Narrowed down to 2 OECs! Which one should I pick?

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

I cannot recommend strongly enough seeing a few of the diamonds you are considering in person before you purchase. (This was DS's sound advice that I am so glad I followed.) Having had 5 or 6 OECs shipped to me (so far), I can tell you that how they look on video and in photos is totally different than how they look in person. My opinion is that there is no possible way to accurately judge these diamonds from afar. So I feel like thus far you have been flying completely blind. If you have a vendor you can trust, then you can generally rely on them to tell you if something is worth considering or not. But only you can decide if the specific look and facet pattern is for you. Old cuts are very different than most modern cuts in this way, in my opinion.

Definitely sound advice! I think what I was trying to do was narrow it down to two diamonds from one vendor and them see both in person! Initially I wanted to see the two from OWD. Now I'm debating whether to see the OWD ones or the 1.48 and 1.21 from Ilya. I figured I'd attempt to minimize the shipping costs by ordering from the vendor with the most promising diamonds first! Decisions, decisions!

 

[missy]

I have to say I would totally trust Adam's judgment re the OECs and if he says a stone is a winner it is a winner. No question. If I were in the market for an OEC that is exactly where I would go and who I would trust. IMO you cannot go wrong with Adam because he has the best selection of old cuts and also is very fair re pricing and he will not steer you wrong.

And of course there is no substitute to seeing them in person so try to see as many as you can so you can learn about what you like and what you don't like. After seeing a number of OECs you will see what I mean. Unlike modern cut rounds you cannot buy OECs from the certificate. You need to see them with your own eyes. Good luck and enjoy the search!

 

[therainbowradish]

"Definitely sound advice! I think what I was trying to do was narrow it down to two diamonds from one vendor and them see both in person! Initially I wanted to see the two from OWD. Now I'm debating whether to see the OWD ones or the 1.48 and 1.21 from Ilya. I figured I'd attempt to minimize the shipping costs by ordering from the vendor with the most promising diamonds first! Decisions, decisions! [/quote]

I don't think it has been said so I just wanted to let you know:
Unless Adam has changed his policy, shipping both ways was 100% free. We narrowed it down to two, I paid the price of the lower stone, he sent them to me and I ended up chosingthe higher price stone. I paid the difference and sent the other back. It was SO easy. He is great to work with, and if I had decided neither were for me, he would have covered return shipping and refunded my money in full.

Now one other thought, I assume the SI3 from Ilya is an EGL stone since GIA doesn't use that. Keep in mind that you may be paying more than you should for a stone with an EGL cert which would likely come back at least I1 and 2~3 color grades lower. I have learned my lesson on buying EGL stones. If you love it, I would have the sale and the price be contingent on a GIA cert. Just my 2 cents. .

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

"Definitely sound advice! I think what I was trying to do was narrow it down to two diamonds from one vendor and them see both in person! Initially I wanted to see the two from OWD. Now I'm debating whether to see the OWD ones or the 1.48 and 1.21 from Ilya. I figured I'd attempt to minimize the shipping costs by ordering from the vendor with the most promising diamonds first! Decisions, decisions!

I don't think it has been said so I just wanted to let you know:
Unless Adam has changed his policy, shipping both ways was 100% free. We narrowed it down to two, I paid the price of the lower stone, he sent them to me and I ended up chosingthe higher price stone. I paid the difference and sent the other back. It was SO easy. He is great to work with, and if I had decided neither were for me, he would have covered return shipping and refunded my money in full.

Now one other thought, I assume the SI3 from Ilya is an EGL stone since GIA doesn't use that. Keep in mind that you may be paying more than you should for a stone with an EGL cert which would likely come back at least I1 and 2~3 color grades lower. I have learned my lesson on buying EGL stones. If you love it, I would have the sale and the price be contingent on a GIA cert. Just my 2 cents. .

