Radiant cut diamond help!! Engagement!

[Rossauce]

Greetings All,

Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read my post and offer insight and help! I appreciate more than you will ever know.

I am very new to the whole diamond/engagement ring buying process and it is all a bit nerve wracking for me. I am basically in the 11th hour of trying to lock down the stone and ring I want to propose to my girlfriend with. I am planning to propose this 4th of July.

That being said, I know what she likes ring and stone wise and I'd love to make her dreams come true by fulfilling that. She is a taller woman with long fingers, so I am doing my best to find a bigger stone (that I can afford), that will look great on her. Sparkle, brilliance and fire are very important to me.

She wants a Radiant cut, at least 2 carats, with two trilliant side stones, set in Platinum. A very timeless, classy look. We want the Radiant to sparkle like crazy and have beautiful fire and brilliance.

I have had 2 diamond companies working on it, to see which will give me the best stones at the best price.

So my big crossroads that I am at is that both have found stones that they say are perfect for what I am looking for in my budget. (My budget is 15-20k). The first guy has a 2.04 Radiant H SI2 with Excellent polish and symmetry and no fluorescence. It measures 8.80 x 6.43 x 4.38. The price for the stone and the side stones and platinum ring all together for him is $19,500. The top view of the diamond on the GIA certificate shows many inclusions. But to the naked eye, he says they are not visible. What I like about it is the rectangular shape at 8.80 makes it look like a bigger diamond than it is.
The second guy has a 2.01 Radiant H SI1 with Good symmetry and Very good polish and no fluorescence. It measures 8.19 x 6.90 x 4.29 mm. The price for the stone and the side stones and platinum setting all together is $17,500. The top view on this one on the GIA cert has no inclusions and is clear. You can only see the inclusions from the bottom of the stone on the GIA cert.

My biggest challenge is that I have to do all of this over the internet and phone, because one dealer is in SF and the other in NY and I live far away from both. But they came recommended by family friends, so that is who I have chose to work with. They have certainly given me better price quotes than regular jewelry stores. And I am on a tight timeline to get this done.

I've seen both stones and setups in high def photos, but regardless, it is still hard to tell which is the better option. Both have their pros and cons. The 2.04 carat is longer and more rectangular which I like, but the 2.01 is SI 1 (better quality). Also, the 2.01 has no inclusions from the top view on the GIA cert. But one thing I don't understand is it says the girdle is extremely thin to extremely thick. Which one is it? Extremely thin or extremely thick? It doesn't say, it just says extremely thin - extremely thick.

Most important to me is that no inclusions are visible to the naked eye, no yellowness is visible to the naked eye and the diamond sparkles with fire.

I need to pull the trigger on this soon. Any advice or insight would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks again!

 

[JulieN]

Any pictures?

 

[lambskin]

We really need to see pictures and have dimensions to tell as fancy cuts really are visual. Crushed ice look versus larger facets etc. Could the girdle on the one be unevenly cut with some of it thin and some of it thick? If you are buying sight unseen you really need to know and trust your seller. Also, make sure your trillions are of good quality and proportion to the center stone to-make sure you get specs on those as well as trillions can look really flat and have little flash.

 

[Rossauce]

Here are photos of the 2.04 H SI2 and the trilliants that go with it.

 

[Rossauce]

Here is a photo of the 2.01 Radiant H SI1 with the trilliants

 

[Rossauce]

This is the 2.04 Radiant H SI2 Excellent Polish, Excellent symmetry. The measurements are 8.80 x 6.43 x 4.38, with a thick girdle. On the GIA certificate, it has many inclusions on the top view illustration. See photos below:

 

[JulieN]

The 2.01 is a disaster

 

[Rossauce]

Thanks Julie. Can you tell me why specifically it is a disaster? Keep in mind the rock is still loose in the picture...he just put it loosely on another setting to show me what it would look like.

 

[JulieN]

Do you see the glassy looking triangle that goes from 1 o'clock to 4 o'clock and another one from 7 o'clock to 11 o'clock?

 

[Rossauce]

Yes I do. Is that a bad bow tie?

 

[JulieN]

it is probably leakage.

 

[Gypsy]

2.01 has a huge bowtie. 2.04 is also pretty terrible, it's just so dark at the edges.

I don't think you should be shopping alone. At least not in person. It doesn't look like either stone is well cut, honestly, and it's clear you don't know what to look for in a 'good' radiant.

