Choosing between these 4 diamonds!

Bradical · Mar 8, 2019

Hello everyone!

Looking to purchase an oval diamond sometime in the next month for my girlfriend. I believe I've narrowed it down to these for, in my range of 4-5k (even though the big one is 5.5k haha). It would be set in a yellow gold band with 6 prongs.

I would love to hear what everyone thinks of these! It would be greatly appreciated.. thanks! edit: I know the 1.18 carat is slightly out of budget but if the difference would be noticeable, I'd be willing to stretch it!

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD11886888

C$4,387.00
1.01 Carat
J
VVS2
LW ratio- 1.41
D% 58.0
T% 58.0
8.10 x 5.75 x 3.34 mm

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD09461699
C$4,479.00
1.01 Carat
J
VS2
LW ratio- 1.42
D% 61.6
T% 59.0
8.11 x 5.70 x 3.51 mm

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD10070400
C$4,758.00
1.05 Carat
J
VVS1
LW ratio- 1.45
D% 63.0
T% 62.0
8.11 x 5.61 x 3.54 mm

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD11667966
C$5,552.00
1.18 Carat
J
VS2
LW ratio- 1.40
D% 60.0
T% 62.0
8.23 x 5.89 x 3.53 mm

tyty333 · Mar 8, 2019

Is this going in a yellow gold or rose gold setting? I think the first 2 have the best cut but the first one is showing a lot of color so I would go with
the second stone. J is pretty low on the color scale for an oval.

Here is an I that looks interesting but it is at the top of your budget.
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD11853928

Bradical · Mar 8, 2019

Thanks for the reply! It's true that is at the top of my budget haha. Do ovals show colour more? It'll be going in a yellow gold setting which is why I assumed it would be okay to go down the scale a bit!

tyty333 · Mar 8, 2019

Yes, ovals do tend to show more color in the "mushy" areas. I'm glad you are going with a yellow gold setting.

cmd2014 · Mar 8, 2019

The second one looks like the nicest cut to me as well, but they are showing a lot of colour IMO. I think you'd be better going up a grade or two, even for setting in yellow gold. Does your fiance to be specifically want an oval? Yellow gold? (these are specific choices, so best to be sure).

You might also want to look at some of the recommended vendors that ship here to Canada who have really good upgrade policies. That would give you the flexibility to maybe go a little smaller to start to get better specs, and then upgrade as finances allow.

seaurchin · Mar 8, 2019

Another option to keep the size within the budget is go up a bit on the color (h or i) and down a bit on the clarity (SI1). That’s what I’d do.

Also, often the same diamond will be for sale on several sites, at varying prices. Just an fyi.

P.S. Medium to strong blue fluorescence can bring the color appearance up a grade or two as well. Plus, it’s just a cool feature imo!

Bradical · Mar 9, 2019

Thanks everyone! We went ring shopping today and saw a J compared to a G and she didn’t mind it at all!

We also saw some SI2’s and I really couldn’t see inclusions.. maybe it’s just me! That was my first time at a jeweller. With all that said, what is everyone’s consensus on those four diamonds?

Thanks!!!

seaurchin · Mar 9, 2019

I'd be careful about what you see at a jeweler's because they usually have lighting that shows the stones much better than they really appear in regular living conditions.

I don't know which I'd pick from the four listed but honestly, I'd probably go for a higher cut grade since that's commonly considered the most important factor in appearance. GIA "Very Good" is apparently not all that good. I'd go for "Excellent" rating on the GIA rating scale instead.

Also, I'd go for SI1 on the clarity because SI2 can show to the naked eye and can also interfere with the way light travels through the stone.

For an engagement ring, J seems a little low to me as well.

I'd go with (if GIA) "Excellent cut." And SI1 Clarity and H color, personally.

Are you set on getting one of those four stones or would you consider other ovals as well?

I see a few dozen ovals over 1 carat on Adiamor right now with the better specs I mentioned above (Excellent, SI1 and H color) and a lower price. (I'm rather familiar with their site lately because I have a ring on the way from them, so I don't mean there aren't other companies that are just as good). Maybe you'd want to list your favorites out of those for people to weigh in on?

