help me to choose diamond, thank you

additional information

diamond A GIA report stats

ROUND BRILLIANT

Measurements: 5.73 - 5.76 x 3.57 mm
Carat Weight: 0.71 carat
Color Grade: H
Clarity Grade: VS1
Cut Grade: Excellent
PROPORTIONS

Depth: 62.0%
Table: 55%
Crown Angle: 34.5°
Crown Height: 15.5%
Pavilion Angle: 40.8°
Pavilion Depth: 43.0%
Star Length: 45%
Lower Half: 75%
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted (3.5%)
Culet: None

FINISH
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: None

CLARITY CHARACTERISTICS
Cloud, Needle

---

diamond B GIA report stats

ROUND BRILLIANT

Measurements: 5.85 - 5.86 x 3.66 mm
Carat Weight: 0.77 carat
Color Grade: I
Clarity Grade: VS2
Cut Grade: Excellent
PROPORTIONS

Depth: 62.5%
Table: 55%
Crown Angle: 34.5°
Crown Height: 15.5%
Pavilion Angle: 41.0°
Pavilion Depth: 43.0%
Star Length: 50%
Lower Half: 75%
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted (4.0%)
Culet: None

FINISH
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: None

CLARITY CHARACTERISTICS
Cloud, Crystal

I'd pick A for the higher color and clarity and it is likely a better-cut diamond than B
I realize HCA is billed as a rejection tool and people usually only use the number score, and the angles input are averages of 8 angles each . . . but I won't apologize for paying attention to all data available to me.
A gets more Excellent marks on the HCA's four categories, and the X falls closer to the AGS 0 region than B does.
HCA says A will have better fire and Scintillation than B.

Also B is kind of deep.

The first one is A.

Written by kenny » July 6th, 2012, 12:56 pm:I'd pick A for the higher color and clarity.
I realize HCA is billed as a rejection tool and people usually only use the number score, and the angles input are averages of 8 angles each . . . but I won't apologize for paying attention to all data available to me.
A gets more Excellent marks on the HCA's four categories, and the X falls closer to the AGS 0 region than B does.
B is kind of deep.

A get more excellent marks when you use GIA report stats, but not when you are using Sarin report stats, I am also puzzled with the difference

B get about the same HCA score when you are using either GIA / Sarin report stats

can you help to explain about "B is kind of deep" (sorry newbie here)

what will "deep" affect ?

thank you

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 1:10 pm:

Written by kenny » July 6th, 2012, 12:56 pm:I'd pick A for the higher color and clarity.
I realize HCA is billed as a rejection tool and people usually only use the number score, and the angles input are averages of 8 angles each . . . but I won't apologize for paying attention to all data available to me.
A gets more Excellent marks on the HCA's four categories, and the X falls closer to the AGS 0 region than B does.
B is kind of deep.

A get more excellent marks when you use GIA report stats, but not when you are using Sarin report stats, I am also puzzled with the difference
B get about the same HCA score when you are using either GIA / Sarin report stats
can you help to explain about "B is kind of deep" (sorry newbie here)
what will "deep" affect ?
thank you

No measurement instrument is accurate out to a zillion digits.
Unfortunately all data presented to us reports perhaps one too many significant figures.

I worked in engineering for a couple decades, and we would view this as engineering sloppiness and irresponsible to our clients.
We used Hewlett Packard measuring instruments that sometimes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, regularly calibrated to traceable standards.
STILL, the rule of thumb is to throw away or round out the last digit the instrument reports.
For instance if a Vector Network Analyzer tells you the gain is 2.247 dB we would either simply ignore and not record that last 7, and report 2.24 dB or round up the number to 2.25 dB.
A good practice is to simply NOT believe the accuracy of last number and measuring instrument gives you.
If the instrument gives you 4 figures, report only 3.

For instance let's say a $3,000 weight scale can accurately measure the weight of a diamond to five places after the decimal point.
Let's say using this expensive scale we could fully believe a diamond truly weighs 1.12345 carat.
(And if we shipped the diamond to the National Bureau of Standards were they have a scale that can measure to, say, 15 digits after the decimal place they would verify that our 1.12345 is correct.)
A $1,000 scale may measure report only four digits after the decimal place (though those four digits would also prove to be accurate) such as 1.1234 ct.

