It''''s been a while: Informed opinions needed!

[vegasjon]

Hey guys -- been a long time since I diamond-shopped. Always appreciated the insights on this forum.

SO... getting set to buy The Rock for you know who. Maximum budget is $8,000-9,000. I''m looking for that ever-popular balance of quality, value, etc. I''ve found several stones that really appeal to me... each in the mid-to-high end of that budget range. Would love your feedback.

I seem to be drawn to F-color, VS2 clarity Ideal-cut round diamonds of about 1.28 carat weight. One, in particular, offers VG polish, excellent symmetry. Its depth percentage is 62; table percentage is 56. No culet, moderate fluorescence. GIA cert.

With this information, can you folks "in the know" offer any thoughts? Am I "shopping smart?" Or would you personally suggest changing my parameters at all (ie: compromise on clarity or color to get a larger stone)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome

Whatever you choose, make cut your top priority, this is the most important for a beautiful diamond. Read up on the tutorials if you can to learn the ideal proportions, but a lot of online vendors make this easy as they supply a lot of cut info. You could definitely drop both the colour and clarity, a G or H colour would still look very white in a well cut diamond and also SI1 or SI2 clarities can be a great buy too if eyeclean and many are - that way you can put your money into SIZE!

Hope this helps start you off.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-2318215.htm#

This is a good example of what is available. Is your budget for the whole ring or just the diamond?

 

[vegasjon]

Thanks Lorelei! Budget is for the stone. Planning on putting 98 percent of my available $$$ into that. Will probably get a relatively simple setting for now, with possible improvements in the year ahead.

 

[Lorelei]

Way to go! I am always in favour of most of the budget being spent on the rock!

 

[klavigne]

vegasjon,
That is a really nice budget. You should be able to find a really stunning rock with that money. As Lorelei pointed out, don''t sacrifice the cut for ANYTHING. Cut is what is going to make the stone come alive. An eyeclean SI stone will save you some money over a VS allowing you to go a little bigger. Go to a B&M store and look at a few different colored stones and then judge for yourself how important that C is going to be to you. I''m sure you''ll be able to find something that will knock her socks off. Shop around and when you pick out a few stones post the specs here and all the nice knowledgeable people can help point out the pros/cons/ to each stone. Good Luck and congratulations!

 

[Scintillating]

Beautiful 1.203 F-SI ACA - $8300 (before pricescope discount.)
- That stone looks really clean. Good numbers and Idealscope image. Beautiful stone.

F-SI is my personal favorite combination.
I have a G-VS2 and wish I went this way, Oh well - maybe in a couple years.

Scintillating...

 

[vegasjon]

Great feedback... keep it comin'' (and thanks).

One area I''ve never been quite clear on: How important are the grades in polish and symmetry? If a stone has a great cut, but isn''t "excellent" in polish/sym, is that going to be significant?

Case in point...

1.28 E/VS2 GIA cert round diamond. Select Ideal cut (60% depth/57% table). BUT -- polish and sym are "Very Good" (stone also has strong fluorescence... on an E color). Price is $8,000.

Sounds like a very good price. Are the fluor and polish/sym grades the reason?

 

[Scintillating]

Yes, those are the reasons.
I'd avoid strong fluro altogether. (especially on colorless (d-f) stones.)
It can make the stone look milky and hazy.
I don't think I'd hesitate about anything below Medium Fluro; I wish my stone had fluro.

Have you seen the stone?
Who says it's an "ideal cut"? That term can be thrown around pretty loosely.
As far as the Very good/Very good is concerned, I'd have to see the stone with my own eyes and compare it to one that is id/id and ex/ex.
I'm sure an expert can chime in with a better answer than that.
Have you read the tutorials on pscope and GoodOldGold's on
cut?

PScope's on Symmetry

Pscope on Polish

Scintillating...

 

[february2003bride]

There''s also Blue Nile:

http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00468814&filter_id=0

Lower color: http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00922171&filter_id=0

 

[vegasjon]

OK, so there are several stones I''ve at least flagged for consideration... all from reputable online businesses (no fly-by-nighters). All are GIA cert (I just don''t have as much faith in EGL stones... and I won''t get to examine them in person until I''ve made a purchase). All CLAIM to be high-quality cut (ideal, in most cases).

But some carry the pre-2006 GIA certificate, which lacks details like crown and pavillion data. Makes it harder to judge the stone.

So... from a Blue Nile or like distributor... how much faith can one put in a "cut" description of "Select Ideal" or "Ideal?" Who has made that distinction? Are these dealers willing and able to provide the greater detail on request?

 

[JulieN]

Date: 3/22/2006 7:26:46 PM
Author: vegasjon
OK, so there are several stones I''ve at least flagged for consideration... all from reputable online businesses (no fly-by-nighters). All are GIA cert (I just don''t have as much faith in EGL stones... and I won''t get to examine them in person until I''ve made a purchase). All CLAIM to be high-quality cut (ideal, in most cases).

But some carry the pre-2006 GIA certificate, which lacks details like crown and pavillion data. Makes it harder to judge the stone.

So... from a Blue Nile or like distributor... how much faith can one put in a ''cut'' description of ''Select Ideal'' or ''Ideal?'' Who has made that distinction? Are these dealers willing and able to provide the greater detail on request?

Blue Nile Select Ideal (Signature Ideal? whatever) are (I think) hand picked and in-house. The AGS ones are AGS-0 as well as have H&A patterning.