Bradical · Mar 10, 2019

To answer the above, ya absolutely I’m flexible! What stones were you thinking? GIA doesn’t actually grade oval cuts from what I understand so I’ve been basing my findings off of dimensions and depth and table percentages which I think adds a few hundred dollars at this point.

tyty333 · Mar 10, 2019

With fancy cuts, like ovals, the light return and faceting pattern are the most important "specs" if you will. They are not like round brilliants where you
can just order up an F/VS1 and most likely find a decent stone from your choices. With ovals you have to find stones with the best light return/faceting and sometimes accept what the specs are (within reason). It might be an eye-clean SI or a VVS. Color/clarity take a backseat (within reason). Designations
from vendors like "Excellent"/"Good"/etc. also do not get much merit (IMO). You can easily find many vendor "Excellent" designated stones that
dont have a nice faceting pattern or good light return. As well as the inverse, you can find some "Good" ovals that have nice light return and nice faceting.

The more you narrow your self down with specs such as color/clarity/Cut designation the less likely you are to find a nice oval. Best to keep open a range
of specs like D/E/F/G only or H/I/J will also work. Clarity specs such as "eye-clean" will usually work unless you are eagle eye.

Each stone has to be evaluated on its own merits. Some SI1s/SI2s are not eye-clean however, there are also SI1s/SI2s that are eye-clean. Really depends
on the inclusions.

Bradical · Mar 10, 2019

Wow, Tyty thanks so much for the detailed explanation! So basically with ovals it comes down to how it looks to the eye, not what the specs are. I've made the rounds of all the local jewellers in the city and it's so hard to determine which has more sparkle than another! I've had some show me shallow cut stones because they have a larger surface area, and ive had some show me a deeper cut (60%ish) saying it would give me the greatest brilliance.

I guess without a more concrete benchmark ovals are very difficult to evaluate! I haven't seen a J in a setting yet, but I've seen it beside a G and it took a significant amount of focus to tell them apart haha!

We've spent a fair amount of time looking at settings as well.. she wants a yellow gold band, platinum prongs, and a micro-studded (correct term?) crown under the centre stone. It wouldn't be visible from the top, only the side. I'm fluent in 3D modelling so I'm actually going to design the ring myself in my design software, 3D print it, refine it, and then take it to a jeweller and have them replicate it exactly.

seaurchin · Mar 10, 2019

Just an FYI here in case you aren't already aware of it. Unless you want a very specific setting or the personal factor of designing the ring yourself, choosing one that's listed where you buy your diamond from would probably be far less expensive.

Bradical · Mar 11, 2019

I've learned that I can actually print in wax as a lot of jewellers do and just take it to them to create a casting and make it into gold! That's the goal here to save some $$ anyways, I'll have to report back if it works or not haha! They may want to carve it or something.

If anyone has some links to ovals in the ranges that I've posted, I'd be thrilled if you could post them. This search is becoming a blur with all of the variables so someone who knows whats what would be greatly appreciated haha!

Bradical · Mar 12, 2019

I've stumbled across an E that's in my budget.

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD10445364

and an F

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab

they're both SI2, but I can't really see any inclusions in the videos so I'm wondering if they're eye-clean.. What do people think?

rockysalamander · Mar 13, 2019

Bradical said:
I've stumbled across an E that's in my budget.

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD10445364

No to this one. It has a cavity. Cavity are a small hole that breaks the surface. THey hold dirt and oil and always look dirty.

Bradical said:
and an F

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond...AMONDS&track=viewDiamondDetails&action=newTab

Clouds in an SI2 are almost always a problem. I also find the ends quite mushy.

Bradical said:
I'm fluent in 3D modelling so I'm actually going to design the ring myself in my design software, 3D print it, refine it,
and then take it to a jeweller and have them replicate it exactly.

I love the sentiment. Really. And, I'm not trying to be rude. But, just because you can create a model, does not make you a ring designer. Just like any object, you really need to have a deep knowledge of the materials and construction methods. Rings are more than the design and model. They are a object that will take constant and repeated impacts. Also, they need a significant amount of finishing that removes metal from the cast object. But, that removal is not even all over. You need to have the prongs long and wide enough to be finished properly. The design she wants is available from a number of custom jewelers (David Klass, IDJewellery, etc). If you want to design the ring, fine. But, work with a jeweller to actually get the item cast and finished.

