Looking to do an upgrade on my Diamond

[lovingthesparkle]

Hello All,

I am looking to upgrade my diamond which is a 1.06 carat princess cut I have an IGI certificate for this and the specs are below

SI2
G Color
Good Polish
Good Symmetry
Depth 80.4%
Table 68%
the measurements are 6.00x5.31x427 mm

So I am going to the jeweler who I bought this diamond from to give him back this diamond because he will give me at the very least what I paid for this diamond back towards the new one.

So we discussed what I would like and I told him I do NOT want to go smaller but I am fine with staying the same size as what I have now, but I do want a diamond with excellent cut because as I have learned here that the cut really is the most important thing. So he is now looking for a diamond in the 1.06 to 1.10 carat range and he is looking for a VS2 or SI1 and D-G color with an excellent cut. I also told him it has to come with a GIA certificate.

He has not found anything for me yet but when he does I would like to know what I am talking about when I talk to him about this. So my question to you guys is. What are are the specs I should be looking for as far as the cut is concerned?

Also I think I know the answer to this question but it doesn't hurt to ask. Do you think it is possible to find what I am looking for on a budget of 3500.00 without a trade in?


Thank You in advance and I am looking forward to your replies on this.

P.S.
I love my current diamond it is bright and beautiful but it doesn't always sparkle in all lighting and that is what I want so I just need to know what I need to get what I am looking for.

 

[Gypsy]

You either need a different jeweler. Or you need to buy an ASET scope and stick to AGS0 stones.

Numbers tell you nothing about a princess.
GIA does not grade their princesses for performance. Only AGS does.

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king. With fancies though (anything other than a round brilliant), that is a little complicated. But no other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut.

There really is no other way to determine if you have a good princess is to see images of the stones before your jeweler calls them in, and then you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.

That's what an ASET image does. http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance Please read.
And ASET shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return That is why you won't see us recommending vendors like Blue Nile, as they do not provide images or ASET images for their diamonds. James Allen and Good Old Gold do this. So do Brian Gavin and Whiteflash and High Performance Diamonds.

You can buy an ASET scope if you want to shop in person for GIA stones. And learn to use it. It will cost about a 100 bucks.

Or you can stick to AGS0 stones and skip that.

 

[Gypsy]

Most likely you will need a different jeweler. You jeweler who sold you an IGI stone with 80 percent depth likely wouldn't know a good princess if it bit him on the nose.

he numbers are meaningless. That lab report tells you NOTHING about how the diamond will perform. So you need a jeweler who knows what to look for and how to screen stones for you BEFORE you get into the store. So he only calls in good stones.


Here is what I mean. Compare these two:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.00-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-295886
G color
VS2
Depth 76.3
Table 69
Ratio: 1.01
Excellent polish
Good Symmetry
Girdle Medium

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.00-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-283672
G color
VS2 clarity
Depth 76.2
Table 69.9
Ratio: 1.02
Very good polish
Very good symmetry
Girdle Thin to Slightly thick

Numbers are VERY close right? And the first one has a better girdle. And while the symmetry on the first one is only good, that's not a disqualifier with princeses.

Now look at the pictures. The first one is a VERY dark stone, and frankly a dog as far as princesses go. Second one is an AGS0 with ideal light return and is very bright, with just enough patterning to provide contrast.

In summary. YOU NEED AN ASET AND IMAGES. And probably a different jeweler.

 

[Gypsy]

So he is now looking for a diamond in the 1.06 to 1.10 carat range and he is looking for a VS2 or SI1 and D-G color with an excellent cut. I also told him it has to come with a GIA certificate.

He has not found anything for me yet but when he does I would like to know what I am talking about when I talk to him about this. So my question to you guys is. What are are the specs I should be looking for as far as the cut is concerned?

Also I think I know the answer to this question but it doesn't hurt to ask. Do you think it is possible to find what I am looking for on a budget of 3500.00 without a trade in?

No. Your budget is not reasonable for what you want.

