Recommendation for 1.20+ Carat Cushion Cut under $6,000:

Reader Sylvia wrote to us asking:

Hi, I’m looking for a cushion cut with maximum face up value. I have a budget of 6000.00 and would like a great diamond that is eye clean and near colorless. I also like the chunky look and definitely do not like the crushed ice. I like a symmetrical look much like a white diamond. I plan on using this diamond as a solitaire with no other accompanying diamond. What do you recommend? Should I stay with a G color at VS2? I’d like at least a 1.2 carat if possible since my current setting did house a 1.2 carat round diamond. Any help would be appreciated.

Diamond Advisor

Sylvia, with a cushion cut and a white metal, you could easily go with an H color grade or even an I color assuming its not too warm. If your ring is yellow gold, then I’d recommend you go with J color or better. For this search, I assumed your current setting was in white gold. Now, in terms of clarity, SI1 clarity or SI2 clarity will help stretch your budget the furthest. An eye clean cushion with SI2 clarity is a little harder to find but still doable!

Cushion Cut Recommendations for Sylvia

Diamond Advisor

The majority of stones I viewed were of the “crushed ice” look so to be honest there weren’t a large number of choices in this budget range while respecting the 1.2+ ask. Opening the budget a little did yield some better options though only James Allen returned any results for the sub $6,000 range. I did search Whiteflash and Brian Gavin but didn’t get anything after excluding “virtual inventory”. Selecting a cushion is all about how it looks and virtual inventory stones typically don’t come with real diamond images.

Here’s a list of recommendations from James Allen:

Recommendation 1:
$6,350 – James Allen Cushion Cut 1.31 carat I color VS2 clarityRecommendation 2:
$6,290 – James Allen Cushion Cut 1.20 carat H color SI1 clarity

Recommendation 3:
$5,590 – James Allen Cushion Cut 1.20 carat I color VS2 clarity

In terms of the performance, I like stones 1 and 2 above despite the fact that they are over the set budget. Between the two, I would say stone 1 is more along the lines of what you’re looking for given it’s more symmetrical shape and softer corners. Stone 3 also has good light performance but is a little more elongated.

Now, I did also look in the 1.0+ carat range and there were a lot of good candidates. Although the stone is smaller (read: weighs less) the overall appearance in size is barely noticeable. A 1.0 carat cushion would be roughly 0.5 mm smaller on all sides. The advantage of this is it comes with a better price tag and more options to select a stone that performances well visually.

Here are some recommendations for a slightly smaller cushion:

$4,150 – James Allen Cushion Cut 1.01 carat I color VS2 clarity$4,510 – James Allen Cushion Cut 1.01 carat H color VS1 clarity

$4,620 – James Allen Cushion Cut 1.02 carat H color SI1 clarity

Let us know which stone you end up with and how it looks when it arrives!