0.98ct Aurias Princess Cut Price and Quality Help please?

[IMESH]

Hi, I'm a new poster here (from Melbourne Australia) and am currently considering purchasing an engagement ring. I've only just started to do some research on the 4 C's so as to be able to make sure I get best value for money.

One particular ring has grabbed my attention (I've only seen it advertised on the web), however I am greatly confused to what the ring is actualy worth (real value as opposed what the jewler wants).

I't a 0.98 Carat Princess Cut from the Aurias diamond mine in Canada (?).

I beleive that all diamonds from Aurias have the Hearts and Diamonds Cut (the best possibile?)

Anyhow, it's graded F Color and SI1 Clarity.

The diamond is set in an 18ct yellow gold handmade diamond ring set (not sure if this includes a wedding band as well?)

The price is a bit staggering at Price: AUD$12,950.00 (including GST tax)
Approximate Price: USD$8,593.22 (excluding GST).

It has an International Gemmological Institute certificate stating
all the particulars about the diamond.

Just looking around at loose diamond prices, it seems I can get this stone (sans ring) for about 1/2 the listed price.

Is there any reason you think the ring is this paricular price and what do people think about the diamond in general?

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I'm a novice so I would greatly appreciate any comments.

Thanks!

 

[valeria101]

How hard do you think it is for a seller to label his diamonds "best cut" and charge accordingly? I guess the bets way to find out is to question them for what does you guarantee for cut quality means. Then it is up to you to decide what you want from a "best cut" princess. Most buyers who have posted on Pricescope want light return (sparkle) and decent proportions (no exaggerated depth, for example). Stones can have great light return without carrying a brand, and this property can be measured directly to some extent: there is no magic formula to relate cut parameters into light return for princess cuts yet... Some sellers do run such tests on their princess cuts, so that you end up knowing for sure that your particular stone has great light return: DBOF (Diamond Brokers of Florida) and GoodOldGold come to mind, but there should be others. You may also be able to shop for princess cuts with great light return in your "back yard" at PreciousMetals.

About those "arrows and diamonds" - it sounds like an attempt to extent the more well known "harts and arrows" denomination for top of the line round cuts to princess cuts. I would not bet that this pattern indicates the same optical properties in princess cuts as the harts and arrows does in rounds. Besides, slight variations in the H&A pattern do compromise the optics of rounds, and this is not exactly straight-forward to judge. Such info is not available for princess cuts: it is up to the seller to convince you that a particular stone is a top one, but you may have limited possibility to check. All in all, since there is a serious array of premium cut princesses out there, I would surely go for the stone (seller) that presents the best guarantee of quality and competitive price.

If you want a brand-name princess, there are others too. One I now of is PrincessPlus: they do guarantee light return (and show test results for each stone) and have a distinctive cut (100 or so facets) too. That is, if you really want to pay twice