Thanks for the info about the free shipping with Adam! That definitely gives me an incentive to take a look at the M diamond he is recommending. In the e-mail he sent today, Adam stated "I think you will be very pleasantly surprised at how white it faces and
how it performs". While I am worried about setting an M diamond in white gold, I think it's worth a look to see if it's too yellow.

Regarding the EGL diamonds Ilya is selling, I've been downgrading them in my head for pricing purposes. For instance, the EGL/non-certed 1.48 I SI3 is probably comparable to a GIA 1.48 K I3 and this is probably closer to a GIA K SI1 (thought the picture makes it look like a VS2. Now the question is whether $3900 is a good price for a 1.48 K SI3 and $4300 is a good price for a K SI1. To compare, Adam is offering me a GIA 1.48 L SI2 for $4900 and a GIA 1.48 M VS1 for $5000.

So complicated!

 

[therainbowradish]

"Definitely sound advice! I think what I was trying to do was narrow it down to two diamonds from one vendor and them see both in person! Initially I wanted to see the two from OWD. Now I'm debating whether to see the OWD ones or the 1.48 and 1.21 from Ilya. I figured I'd attempt to minimize the shipping costs by ordering from the vendor with the most promising diamonds first! Decisions, decisions!

I don't think it has been said so I just wanted to let you know:
Unless Adam has changed his policy, shipping both ways was 100% free. We narrowed it down to two, I paid the price of the lower stone, he sent them to me and I ended up chosingthe higher price stone. I paid the difference and sent the other back. It was SO easy. He is great to work with, and if I had decided neither were for me, he would have covered return shipping and refunded my money in full.

Now one other thought, I assume the SI3 from Ilya is an EGL stone since GIA doesn't use that. Keep in mind that you may be paying more than you should for a stone with an EGL cert which would likely come back at least I1 and 2~3 color grades lower. I have learned my lesson on buying EGL stones. If you love it, I would have the sale and the price be contingent on a GIA cert. Just my 2 cents. .

Thanks for the info about the free shipping with Adam! That definitely gives me an incentive to take a look at the M diamond he is recommending. In the e-mail he sent today, Adam stated "I think you will be very pleasantly surprised at how white it faces and
how it performs". While I am worried about setting an M diamond in white gold, I think it's worth a look to see if it's too yellow.

Regarding the EGL diamonds Ilya is selling, I've been downgrading them in my head for pricing purposes. For instance, the EGL/non-certed 1.48 I SI3 is probably comparable to a GIA 1.48 K I3 and this is probably closer to a GIA K SI1 (thought the picture makes it look like a VS2. Now the question is whether $3900 is a good price for a 1.48 K SI3 and $4300 is a good price for a K SI1. To compare, Adam is offering me a GIA 1.48 L SI2 for $4900 and a GIA 1.48 M VS1 for $5000.

So complicated!

Do you ever plan to upgrade? If so, you will be hard pressed to sell the EGL stones unless you send them to GIA. I would look at all of them from both vendors and if you like the diamondzone stone have the sale price be dependent on it being sent to GIA. There is no way of knowing if the EGL stone is a good deal because the specs are basically a guess. I don't like guessing games when dealing with $$$$.

I had an M stone and it faced up warm in most light and whiter in other conditions. I am the wrong person to ask though because I seek out end of alphabet stones.

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

"Definitely sound advice! I think what I was trying to do was narrow it down to two diamonds from one vendor and them see both in person! Initially I wanted to see the two from OWD. Now I'm debating whether to see the OWD ones or the 1.48 and 1.21 from Ilya. I figured I'd attempt to minimize the shipping costs by ordering from the vendor with the most promising diamonds first! Decisions, decisions!

I don't think it has been said so I just wanted to let you know:
Unless Adam has changed his policy, shipping both ways was 100% free. We narrowed it down to two, I paid the price of the lower stone, he sent them to me and I ended up chosingthe higher price stone. I paid the difference and sent the other back. It was SO easy. He is great to work with, and if I had decided neither were for me, he would have covered return shipping and refunded my money in full.

