Does this price sound right?

[Dancing Fire]

[quote="ileveraged|


Coral, I did reference your chart. The diamond with the specs I want doesn't exist with the online retailers that are frequently cited here. I've checked James Allen, Good Old Gold, and Whiteflash. James Allen had everything, but the carat was too large and the price was way out of reach as a result. Good Old Gold had something near what I am already considering, but it was .1 carats larger and F color, and approximately 5% more in price, although that's not a deal breaker. Whiteflash had one (F color grade, but ok) and while the table is comparable to what I am looking at now, the depth sucks.

[/quote]



What do you want???..

 

[Coralfish]

ileveraged,

Maybe I'm not expressing myself well. What I am saying is that if you only have a GIA cert, you need the chart as a [crude] elimination tool [as there will be outstanding exceptions... even more confusing, right?!], then you need a retailer who will do an ASET to evaluate the stone's performance. You could look through hundreds of stones before you find a well performing one. You cannot tell from the paper alone. It's a million miles from, for example, using the Holloway cut advisor to pick a round. It's layers of complexity more difficult to get a good fancy cut diamond.

If you have an AGS ideal cut princess, the light performance has already been rated. As I said before, you are not comparing apples to apples. Ideal cut diamonds have been cut for performance, not weight, so there is more wastage and the price per carat is higher.

On a princess cut diamond, as well as table and depth, you have crown height, pavillion depth, crown angle and pavillion angle. (NONE of these are written on the GIA report, and these numbers are instrumental to the diamond's performance). Then you have the facet diagram (no. and placement of chevrons), symmetry (as a loose analogy, in rounds, not all 'hearts and arrows' diamonds are created equal - and you can find varying degrees of symmetry in the cut of a princess too), girdle thickness (a factor in the durability of a princess)... so much.

With GoG, to take just one of your examples, they don't just have one category of princess - they've got GIA princesses that they've called in, used their ASET technology on, run SARINs on (evaluate crown angle, height, etc which as I say is not on the GIA report) and the best of those are what they've denoted their Signature line, just as an example for one retailer. The rest they probably sent back to the (real!) wholesaler, and they end up in the B&M stores. Solasfera Princesses are in another superleague of light performance...

The James Allen, Whiteflash, Brian Gavin AGS Ideal Cut princesses are their own equivalents - ideal cut princess-cut diamonds. and that CBI (Infinity) Princess I'd eat for breakfast if I was in the market for a princess.

Did you watch this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJFOumVh_h0

What if you end up with the one on the left?

There's a reason for this spread in pricing... it's hard to convey just what is the visual difference between an ok diamond and a diamond cut for ideal light performance. Make use of the Good old Gold youtube channel to find as many princess cut comparison videos as you can and start to get a feel for just what the difference is. He looks at the diamonds under a variety of lightings.

I just linked to this for a cushion buyer. It is the same minefield out there for a princess buyer (well maybe not as bad) - you cannot buy a fancy cut diamond from the paper alone. (Well you can, but you run a big risk).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O7H8E_MYRM

 

[Coralfish]

He's going to check the stone himself to see its light performance and then mail it to me to see for myself. I'll check out its light performance and see how I like it.

It is difficult to check light performance with either i) no comparable diamonds for your eye to be drawn to one over another and therefore elucidate the 'best' via comparison ii) thousands of dollars of technology that's been developed over the last decade or two to scientifically evaluate light performance

 

[LLJsmom]

Coralfish has it right. I think you should reread her responses. I'm a huge d-f color fan. However, you can save quite a bit going from D to F. Do you need a D? It's cool if you do. Just wondering IF you do. What is your clarity requirement? These are things you should look at lots of stones in order to decide for yourself and do not let any particular vendor 's supply limit you. My experience with brick and mortars is that your choices are limited by what they have on hand.

Rely on the PSers here and ask them for suggestions or investigate the options they have posted. They are not recommending wholesalers but respected vendors. They often can provide a lot more info than b&ms can, aset images, the like. It's not a simple process bc it's a lot of money and you care about getting what you want it in a certain budget. Don't be discouraged.

 

[EvangelineG]

Coralfish has it right. I think you should reread her responses. I'm a huge d-f color fan. However, you can save quite a bit going from D to F. Do you need a D? It's cool if you do. Just wondering IF you do. What is your clarity requirement? These are things you should look at lots of stones in order to decide for yourself and do not let any particular vendor 's supply limit you. My experience with brick and mortars is that your choices are limited by what they have on hand.

Rely on the PSers here and ask them for suggestions or investigate the options they have posted. They are not recommending wholesalers but respected vendors. They often can provide a lot more info than b&ms can, aset images, the like. It's not a simple process bc it's a lot of money and you care about getting what you want it in a certain budget. Don't be discouraged.

+1 to everything LLJsmom and Coralfish are saying.

You have an adequate budget and it sounds like you want the best for your fiance. Slowdown and consider all your options. Don't feel locked into working with this one jeweler who has already offered you a deal that is less than stellar. You are in good hands with the advice given here.