The business with the more expensive scale can round up the five at the end of 1.12345, and report the weight to be 1.1235 (notice they are reporting one less digit) whereas the business using the cheaper scale, if honest, must report the weight as 1.1234.

Such is the quagmire of measurement variations using different instruments, and I suspect that is why we to not see precise repeatability in all the data we are presented with.
It can get to the point of splitting hairs and wondering which data to trust and IMHO the HCA and Idealscope data is enough to make a decision here.

About the depth... there are ranges for depths and 62.5 is on the deep side for a round, even though this particular one has been well cut by having crown angles, pavilion angles and table % to get the diamond to perform quite will in spite of having a 62.5% depth.

All things considered I go with A.

About the depth... there are ranges for depths and 62.5 is on the deep side for a round, even though this particular one has been well cut by having crown angles, pavilion angles and table % to get the diamond to perform quite will in spite of having a 62.5% depth.

All things considered I go with A.

thank you for your explanation.

indeed A seems better, I am just a bit worried with the "steep" different in HCA score when you use GIA and Sarin report for diamond A

somehow I tend to trust Sarin report as the number is less rounded

any comment on the Idealscope image between diamond A and B ? and any idea why diamond B idealscope looks more "pale"

is it reflecting the diamond B condition compare to diamond A ?

or just merely picture colour enhancement / contrast difference ? or the way they took the picture ?

thank you

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 1:44 pm:

About the depth... there are ranges for depths and 62.5 is on the deep side for a round, even though this particular one has been well cut by having crown angles, pavilion angles and table % to get the diamond to perform quite will in spite of having a 62.5% depth.

All things considered I go with A.

thank you for your explanation.

indeed A seems better, I am just a bit worried with the "steep" different in HCA score when you use GIA and Sarin report for diamond A

somehow I tend to trust Sarin report as the number is less rounded

any comment on the Idealscope image between diamond A and B ? and any idea why diamond B idealscope looks more "pale"

is it reflecting the diamond B condition compare to diamond A ?

or just merely picture colour enhancement / contrast difference ? or the way they took the picture ?

thank you

Less rounded?

Let's talk about rounding.
There are two kinds of rounding...
1) 1.15 can be rounded up to 1.2 and 1.14 can be rounded down to 1.1.
2) Then there is averaging together several numbers. This is not really rounding but I've noticed rounding is the term used on PS for this. A standard round diamond has 8 "sides". When the HCA asks for THE crown or a pavilion angle (it doesn't ask for all you enter ONE angle, which is an average of all 8 angles.
Both Sarin and GIA must average together 8 angles and report one average of the 8.

Your Sarin report is nice in that it does report the lowest and highest of the 8 angles. (GIA does not reveal this.)
The less the 8 angles vary the more tightly the cutter held to the goal, and A is superior in this way too since it's pavilion angles varied by only 0.1 degree while B's varied by 0.4 degree. The crown angles of both diamonds varied by 0.4 degree.)

Keep in mind we are REALLY splitting hairs here and I'm sure the vendors, appraisers and pros are getting a kick out of me following you out to this level of detail.

Yes the difference between the GIA and the Sarin numbers is annoying, but I chalk it up to what I posted above.

Here are the numbers side by side with GIA listed first, and Sarin second...

Diamond A

62.0 62.0
55 54.7
34.5 34.8
40.8 41.0

Diamond B

62.5 62.4
55 55.7
34.5 34.4
41.0 41.0

The only place GIA reports one less significant figure is in the Table percentage.
Notice how many numbers do not match.
Again I chalk this up to what I posted above.
But whom to believe? Flip a coin perhaps, though Sarin reporting an additional digit in Table % and also reporting the highest and lowest Crown and Pavilion angles does make me feel they are being more thorough than GIA.

About the two IS images.
A is on the left.



The overall brightness of the image is just related to the photography exposure not the cut quality or light return.
The extra darkness under the table of A makes me now prefer B, since I think a continuous tone of pink is listed in the chart as Excellent. (But I welcome input from our cut pros on this one.)
Refer to the reference chart for interpreting IS images.