Bradical · Mar 13, 2019

rockysalamander said:
No to this one. It has a cavity. Cavity are a small hole that breaks the surface. THey hold dirt and oil and always look dirty.

Clouds in an SI2 are almost always a problem. I also find the ends quite mushy.

I love the sentiment. Really. And, I'm not trying to be rude. But, just because you can create a model, does not make you a ring designer. Just like any object, you really need to have a deep knowledge of the materials and construction methods. Rings are more than the design and model. They are a object that will take constant and repeated impacts. Also, they need a significant amount of finishing that removes metal from the cast object. But, that removal is not even all over. You need to have the prongs long and wide enough to be finished properly. The design she wants is available from a number of custom jewelers (David Klass, IDJewellery, etc). If you want to design the ring, fine. But, work with a jeweller to actually get the item cast and finished.

I appreciate the honesty. You're right, I'm not a ring designer and I probably won't give them a wax model, but I can at least print out prototypes to get the exact proportions that I want and have it replicated. This way, I'm not banking on a jeweller to interpret exact what I want from a collection of drawings.

As for the diamonds, that's too bad! Can you elaborate on the ends being "mushy"?

I just recived a reply back from BlueNile about a diamond I asked them to inspect.
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD11741563
This is their analysis; "
The vault have advised the diamond is eye clean - meaning from 6-8 inches through the crown face up you cannot see any inclusions , the diamond is not milky and does not have any colour tinge. We have requested additional images, they have not come through yet. If they have then we will e mail once they come through.

From the video and the diamond visual I would recommend this diamond , it is a good SI2 , also from the video bowtie, on a scale 1-5 ( none, minute, minor , noticeable , obvious)It is 2 Minute which is excellent news.
The vault have advised the diamond is eye clean - meaning from 6-8 inches through the crown face up you cannot see any inclusions , the diamond is not milky and does not have any colour tinge. We have requested additional images, they have not come through yet. If they have then we will e mail once they come through.

From the video and the diamond visual I would recommend this diamond , it is a good SI2 , also from the video bowtie, on a scale 1-5 ( none, minute, minor , noticeable , obvious)It is 2 Minute which is excellent news. " - BlueNile

Have I finally found something decent?!

tyty333 · Mar 13, 2019

On the last stone you posted...I think its not bad but not the best faceting (hard to find). Excuse my kindergarten outlining. The blue shows the nice facets.
For the best cuts, nice facets should show up in the red area as the stone rotates. I'm not seeing any nice facets show up so I would give this stone a "B".
Pretty nice but not the best and like I said, its hard to find the best faceting in an oval.

Bradical · Mar 13, 2019

Ah okay, understood. I think I see what you mean.

Staying under 5k CAD(3750USD), do you think I'll be able to find anything better? I feel like I'm approaching the 1000 diamonds mark now on my search haha! They're either included to the naked eye, poorly cut, poor symmetry, small dimensions, bow tie, etc. The thing that caught my eye with this stone was the large surface area dimensions (8.31x5.86x3.4

coupled with good depth, as well as it being an I, instead of a J like many warned me about here. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I know I'm not picking the top stones available, but I'm picking the 1 carats within my 5k budget the best I can. Is that fair or should I keep searching?

FYI - the product details on the BlueNile page are coming up incorrect today.. the GIA report has the correct numbers.

OcnGypZ · Mar 13, 2019

I realize this stone is larger and above your budget. However, with ovals it's all about cut and light performance. The following represents an AGS report on a well cut oval. Look at colors in the light performance. https://agslab-content.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/pdf/104097757002-PLDQR.PDF

Bradical · Mar 13, 2019

That's very interesting. Is there a way to acquire that for the diamonds I'm looking at or..? It's so hard to predict how brilliant it will be off a video online. I'm really just basing my choices off depth and table %'s, as well as it being eye clean!

Bradical · Mar 13, 2019

Here's a detailed closer-up video that BlueNile sent about the I SI2 that I posted this morning.. It looks pretty clean to me for an SI2! Thoughts?

http://118.143.133.146/GemKOnline/D...ision360.html?d=2306980289&sm=1&btn=1,2,3,4,5

lovedogs · Mar 13, 2019

Bradical said:
Here's a detailed closer-up video that BlueNile sent about the I SI2 that I posted this morning.. It looks pretty clean to me for an SI2! Thoughts?
http://118.143.133.146/GemKOnline/D...ision360.html?d=2306980289&sm=1&btn=1,2,3,4,5

It looks clean, but very tinted. Looks more like a J than an I to me, which is concerning.

