Stuller Asscher diamond? - or can you pick a good asscher from a pic?

[firebirdgold]

I know someone who would order an asscher from Stuller for me with very little markup. Since my budget isn''t terribly large, that would be a great help. My question is, can one tell if an asscher will be pretty just from a picture and a few basic measurements? (ie. no crown #''s or anything.) Also, is it even worth looking at Stuller diamonds?

For instance:
.73 carat
J
VS1
4.98 x 4.98 x 3.37
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Very Good
Make: Very Good
Girdle: Slightly Thick
Depth: 67.7
Table: 56
Cutlet: none
Floresence: Strong blue
$1800

What do you guys think? Possibly a viable idea?

 

[widget]

I think with a picture and the stats from a GIA cert, one could get an idea of the quality of an asscher...but of course the eyes and heart need to be the final judges.

I would only go this route if the candidates came with GIA reports, if there is in place an excellent return policy.

widget

 

[MissAva]

I think it looks pretty in the picture...perhaps Strmrdr can comment.

 

[strmrdr]

on a scale of one to 10 that one is a about a 2-3 so its very nice.
minor miscut in the culet area and a few other places like the base of windmills where they meet the corners but overall not bad at all.
crown height would be nice to know.
J is going to be a little warm but the SB fluorescence will help.
Price is good.
If they can return it have them bring it in for a look.
If it makes your heart go pitter patter then its the diamond for you.

 

[valeria101]

It looks great & faultless to me.

I'd love it if Stuller decided to ass ASET or IS images to their database, but the dark background already helps ID leakage and exaggerates (if anything) symmetry details. Good enough, IMO. In fact, I would rather prefer white hemisphere pictures to IS or ASET... because they make the jump to 'real life' looks smaller - 'dream on' sort of thing though

; and the pictures Stuller uses look reassuringly realistic, even if not quite as standardized as a reflector tool would allow. Anyway... IMO, no reason to expect less than a bright stone from as much as it is said and shown of this one.

Is there any chance to return the diamond if disappointed? Sales w/o return policy go down a bit hard... so to speak.

 

[firebirdgold]

It is very pretty, but I wasn''t sure. And it''s amazing how many of them I had to go through to find a nice looking one. Most of them on the stuller site are very dark.

Thank you for your comments!

This could really really help with the budget/size thing.
Fortunately I''m not at all color sensitive, or rather I should say that I appreciate a warmer ''romantic'' tone in other cuts of diamonds, so why not asschers? It does seem like color has an even strong impact on asscher pricing than on round pricing, but that could be my imagination.
Stuller has a good 30 day return policy, and I think they also do diamond buybacks from the retailer so if the retailer agrees that''s like an upgrade policy. kinda. Not that I would ever upgrade, which is why I''m doing my best to stretch our budget to the max. I don''t want to get shrinkage syndrome!

Of course, until my beloved brings the subject back up again, it''s a bit moot anyway. But when he does, I''ll have a host of good within budget options at my fingertips!

 

[fatafelice]

Oooh, I think it looks really nice! I personally like deeper cut corners, but I really like the pattern in that one (as much as I know anyway!). I would be a little concerned about the J, but if you see it and it bothers you, you can return it!

 

[valeria101]

Goodness...

Now I see that 'strong fluorescence' note! Not that it changes the 'why not take a look' opinion.


Hm... ? Any thoughts? LINK


I expect photos to exagerate dark reflection quite a bit (whatever would appear black under IS to look black in picture). Hence didn't find this one quite so scary.


Btw. I am at a loss guessing what could make some pictures of very 'octagonal' stones look pretty bad... perhaps directional lighting? For example, this one - pretty darn square, symmetricall... bright on one axis and very darn on the other. It should have very lopsided pavilion facets (impossible?) or whatever the photographer used is far, far from diamond-friendly lighting. There are three or four more square ECs with similar stats and similarly desperate pictures. THIS in particular makes me very sorry for the imperfect pictures ... lovely shape & all

 

[firebirdgold]

Thanks Valeria! Lovely picks as always!
Unfortunately the first two are out of our price range, and the third one is at the very top end of the budget. It makes it difficult since I want both a setting and a diamond that I won''t ever feel compelled to upgrade, but the combo has to be under $2500, and that may be an overestimate. I''m a bit snobby when it comes to settings.

But thanks for the help!