I've changed my mind.
I'd buy B.
HCA of B is under 2 using both GIA and Sarin numbers.
The tone of the pink under the table is closer to the rest of the diamond.

IMHO, cut trumps one grade of color and clarity and you'll get a bigger rock.
But really, these two are so close you could flip a coin and either will be gorgeous.

I think either will be fine.

I didn't know JA ran Sarins for their customers?

Written by kenny » July 6th, 2012, 2:07 pm:

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 1:44 pm:

About the depth... there are ranges for depths and 62.5 is on the deep side for a round, even though this particular one has been well cut by having crown angles, pavilion angles and table % to get the diamond to perform quite will in spite of having a 62.5% depth.

All things considered I go with A.

thank you for your explanation.

indeed A seems better, I am just a bit worried with the "steep" different in HCA score when you use GIA and Sarin report for diamond A

somehow I tend to trust Sarin report as the number is less rounded

any comment on the Idealscope image between diamond A and B ? and any idea why diamond B idealscope looks more "pale"

is it reflecting the diamond B condition compare to diamond A ?

or just merely picture colour enhancement / contrast difference ? or the way they took the picture ?

thank you

Less rounded?

Let's talk about rounding.
There are two kinds of rounding...
1) 1.15 can be rounded up to 1.2 and 1.14 can be rounded down to 1.1.
2) Then there is averaging together several numbers. This is not really rounding but I've noticed rounding is the term used on PS for this. A standard round diamond has 8 "sides". When the HCA asks for THE crown or a pavilion angle (it doesn't ask for all you enter ONE angle, which is an average of all 8 angles.
Both Sarin and GIA must average together 8 angles and report one average of the 8.

Your Sarin report is nice in that it does report the lowest and highest of the 8 angles. (GIA does not reveal this.)
The less the 8 angles vary the more tightly the cutter held to the goal, and A is superior in this way too since it's pavilion angles varied by only 0.1 degree while B's varied by 0.4 degree. The crown angles of both diamonds varied by 0.4 degree.)

Keep in mind we are REALLY splitting hairs here and I'm sure the vendors, appraisers and pros are getting a kick out of me following you out to this level of detail.

thank you for pointing the depth issue.

I learn something new.

after my google session for this topic, indeed 62.5% is in the deep side for round brilliant, some website even categorize it to very good only (no longer excellent)

but since GIA report categorize cut as excellent and I can get consistent HCA score based on GIA and Sarin report, I hope I make "responsible" and "good" decision to have less worry about the depth (as it maybe compensated with the pavilion angle and crown angle)

for the HCA score, I run three times for each diamond, based on SARIN report minimum, maximum, and average value for table size, crown angle, pavilion angle) and one times for GIA report

the Sarin report from JamesAllen is actually not so detailed, I've seen other vendor provide value for each facet

Written by TitanCi » July 6th, 2012, 2:53 pm:I think either will be fine.

I didn't know JA ran Sarins for their customers?

you can request Sarin report and Idealscope up to 3 (or 5 can't remember) diamonds for James Allen

Bluenile doesn't provide Sarin report and Idealscope when I ask the chat representative

Written by kenny » July 6th, 2012, 2:34 pm:Yes the difference between the GIA and the Sarin numbers is annoying, but I chalk it up to what I posted above.

Here are the numbers side by side with GIA listed first, and Sarin second...

Diamond A

62.0 62.0
55 54.7
34.5 34.8
40.8 41.0

Diamond B

62.5 62.4
55 55.7
34.5 34.4
41.0 41.0

The only place GIA reports one less significant figure is in the Table percentage.
Notice how many numbers do not match.
Again I chalk this up to what I posted above.
But whom to believe? Flip a coin perhaps, though Sarin reporting an additional digit in Table % and also reporting the highest and lowest Crown and Pavilion angles does make me feel they are being more thorough than GIA.

About the two IS images.
A is on the left.

a_on_left.png

idealscope_ref_2.png

I've changed my mind.
I'd buy B.
HCA of B is under 2 using both GIA and Sarin numbers.
The tone of the pink under the table is closer to the rest of the diamond.

