the diamond - help !

[Croí]

I know it''s probably sacrilige to come on here and be here for MONTHS and still be totally confused aobut how to pick a diamond. The stone/ring are not nearly so important to me as the man/wedding-at-home so I haven''t given it much thought even though I have looked at some rings and done the ''pricing'' thing on here.

Now however it is becoming a bit of a bigger deal to me because he''s actually actively looking for a stone but I know he doesn''t have time to do any indepth research. He did ask me for the PS information pages and I sent them on to him - but even getting through those is time-consuming and takes effort. I feel I have a good handle now on the clarity and the colour and the carat weight but the cut is really still beyond me.

Here is my confusion. I am confused (completely confused) about the whole depth, table, pavilion thing. I know it affects how well the diamond reflects light but I don''t know how you decide if it''s good or bad; how you decide on the percentages. Is it dependent on the carat weight/size of the stone ? I would really appreciate any insight. On the PS information pages I just get more confused, it''s like you need to know these percentages before you can calculate how much the diamond will sparkle - or am I totally off base ????

If we want a simple round brilliant stone - what should we be looking for (and avoiding!) with regards to this ??

thanks in advance, I know you all will steer us right !

I''m so excited !! With all the wedding stuff, the whole e-ring went on the back-burner for me. Now I''m really getting one and I can hardly believe it !!!

woweeee !

 

[Erin]

I''ve been told that cut is probably the most important of the four Cs - IMO you''ll know it''s a good cut because it breathes fire. The specs don''t have to always fall into an exact window for this to happen. Just make sure the numbers are resonable (depth and table) but look for one that really sparkles and speaks to you. I think that''s more important than trying to find the ideal fact card.

 

[allycat0303]

Croi!

I feel your pain. I did a master''s in biology but the mere mention of depth and table makes me want to cry. This is what I am going to do...

a) Find a budget, then search for stones in the Price comparision option of pricescope. With the parameters I want, so for me I feel that the best value would be color: G-H clairty: SI 1.

b) Then I check what Dirtchepdiamonds lists the diamond cut as (i.e ideal, premium, average, poor)

c) Then I''d ask for the certificate.

d) Enter the values in the pricescope cut advisor. See how the diamond rates

e) If it''s a go post the specs on Rocky Talky and ask for opinon

f) Take the advice of people that actaully know what they are talking about

I know sounds lazy, but I haven''t a clue how else to do it. I''d basically get the best ideal cut diamond (regardless of carat weight) that I could for my money.

 

[Croí]

thanks ladies. I think I''m going to have a good chat with himself tonight about these exact bits and pieces and then I''m going to give him a massive kiss and let the rest up to him !

he hasn''t ever let me down yet !!

 

[blue_chica]

Hey Croi...fun fun! It seemed to me like cut was the most important, as Erin and Alleycat said. Since I only have one, I can''t tell you if the H&A which I got is that much better than a regular ideal cut, but I can''t imagine a better stone. I will say I''ve seen badly cut diamonds and they just aren''t worth it. I put the diamond specs through the cut advisor, and got a good result (1.0)...that combined with the H&A status was good enough for me. We can talk about it on Thurs too.

 

[appletini]

Be sure to plug the numbers into the holloway cut advisor to get an idea. Cut is the most important! You will probably want a depth of ~60 and a table of ~56/57, but the crown & pavillian angles are very important too. Also you can find "eye clean" SI1/2 stones which can allow you more bang for your buck. Also stones with a lower color I/J look whiter once they are set. There are a lot of informative threads on Rocky Talky & FAQ.

 

[rfath]

Everything is SO different when it''s *your* stone that you''re looking for!

My method was to pick a few places that had great reputations for fabulous stones and start looking through their inventory. I used Garry''s cut advisor to get a better idea of the stones (don''t get obsessed with how much less than 2 the stone scores - anything under that is GREAT; your individual preferences will determine which stone you prefer). I found a few from SuperCert that caught my eye (Whiteflash didn''t have a lot in inventory, neither did DCD or NiceIce), called and talked to Barry. He sent the stone for me to look at. I didn''t trust what I was seeing since I''d only seen a few other ideal stones before, so I took the stone in to an appraiser for his thoughts. He LOVED it - and he''s a total 8* snob, so that reassured me a bit. Most dealers will ship directly to the appraiser if you want to skip the step of seeing it yourself first.

Hope that helps...

::running screaming out the door - the STRESS!::

 

[katrina_33]

I think if you''re buying online, you do the Pricescope "search by cut quality" in your specs. All of the hand selected in house stones marketed as ideal cut by PS vendors are safe bets, seems like. Whether it''s DCD''s signature series, Whiteflash''s ACA, the GOG and Nice Ice H&A stones, or whatever. I like seeing IS images, I feel that they tell a lot.

I think if you''re looking to buy a stone locally you rely on your eyes to pick out one you love, and then maybe run the numbers by the gang on Rocky Talky, or cross check them with a trusted set of parameters for ideal cut stones just for back up before you buy and take to an appraiser.

Nice Ice''s site has a good section about why they reject stones, and which stones they accept that I find helpful as a guideline for my own selection process.