$5000 to spend...how do these compare?

[AudiOn19s]

My budget is no more than $5000. The stone will be set in Platinum hence I''m leaning towards haveing color as important as anything else. What are you opinions on the stones below? I''m a little concerned that I have to go to SI1 in order to get all of the other perameters that I''m looking for...are there good arguments for this being terribly wrong. I''m really toying with the idea of trying to find an H color VS2 stone instead of a G color SI1...but concerned with the color on platinum. PLEASE HELP is what I''m saying

stone 1:
Carat 1.25
Color F
Clarity SI1
Price $ 4835.66
Price per Carat $ 3868.53
Measurements 6.68 x 6.64 x 4.18 mm
Depth Percentage 60 %
Table Percentage 63 %
Crown Angle
Pavilion Percentage %
Pavilion Angle
Girdle TN-M
Culet N
Polish VERY GOOD
Symmetry VERY GOOD
Fluorescence NONE


stone2:
Round
1.22
F
SI1
4,902.79
4,018.00
6.93*7.00*4.17
59.9
57
M-STK
N
X
VG
MB

 

[Arlington]

----------------
On 10/6/2003 12:56:26 PM AudiOn19s wrote:

I'm really toying with the idea of trying to find an H color VS2 stone instead of a G color SI1...but concerned with the color on platinum. ----------------

I recently purchased an I color stone for my girlfriend's ring. I was very concerned about the color, but was reassured by the vendor and the appriaser that it would look fine. I am happy to report that they are entirely correct...to me the stone looks very white. I believe you would be just fine buying an H.

To see pics of the I-SI1 diamond that I purchased and had set in platinum, check out these threads:

Finally, the new ring is here. Thanks to Whiteflash and AGA!

and

My diamond journey -- plus customer review of Whiteflash and AGA (LONG)

 

[aljdewey]

A few things:




1) You can go down to H (or even possibly I) and still have the diamond appear white in a platinum setting if it's well-cut.




2) You should not be hesitate to go to SI-1 clarity as long as it's eye-clean to the unaided eye. This is where your best values are.




3) It's tough to tell without crown/pavilion angles, but I'd say that #1 may be carrying extra weight in the pavilion. The typical dimensions on a 1.25 stone are approximately 7mm. Stone #1 will appear smaller visually than it actually is. I'd worry about a steep/deep combo here if I were you.




Stone #2 appears to be more in line, but again, that's based on the very scant info you've provided. Stone #2 does have med blue fluor, and that typically helps stones in the H/I range. In the F range, it's a preference thing. Just make sure it's not oily/cloudy looking.




Can you get more info on crown/pav angles? Based on what you have, I'd pass on Stone #1.

 

[Arlington]

To add on to my original post -- I should have said "I believe you will be just fine with an H if it is well-cut." The cut is very important!

 

[AudiOn19s]

these were simply the values given from my search I'm sure that I could contact the vendor for further information. For those of you out there that know what you're doing if you could maybe point me in the direction of a couple of nice stones in the 1.2 carat range it would be greatly appreciated. I'm a complete rookie when it comes to this...first diamond I've ever purchased and even though I've gone through the entire tutorial on this site I still feel as though I'm nowhere near ready to make any of these decisions without the expert help that this board seems to be able to provide.

thanks again.
Andy

 

[aljdewey]

Hi, Andy:




You won't be able to get a super-duper-louper, H&A stone in this color/carat range......you'd have to drop down to about 1.0 ct, G/H, SI-1 range if that level of cut is important to you.




However, you can get an ideal cut in your range, and these should be beautiful stones, too. Here are a few:




1.20, I, SI-1, GIA, ideal cut for $4766


http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-485807.htm




1.14, H, SI-1, GIA, ideal cut for $4732


http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-419733.htm




1.13 ct, H, SI-1, GIA, signature series for $4562


http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail_sb.cfm?did=6861086




1.283 ct, I, SI-1, AGS, signature series for $5630


http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail_sb.cfm?did=6838730




Call a few of these....see if you can get crown/pav angles on these. Let us know what you find.

 

[Mara]

Nice choices Al....




Also check out www.goodoldgold.com because Jonathan has alot of brokered H&A stones that should be extremely lovely but are cheaper because they are brokered and unbranded. Good for budgets.




I highly recommend a G in platinum. I have one and its really white. I would even go H and maybe I if it was well cut so it appeared whiter. Once set the color is alot harder to see than you may think--don't look at mall-cut I's because it will not be accurate when compared against something like an H&A stone.




I'm a size girl so I agree with the biggest stone possible for a budget while still keeping it white and SI1 eye clean clarity. Confirm with the vendor that it's eye clean and get closeups of the inclusions. Then you should feel fine!