Wow, two carats total weight! Sounds awesome, right? Not so fast. Don’t get this diamond ring at Kay until you read this quick article. And learn the deal-breaker specification I found right there on the Kay page.
You can get a much better, certified diamond ring, in the same basic style, for less.
Quick Links to Contents on This Page
The Kay offer: $3,299.99.
Item number at Kay: 993194101
See it live at Kay (unless it’s discontinued).
The James Allen MUCH better price of as low as $2,810 (on an IGI-certified, objectively better diamond ring)
Earth-created for $2,960:
Lab-created for $2,810:
Specs compared directly
Carats
The Kay diamond ring has a TOTAL of 2 carats. But that counts all the accent diamonds. That’s fine. That’s usual. But the tricky thing here, in my opinion, is that instead of a single center pear shaped stone, they have a coagulation of several small diamonds there. There’s no single large center stone!
That has a huge effect in how the diamond will look on a woman’s finger, of course. It might sparkle, a little. But these diamonds aren’t even graded by a 3rd party lab such as the GIA, IGI, or AGS.
But it’s a clue, to me at least, that these diamonds are quite inferior. And no matter how good they were (they’re not, in my strong opinion), they’d be inferior to a single 1-carat stone.
It’s like having one big swimming pool vs several small ones.
Clarity
Kay diamond in this ring is I3-Clarity:
That’s just awfully bad clarity, as you can see from the chart:
You rarely see diamonds of such bad clarity even sold on rings.
The diamonds on this Kay ring of I3 clarity will NOT look like the image on the product page, in clarity. They will definitely have very visible black inclusions (meaning flaws… black spots, gray clouds, and other flaws).
James Allen earth-created diamond example is SI2-Clarity: (And the lab-created James Allen diamond in the example is SI1-Clarity.)
That’s significantly better clarity. And also, it’s the clarity of a single diamond. Not a crowded collection of several small diamonds. So it will have much more of what you want a diamond for — beauty, clarity, sparkle.
Plus it’s certified by the IGI. So you know what you’re getting.
I would recommend never buying a diamond ring with diamonds of I3 Clarity. They’re going to look bad. I wish Kay and other jewelers would make this clear.
Color (Note that the perfectly colorless grade is “D”. There are no such grades as A, B, or C.)
Kay diamonds’ color in this ring is Color “I”:
That’s not necessarily bad, especially for a fairly sparkly cut / shape such as the Round Cuts which are in this ring. The brilliance and sparkle and fire in such a cut can more or less hide any yellow color.
The James Allen earth-created diamond in this example also has the Color I. (And the James Allen lab-created diamond in this example is Color F!)
One more thing: 10K White Gold vs 14K White Gold.
The Kay ring comes with 10K white gold. The James Allen ring is 14K white gold.
You should know that 10K white gold is, in my view, not really even gold. It’s the least pure “gold” allowed to be labeled as “gold” in the U.S. It’s only about 42% pure. That means the other 58% is something other than gold.
If it’s alloyed with nickel, that could create problems for some wearers’ skin.
No matter what, it’s going to feel a bit lighter and a bit cheaper.
Granted, it’ll be coated in Rhodium, just like 14K white gold. So the difference in appearance will be minimum.
But still. Really? “Gold” that has less gold than other metal in it? That’s just one more red flag on an offer from Kay which is …. just not worth buying in my opinion. Put that together with the I3 Clarity diamonds in it and the lack of any 3rd party lab certification (IGI, GIA, or AGS),a and there are now three total dealbreakers.
How to get the James Allen deals
At James Allen, you don’t just add a ring to cart and check out. It’s slightly more complex. At the same time, it’s much more interesting (and gives you more control and choice).
Instead, you do this:
- You choose a setting (the metal ring, which in some cases comes with accent diamonds).
- Then you choose a loose diamond to add to it.
But it’s not as hard as it may seem. In fact it’s easy.
At least, it’s easy if you have someone walking you through it for the first time.
Here’s exactly how to get these deals (or very similar deals) at James Allen:
1. Select this 14K white gold setting. (It’s available on the same page in 14K, 18K as well, also in yellow gold and rose gold, or even in Platinum. Just choose them from the drop down on the setting product page.)
2. For the diamond, go to these pre-set James Allen diamond search results and select a diamond from the first 2 or 3 diamonds in the list.
(James Allen diamonds are unique, so I can’t send you straight to a specific diamond. It would sell out quickly. But there are many many others in the inventory. The price will be close to what you see here.
Also, of course the inventory is always changing, so you may see slightly different prices when you search.)
3. For even greater savings, click the “Lab-Created Diamonds” filter. (Use my pre-set James Allen Lab-Created Diamonds search results.)
4. Add the setting and the diamond to your cart and check out.
Conclusion: This Kay diamond is way overpriced, in my opinion. You can save hundreds and get a certified, much better diamond ring. (AND get much better gold).
Especially with such awful clarity, the Kay diamond ring here is simply overpriced IMHO. Not to be rude, but just to speak directly as so few do in the diamond business: I personally wouldn’t buy that Kay ring at any price. (Unless it was like $50 as a kind of stocking stuffer for a young member of the family.) The clarity is simply too, too bad.
So congrats, you avoided making what I consider to be a mistake, brought on by advertising. You learned exactly what I3 meant, and why a center single diamond is so much better than a collection of multiple center stones.
And you saved hundreds. What will you spend those hundreds on?
It’s easy to get great deals on better diamond jewelry — for less money! Here’s how:
- Scroll up to the section on “How to Get the James Allen Deals.”
- Follow the easy directions there.
- Feel 100% confident that you bought the best diamond for the money
How to search this site to save up to tens of thousands of dollars at trusted diamond retailers, vs most any Costco, Kay, Jared, or Zales ring you’re considering
Search and save. You could save enough for a new compact car. Or a honeymoon. Or several expensive dinner dates. Or that guitar you’ve been wanting.
Read this very short note on how easy it is.
