Need Advice : G Strong Blue Fluor VS I Faint Fluor

[starstar]

Hi all,

I need some advice. I've narrowed my choices to two. Which would you all take?

1st one:
0.70
G Color
GIA 3 x Excellent
3.6 on HCA
VVS1
Strong blue Fluor

or

2nd one:
0.90
I Color
GIA VG/EX/VG
0.9 on HCA
VVS2
Faint Fluor

I'm worried about the strong blue fluor in G color. Becasue I learned from reading previous posts that strong blue would fit in lower colors (I, J, K). Saw the diamonds and does not appear hazy. The price differnce between the two is around $500.

Appreciate your advises! Thanks!

 

[sakari_8]

I think I will go for the second option because HCA score is important for me, have you seen the stone in person?

 

[dianabarbara]

Hi star star!

the preference for fluorescence is something very personal. Some PSers really love fluo, some don't, and some seek it for a tad more whiteness in the stones. keep in mind that fluorescence (esp when weak) is not visible in most lighting conditions.

If the second stone were ex ex ex, I would go with the .90 carats, given that it would face up larger and that I like less than ice-white colors. However, keep in mind that the HCA tool works based on numbers only and does not measure effective light performance.

It would be helpful to know what your priorities are, and how they rank. Does dimension, color, or clarity come first?
Do you want to go only with local jewelers or would you be open to e-shops? if that's the case, some members on here maybe could help you finding a stone (provide an indication of your budget!)

 

[04diamond<3]

I'm worried about the strong blue fluor in G color. Becasue I learned from reading previous posts that strong blue would fit in lower colors (I, J, K). Saw the diamonds and does not appear hazy. The price differnce between the two is around $500.

Appreciate your advises! Thanks!

I would think in this case it'd be a no brainer! As long as it doesn't look hazy, go for the I! It's bigger, from the numbers performs better and not much more in price difference! On top of seeing a picture, I'd want to see an idealscope to be sure.

 

[starstar]

To Sakari - Yep. I have seen the stones and comparing, it seems they are quite the same appearance. Though the Jeweller said that the G color paired with a strong blue will make if more like an F. Is this possible? Well for me I kind of did not notice it maybe because I'm really not an expert on this and just started learning regarding this stuff.

To dianabarbara -
It seems you would prefer the G color. I think my priority in order would be cut, carat, color, then clarity. I prioritize Cut mainly because I have learned that this will determine the brightness , the light return, fire, etc. of a diamond. How could you determine this? Is the GIA grade cut of Excellent or Very good enough to determine this? Can a lower clarity affect the brightness, light return etc.?

Regarding HCA, I think your right coz I have read in one article that it shouldn't be a tool for a buyer to choose a diamond base on HCA. So How would you determine the light performance of a diamond if it is excellent?

Thanks again for your insights and hoping you could help me.

 

[stargurl78]

I would think in this case it'd be a no brainer! As long as it doesn't look hazy, go for the I! It's bigger, from the numbers performs better and not much more in price difference! On top of seeing a picture, I'd want to see an idealscope to be sure.

Ditto this!

 

[ecf8503]

As has been said, fluor is a personal preference - I have a D w/ SBF and I love it.

Question though... why so high in clarity? VVS is overkill.... You can get a bigger stone if you drop clarity a bit (You can get eye cleans through most VS2 and some / most SI1)

 

[Fly Girl]

I'd go for the 0.9 I because it is larger than the 0.7 G and is still going to appear quite white.

 

[sakari_8]

To Sakari - Yep. I have seen the stones and comparing, it seems they are quite the same appearance. Though the Jeweller said that the G color paired with a strong blue will make if more like an F. Is this possible? Well for me I kind of did not notice it maybe because I'm really not an expert on this and just started learning regarding this stuff.

To dianabarbara -
It seems you would prefer the G color. I think my priority in order would be cut, carat, color, then clarity. I prioritize Cut mainly because I have learned that this will determine the brightness , the light return, fire, etc. of a diamond. How could you determine this? Is the GIA grade cut of Excellent or Very good enough to determine this? Can a lower clarity affect the brightness, light return etc.?

Regarding HCA, I think your right coz I have read in one article that it shouldn't be a tool for a buyer to choose a diamond base on HCA. So How would you determine the light performance of a diamond if it is excellent?

Thanks again for your insights and hoping you could help me.

Hi Starstar

In my opinion Strong blue fluo would not help the G color to look like F color, I think Jeweler is not giving you the right
information, if the stone is J or K color than Fluo helps the stone look little whiter but not in G color stone.
Since you have already seen the stone both of them and both looks similar to you, I would suggest to go with the stone with
higher value, if you want to upgrade the stone in the future higher value stone would help you.

