Buying an SI1 online

[Katya DXB]

Dear All,

I've been reading up and learning a lot from this forum and this is my first post seeking for advice I am looking for a 1.2ct H/SI1 round brilliant and the jeweller I am working with says he will need to order it from outside ("there are no nice SI1's in stock"). I live in Dubai and this is not an uncommon practice down here, but he wants me to leave a 10% deposit and choose based on certificates and videos; he might also have IS images available for some. The problem is that I don't think I will be able to tell from a video that a diamond is eye clean (which is my requirement). He says "sure you can" - but how? How do you tell from a video, which uses a magnified image, if it is eye clean or not? From what I've read on this forum, my understanding was that one would need to trust their jeweller to physically inspect the stone and reconfirm. Or can one tell from a video indeed? Confused...

Thanks so much in advance!
Best, Katya

 

[Snowdrop13]

I’m guessing that many of the experts on here would be able to tell, based on the type of inclusion and its position in the stone. Personally, I find it very difficult as the images are so magnified. This is why I like Whiteflash, as their website tells you if the stone is eye clean (at least for the in house stones). You can ask any online vendor to inspect stones for you, just make sure that their definition of eye clean matches yours!

 

[Katya DXB]

Thanks Snowdrop! These aren't really online vendors... Most jewellers here get the stones sourced directly from the manufacturers in India (without seeing those stones themselves first), and so I don't feel very comfortable taking their word on 'eye clean' for granted...

 

[BlingObsession]

Katya - I'm in Dubai too. Just get the people on this forum to find the perfect stone for you and have it shipped to you in Dubai. I do it all the time - you will get a much better cut stone for the price. You will need to pay 5% import duty and 5% VAT upon receipt of the stone. It's really easy. Then have the stone set - there are a couple of good trusted jewelers I can recommend - one does hand forged and is priced accordingly and the other does CAD.

 

[Katya DXB]

Thanks BlingObsession. I have considered buying online from abroad, but the price difference seems to be way too much. For a GIA Triple X, you would often get 25% back from Rap list, and if you try hard and look hard you may be able to find a real gem within the ACA range. Whereas vendors like WF charge 10-15% premium over Rap for similar specs. Combined with the shipping cost, its just too big of a difference for me. Although I would love to be able to afford one of BG signature diamonds one day

 

[BlingObsession]

Hi Katya

My experience in Dubai is that when comparing the same cut quality/colour/clarity, etc. that the diamonds from USA are cheaper even taking into account the taxes and shipping. It is important always to compare apples with apples of course because a slight variation on the 4 C's makes a significant difference to the price.

 

[rockysalamander]

I think you can get close to determining eyeclean from a video. But, clouds really need confirmation in person. Sometimes feathers can also be more apparent to the human eye. We actually occasionally find lovely SI2s that will be eyeclean to most. Like many things, visual acuity varies.

If you post your budget in USD (subtracting the necessary tax), we can post a few candidates for you. You mentioned H color, have you looked at GIA H and are comfortable with them? Have you seen a well-cut GIA I color? If you could live with an I, you might limit your search to AGS0 H (which may be an GIA I to color sensitive). That would give you an edge on finding strict-cut and good color.

#1 - https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...rat-i-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-3151873 {inhouse at JA; Something like this would be great but with that cloud I'd want to have it viewed in person. Everything else looks great. }

#2 - https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...rat-i-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-4297754 {not inhouse and has all the angles we love; VS1 and the lack of clouds make this a great choice}

#3 - https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...rat-h-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-4297769 {another good option that avoids worrying about clouds. Table a bit wider than #2 meaning I'm going to lean to #2)

 

[ringo865]

Some of the stones that American vendors have access to sell (not in-house or branded stones) are in the worldwide virtual inventory (perhaps even in India).

People here could give recommendations on particular stones that pass cut and other parameters for your jeweler to call in for you to see in person. Some stones in virtual inventory being offered by other vendors will already have idealscope or ASET images.

 

[rockysalamander]

These are measurements to help you stay in ideal cut territory with a GIA excellent cut stone.
table: 52-57.5
depth: 60-62.3 {consider 59.5)
crown angle: 34-35.0 (up to 35.5 crown angle can sometimes work with a 40.6 pav angle)
pavilion angle: 40.6-40.9 (sometimes 41.0 if the crown angle is close to 34)

Then, run those four numbers through the HCA tool and reject anything greater than 2.0 (1.0 not better than 1.9, this is used to simply reject stones). Anything left, that meets your clarity and color needs is worthy of requesting images IS/ASET. If you like 60/60 stones, they can be difficult to assess with the HCA tool.

If you use the AGS strategy I noted above, you would just look for AGS0 and you can use the AGSL Proportion chart on GIA ones. GIA rounds angles, so look at the boxes on all sides of "the" box to see the likely outcome if AGL looked at it.

HCA tool. https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca
AGSL Proportion Chart. https://agslab.com/docs/pbcg/AGSLProportionCharts.pdf

 

[dkata]

I have bought several things in Dubai, and I’m sure you can find an SI stone locally in Dubai, but maybe you have to look for an other jeweler. Unfortunately you can’t send me a private message here, and I don’t know if I’m allowed to post the name of my trusted jeweler.

 

[rockysalamander]

Sure you can post the name...we post jeweler names all the time.

 

[dkata]

Ok! Than his name is Rajul and he works for a shop called Diamond World, located in the Dubai Mall. He is never pushy, let’s you use the HCA on his stones, and usually they have a big inventory. Of course you have to go through this inventory yourself, so you have to do the legwork, but it was always worth for me. And don’t forget to negotiate the price, if you buy in Dubai, but I’m sure you knew it already!

 

[Katya DXB]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies Rockysalamander, thanks a lot for posting the guidelines and the AGSL reference chart! And for taking time to look for the stones of course. Unfortunately, they cost more than what I am willing to spend. The diamond is intended for a floating diamond pendant so yes, I would consider I colour and I would also be fine with up to medium fluorescence (if is does not affect the appearance of course). I have found this diamond and would be really curious to hear what you think:

https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=6272228622

The table is 58% so outside of the range but it still scores 1.8 on HCA. No IS images available though. The asking price is USD 6,600 - so quite a difference... As I am prepared to go down to I/SI1, I am hoping to stay within the USD 6,500 budget all in all.
Dkata, thanks for the jeweller reference! Big inventory is rare so that's a big plus. I use the same approach and totally agree about the legwork being worth it. I also have my own IS so feel fairly confident out there, especially geared with all the advice from this forum