Sue777
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
- Messages
- 68
Hi Folks. Thanks so much for all being on this forum.... I have learned so much and have enjoyed reading the posts every free second I''ve had for the past week. All the different factors involved in choosing a diamond are mind-boggling! Me and my husband went back to the jeweler''s this afternoon to view the 1.66 round we saw Tuesday night . . . I wanted to see it in natural daylight. He had some other stones for us to look at also, and we quickly were able to narrow it down to 2:
The round 1.66 J color, SI2, by EGI standards (I believe the percentages were 59% and 61%)
And a 1.50 J color, SI1, by GIA standards. (percentages were 60% and 60%)
(Bear with me on those percentages because I don''t have any of the paperwork with me at this computer - I''m going off of memory, and I know you''d like a lot more of the other information, also, but I''m not typing this from a place where I can access the actual data)
Suffice it to say, the dimensions and cut were basically equal on both stones..... the two major differences were the size and the grading association.
Even though they were both rated "J" there was a NOTICEABLE difference in color. The larger, EGI rated stone had an obvious yellow tinge when placed next to the smaller GIA-rated J. At first that didn''t bother me and I still leaned towards the larger one, but the more I carried them both around the store, into darker rooms, lighter rooms, outside, in the car, etc. I started leaning towards the smaller stone. (that is NOT like me!)
I don''t think the color bothered me as much as the fact that the smaller stone just seemed "crisper" and "sharper". I don''t know the technical term for it, but it seemed like someone had fine-tuned the focus when viewing the GIA stone, the EGI was more of a "fuzzy" sparkle.
The jeweler kept stressing that the rating of SI1 from GIA is MUCH higher than a SI2 from the EGI..... do you all agree? He says the European rating system is not as strict, so for it to be called a J color SI2 by their standards, it would be less valuable than that according to GIA ratings.
As much as I really wanted the .15 size increase, I ended up choosing the smaller but "cleaner" diamond. As far as inclusions go, there were quite a few on the EGI stone when viewed through the 10x, but only a few on the GIA stone.
It''s still not too late to change my mind, as we''re waiting for my setting to come in late next week. I guess what I''m hoping to hear is that the smaller diamond may LOOK as big as the bigger one simply due to the fact that it sparkles more, and that the "drool factor" will be as great or greater on the smaller stone thanks to it''s higher quality. Your thoughts and opinions, please? (price wasn''t a deciding factor.... $700 difference between the two)
Sue
The round 1.66 J color, SI2, by EGI standards (I believe the percentages were 59% and 61%)
And a 1.50 J color, SI1, by GIA standards. (percentages were 60% and 60%)
(Bear with me on those percentages because I don''t have any of the paperwork with me at this computer - I''m going off of memory, and I know you''d like a lot more of the other information, also, but I''m not typing this from a place where I can access the actual data)
Suffice it to say, the dimensions and cut were basically equal on both stones..... the two major differences were the size and the grading association.
Even though they were both rated "J" there was a NOTICEABLE difference in color. The larger, EGI rated stone had an obvious yellow tinge when placed next to the smaller GIA-rated J. At first that didn''t bother me and I still leaned towards the larger one, but the more I carried them both around the store, into darker rooms, lighter rooms, outside, in the car, etc. I started leaning towards the smaller stone. (that is NOT like me!)
I don''t think the color bothered me as much as the fact that the smaller stone just seemed "crisper" and "sharper". I don''t know the technical term for it, but it seemed like someone had fine-tuned the focus when viewing the GIA stone, the EGI was more of a "fuzzy" sparkle.
The jeweler kept stressing that the rating of SI1 from GIA is MUCH higher than a SI2 from the EGI..... do you all agree? He says the European rating system is not as strict, so for it to be called a J color SI2 by their standards, it would be less valuable than that according to GIA ratings.
As much as I really wanted the .15 size increase, I ended up choosing the smaller but "cleaner" diamond. As far as inclusions go, there were quite a few on the EGI stone when viewed through the 10x, but only a few on the GIA stone.
It''s still not too late to change my mind, as we''re waiting for my setting to come in late next week. I guess what I''m hoping to hear is that the smaller diamond may LOOK as big as the bigger one simply due to the fact that it sparkles more, and that the "drool factor" will be as great or greater on the smaller stone thanks to it''s higher quality. Your thoughts and opinions, please? (price wasn''t a deciding factor.... $700 difference between the two)
Sue