 

[ecf8503]

In my opinion Strong blue fluo would not help the G color to look like F color, I think Jeweler is not giving you the right
information, if the stone is J or K color than Fluo helps the stone look little whiter but not in G color stone.
Since you have already seen the stone both of them and both looks similar to you, I would suggest to go with the stone with
higher value, if you want to upgrade the stone in the future higher value stone would help you.

Not necessarily true - strong fluor will turn almost any color stone "bluer" in UV light, it is just more noticeable in lower grade stones. I have a D w/ SBF and it definitely takes on a blue-white appearance in direct sunlight. (This "blue-white" appearance in high color stones was once highly sought after)

Going with the "higher value" stone isn't always helpful unless you are working with a vendor that will give you a good return on your money if you upgrade with them (for instance, Good Old Gold has a Lifetime Guarantee on many stones that insures 100% return on your money if you change stones in the future. I've done it, and they credit you 100% of the money you spent on the original stone). That said, diamonds depreciate immediately after purchase - like a car. If you sell it on the private market or to a vendor you didn't purchase it from you will get significantly less for it that what you paid.

I'd not worry too much about the fluor and more about overspending on clarity grades you don't need (IF, VVS, and many VS are overkill IMO. There are plenty of eye clean VS2 / SI stones, and going that route can save you $ / allow you to purchase a bigger or higher color stone (than an I in this case).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Some people are apparently overlooking the fact that the I color stone is only very good cut. That totally rules it out for me. Excellent cut is a broad range and some stones are better than others. But very good cut always has something objectionable about it. We'd have to see the GIA report to tell you exactly why. But the other stone is fine. You don't need to fear SBF. I have it in a 1.5 ct stone and it is invisible unless I shine a UV light on it, which is very cool, incidentally!

But there are a lot of diamonds out there and H color is worth considering and also VS1 and VS2 instead of VVS. I'd keep looking.

 

[04diamond<3]

Some people are apparently overlooking the fact that the I color stone is only very good cut. .

This hardly holds any water anymore!!! How many stones do we need to find that are VG cut compared to an EX cut that perform better and have better HCA scores?

OP, could you provide more details on the .90 stone? Depth, table, crown and pavillion angles? Then we could tell you if it's crap or not. I really really do NOT care if it says VG for cut because I've seen so many that are better than "EX" cut. Happens all the time.

 

[TC1987]

Without images or the angles and proportions information from the reports, it's impossible to say which one would be better. G will be plenty white in that size, with or without the fluor. I color will have a slight tint from the side, w/wo fluor, but not everyone will even notice it, probably fewer would be bothered by it, and it should still face up as white as at least that G would. I have an antique diamond I with SB fluor and it's very white face-up. I actually never noticed any tint in it for about 10 years, not until I started hanging around PS. hehe

There are GIA excellents that got a top grade but have no real "personality." (I owned one and I traded it back. Was bland compared to the one that I traded it in on.) There are VG cuts that are absolutely stunning, but they may not perform ideally in all lighting situations. All that matters is that you / she likes that diamond and you are not overpaying for it.

eta: I believe the jeweler's claim about the SB G can look like F. Especially in that <1ct size. )Actually, if you put F and G side by side, there's not that much difference to start with, in that size range, would be my bet.) As diamonds get larger, though, it's lots easier to discern tint from the face-up position.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Some people are apparently overlooking the fact that the I color stone is only very good cut. .

This hardly holds any water anymore!!! How many stones do we need to find that are VG cut compared to an EX cut that perform better and have better HCA scores?

OP, could you provide more details on the .90 stone? Depth, table, crown and pavillion angles? Then we could tell you if it's crap or not. I really really do NOT care if it says VG for cut because I've seen so many that are better than "EX" cut. Happens all the time.

Grading is valuable for a reason. GIA Excellent is a very broad category and I certainly would not accept all GIA Excellent stones even with a good HCA score. We need the idealscope image on that one, too. You cannot accept a very good when it has a very thin girdle or low crown that could chip, etc., and there generally is something objectionable. If she can get the report and idealscope image, we can discuss it more. But Excellent cut is the first criterion, and then we weed out the better stones from that category. People spending thousands of dollars should not accept less than excellent cut. But I certainly did not say a very good stone is "crap". If those were the only two diamonds for sale in the world, I'd take the .7 G because it is at least technically better cut (I'd need the idealscope image to know). This forum was founded to educate people about the value of cut quality (and sell high quality diamonds), and I will not compromise on that.

 

[TitanCi]

DEF + Strong blue = WIN! My mom loves those stones and I have a real appreciation for fluoro in stones.

