| Author | Topic: good find or keep looking? |
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joeblough rough rock Posts: 4 |
this diamond looks like it might be a little high in total depth and a little shallow in crown angle but looks like it may be a lot of diamond for the money if the cut is still in an acceptable range. scored "1.4 within BIC range" and Very good to Excellent except "Spread" which was just "Good" on the Holloway Cut Advisor 1.09ct I VS2 Has laser inscription of EGL cert and Thanks in advance for all opinions and input! |
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leonid Moderator Posts: 761 |
Wow! Price almost $1k less than in the Internet for the similar diamonds! What about girdle? If you seen it, compared to others and like it, you might found a good one. "I Love You" sounds a bit cheesy for me but it's a matter of taste. You can polish it out if you don't like it. Make sure to inspect the stone with independent expert. |
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joeblough rough rock Posts: 4 |
Thanks for such a quick reply! I don't have a girdle measurement but I believe the girdle was MED remembering from the cert. but may have been MED-THICK. On my list of things to look for was a MED to MED-THIN girdle so I probably would have remembered if it was anything that looked out of spec. This is through a bricks&mortar dealer so I've looked at the stone and it seemed to an ameteur such as myself to be a very clean VS2. I don't know if it's because dealers were showing me a lot of "teaser" or "sucker" diamonds during my shopping experiences thus far but from what I've seen there was an extremely broad range of inclusion charactaristics between diamonds all rated VS2. Visual clarity would look fine on all of them but what a difference under a loupe!!! Some degree of decent loupe clarity is important to me and I would find that without personal inspection of VS2's under the loupe, a LOT of suprises could be in store for a buyer! I put a small deposit on the diamond I indicated above, the clarity looks better under the loupe than any other VS2's I looked at and almsost as good as some VS1's I found at another store a much higher price/ct. I've done some searches for 1-1.1 G-I VS1-VS2 stones on line and I've found very few that come close in price to my deal. But the ones I do find when I do a www.diamondscope.com search are nowhere to be found when I click over to the individual dealers! Hmmm. Also since I do care about how the inclusions look under a loupe, am I right to assume that any VS2's I find on the net with this low of a price are going to be some of the more "loupe ugly" and very probably less well cut VS2's? The dealer has a Sarin and said while the cert. gives a 15.8% crown ht. he measured a 14.9%. I ran the Holloway cut advisor using each different parameter: c< 32.4' p< 41' then c% 15.8 p% 43 and his measured c% 14.9 p% 43 and they all come out looking very strong!: 1.4 Ex,Ex,Vg,Gd Looks like the last step is to find an independent gem appraiser and get an independent professional opinion. Since this gem has the laser inscription and I'm wondering if it may have been previously in a setting, is there some kind of special gem lab procedure I should look for that can check for any kind of hidden "stress" problems there may be with this stone? BTW, since it's for an engagement ring, I guess a little microscopic "I love you" cheese on the girdle can stay! |
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leonid Moderator Posts: 761 |
Hey Joe, Thank you for the thorough post! The reason why you've seen some VS better than another might be because not very strict grading. Usually GIA or AGS are the most consistent labs and you shouldn't see much difference between say VS2 stones graded by GIA. That is why diamonds with GIA or AGS reports usually cost more. Sarin machines have certain measurement errors so there is no surprise you've got a bit different result especially with depth %. Is there a big difference in crown and pavilion angles? I hope you found a nice stone and if it is really as described the price pretty good. |
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lawmax cut rock Posts: 337 |
With that inscription, it would seem that there is a good chance the diamond is used. It's good that you are getting a good price on it. Definitely have it sent or take it to an independent appraiser to see if it shows any wear and to see what accurate color and clarity grading should be on it. If the color and clarity grade are less than the way it is being presented, it may not be such a great deal. |
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joeblough rough rock Posts: 4 |
Hi, just wanted to follow up with how my diamond story ended.... After using this great web site, the cut advisor, and all your great help, I finally made my purchase! As it turned out, I passed on the diamond I described above which I was previously considering and I kept looking instead..... That diamond represented my best deal from countless hrs of internet searching and beating up every diamond dealer in town. The effort I put into educating myself definately paid off though because I'm sure that without it, I would have settled for any one of a half dozen or more other diamonds I had looked at which were all nice and not too bad a deal for my budget but were smaller (3/4+ct range) or none were that ONE "incredible zero compromise absolute beauty that I can't take my eyes off of and would never wish I had anything else and just had to have this one" diamond (which also describes the girl I'm giving it to!!! I went to a local jewelry supply store, bought myself a 10x loupe for about $25 and made the pilgrimige from San Diego to the jewelry plaza in downtown L.A. After a bit of looking around, my dad introduced me to a guy there whom he'd been buying diamond jewelry from for about 16yrs. After showing me 3 more round brilliants which were higher quality cut than most of the previous ones I'd looked at that day but also at a slightly higher price...but not quite yet THE ONE...he showed me something a little The clarity under the loupe was outstanding, the quality of symmetry and polish My mom, who was also along to look at diamond bracelets for herself looked over and I told the dealer to ignore her and give me his best price By going to a princess cut, I was able to get a much higher cut and colour All I need now is to hear my girl say "YES!" when I give this to her as a total suprise! |
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leonid Moderator Posts: 761 |
Wow! Joeblough, what a story! Thanks so much for posting! Congrads with your rock and good luck with proposal! |