IMHO, cut trumps one grade of color and clarity and you'll get a bigger rock.
But really, these two are so close you could flip a coin and either will be gorgeous.

for diamond A, Yes the difference between the GIA and the Sarin numbers is annoying, otherwise I will close eye choose diamond A

I ran report for each diamond, 4 times, 1 times using GIA report, 3 times using Sarin report (minimum, maximum, average value) and diamond B is having more consistent score

The overall brightness of the image is just related to the photography exposure not the cut quality or light return.
The extra darkness under the table of A makes me now prefer B, since I think a continuous tone of pink is listed in the chart as Excellent. (But I welcome input from our cut pros on this one.)
Refer to the reference chart for interpreting IS images.

thank you, now I have one less worry, initially I thought idealscope for diamond B looks "pale" because of light return thingy

that is also puzzling me that for both diamond have "darkness" under table but diamond B has less "darkness"

based on the reference chart excellent should not have "darkness" but "lighter"

but I am completely newbie

IMHO, cut trumps one grade of color and clarity and you'll get a bigger rock.
But really, these two are so close you could flip a coin and either will be gorgeous.

indeed true, as per our discussion above, cut wise more or less same, just diamond B have more consistent HCA score

diamond B have less (only) one color level, clarity also have less (only) one level but clarity wise based on the image under magnifier, I see it very clean (from layman perspective)

diamond B is also almost 300 cheaper

thank you for your help !

two last doubt !

1.any idea about my concern regarding star / upper percentage ratio ?

2.diamond B is having "thicker" girdle (does this affect fire, brilliance, scintillation, and brightness ??) cant get information from the internet (CONS)

though any medium to slightly ticker should be acceptable range, though some prefer thin to medium

Let me guess, you are an engineer.

Hi,

I would pick diamond A, based on the following:

1) it was the gemologist's pick and he/she feels it's slightly brighter
2) higher color
3) better HCA score from the numbers on the cert

Sarin scans are not always 100% accurate, so I wouldn't worry about that. You could run a Sarin on another vendor's machine and get a different result.

Written by kenny » July 6th, 2012, 6:32 pm:Let me guess, you are an engineer.

I am an IT guy

perfectionist IT guy, never can be statisfied :p

Written by Laila619 » July 6th, 2012, 7:06 pm:Hi,

I would pick diamond A, based on the following:

1) it was the gemologist's pick and he/she feels it's slightly brighter
2) higher color
3) better HCA score from the numbers on the cert

Sarin scans are not always 100% accurate, so I wouldn't worry about that. You could run a Sarin on another vendor's machine and get a different result.

2.I personally see diamond in local store to compare H-I-J and almost can't see the different when look from the top (table) except when you see from the bottom side (what is the correct term ?)

3.indeed diamond A is better based on GIA

for the same reasons, we can't say GIA is accurate, that is why I am more comfortable to use both GIA and Sarin stats to get the HCA score and see which diamond is having consistent score. in this case Diamond B

if I choose diamond A, there is chance I will get diamond with 1.3 HCA score which is good, or >2 HCA score which is bad

if I choose diamond B, at least on the paper, I will get good diamond <2 HCA score

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 8:04 pm:

Written by Laila619 » July 6th, 2012, 7:06 pm:Hi,

I would pick diamond A, based on the following:

1) it was the gemologist's pick and he/she feels it's slightly brighter
2) higher color
3) better HCA score from the numbers on the cert

Sarin scans are not always 100% accurate, so I wouldn't worry about that. You could run a Sarin on another vendor's machine and get a different result.

2.I personally see diamond in local store to compare H-I-J and almost can't see the different when look from the top (table) except when you see from the bottom side (what is the correct term ?)

3.indeed diamond A is better based on GIA

for the same reasons, we can't say GIA is accurate, that is why I am more comfortable to use both GIA and Sarin stats to get the HCA score and see which diamond is having consistent score. in this case Diamond B

if I choose diamond A, there is chance I will get diamond with 1.3 HCA score which is good, or >2 HCA score which is bad

if I choose diamond B, at least on the paper, I will get good diamond <2 HCA score

Well, I do see your point. Then I guess in that case, it sounds like diamond B is the best choice since you are most comfortable with that one. It's "mind clean" for you.

