Critique this diamond!

[goldengirl]

from bluenile.com; I''ve always loved the princess for its shape, but am not so crazy about 1)the pattern as seen from the top of the stone and 2)the fact that it doesn''t throw the same amount of brilliance & fire as, say, a round.

Having said that, I have been seriously considering an rb. I was looking about...what do you think of this stone?

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?shortnamelink=1&pid=LD00294369

I think I really like the fluoro; obviously I''d have to ask someone to vouch that it''s eye-clean, since it''s an SI1, but from the report it looks as though the inclusions are off to the side, not right in the middle of the table, which helps...

...thoughts, anyone?

 

[goldengirl]

Weird to reply to myself...but I thought it might be of note to add that I plugged in the numbers on the cut advisor, and it came up with a 1.5
Light Return Excellent
Fire Excellent
Scintillation Very Good
Spread
or diameter for weight Very Good

....first time I've used the cut advisor, but I think that's a decent rock??

 

[quaeritur]

Looks pretty nice to me!

 

[Giangi]

Looks like a nice candidate to me, also!

 

[Todd07]

Yes, it does look like a beautiful stone.




Another tool you should use is https://www.pricescope.com/sift.asp


It allows you to pick out the top diamonds based on HCA score in your size, color and clarity choices. I found four silmilar stones for $1170-1466


https://www.pricescope.com/origin.asp?supl=95&id=1500&url=http://www.goodoldgold.com/&prc=1466

 

[goldengirl]

Huh, okay, I'll definitely look into that!

Thanks for the help, it's my first foray into rb's, which I like primarily for their light displays...so naturally, if I end up getting one, I want a real sparkler!!

 

[quaeritur]

Yup, I ran the PS search too... but I (personally) liked the #s better on that Blue Nile stone than the others I saw currently available...Also, only one of them had (faint) fluor, and goldengirl had mentioned liking the fluor on that BN stone. I like it too!

Still worth checking out the others, though!!!

 

[goldengirl]

I know the HCA gave it a score of 1.5, and that anything below a 2 is considered good. What does it mean when the score is, say, a 1.5, versus a .5? Is it more brilliant as the number gets lower, and more firey the closer to 2? Is it just overall "better" as a lower number? Or is a personal-preference type deal?

 

[quaeritur]

I really think it's a personal pref. Also, I believe that you can get a given score with different parameters, so where the X is on that HCA chart may give you a different look for two stones that both score the same.

I have seen some discussion here that stones scoring <.5 start to lack contrast, but I haven't seen such a stone in person, so can't comment. Others have mentioned that a score of 1 is a sweet spot, but again, I haven't seen it substantiated. Yet another thing I've heard is that stones that are closer to the edge of ideal can be the most attractive because they have more "on/off" effect. I suspect these differences are VERY subtle, and that most stones <2 (assuming other cut factors are top quality) will look great. This page of the tutorial may be helpful to you too...

 

[Todd07]

I've had the same question about comparing HCA ratings.




After reading quite a few posts I believe the concensus is, targeting an HCA score of div>

 

[goldengirl]

Okay!

I contacted Blue Nile requesting the idealscope image; they said that the AGSL grading report gave all the same information, so I should just look over that. Maybe I'm anal, but it definitely doesn't have the red & black image I'm accustomed to, which makes the report less...useful to me. I am a visual learner, after all, lol...

So if they won't provide the image I want, should I just (have him) buy the stone and check it out myself under a viewer?

 

[quaeritur]

That's what I've done when purchasing from Blue Nile. They haven't "seen the light" yet, so to speak, when it comes to providing all the info. I suspect 98% of their customers don't know to ask for it!

That said, my BN stone has a beautiful IS image. And with the 30-day return, they give you plenty of time to review it, so that's convenient, at least!