However, I wouldn't think G+fluoro would make it look like E or F though, those are "ice white", and with SBF I would think it's gonna be bluish... I've only seen DEFs with med/strong BF and those are sure a treat to see, very different.

 

[04diamond<3]

Some people are apparently overlooking the fact that the I color stone is only very good cut. .

This hardly holds any water anymore!!! How many stones do we need to find that are VG cut compared to an EX cut that perform better and have better HCA scores?

OP, could you provide more details on the .90 stone? Depth, table, crown and pavillion angles? Then we could tell you if it's crap or not. I really really do NOT care if it says VG for cut because I've seen so many that are better than "EX" cut. Happens all the time.

Grading is valuable for a reason. GIA Excellent is a very broad category and I certainly would not accept all GIA Excellent stones even with a good HCA score. We need the idealscope image on that one, too. You cannot accept a very good when it has a very thin girdle or low crown that could chip, etc., and there generally is something objectionable. If she can get the report and idealscope image, we can discuss it more. But Excellent cut is the first criterion, and then we weed out the better stones from that category. People spending thousands of dollars should not accept less than excellent cut. But I certainly did not say a very good stone is "crap". If those were the only two diamonds for sale in the world, I'd take the .7 G because it is at least technically better cut (I'd need the idealscope image to know). This forum was founded to educate people about the value of cut quality (and sell high quality diamonds), and I will not compromise on that.

again, this is your opinion. I don't believe people should have to pay more just for an "EX" for cut on a certification. That is not what matters. I have shown plenty of people on here that there are VG stones that out perform EX stones. All you have to do is compare these two cuts on JA plug in the numbers and see. But it's up to the OP as someone else said. Just because you would rather pay more for a tiny stone that's "EX" cut, doesn't mean I would or the OP would. And just because I would prefer a bigger stone with VG cut compared to an EX cut that could possibly out perform the "EX" cut, doesn't mean the OP would.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Some people are apparently overlooking the fact that the I color stone is only very good cut. .

This hardly holds any water anymore!!! How many stones do we need to find that are VG cut compared to an EX cut that perform better and have better HCA scores?

OP, could you provide more details on the .90 stone? Depth, table, crown and pavillion angles? Then we could tell you if it's crap or not. I really really do NOT care if it says VG for cut because I've seen so many that are better than "EX" cut. Happens all the time.

Grading is valuable for a reason. GIA Excellent is a very broad category and I certainly would not accept all GIA Excellent stones even with a good HCA score. We need the idealscope image on that one, too. You cannot accept a very good when it has a very thin girdle or low crown that could chip, etc., and there generally is something objectionable. If she can get the report and idealscope image, we can discuss it more. But Excellent cut is the first criterion, and then we weed out the better stones from that category. People spending thousands of dollars should not accept less than excellent cut. But I certainly did not say a very good stone is "crap". If those were the only two diamonds for sale in the world, I'd take the .7 G because it is at least technically better cut (I'd need the idealscope image to know). This forum was founded to educate people about the value of cut quality (and sell high quality diamonds), and I will not compromise on that.

again, this is your opinion. I don't believe people should have to pay more just for an "EX" for cut on a certification. That is not what matters. I have shown plenty of people on here that there are VG stones that out perform EX stones. All you have to do is compare these two cuts on JA plug in the numbers and see. But it's up to the OP as someone else said. Just because you would rather pay more for a tiny stone that's "EX" cut, doesn't mean I would or the OP would. And just because I would prefer a bigger stone with VG cut compared to an EX cut that could possibly out perform the "EX" cut, doesn't mean the OP would.

It is my opinion as well as the most reputable grading lab in the world that some stones have a better cut than others. I'll stand by that.

 

[starstar]

Thank you for all your advises.

I only got info on the I color. Measurements at 6.12 x 6.19 x 3.84



Please tell me what you think guys.

For the ideal scope, i'll try to request for it.

Thanks again and appreciate your feedback.

 

[JulieN]

It should look nice, but thick girdle is there to hit the .9 ct mark so it faces up a wee bit short, sometimes the symmetry is a little off in this type of "cheater" stone, and you are paying extra for VVS. To be fair, this makes it sound worse than it probably is.

I would take the bigger I with better HCA over smaller G with less good HCA.

 

[starstar]

Just to up this thread. Need more advises and inputs from experts. Thanks!

 

[Niel]

if picking between these two i would definitely pick the .9 ct. haziness in a faint flour isnt going to be a problem. I would suggest looking around online too, sense i dont know what the price is for either of these, and dont know if its a good deal or not. Assuming it is, id go with the .9

 

[diamonds-are-friends]

you would need the info on the G colored diamond too before any further advice can be given.