Newbie needs viewing tips and secrets

[Sue777]

My Christmas gift this year was to upgrade my engagement ring, but we''re actually going to start fresh with an entirely new ring. Since my wedding band is three rows of channel set stones but the engagement ring has pronged side stones, we''re going to get a new setting, too,(cathedral) with channel set side diamonds. We visited a jeweler that came highly recommended by my sister, and I was impressed and comfortable with him. He showed me a stone that I thought was just a tease, (it was 1.66 carats and our budget is between $5000-$7000). When I told him to take it away, he said "why, I think I can get it into your budget". It''s a J, SI2, with the proper table dimensions, but I don''t have all the specs with me (sorry). He jotted down what we were ideally hoping to find, told us to give him a couple of days to make some calls, and we''re due back in tomorrow at noon to see a few more stones so we can find our favorite of a few, rather than just taking the original 1.66. (by the way, it had scattered minor inclusions under the 10x loupe, but I couldn''t see them with the naked eye).
Hubby is really bothered by the inclusions and is hoping to see something tomorrow with less of them. He is brand new at this, and I''m not much more experienced, so any "viewing" tips would be helpful. Viewing it under the scopes and fancy equipment are fine, but how about just "naked eye" tips and tricks? We purposely made the return appointment for 12 noon so that we could take them outside and see them in natural daylight. What do I want to bring with me for best viewing? Dark cloth/paper? White cloth/paper? anything I can bring to view them on or with that will give me more insight, rather than just "listening" to hear which calls me? (unfortunately, I KNOW which will talk to me . . . the one that LOOKS the biggest!) But I really would like to make a mature, informed decision and was wondering what I should look for during my naked-eye inspections. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.... I''ve been reading, reading, reading and reading everything on these boards for a week now!
Sue

 

[pqcollectibles]

Jewelers lighting can make the worst diamonds look great so you are on the right track by seeing the diamonds in natural light. Not direct sunlight tho. Diffuse natural light is much better. Direct sunlight can make the best diamond look bad. Rolling the diamonds around to see how they play with light works well too. Diamonds are at their best when they are in motion. When diamonds are placed in a static positon, such as a pendant necklace, they aren''t free to move and play with light like a ring on your finger does.

Another trick is candlelight. Candlelight is similar to the low lighting of a restaurant or theatre. If the dealer will let you go to the restroom or into his office, somewhere where you can turn off all the lights and view the diamonds by candlelight would be great. Try rolling them around to see how the light from the plays off each diamond. Also, I tried sitting the diamonds in one place, with the candle in a set place as well, and moved around the room to see how the light of the candle played off the diamonds when the diamonds weren''t moving.

You might try searching old threads for some more tips. There have been several threads in the past discussing this issue.

Good luck with your diamond search!!

 

[codex57]

Viewing under the jewler lights is extremely annoying. One store I liked had optimized (IMO) lighting. Since I was looking at ideal stones, I could only look for abotu 5 seconds at a time cuz I kept getting blinded. Ask to see it under flourescent lighting. You know, office lighting. The jeweler I was talking about let me go into the back of his store (where he had most of his equipment) and I could see the stone under lighting that is normal for me. There's prolly some part of the store that doesn't have those darned spotlights.

As for inclusions, if you have a certain budget, you have to decide whether or not the inclusions matter that much. If it's naked eye clean, does it really matter if you can see the stones under a loupe? After all, how many of your friends and family are gonna look at your stone under a loupe?

Also, consider getting an ideal scope. All diamonds start to look pretty sparkly after a while (start to blur together), and an IS helps you objectively keep the good stones separated from the not so good ones.

 

[Sue777]

EXCELLENT suggestion about the candle - I would have never thought of that, and I''m pretty sure the jeweler will be receptive to letting me do that. His establishment is not in a busy mall, it''s actually by itself off the beaten path. And since he''s the owner, he might even like the idea enough to let others try this in the future, too.

Thanks, also, for the tip about some of the best diamonds looking bad in direct sunlight. I probably would have ruled out some real beauties if you hadn''t mentioned that.

Maybe I''ll set the candle and the diamonds in the center of the floor, turn off the lights, and start slowly marching around them in a circle to see how the candlelight dances off of them. Heck - even if I don''t find a decent diamond, maybe I can get a seance going and communicate with dead people or something! Thanks again for the tips!

 

[pqcollectibles]

ROFL! Sue!! You are toooooo funny!!

I did that same thing sort of. I had 2 diamonds on a preview basis from White Flash to decide which one I wanted to keep. I laid them out on the dining table every morning and put them back in their pouches every night for several days. One night, we light a candle and turned out all the lights to do the candlelight test. We tried playing with the diamonds with tweezers and leaving the diamonds sit still as we walked around the dining table a few times. No communication with the dead tho, but the diamonds sure did speak to us!!

 

[Sue777]

(off to do an internet search to see where I can get one of those scopes by noon tomorrow!!!!!)

Sue