Well, I do see your point. Then I guess in that case, it sounds like diamond B is the best choice since you are most comfortable with that one. It's "mind clean" for you.

no choice for me, since it is online buying, can only rely on paper, report and images.

I wish I can see with my own eyes for both diamond

I actually prefer diamond A better colour, better clarity (safer from unwanted inclusion since buying online) but Sarin report for it scare me away from it

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 6:28 pm:two last doubt !

1.any idea about my concern regarding star / upper percentage ratio ?

2.diamond B is having "thicker" girdle (does this affect fire, brilliance, scintillation, and brightness ??) cant get information from the internet (CONS)

though any medium to slightly ticker should be acceptable range, though some prefer thin to medium

any help on this please ?

based on the #s i like A...

Written by Dancing Fire » July 7th, 2012, 12:53 am:based on the #s i like A...

what is #s ?

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 10:36 pm:

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 6:28 pm:two last doubt !

1.any idea about my concern regarding star / upper percentage ratio ?

2.diamond B is having "thicker" girdle (does this affect fire, brilliance, scintillation, and brightness ??) cant get information from the internet (CONS)

though any medium to slightly ticker should be acceptable range, though some prefer thin to medium

any help on this please ?

any kind soul can help with this question ?

thank you

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 10:36 pm:

Written by dicxz80 » July 6th, 2012, 6:28 pm:two last doubt !

1.any idea about my concern regarding star / upper percentage ratio ?

2.diamond B is having "thicker" girdle (does this affect fire, brilliance, scintillation, and brightness ??) cant get information from the internet (CONS)

though any medium to slightly ticker should be acceptable range, though some prefer thin to medium

any help on this please ?

any kind soul can help with this question ?

thank you

Written by dicxz80 » July 7th, 2012, 9:59 am:

Written by Dancing Fire » July 7th, 2012, 12:53 am:based on the #s i like A...

what is #s ?

# is a symbol for numbers, as in all the data presented.

Girdle thickness of these two diamonds is fine.
The thicker one will not look any more dull or dark because of the thicker girdle.

The thinner the girdle the more susceptible it is to chipping.
The thicker it is the more is just sort of is a wasted weight you are paying for.
Both A and B are fine with Medium to Slightly Thick girdles (3.5%) and (4.0%).

The star facet stuff is over my head, but maybe someone else will respond.

I must add that you are taking this really far.
It is like you are shopping for a car and using a micrometer to measure the thickness of every part of the car and hiring a metallurgist to analyze the alloy of every metal part.

At some point you have to just pick one and drive it off the lot.

Written by kenny » July 7th, 2012, 11:09 am:

Written by dicxz80 » July 7th, 2012, 9:59 am:

Written by Dancing Fire » July 7th, 2012, 12:53 am:based on the #s i like A...

The thicker one will not look any more dull or dark because of the thicker girdle.

thank you so much ! I am looking for this information

The thinner the girdle the more susceptible it is to chipping.
The thicker it is the more is just sort of is a wasted weight you are paying for.
Both A and B are fine.

again thank you, same as what I read from internet

any idea about the star / upper ratio ?

Written by dicxz80 » July 7th, 2012, 11:15 am:

Written by kenny » July 7th, 2012, 11:09 am:

Written by dicxz80 » July 7th, 2012, 9:59 am:

Written by Dancing Fire » July 7th, 2012, 12:53 am:based on the #s i like A...

The thicker one will not look any more dull or dark because of the thicker girdle.

thank you so much ! I am looking for this information

The thinner the girdle the more susceptible it is to chipping.
The thicker it is the more is just sort of is a wasted weight you are paying for.
Both A and B are fine.

again thank you, same as what I read from internet

any idea about the star / upper ratio ?

