7 - Selected a setting, and the order was underway. Received the ring in like 2-3 weeks, and was amazed. The packaging was superb, lifetime resizing and maintenance service. The stone really exceeded my expectations. For $4k i had almost doubled my carat size by cleverly dialing down on clarity and color but carefully picking an "eye clean" stone, if I were to get a similar stone from Jannpaul, I wouldnt be surprised to pay upwards of 7-8k. People I know whom bought locally paid around 3-4k for a carat size of only 0.3-0.4, feel bad for em

TLDR : My experience is that Singapore jewelers leverage on your lack of knowledge of diamonds. Though the learning curve is steep, spend weeks to educate yourself and you will reap huge value through your newfound knowledge and with your lady having the biggest stone without sacrificing quality or bling. A proposal ring was my most expensive single purchase of my life thus far (probably yours too), it is not a small amount of money, so be very critical.

Happy to ans any questions

 

[ravager94]

Would like to ask if my ring is worth it or not?

Hi all, i am new here. Been studying a bit on diamonds and finally ordered one through Blue Nile.

The Specs are as follows:

gia.edu/cs/Satellite?reportno=2171940916&c=Page&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FReportCheck&pagename=GIA%2FDispatcher&cid=1355954554547&encryptedString=E671B589FD739E70DB8797632741BD25

and a self pictured H&A scope:
s16.postimg.org/3vtre73xx/20161207_111218.jpg


I bought the diamond including a 14k white gold setting at the price of about 1.9kSGD including the 7% tax. I would like to ask if whether this is a good buy or not as i have been worrying about it since it was bought online. BTW i got a free pair of ctw 0.2ct diamond earrings using a coupon code too. Any opinions would be good thank you!

 

[mero_cwj]

Hi all, i am new here. Been studying a bit on diamonds and finally ordered one through Blue Nile.

The Specs are as follows:

gia.edu/cs/Satellite?reportno=2171940916&c=Page&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FReportCheck&pagename=GIA%2FDispatcher&cid=1355954554547&encryptedString=E671B589FD739E70DB8797632741BD25

and a self pictured H&A scope:
s16.postimg.org/3vtre73xx/20161207_111218.jpg


I bought the diamond including a 14k white gold setting at the price of about 1.9kSGD including the 7% tax. I would like to ask if whether this is a good buy or not as i have been worrying about it since it was bought online. BTW i got a free pair of ctw 0.2ct diamond earrings using a coupon code too. Any opinions would be good thank you!

If you bought already then don't think about it anymore lah. As long as you are happy with it, that's good enough already. No point having buyer's remorse, whether real or imagined

 

[LimWilfred]

I actually would like to share my experience with hunting for a diamond engagement ring.

#1 - Went down to Jannpaul, good service was my first impression, was amazed at the new knowledge gained. Eyed a 0.4 stone ring for around $4,000k SGD

#2 - Went down to Love N Co, service was okok, but very secretive with their diamond GIA specs, cant bring copies home. Then was given conflicting information about HCA score, where the salesperson used HCA score to prove a point that their diamond is good, and end the pitch with "HCA is an outdated system"

#3 - I knew there was more, so i did research on online retailers, HCA scoring and diamond dimentions. I also learned from diamond forums (pricescope.com etc) where members discussed how to find great deals.

#4 - Found out that while local jewelers such as jannpaul give good service and introduction to diamonds, their teachings were biased towards you paying a significant amount of price difference for an insignificant (to the naked eye) increase in quality, always pushing their cuts/color/clarity at the expense of carat size. Also at jannpaul, want to reduce the cost of these stones ? Ok allow me to find you a diamond with strong fluoroscence! (YUCK!)

#5 - Went to James Allen, which is highly reputable online jeweler and praised for it's service. The thing about James Allen, is that all their stones have 3D imaging. The key is to go down on color and clarity, while finding an "EYE CLEAN" diamond, that has a HCA Score close to 1.0. My eye caught this SI2 Diamond (which jannpaul frowns at when you ask about it), that actually looks more like a VVS ! : https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-g-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1963743
Here is the GIA Cert :

#6 - Besides having an awesome HCA score of 1.1, excellent in all four categories and absolutely NO FLUOROSCENCE , as you can see on the far left, a very small inclusion that is almost an invisible cloud. Requested Idealoscope and ASET, but only received Idealoscope, great service and response so far ! Here is Idealoscope of the stone :

#7 - Selected a setting, and the order was underway. Received the ring in like 2-3 weeks, and was amazed. The packaging was superb, lifetime resizing and maintenance service. The stone really exceeded my expectations. For $4k i had almost doubled my carat size by cleverly dialing down on clarity and color but carefully picking an "eye clean" stone, if I were to get a similar stone from Jannpaul, I wouldnt be surprised to pay upwards of 7-8k. People I know whom bought locally paid around 3-4k for a carat size of only 0.3-0.4, feel bad for em

TLDR : My experience is that Singapore jewelers leverage on your lack of knowledge of diamonds. Though the learning curve is steep, spend weeks to educate yourself and you will reap huge value through your newfound knowledge and with your lady having the biggest stone without sacrificing quality or bling. A proposal ring was my most expensive single purchase of my life thus far (probably yours too), it is not a small amount of money, so be very critical.

