Help Choosing a diamond

[FrostedFlakes]

I''m buying a solitaire ring for my wife for our 10th wedding anniversary. When we first got married we were both students and we couldn''t afford anything really. So for this special occasion, I want to surprise her with a diamond ring. My budget is around 7-8K for the diamond. I''m pretty sure she likes Princess and Round but I''ve noticed that Princess is considerable cheaper for the same specs, no clue why. I''m looking for around 1.5 carats H or better and VS2 or better.
I found a few diamonds on White Flash and I would appreciate any feedback from your guys. Also feel free to suggest anything else.

Here are the links:

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2189579.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2244252.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2270388.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/round-cut-diamond-2236237.htm

Thanks in advance

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/8/2010 11:19:10 AM
Author:FrostedFlakes
I'm buying a solitaire ring for my wife for our 10th wedding anniversary. When we first got married we were both students and we couldn't afford anything really. So for this special occasion, I want to surprise her with a diamond ring. My budget is around 7-8K for the diamond. I'm pretty sure she likes Princess and Round but I've noticed that Princess is considerable cheaper for the same specs, no clue why. I'm looking for around 1.5 carats H or better and VS2 or better.
I found a few diamonds on White Flash and I would appreciate any feedback from your guys. Also feel free to suggest anything else.

Here are the links:

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2189579.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2244252.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2270388.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/round-cut-diamond-2236237.htm

Thanks in advance

Hi Flakes and welcome!

Lets take a look....

The only one that is in house with the info provided is the third ACA, the others are virtual stones that don't belong to Whiteflash, therefore if you were interested in one of those, you would have to ask them to call one in for you. I would look initially among the inventory stones such as the ACA to see if they have something to suit you.

 

[hlpkaixin3344]

Ditto.

Price difference of princess vs. round mainly is due to the demand and also how much of the rough is remove for the final polish stone. There is greater demand for round and also a larger percentage of the rough is removed to cut a round.

 

[FrostedFlakes]

Hi Lorelai, thanks for the quick response. I did a search for princess ACA but they don''t have anything for the size range I''m looking for, any other suggestions?
Thanks

 

[Stone-cold11]

so are you looking for a princess or round?

Keep in mind, princess will have a smaller dimension compared to a round.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Date: 3/8/2010 12:12:22 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
so are you looking for a princess or round?

Keep in mind, princess will have a smaller dimension compared to a round.

Yes, if you adjust for the difference in face up size between a Princess and a Round, then actually RBs are less expensive by a slim margin it seems to me.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/8/2010 12:00:03 PM
Author: FrostedFlakes
Hi Lorelai, thanks for the quick response. I did a search for princess ACA but they don''t have anything for the size range I''m looking for, any other suggestions?
Thanks

You are welcome! What would you prefer out of a round or Princess? If you give us an idea of budget and your priorities/ preferences for colour and clarity, we can find some selections for you?

 

[FrostedFlakes]

The truth is that I like round, and I''m pretty sure she likes princess more than round, but she''ll probably be happy with either. My budget is 7-8K for the diamond with H or G and VS2 or better. I appreciate your help, thank you!

 

[Stone-cold11]

Looks like princess it is.

Maybe try an eye-clean SI1?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/8/2010 12:25:33 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Looks like princess it is.

Maybe try an eye-clean SI1?

LOL!!

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

A little outside your specs, but a winner in my book: http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6491/ Check is eye clean.

JA has lots but I do not know enough about princess cuts to wade through the options for you. Maybe Stone Cold can help.

 

[Stone-cold11]

These 3, slightly above your budget if you use wire-transfer. Ask if the SI1 stones are eye-clean if you are interested.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/7013/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6491/

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2210536.htm#

 

[Lorelei]

Those all look great that Dreamer and Stone have found but I think you might need to either increase the budget or go with a slightly lower colour like the ones shown....An I colour will still look very white in a top cut Princess, would that be an option for you?

 

[Stone-cold11]

For JA stones, this look promising, ask for an ASET image if you are interested and post it here for review when you get it.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Premium-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1253107.asp

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/8/2010 12:51:37 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
For JA stones, this look promising, ask for an ASET image if you are interested and post it here for review when you get it.

Which one?

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Date: 3/8/2010 1:00:27 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 3/8/2010 12:51:37 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
For JA stones, this look promising, ask for an ASET image if you are interested and post it here for review when you get it.

Which one?

What a great choice StoneCold! From what I can see here on the screen, it is totally eye clean and totally white!!

 

[Stone-cold11]

ARGHH!!, ok, back to finding it again, brb.

 

[Stone-cold11]

ok...

Updated the post...

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Premium-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1253107.asp

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/8/2010 1:08:21 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
ARGHH!!, ok, back to finding it again, brb.

LOL!!!! That happens to me too!

That diamond looks good, has definite potential!

 

[FrostedFlakes]

This last diamond you posted is quite nice, thanks you stone-cold11 for your help, I think I''m gonna go with it.

 

[Stone-cold11]

ask for the ASET image first, the loupe image is not an accurate judge of the performance.

 

[FrostedFlakes]

I called them to ask for the ASET and they said they''ll email it to me. Thanks again

 

[FrostedFlakes]

Hi all,

I finally received the ASET image, please tell me what you think.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

It looks decent, but it would be nice to see more edge to edge red. Stone cold and Lorelei are much better at interpreting princess ASET's, I'm sure they will be here soon.

 

[Stone-cold11]

yap, looks good to me.

 

[FrostedFlakes]

Thank you!
One more question: I''m nervous about online purchasing, how do I make sure that this diamond is what the specs say it is? Where do I find an independent appraiser and how much does it usually cost?
Thanks again!

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

They cost under $100. Here is a tool to help you locate one near you: https://www.pricescope.com/appr_list.aspx They can easily identify the diamond based on the clarity plot with the cert.

But don''t worry! JA is a *very* well respected company on PS. If they ever switched a diamond, we would hear about it and their business would be ruined.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/16/2010 11:37:36 AM
Author: FrostedFlakes
Hi all,

I finally received the ASET image, please tell me what you think.

To be honest I am not overly struck on this ASET, there isn''t much red, nor is it distributed evenly throughout the stone. Do you have any others in mind?

 

[FrostedFlakes]

I only ordered the ASET image for this diamond because I liked it, what does it mean to have little red?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/16/2010 12:33:13 PM
Author: FrostedFlakes
I only ordered the ASET image for this diamond because I liked it, what does it mean to have little red?

If you read this page, it explains how ASET images work.

In basic terms, red is desirable and a large amount of red which is evenly distributed throughout the stone and from edge to edge is preferable. Red is the strongest light return. Some green is often seen with fancy shapes, but minimal green is what is wanted, in a good ASET image you want more red than green.

In the image, we can see that green is dominating, there is some red towards the middle of the stone which indicates that part of the diamond will be lighting up well, but if you look at the edges the red isn't there, only green. This lack of red shows that the light isn't illuminating the edges of the stone, this means the stone can look visually small for the weight due to the lack of edge to edge light return and it could run out of steam in less bright lighting conditions when there isn't any strong lighting to ' drive' the diamond.