This link has a section that explains this.
Scroll down to the middle of the page.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/classic.php?page=minor_facets.htm

Written by kenny » July 7th, 2012, 11:22 am:

Written by dicxz80 » July 7th, 2012, 11:15 am:

Written by kenny » July 7th, 2012, 11:09 am:

Written by dicxz80 » July 7th, 2012, 9:59 am:

Written by Dancing Fire » July 7th, 2012, 12:53 am:based on the #s i like A...

The thicker one will not look any more dull or dark because of the thicker girdle.

thank you so much ! I am looking for this information

The thinner the girdle the more susceptible it is to chipping.
The thicker it is the more is just sort of is a wasted weight you are paying for.
Both A and B are fine.

again thank you, same as what I read from internet

any idea about the star / upper ratio ?

This link has a section that explains this.
Scroll down to the middle of the page.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/classic.php?page=minor_facets.htm

again.. thank you so much for your help

the link is helping me alot to learn not about star ratio also about lower girdle percentage and understand more about idealscope image

after the last link given by Kenny, I think more or less I've completed to gain enough knowledge as newbie to decide

in the end I need to decide between these 2 diamonds (after sleepless night filtering those diamonds in James Allen)

my conclusion :

• diamond A and B at least don't have feather (crack) inclusion and both clean to my eye under magnifier, with diamond B is cleaner
• diamond A in fact have better idealscope image, see my attachment for the are I mark with green circle, that will produce more scintillation (now I know why JamesAllen representative said diamond A is his preference and diamond A will sparkle better
• diamond A have better HCA score with GIA stats but not consistent with Sarin report, if I have time I may want to ask James Allen to run the Sarin report again or ask for detail Sarin report
• diamond B have more consistent HCA score using GIA stats and Sarin report stats
• diamond A, based on the idealscope image, I suspect have a bit light leakage, in the are below star on the 12o'clock
• diamond B have overall more consistent idealscope image (see the circle green mark in right image), despite of diamond A have better idealscope image (I can't explain in better term) see point 2,

note : for the attachment, diamond A is on the left, diamond B is on the right

my rant and comment :

• generally I am happy with these two and can't even decide until now, but have to decide between these two, I wish I have more time to search better diamond
  
  bigger lower gridle % (more sparkle and more intense) but not those extreme 85%
  bigger star ratio
  bigger table %
  less total depth %
  better hca score
  
  
• but at least now I have better general knowledge of diamond (1-2 months back I know nothing) that will be helpful if in future I want (and will) buy bigger diamond to appreciate my wife to be more
• this diamonds may good on the paper, but I think if you can go to the store and see it with your own eyes, it will be much better
• as per the online sellers that I visited
  
  JamesAllen has good number of stocks, and has enough information for newbie like me to choose diamond (Sarin report and idealscope image, need to request and require 3-5 days) and generally cheaper and free shipping internationally
  
  Bluenile has good number of stocks, but no Sarin report, no idealscope (big no for me)
  
  whiteflash, goodoldgold, briangavindiamond, they have less stock of diamonds, but I think their diamonds are "pre-selected" diamonds, have a good specs, pricewise is generally 10-20% higher compare to JamesAllen (same spec)
  
  I specially like goodoldgold, as they put all detailed information that you want for their diamonds, e.g. : ASET, idealscope, detail Sarin report (all ready to use ! you can select and decide faster)

last but not least, I want to say thank you for everyone who helped me (especially kenny) and truthaboutdiamond (Mike) who also helped me (through email)

I will update this thread later on with picture, once I receive the diamond

and I may also need help to select with ring setting selection

Attachments

2012-07-08_042846.png (284.42 KiB) Viewed 413 times

Isn't Pricescope wonderful!!!???

Written by kenny » July 7th, 2012, 3:20 pm:Isn't Pricescope wonderful!!!???