Happy to ans any questions

Did they tell you where the feather inclusions are at on the diamond?
One of the reasons why I'm scared to get SI clarity is the durability problem. I saw the image of your diamond, not sure if these are the feather inclusions.

The feather looks huge and alittle worrisome to me. Feathers are fractures on the diamond and if its on the sides, they are more fragile and can break.

 

[mero_cwj]

I actually would like to share my experience with hunting for a diamond engagement ring.

#1 - Went down to Jannpaul, good service was my first impression, was amazed at the new knowledge gained. Eyed a 0.4 stone ring for around $4,000k SGD

#2 - Went down to Love N Co, service was okok, but very secretive with their diamond GIA specs, cant bring copies home. Then was given conflicting information about HCA score, where the salesperson used HCA score to prove a point that their diamond is good, and end the pitch with "HCA is an outdated system"

#3 - I knew there was more, so i did research on online retailers, HCA scoring and diamond dimentions. I also learned from diamond forums (pricescope.com etc) where members discussed how to find great deals.

#4 - Found out that while local jewelers such as jannpaul give good service and introduction to diamonds, their teachings were biased towards you paying a significant amount of price difference for an insignificant (to the naked eye) increase in quality, always pushing their cuts/color/clarity at the expense of carat size. Also at jannpaul, want to reduce the cost of these stones ? Ok allow me to find you a diamond with strong fluoroscence! (YUCK!)

#5 - Went to James Allen, which is highly reputable online jeweler and praised for it's service. The thing about James Allen, is that all their stones have 3D imaging. The key is to go down on color and clarity, while finding an "EYE CLEAN" diamond, that has a HCA Score close to 1.0. My eye caught this SI2 Diamond (which jannpaul frowns at when you ask about it), that actually looks more like a VVS ! : https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.70-carat-g-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-1963743
Here is the GIA Cert :

#6 - Besides having an awesome HCA score of 1.1, excellent in all four categories and absolutely NO FLUOROSCENCE , as you can see on the far left, a very small inclusion that is almost an invisible cloud. Requested Idealoscope and ASET, but only received Idealoscope, great service and response so far ! Here is Idealoscope of the stone :

#7 - Selected a setting, and the order was underway. Received the ring in like 2-3 weeks, and was amazed. The packaging was superb, lifetime resizing and maintenance service. The stone really exceeded my expectations. For $4k i had almost doubled my carat size by cleverly dialing down on clarity and color but carefully picking an "eye clean" stone, if I were to get a similar stone from Jannpaul, I wouldnt be surprised to pay upwards of 7-8k. People I know whom bought locally paid around 3-4k for a carat size of only 0.3-0.4, feel bad for em

TLDR : My experience is that Singapore jewelers leverage on your lack of knowledge of diamonds. Though the learning curve is steep, spend weeks to educate yourself and you will reap huge value through your newfound knowledge and with your lady having the biggest stone without sacrificing quality or bling. A proposal ring was my most expensive single purchase of my life thus far (probably yours too), it is not a small amount of money, so be very critical.

Happy to ans any questions

I wouldn't exactly agree with your TLDR statement - I think while most mainstream Singapore jewellers leverage on the lack of knowledge and marketing bs to sell overpriced diamonds, I don't think it's fair to taint them all with the same brush.

It is not that a diamond from JP with the same paper specs would be overpriced as compared to your purchase from Blue Nile, but rather diamond prices are subject to a very extreme law of diminishing returns. Meaning that the prices are exponentially higher for a "super-ideal" quality diamond even though the differences may not be readily apparent to the naked eye. At the end of the day, it is your own requirement that counts - someone who can easily afford a Lamborghini may not drive a supercar but drive a Toyota instead.

I can see several reasons (at least on a tabletop assessment) why the Blue Nile diamond you picked is significantly cheaper, but there is really no point for me to nitpick on your purchase, so as long as you are happy and satisfied with what you got, that's all that really matters!

P.S. If anyone does want to have a open discussion though, I would be happy to oblige. PM me or we can grab a coffee, always happy to share the fruits of my research

 

[sunshinelifee]

Most of the diamonds shared here is gia. I was recommended egl.
Is there a difference?