Bradical · Mar 13, 2019

I think I trust GIA's color grading more than the different the camera shows.. I mean, I believe that even if it doesn't look like it in the pics, an I is less colored than a J if that's what GIA says!

Bradical · Mar 13, 2019

https://segoma.com/v.aspx?type=iframe&id=PORVXVCXQQ

Here's a 1.03ct J SI2 that I just received a video of. The jeweller is calling it in for a closer look for this Friday. In my amateur opinion, it seems this one may not be as clean but as a superior cut!

Swirl68 · Mar 13, 2019

Okay, this is probably a hard no because of the inclusions alone, esp. the knot. (Depending on which expert you ask.) But I thought I would throw it out there anyway.
It's a pretty cut, and an F color at a decent price ($3,666 US).
It's fat (1.36) and has strong fluorescence, but I see those as positives.

https://www.fourmine.com/shop/diamo...ce=rarecarat&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=2018

rockysalamander · Mar 14, 2019

Bradical said:
https://segoma.com/v.aspx?type=iframe&id=PORVXVCXQQ

Here's a 1.03ct J SI2 that I just received a video of. The jeweller is calling it in for a closer look for this Friday. In my amateur opinion, it seems this one may not be as clean but as a superior cut!

Which stone is this? I don't see a 1.03 in this thread...

This is not as spready, but ideal cut and in budget. I'd probably call Jonathan and see if he has any others coming in with lower clarity (eye clean) and down to an I color. That would get you a bigger stone.

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/co...cts/1-068ct-h-vs1-august-vintage-oval-1587743

ringo865 · Mar 14, 2019

Ovals generally show more body color than rounds, even with GIA grading. So if your Intended swears she wants an oval and she swears that's she doesn’t mind a bit of warmth, you’re on the right path with your search.

It seems you also need a carat, but please notice the dimensions instead. Some fancies are bigger (looking) but lighter. Some (cut for weight) are smaller (deeper) to preserve weight. In other words, you COULD find a 0.8X or 0.9X that faces up LARGER than a 1.XX carat stone.

Bradical · Mar 14, 2019

rockysalamander said:
Which stone is this? I don't see a 1.03 in this thread...

This is not as spready, but ideal cut and in budget. I'd probably call Jonathan and see if he has any others coming in with lower clarity (eye clean) and down to an I color. That would get you a bigger stone.

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/co...cts/1-068ct-h-vs1-august-vintage-oval-1587743

It wasn't in the thread yet. A jeweler was calling it in to take a closer look at it

. I love the cut and how you can see the longer facets more clearly from an angle view than the others that I've posted so far. It is a J but my s/o has been pretty clear that she doesnt mind a J in a yellow gold setting. Waiting to find out tomorrow morning if its eye-clean!

ringo865 said:
Ovals generally show more body color than rounds, even with GIA grading. So if your Intended swears she wants an oval and she swears that's she doesn’t mind a bit of warmth, you’re on the right path with your search.

It seems you also need a carat, but please notice the dimensions instead. Some fancies are bigger (looking) but lighter. Some (cut for weight) are smaller (deeper) to preserve weight. In other words, you COULD find a 0.8X or 0.9X that faces up LARGER than a 1.XX carat stone.

For sure! I've been trying to stay in the 8mm+ length realm and had the jeweler only source stones larger than that!

I haven't seen any 0.9's over 8mm though, at least ones that are under 1.5:1 ratio! Maybe I'm narrowing my search too much!

Bradical · Mar 16, 2019

It turns out the 1.03 JSI2 ended up not being available so GOG is currently searching for another! Not sure what happened since I was told Wednesday that it was being called in for Friday.

Bradical · Apr 24, 2019

Thanks everyone in this thread for your help. I ended up going with a 1.01ct J VS2 from GOG, along with a custom 0.18ct paved band and crown beneath the main stone.

Here's a link to the other thread with pics!

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/1ct-oval-in-custom-setting-has-arrived.248501/

Choosing between these 4 diamonds!

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