A few questions from a new shopper - please help

[Randy Top]

I''ve been looking for an engagement ring for a few weeks now and I''ve been reading a lot of different posts on here and have gotten a lot of good information. I have a few random questions about buying a diamond in general and about the specifics of a stone and grading and such.

Ideally I''m looking for a .50 carat pave band and an oval diamond around .50 carats.
Something around 1 carat total weight.

1. Some stores have told me that ovals don''t really have a ideal or excellent cut only round diamonds do. Is this true?

2. Should all stores be able to tell me all the grading tools/factors? Such as depth %, table %, girdle, polish, symmetry and so on. I asked a store for the table % of a diamond and they told me that they didn''t have that information and wouldn''t be able to get it. Something that the grader didn''t supply it or whatever.

3. How different should the color of the diamonds in the band differ from the main stone. I''m looking at a pave band with diamond of HIJ color (link below). I would like at lest a G for the center stone. Will it look bad or will you notice a big difference?

http://www.kay.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product1|10101|10001|-1|530969207|15051|


I''m sure I''ll think of 100 more questions but this is it for now.

I appreciate any help, even if you can only answer one question.

 

[yssie]

Date: 3/15/2010 8:58:14 PM
Author:qkid13
I''ve been looking for an engagement ring for a few weeks now and I''ve been reading a lot of different posts on here and have gotten a lot of good information. I have a few random questions about buying a diamond in general and about the specifics of a stone and grading and such.

Ideally I''m looking for a .50 carat pave band and an oval diamond around .50 carats.
Something around 1 carat total weight.

1. Some stores have told me that ovals don''t really have a ideal or excellent cut only round diamonds do. Is this true?

2. Should all stores be able to tell me all the grading tools/factors? Such as depth %, table %, girdle, polish, symmetry and so on. I asked a store for the table % of a diamond and they told me that they didn''t have that information and wouldn''t be able to get it. Something that the grader didn''t supply it or whatever.

3. How different should the color of the diamonds in the band differ from the main stone. I''m looking at a pave band with diamond of HIJ color (link below). I would like at lest a G for the center stone. Will it look bad or will you notice a big difference?

http://www.kay.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product1|10101|10001|-1|530969207|15051|


I''m sure I''ll think of 100 more questions but this is it for now.

I appreciate any help, even if you can only answer one question.

1. labs assign cut grades only to rounds and princesses (AGS)
2. lab report should tell you table and depth.
3. H/I pave will look fine with a G centre - pave generally looks whiter just because it''s so small.
2.

 

[Randy Top]

Thanks

 

[Dreamer_D]

1. Yes, true. But a good vendor will assess the cut quality of the diamond themselves. Most mall jewelers are not in that category though. I suggest www.goodoldgold.com for ovals, many happy PSers have bought from there.
2. If the diamond has a cert they will have access to this information. My guess is the diamond in question had no cert. Do not buy a diamond without a certificate from a reputable lab.
3. I think the diamonds in that linked ring are poor quality. I would suggest buying a higher quality ring from a PS vendor. Melee with be better cut and more sparkly, and usually is F-G-H color which will go with anything.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

i''m seconding good old gold for ovals! and you want to get fantastic melee b/c it makes a huge difference in the sparkle factor IMO.

 

[Randy Top]

Call me dumb, but what is a melee?

Thanks

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/16/2010 8:14:29 AM
Author: qkid13
Call me dumb, but what is a melee?

Thanks

Not dumb at all! Melee are tiny diamonds often set along the band of a ring, in halo settings and so forth.

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 3/15/2010 9:14:40 PM
Author: yssie

1. labs assign cut grades only to rounds and princesses (AGS)

2. lab report should tell you table and depth.

3. H/I pave will look fine with a G centre - pave generally looks whiter just because it's so small.

2.

Actually AGS started Oval cut grade recently, but no one is cutting it to AGS0 yet I think.

The 4 shapes that are cut graded by AGS are round, princess, emerald and oval.
http://agslab.com/trade_research_and_development_cut_grade_documents.php