 

[LL1986]

I wouldn't exactly agree with your TLDR statement - I think while most mainstream Singapore jewellers leverage on the lack of knowledge and marketing bs to sell overpriced diamonds, I don't think it's fair to taint them all with the same brush.

It is not that a diamond from JP with the same paper specs would be overpriced as compared to your purchase from Blue Nile, but rather diamond prices are subject to a very extreme law of diminishing returns. Meaning that the prices are exponentially higher for a "super-ideal" quality diamond even though the differences may not be readily apparent to the naked eye. At the end of the day, it is your own requirement that counts - someone who can easily afford a Lamborghini may not drive a supercar but drive a Toyota instead.

I can see several reasons (at least on a tabletop assessment) why the Blue Nile diamond you picked is significantly cheaper, but there is really no point for me to nitpick on your purchase, so as long as you are happy and satisfied with what you got, that's all that really matters!

P.S. If anyone does want to have a open discussion though, I would be happy to oblige. PM me or we can grab a coffee, always happy to share the fruits of my research

I agree with Mero but disagree with your TLDR nor why your diamond is a good purchase. I think it's good to point out the problems even though its purchased already for others to read

Reasons why the 0.70 G SI2 is significantly cheaper

1. Flat carat size

2. The SI2 inclusion is not an "invisible cloud" like you mentioned.
It is stated as Feather on the certificat.
It is a group of feathers on the girdle. This diamond is graded as SI2 for a reason.
People stay away from SI2 feather because of the tendency to chip off. Once it chips off, it becomes a 0.6 carat category diamond. Which in your case, the feather is really huge on the girdle.

3. Table & Depth percentages. It is a near 60% table and 60% depth diamond with leakage under the table.
http://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/60-60-proportioned-diamond

You can tell the symmetry is off because of the insymmetrical light leakages.
Poor symmetry causes the insymmetrical light leakage in the diamond which affects the diamond cut performance as a whole.

This is a case of why you paid so little for it and still manage to get a 0.7 carat.

 

[thecat21]

I wouldn't exactly agree with your TLDR statement - I think while most mainstream Singapore jewellers leverage on the lack of knowledge and marketing bs to sell overpriced diamonds, I don't think it's fair to taint them all with the same brush.

Yes, i think its fair to say that. Since I did not visit ALL jewelers in singapore, im sure there are some places that you can find similar value as at bluenile/jamesallen. The "leveraging our lack of knowledge" part was also my personal experience, so I'm not speaking for everyone, YMMV.

I agree with Mero but disagree with your TLDR nor why your diamond is a good purchase. I think it's good to point out the problems even though its purchased already for others to read

after asking, most experienced diamond buyers have expressed their opinion that its a good purchase, of course, they might be wrong. There is a chance that I might have made a bad purchase, although this was out of the question when I received the diamond personally. Super happy with it. For the durability issue, time will tell

Reasons why the 0.70 G SI2 is significantly cheaper

1. Flat carat size
Not sure why this is bad in my case, price ? Maybe could explain for me.

2. The SI2 inclusion is not an "invisible cloud" like you mentioned.
It is stated as Feather on the certificat.
It is a group of feathers on the girdle. This diamond is graded as SI2 for a reason.
People stay away from SI2 feather because of the tendency to chip off. Once it chips off, it becomes a 0.6 carat category diamond. Which in your case, the feather is really huge on the girdle.

Totally agree on this point, at the time of purchase, my concern was more on the look of the diamond and not so much on durability. Most SI2 stones around 0.7 carats shown on JamesAllen were completely filled with inclusions of multiple variety that can be seen by the naked eye, so this stood out .

3. Table & Depth percentages. It is a near 60% table and 60% depth diamond with leakage under the table.
http://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/60-60-proportioned-diamond

I was given mixed opinions on 60-60 diamonds being unfavourable and favourable, it came down to "a matter of preference" I wasn't that sure of what I would get as compared to what I saw at Jannpaul etc, but when I received the diamond I thought it was great as compared to the ideal super cuts I saw at JP and LnC.

You can tell the symmetry is off because of the insymmetrical light leakages.
Poor symmetry causes the insymmetrical light leakage in the diamond which affects the diamond cut performance as a whole.

I had a couple opinions on this so fully aware of the fact of some light leakage, given the dimensions of the diamond, I wasn't expecting super symmetrical idealscope.

This is a case of why you paid so little for it and still manage to get a 0.7 carat.

Of course, regarding the durability part, I will have to really make sure that this stone is taken care of to prevent any chipping etc. Thanks for pointing out, and appreciate the feedback.