Hi Kenny,

pricescope is wonderful ! JamesAllen gave me pricescope discount price :p

but kind soul like you that is willing to share and educate newbie like me is make it even more wonderful

---

diamond story

I decided to buy diamond B and asked my friend in US to wire transfer the money 10 July 2012 and took less than one day for JA to confirm the payment.

my Diamond was delivered to my place (Singapore) on 13 July 2012 but I was not at home and FEDEX re-delivered on 14 July 2012

It was packed nicely in JA black box, inside there are dark brown wooden ring box (kind of bonus for me because they said no ring box included since I buy diamond only without setting), certificate, and one invoice letter (sadly no loupe though during my chat they said they will include loupe to check GIA inscription)

I personally don't like the box (because of the colour, looks oldies hehe, I prefer tiffany kind of box or black colour back !) but my friend said the box is very good ! (indeed it is good if not because of the colour :p)

inside the box, there is the diamond mounted to tension ring

when I looked at the diamond for the first time, I expected 0.77 will looks bigger :p (nothing to do with JA) but it is sparkling and looks beautiful (especially under sun light)

initially when I opened the box and looked at the diamond in my room, it looked more yellowish than I thought for I colour (but then I realized it was because of my room light)

since no magnifier loupe included, and I cannot wait too long to buy online (it will take days if not week to be delivered), I borrowed my friend loupe (he got it when he bought destinee diamond from local jeweller store)

but sadly the loupe not good enough to see the GIA inscription.

using the loop I can only try to inspect the diamond for inclusion, and it is very clean to my noob eyes.

and this is suprising part,

I never realize that the loupe actually used for seeing heart and arrow of diamond. and I could see my diamond has heart shapes cut when I see it from bottom part and it has quite consistent shape and size ! (too bad I dont know how to take close up photo of it)

now I am wondering why this diamond was not under H&A collection of JA ? is all excellent cut diamond actually have heart shapes ? it just matter of consistent shape or not for all 8 ?

when I see from top, I can see the arrow shapes cut (but this is expected as I ordered for idealscope image before buying)

now about the bad side of the diamond that I bought,
the diamond has a good sparkling effect when I see and twist it under room light and sun light,

but

there is one facet that has less sparkle from the rest (no matter how I move and twist it under the light)

so I presume if you want to have good consistent sparkle of diamond, you need to request detail SARIN report (not only average) and run the HCA tools to calculate HCA score for each facet ??

overall I am happy with purchase, especially I can't find diamond with same specs with lower / same price in Singapore (the cheapest that i can find in Singapore is from vivo diamond but still like 15-20% more expensive what I paid to JA)

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searching for setting story


I brought the diamond today to local small jeweller store Josi Gems (good customer service ! I think it is family business), I went to them to check diamond price before decided to buy online

the daughter of the boss (not sure daughter or employee but I think daughter) helped me to check the inscription and I can see the inscription clearly (quite relieving part for me) and apparently they use 25x magnifier loupe (with something in bottom part of the loupe that you can use to set the focus)

the daughter of the boss also checked for me and can't find any black inclusion, and indeed can see the cloud inclusion (as what is stated in GIA report) and she was also a bit suprised with the price that I paid for the diamond.

too bad the boss was a bit busy so I didnt talk too much with him, he checked the diamond for a while when he was free but didn't comment much

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end of story

I ordered the ring setting from Josi Gems, initially want to set it to classic tiffany setting with 4 prongs, but after browsed through 2 magazines (japan bridal magazines), I found other setting that I like and all this time was in my mind but can't find the model online (hopefully I made the right choice and my GF will love it )

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closing thought

when the daughter of boss showed me end result of other rings for other customers, I was in split second thinking I should not limit myself to G-H-I colour, I should go for F colour as when I compared side by side indeed you can see the different between I and F colour, but then I realized F will be out of budget with same carat or I need to go for lower carat.

and actually if you see it for the first time (or when no diamond to compare side by side) you will not be able to differentiate the colour grade

and what make me happy when I compare side by side my diamond and other diamonds (I was shown 4 or 5 diamonds that already set to ring), mine sparkle more (except when compare to one diamond, quite equal)

I realized common singaporean (not those very rich one) like to buy D-E-F colour they even sometimes go for VVS above clarity in the expense of size of carat

again.. thank you pricescope, thank you Kenny, thank you JamesAllen, thank you truthofdiamond.com

I will update the thread with pictures (I am photography enthusiast) once I receive diamond ring from Josi Gems or maybe after proposal ! busy preparing for proposal now