First time buyer. Advice on 0.70 stone.

[tiger6]

Hi All,
I've been researching diamonds for the past week and have finally chosen a stone which looks to be perfect for me.
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1438932.asp
It will be set in a 2mm platinum solitaire comfort fit.
I've put the figures into HCA and it comes back at 1.1
Is this a good stone for the price ($2730) or am I making a mistake?
Thanks in advance!

 

[tiger6]

Also, Is there anyone who has had experience with using James Allen to Australia?

 

[slg47]

that looks like a nice choice! i would request an idealscope image from JA and gemologist evaluation. they can provide this for up to three diamonds if you have other candidates you are considering

 

[marchesa6989]

yup i agree! stone looks good and you definitely need to ask for that further info.

may i suggest that for your budget you can afford to look at stones with lower clarity that are eye clean. see this thread here for my advice on SI2s with twinning wisps (1000% eye clean but the microscope pictures look scarier than they are - there is pictorial evidence in the other thread) [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/newbie-engagement-ring-help.168987/..']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/newbie-engagement-ring-help.168987/....[/URL]. that's what i personally have and i couldn't recommend it even more!

here are some i found for you that score 0.70 G SI2 $2230 http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1425999.asp
0.71 G SI2 $2320 http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1438929.asp
0.73 G SI2 $2500 http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1439092.asp

any money you save can go towards a nice setting

 

[Amys Bling]

I agree- you can ask for an Idealscope image and post here. Looks good to me- and you already put it in the HCA to determine the cut quality.

 

[tiger6]

Thanks guys,
Will JA hold a stone waiting for idealscope and evaluation?
How long does it usually take?
What exactly does the idealscope show that the HCA won't?

 

[marchesa6989]

yes, they go on hold until they get the information, which takes 2-3 business days. then you have 24 hrs to decide if you want to purchase one. if not, the stones go back on the market.

idealscope is very very important!! the HCA helps to eliminate stones that will perform poorly, but then the idealscope is required to confirm that the stone will have maximal light return. maximum light return = maximum performance = maximum sparkle, brilliance etc. without it, there's a small chance that a stone that scored <2 will have light leakage and not be as brilliant

 

[tiger6]

OK I've requested the idealscope so just waiting for that.
Thanks for all the help!
Will post up the pic when i get it.

 

[slg47]

the HCA uses four numbers while the idealscope image is an actual picture of the diamond.

also I would stick with VS2 and above since you are shipping internationally.

 

[tiger6]

Hi Guys,
Just recieved the idealscope image. It looks pretty good to me.
What do you think?

 

[slg47]

looks good! what did JA say?

 

[tiger6]

From James Allen,

Thank you for your patience while waiting for the idealscope image of diamond 1438932. We've taken the liberty of having this diamond inspected by one of our graduate gemologists and I'm happy to say that this diamond has excellent fire and brilliance and a great spread. You'll see this excellent light performance in the widespread red/pink colorization of the attached idealscope image. As you would expect, this diamond faces perfectly eye clean. It's a fantastic option and will look beautiful mounted In any setting.

 

[tiger6]

Thanks so much for all the help.

This site has been a great source of info!

I've since purchased this diamond and a setting from JA.
So far they have been excellent.
Can't wait for the ring to arrive!

Once again, thank you to all who have given me advice

 

[slg47]

Thanks so much for all the help.

This site has been a great source of info!

I've since purchased this diamond and a setting from JA.
So far they have been excellent.
Can't wait for the ring to arrive!

Once again, thank you to all who have given me advice

awesome! please post pics of the ring once you get it

 

[skymountain33]

that looks like a nice choice!