Now one other thought, I assume the SI3 from Ilya is an EGL stone since GIA doesn't use that. Keep in mind that you may be paying more than you should for a stone with an EGL cert which would likely come back at least I1 and 2~3 color grades lower. I have learned my lesson on buying EGL stones. If you love it, I would have the sale and the price be contingent on a GIA cert. Just my 2 cents. .

Thanks for the info about the free shipping with Adam! That definitely gives me an incentive to take a look at the M diamond he is recommending. In the e-mail he sent today, Adam stated "I think you will be very pleasantly surprised at how white it faces and
how it performs". While I am worried about setting an M diamond in white gold, I think it's worth a look to see if it's too yellow.

Regarding the EGL diamonds Ilya is selling, I've been downgrading them in my head for pricing purposes. For instance, the EGL/non-certed 1.48 I SI3 is probably comparable to a GIA 1.48 K I3 and this is probably closer to a GIA K SI1 (thought the picture makes it look like a VS2. Now the question is whether $3900 is a good price for a 1.48 K SI3 and $4300 is a good price for a K SI1. To compare, Adam is offering me a GIA 1.48 L SI2 for $4900 and a GIA 1.48 M VS1 for $5000.

So complicated!

Do you ever plan to upgrade? If so, you will be hard pressed to sell the EGL stones unless you send them to GIA. I would look at all of them from both vendors and if you like the diamondzone stone have the sale price be dependent on it being sent to GIA. There is no way of knowing if the EGL stone is a good deal because the specs are basically a guess. I don't like guessing games when dealing with $$$$.

I had an M stone and it faced up warm in most light and whiter in other conditions. I am the wrong person to ask though because I seek out end of alphabet stones.

Good tips! Since this is new territory for me, I have to ask how to go about having the sale be dependent on the GIA results. Do I send the diamond back to diamondzone after looking at it and then sent it to GIA, and request a refund if the color and clarity are significantly lower?

Given the size and cost of the diamond, and the fact that I'm lucky to something from my non-diamond liking boyfriend, I doubt I'll be upgrading unless I lose it and cash out my insurance. Of course, life happens, but right now I'm planning on this being a one and done thing for me!

 

[Veltiesmom]

Adam is so great to work with. I'm "test driving" a gorgeous GIA L colored OEC from Adam right now. I can sometimes see warmth, but never yellow. You might find an M doesn't bother you. Depends on the person of course.

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Okay, Halloween break over! Our goal at this point it to get a diamond purchased a set by the end of this month! Time's a tickin'!

Since I last looked, Diamond Zone has posted a few new diamonds including that 1.45ct SI3/I1 stone I've been eyeing and a 1.18 VSI I with a 6.9mm spread. Ilya did mention the 1.18 diamond in a previous e-mail, but stated that he still prefers the performance of the 1.45ct.

Right now I am leaning toward buying from Ilya initially because he has been so responsive and helpful in his e-mails, and even when I downgrade the EGL I diamonds to Ks, it seems that I'm still getting a pretty decent deal ($3900 for a K 1.45ct SI3/I1). However, what's bugging me is even if Ilya says that this diamond is eye clean, there's something off about the crown in the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbDxpwtd4iM . My instinct is telling me that if I can see something weird in the crown in the video, it'll be obvious when I see it in person. On the other hand, my instinct is also telling me that maybe I'm seeing things and may lose out on a good diamond if I don't jump on this soon.

I could also go with the 1.18 diamond, which only has a .1mm smaller diameter. Seems suspect that a 1.18ct diamond can have the spread of a 1.45, though. Thoughts?

On top of all of this, I've spent the past hour of so looking at all the M diamonds posted on PS in case I go with Adam's suggestion in the end and set it on rose gold instead of white. I don't know...

Maybe I'll get lucky today and somehow the right diamond appears out of nowhere! For now, time to continue looking and waiting!

Thank you to everyone for their continued support! I can't believe I've been diamond hunting for a month now!