Here is a short clip of the JA Ring in question : - URL removed -

 

[SushiBoy888]

Hi Gurus, I narrowed down to the Super ideal cut and Octagon hearts arrows diamond.
Ignoring the carat, color, clarity, which one would you choose?
I saw someone already asking about Brellia and Octagon. Would like to hear some opinions about the Super Ideal cut and Octagon =)

Super ideal cut

Octagon hearts arrow

 

[Crexzz]

Hi all, i am new here. Been studying a bit on diamonds and finally ordered one through Blue Nile.

The Specs are as follows:

gia.edu/cs/Satellite?reportno=2171940916&c=Page&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FReportCheck&pagename=GIA%2FDispatcher&cid=1355954554547&encryptedString=E671B589FD739E70DB8797632741BD25

and a self pictured H&A scope:
s16.postimg.org/3vtre73xx/20161207_111218.jpg


I bought the diamond including a 14k white gold setting at the price of about 1.9kSGD including the 7% tax. I would like to ask if whether this is a good buy or not as i have been worrying about it since it was bought online. BTW i got a free pair of ctw 0.2ct diamond earrings using a coupon code too. Any opinions would be good thank you!

What?! free earrings? how did i miss out on this....


noob me wouldn't dare go for one with florescence, rather go down on carat weight instead if there's budget constrain.

For example, this .36 E vvs2 - total top view size difference : 4.89mm vs 4.59mm


That's mainly because i have no idea how will the florescence affect the looks.

You got the ring on hand already? Mind shedding some light on how the florescence thingy? some says it doesn't affect the look and some say it does, and some says it does but in a pleasant way.

Worth it or not, only you can tell us if it's worth it or not.

 

[thecat21]

Hi Gurus, I narrowed down to the Super ideal cut and Octagon hearts arrows diamond.
Ignoring the carat, color, clarity, which one would you choose?
I saw someone already asking about Brellia and Octagon. Would like to hear some opinions about the Super Ideal cut and Octagon =)

1. If you ask between these 2 shapes specifically, then i'd go with octagon because its something different, unless the price difference is too high. Be sure to choose a good setting that can flaunt the octagon shape.

2. My opinion of "Super Ideal Cut" is that its just another made-up name by Jannpaul for a round cut.

3. I'm not sure if those Aset & idealscope images are from the actual stones that you are thinking of buying, but the quality does seem extremely high. As mentioned in my proposal ring experience below, Jannpaul does have a tendency to upsell extreme quality at the expense of carat size.

 

[SushiBoy888]

1. If you ask between these 2 shapes specifically, then i'd go with octagon because its something different, unless the price difference is too high. Be sure to choose a good setting that can flaunt the octagon shape.

2. My opinion of "Super Ideal Cut" is that its just another made-up name by Jannpaul for a round cut.

3. I'm not sure if those Aset & idealscope images are from the actual stones that you are thinking of buying, but the quality does seem extremely high. As mentioned in my proposal ring experience below, Jannpaul does have a tendency to upsell extreme quality at the expense of carat size.

1. Yeh, my SO has been looking for designs fitting for the Octagon for quite a few days.

2. I think you confused the term 'Super Ideal Cut' with branding. Its not the shape or style of the diamond but the mark of a quality.

Some in the diamond industry disagree on which diamonds should receive the "Hearts and Arrows" label. Because there used to be no industry standard, one person or company may say a diamond is a Hearts and Arrows diamond while another may say it is not. In the industry, the term "super ideal" is a common term that is coined and used to describe diamonds displaying perfect optical symmetry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_and_arrows

JannPaul isn't the only one to use that term. There are other online sites that use that term too. Its just that JannPaul has an even tighter quality range than others.

3. They showed me the scopes of the diamond when I was there. It was impressive just like the photos. In the diamond explaining part, they'll use the handphone to take the photo and do the explanation. I was lucky to be served by Casey. He's the one doing their diamond videos. After he showed the scopes, they will show the diamond serial number with the certificate to match.

I understand people's perception on size, but side to side, you'd be quite surprised. My SO's colleagues at UOB swear by JP and they do compare in terms of shine. Also why I'm more inclined to octagon because most her friends have Super Ideal rounds from jp.

It's kinda like this, you look at a H color and a D color, by itself you wont notice much of a difference. Then when 2 girls wear them and you compare you see a yugeee difference. I've seen them compared before, and JP shine definitely stands out. Thats why my SO's priority is on cut. Anyway it makes life easier for me, but she left me the decision on which shape to pick. life is hard, after this theres still freakin wedding decisions.

On a sidenote, has anyone done a proposal in Japan before?