a newbie looking to buy a round brillant - please advise

[badabling]

first time buyer looking to buy a round brillant with a budget of US$15 - 18K, i'm looking for something in the H - I color, VS1 - VS2 clarity and size, cut - excellent, GIA certified, and size as big as i can go within those specs. i've been looking at james allen... all the diamond pics look pretty much the same but i was hoping maybe one of the experts on this forum could tell me if i am headed in the right direction and if there is a stone that is prettier than the others. any advice would be much appreciated. thank you!!

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1404668.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1455500.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1455500.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1398587.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1452013.asp

 

[tyty333]

They all look good except that last one looks like it may have some leakage.

You have the second diamond in your list twice.

My preference would be:
the first one because of the size,
the second to the last one because its an H and a good size
the second stone

Next, you need to request idealscope images for those stones you are interested in. They will give you up to 3. Post the images.
This will tell us the stones light return.

Do you know if your GF is color sensitive. If so I would go with the H. If she is more into size then the first one would be a good
choice.

 

[tyty333]

Here is a BGD blue you might consider. Its an H/VS2 in your price range
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.716-h-vs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104060183008

Its also an AGS000.

 

[TitanCi]

^this.

But I prefer the H more as I'm color sensitive. I think I is pushing it for MY eyes, but hey, that's the trade off! I agree with TYTY, ditch the last one.

 

[Christina...]

I really like tytys BGD selection. I think that color is going to be more apparent in a stone this size and going with an H will help the stone appear nice and white in all lighting environments. That said, I'm not as color sensitive as some and you may not be either, in that case I'd consider the larger I. Agree with the others though, get rid of the last choice.


Hey Titan, I didn't want to respond in the other thread, but thanks for lunch!

 

[badabling]

thank you everyone for your advice. i will definitely look into the brian gavin one... it's a nice size and within my price range. Is an AGS certificate as good as a GIA one?

i've also been looking at goodoldgold.com specifically this stone http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9229/ - i noticed that GOG stones are more expensive... is there a reason why?

 

[JulieN]

Good Old Gold is more of a luxury online shopping experience, I assume they also have higher overhead costs due to their retail store.

 

[theperfectring1]

Wow. I'm in the exact same boat. Here's the research I came up with which I posted on another persons' thread:

For any stone you find, get the best cuts certified by AGL or GIA. Generally, the better the cut, the more it sparkles. Plus, if it's blinding, how will she be able to tell the carat size? hahaha

Secondly, try to use the HCA tool found on this website to discard any diamonds not "shiny" enough. Even though you get a excellent cut, the angles could still be off. I cannot tell the difference too much between a 1.5 vs a 2.5. However if it's greater than 3-4 I would look for a new stone. This is just a predictor and it has its limitations but I think many people use it as a tool of exclusion.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/technologies/aconsumersguidetothehca/

Thirdly, look at the Aset images. I'm only familiar with round cuts, but its fairly easy to see a bad one vs a good one. I just matched it up to different scales I found on google. The only thing I'm unsure of is the green middle vs a red middle (painted?). Although when I look at the images of the diamonds themselves, there's not too big of a difference.

Fourth, shoot for a VS2 just to be safe. Whatever diamond you get, the recipient is going to stare at it like crazy. Would be bad if she saw a flaw and started to wipe it away only to realize it's in the diamond itself. I think anything above VS2 is kinda overkill but that may bother you b/c you KNOW it's not of higher clarity.

Lastly, to get the most bang for your buck, get a lower grade color (J) with a decent amount of fluorescence. I personally can only tell a diamond is tinted yellow once it reaches the I/J category. Also, different cuts have different importance on color. The setting in yellow gold vs white gold also makes a difference.

Just some tips I would like to share.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong. I would hate to give bad info.

 

[badabling]

Thank you all!! i just took a look at the brian gavin stone again and i see that the fluorescence is medium blue...does that make a huge difference to the stone color in person under normal light? is that why the stone is much cheaper??

 

[TC1987]

thank you everyone for your advice. i will definitely look into the brian gavin one... it's a nice size and within my price range. Is an AGS certificate as good as a GIA one?

i've also been looking at goodoldgold.com specifically this stone http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9229/ - i noticed that GOG stones are more expensive... is there a reason why?

Cutters and owners tend the game the diamond rating system, so they will send a stone to the lab that they think will be most biased toward it. It used to be that the better-cut stones were sent to AGS, and then GIA (a little more liberal), then one of the EGL labs (can be off a few grades in clarity but especially off in color), then those mall-store labs like IGI and whatnot. PGS (Professional Gem Sciences) is about the only small lab that I'd trust.

GOG stones cost more, yes. BUT, GOG also is providing you more services than JA and some others. GOG gives you, up front, w/o having to write and ask, much more comprehensive data and testing services to help you evaluate that diamond and "see" it online without having to go see it in person. The GemEx live model, the BrillantScope (can also be "live" -- get the numbers off the pic and go to http://www.gemex.com/htmdocs/consumer/livereport/livereport_web.html) , the Isee2... Also, GOG offers both a buy-back and a very liberal upgrade policy. People have not only used those policys to trade up, but also to sell and/or downsize their diamonds.

No affiliation. I'm both a GOG and Brian Gavin customer.

re. the HCA and other tools: There's the PS "cheat sheet" (search on that) that gives a handy tabulation of angle and table sizes that generally are top performers in light return. The HCA is a little biased toward shallower diamonds, or at least used to be. Deep might still be okay light-wise but may face up a fraction smaller that others of that same ct wt.