So, after I was misled by a mall jeweler with an EGL Cert (but got my money back - YAY), I discovered PS and embarked on my diamond education.
I''ve purchased a stone from Good Old Gold, and my only regret is being on the Left Coast, and not able to hang out in their store for a day, looking at bling.
Then a good friend tells me what an idiot I am for buying on the internet, and how I''ve probably gotten screwed, and she has a friend with a store in another state who''s never let her down, etc. I said, "Yeah? Well ask your friend what she thinks of this stone." And I sent the link to the GOG H&A stone I''d purchased for $20K - F, VS2.
Well, the Colorado connection wrote back, saying I got a fair price. She said the seller was making about $2000 in today''s market. (Hey, I''m OK with that - a man''s got to make a living).
"But, by the way," she added, "I have a 1.66 G VS1 ideal cut 0. It would cost him 17,500.00."
Gee, I thought to myself, maybe I should have a look. So I asked her to send me the Cert and the Sarin.
Well . . . . . The GIA Cert did indeed grade the stone G, VS1, but said the Polish and Symmetry were "Very Good." (For an ideal stone, I thought I''d get excellent) Well, OK, I thought, I''ll keep going. So I looked at the proportions and angles, which were as follows:
Total Depth 62.2%
Table Size 54.1%
Crown Angle 34.6
Pavil Angle 41.2
Culet 0.8%
Those didn''t look like what I learned on PS is an Ideal cut diamond!!!!! So I ran the numbers on the HCA and it came back at 3.4. Well, even if HCA is only a "rejection tool", at 3.4 this stone certainly gets rejected!!!!
Bottom line (or moral of the story) - get educated here on PS - there''s always somebody (even (especially?) a friend of a friend) who''s ready to take advantage of us.
double b