 

[JulieN]

The other possibility is that it is an area that would show green under ASET. Whatever it is, I would not be pleased with that kind of radiant.

 

[Rossauce]

This is the GIA inclusion image on the certification for the 2.04. What do you think? See pic below:

 

[Rossauce]

I agree Gypsy. But I don't know who to turn to. I don't have any family or friends who know anything about this stuff and every jeweler I talk to all say something different and seem to be out for themselves. I have scoured the net and done all my research, but I am not an expert and I certainly do not know any experts, so I am in a bind because I don't know what to do. I really want to get her a Radiant in the 2 carat range with two trilliant side stones. The people who are trying to sell me these stones in the pictures, are people who have sold stones to my friends in the past and come recommended. So far they are much more affordable than any brick and mortar shop I have tried. I'll take your advice if you could offer some direction and solutions to what I am going through. Many thanks!

 

[Gypsy]

I think you just confirmed for me that you have no idea what you are doing and that you need more knowledge before spending thousands on any diamond.

Numbers and lab reports tell you nothing of importance about an cut and performance of a radiant.

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king. With fancies though (anything other than a round brilliant), that is a little complicated. But no other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut.

There really is no other way to determine if you have a good radiant is to see images of the stones, and then you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.

That's what an ASET image does. http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance Please read.
And ASET shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return That is why you won't see us recommending vendors like Blue Nile, as they do not provide images or ASET images for their diamonds. James Allen and Good Old Gold do this. So do Brian Gavin and Whiteflash and High Performance Diamonds.

So in a nutshell, you have two duds there. I suggest you consider using a better vendor that can source nicer stones for you, and can provide you with an ASET to help you see how the diamond is returning light.

Both of those are duds. And you can do better.

Where are you located? If you want to shop it person, there is a chance you are by one of the vendors we recommend on here and have experience with and then you can go to one of them.

 

[Gypsy]

I'm not seeing anything at any of the 'usual' vendors we work with on PS that I would recommend outright.

You can call Brian Gavin or Good Old Gold and ask them to source you a winner. They have great eyes for fancies. That would be what I would do in your place.


I only saw one on James Allen I sort of like and that's this one: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/radiant-cut/2.03-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-sku-326058 you can ask then if it is eyeclean, and if it is then ask for an ASET of it. They will want you to get three ASETS, but there aren't three stones on there worth your time, so you'd have to be firm that you only want the one. Because they only allow you three, and you don't want to blow the other two on Duds.

 

[Travelgal]

What about this in a solitaire and add the trillions later?

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/radiant-cut/2.20-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-sku-243420

I prefer facet patterns like this diamond

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/radiant-cut/1.13-carat-f-color-if-clarity-sku-23478

Radiants are tricky because they can look mushy in the center if not cut well. The diamond will look big, but it won't have a crisp sparkle. I highly recommend that you look through the radiant cuts on James Allen's website (all sizes) so that you can get an idea do the different facet patterns and cuts. It took us 4 tries with our jeweler (this was pre-internet) and over 25 diamonds until we found the right one. If you chose to work with the jewelers that were recommended, I would at least supply them with images of the two radiants listed above and have them find you one similar. Otherwise, I would follow Gypsys advice and work with the vendors recommended on this website. Since you aren't seeing the diamonds in person, I don't see a difference in using a well vetted (by diamond enthusiasts) vendor than ones recommended by your friends/family.

 

[Travelgal]

One more thing- the proportions of the trillions with the rectangular stone don't match very well. They are too big/narrow/long and detract from the center stone.

 

[Gypsy]

Ohh, I love this one, great choice Travelgal: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/radiant-cut/2.20-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-sku-243420

Actually he could put it in this setting, and it would be very nice and elegant. Like the Lucida with baguettes at Tiffany. http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/side-stones/14k-white-gold-tapered-baguette-diamond-engagement-ring-item-7101

It would be the one on the far right here:



Rossauce, did she ask for a Radiant with Trillion sides? What did she ask for?

 

[Gypsy]

One more thing- the proportions of the trillions with the rectangular stone don't match very well. They are too big/narrow/long and detract from the center stone.

I agree!

 

[Travelgal]

I LOVE the look of the 2.2 ct with the baguette Tiffanyesque setting. That would look amazing! Good eye Gypsy. SUPER classy ring.