 

[Gypsy]

If it makes you feel better though, there's likely no chance in hell your stone is a true G. So you would probably be better off getting an AGS0 that is an I or even a J.

But your budget is still low. You are going to need to be in the 4500-5500 range.

And I suggest you have him buy back that IGI stone for cash. And then leave and shop elsewhere.

 

[Gypsy]

Close to your budget and has a good chance of having a nice ASET: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/0.91-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-sku-243193 .91 carats but has good spread and is $3,730.

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-3097220.htm 92 points, good spread, great ASET $4000

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-3035399.htm 92 points good spread great ASET and $3,400

If you want a full carat: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-3081028.htm $4,350 great spread, ASET and very nice stone.

 

[lovingthesparkle]

Thank You so much for all the information!!! You have made me rethink all I was looking for. I thought what I was looking for would be found in the numbers but I was obviously incorrect about that.

I will call the jeweler and let him know that I want an AGS0 diamond instead of a GIA diamond and see what he says and if he is unable to get that for me then I am going to see about selling my diamond so I can get what I want from online. I don't know how easy that will be because I would like to at least get back what I have paid for it. To his defense about my current diamond I went to him knowing a little bit about diamonds and only with a certain amount of money and he basically gave me what I asked for. I hope his knowledge of diamonds are higher than what you are thinking because right now I am putting my trust in him to get me what I am looking for.

Also would you be able to tell me where I should go to buy an aset scope because I am unable to find where I can buy one. Is it possible to buy in a store or is it only able to be bought online?


Thank You again!

 

[Gypsy]

http://www.ideal-scope.com/cart_order.asp This is where you buy them. You want the ASET scope. This one: http://www.ideal-scope.com/cart_zoom_item.asp?Id=23&ShowAdd=Y

 

[lovingthesparkle]

Thank You! I ordered it and hopefully it will be here by Wednesday!

Thank You soooo much again!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You never get what you paid back when you sell a diamond. They only credit you with the full amount when they are going to overcharge you on the second stone. I agree, of course, with everything Gypsy said. But there are only a tiny amount of AGS graded princess stones, and it is quite possible he cannot access any from his diamond supplier. You are better off selling at a loss and starting over. If you start over somewhere like WhiteFlash, you have a real upgrade policy and you will get full value for that diamond towards the next one and they will be reasonably priced for top quality stones and have reliable grading reports.

 

[lovingthesparkle]

Thank You for your reply Diamondseeker.. I went to a jeweler this weekend to see what they would give me for my diamond and when he asked me what I wanted to buy I told him i would probably buy from online and he told me that I am crazy. I started to tell him about the AGS certificate and the cut grades that AGS gives and he had no clue what I was talking about. I actually started to argue with him and i had to just walk out because he told me all my research I have done was for nothing that AGS is the same as EGL ETC and GIA is the best and anything I else I get will be crap. I am still up in the air with what I am going to do. I ordered the aset scope which came today I just have to pick it up at the post office and when the jeweler I originally went to contacts me i will tell him what I want and see what he has to say. I was super excited about this upgrade but not so much anymore I am almost ready to just let it go and not do anything. LOL. It is frustrating when you have a budget and people want to work against you.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yes, it really is frustrating. Once I discovered PS vendors several years ago, I have never again looked at diamonds locally because it was such a futile effort when I did it when I first found PS. One option that many people do is to keep the original diamond if the offers to buy it aren't worth it and just set it in a pendant. Then you can save up and buy the upgrade without depending on the original stone. Others are happy to just get a couple thousand toward the new stone. I really think you don't have any advantage of upgrading with the original jeweler if they overcharged for the first stone and for the new one as well. But see what they offer and then you can decide!

What I will say if you talk to more jewelers is to never mention you plan to buy another diamond. Just tell them you need to sell the old diamond that you no longer wear. And definitely never mention buying online. It will save you a lot of debating, and frankly, it is none of their business!

 

[smadden9]

Oops sorry, wrong thread!