Opinions on this diamond?

[nkt809]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to diamonds (this would be my first purchase!), and would really love any help I could get trying to evaluate this oval diamond (1.5ct, F, IF).

I've attached the magnified images, ASET, and ideal scope.
Here's a link to the video: https://dna.stonehdfile.com/ViewHD.html?d=918019490

The ASET image looks pretty good to me, but I'd love feedback from people who are more qualified. Any thoughts would be super appreciated— thanks!

 

[Stive85]

People on here are far better when it comes to fancy cuts compared to myself.

However, I must ask... Why are you considering such a high clarity? Save some money, or go up in size is what I would suggest.

 

[nkt809]

People on here are far better when it comes to fancy cuts compared to myself.

However, I must ask... Why are you considering such a high clarity? Save some money, or go up in size is what I would suggest.

Thanks for the response! I would have been OK with anything VS1+ in the 1.2-1.5ct range (color G-D), but I actually had a hard time finding many options within in that range while also falling under the ideal dimensions I'd read about (excellent polish and symmetry; table: 53-63, depth 58-62) that looked reasonably sparkly on their videos...

This was one of the few options that met my on-paper criteria, but I know that 'on-paper' isn't enough, especially for fancy cuts!

 

[TreeScientist]

Looks good, but I agree that IF is overkill. Also, the ASET looks a little dead, and I prefer D/E colors for pears and ovals, as they tend to show a lot of color.

This one looks like a good option. Very lively performance in the video, and very minimal bowtie. And a D color! There's a feather under the table that is visible at 20X, but when zooming out to 5-7X it disappears, so I think this diamond would be eye clean:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.70-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-5612109

This one also looks promising. I love smaller tables and higher crowns in ovals, as it makes them perform more like an MRB.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.71-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-3679810

 

[TreeScientist]

Finally, here's an E-color that is a bit more of a squat, fat oval. These tend to have really good performance, and again, very minimal bowtie in the video:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.50-carat-e-color-vs2-clarity-sku-4407299

I would ask James Allen for ASETs of all of these, as it's really hard to determine light performance for ovals from a video alone.

 

[lovedogs]

Imho the original stone looks a little "dead". I prefer the ones that @TreeScientist recommended. Videos make them look lively, and my guess is that the IS/ASET of those would be better than the original.

 

[nkt809]

Thanks so much for the input @lovedogs , and thanks @TreeScientist for the awesome recommendations! Just so that I can understand better, what aspects of the ASET make it look dead? Is it the general darkness of the image or the amount of white space on it? To me, when comparing with most of the other ASETs I've seen for ovals, it seems to have less white space then I'm typically encountering (but I might be missing something/misreading). To give you some context, I came across the following guide on beyond4cs.com...

And here's an ASET image on a diamond that came recommended from one of the gemologists on JA (which is brighter, but seems to me to show even more leakage).

Thanks so much for any feedback or comments!
Nour

 

[TreeScientist]

Yeah, that ASET doesn't look good either. I would ask for ASETs for the 3 I suggested earlier. For pears and Ovals, you want to see a lot of red and green in the image, with a defined facet pattern under the table (unless you like the "crushed ice" look). You'll see some leakage (white) in pretty much every pear/oval other than the Opulence Oval by August Vintage, but if it is well cut it should be minimal (like less than 20% of the stone).

Post the ASETs here when you receive them and we can tell you how they look.

 

[TreeScientist]

Also, just as an FYI if you're considering the diamonds I posted, I found the 1.7 D/VS2 for $15,200 on Yadav, about $3000 cheaper than it is listed for on JamesAllen. Yadav will also provide ASET images, so I would check with them instead.

Here it is on JA for $18,170
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.70-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-5612109

And on Yadav for $15,222
https://www.yadavjewelry.com/diamonds/3460433

 

[TreeScientist]

The 1.71 is also about $1K cheaper on Yadav at $13,408
https://www.yadavjewelry.com/diamonds/3758262

 

[nkt809]

Oh wow, awesome! Thanks so much— really appreciate it!