About to buy the diamond, but...

[Dreamer_D]

Actually, Good Old Gold's lifetime guarantee includes lifetime buy back at full purchase price according to their website, and after a little digging I found out James Allen does not have that. They will buy back the stone before two years is up for 70% of the purchase price. At some point in time I may want to upgrade again, so this is important. So I am going to go with Good Old Gold.

I do not think that the buyback is at full purchase price, I think it is 75% or thereabouts. Upgrades are at 100%.

Honestly, your preferences are all over the map. Choose a great vendor like GOG, call them and speak in person and tell them what you like and let them make a suggestion for you. Then set it into the least expensive setting you can get that is still attractive, and then wear the diamond and spend time thinking about what you *really* want. GOG is a good vendor to choose because they carry so many cuts and offer good upgrades and buybacks, which I think you might need since you are indecisive

 

[Doc_1]

Just few pics in favor of AVC

 

[Doc_1]

show-me-the-ring/mark-morrell-and-gog-are-best-of-the-best-t149063.html

 

[Dreamer_D]

Doc-1, what I like about you is that you are a man who really really likes the ring he bought!

 

[Doc_1]

Doc-1, what I like about you is that you are a man who really really likes the ring he bought!

LMAO

 

[starryeyed]

Actually, Good Old Gold's lifetime guarantee includes lifetime buy back at full purchase price according to their website, and after a little digging I found out James Allen does not have that. They will buy back the stone before two years is up for 70% of the purchase price. At some point in time I may want to upgrade again, so this is important. So I am going to go with Good Old Gold.

Hi cristinajanusz! Take a deep breath! You WILL get a beautiful diamond - no worries, just be patient. JA has an upgrade policy - I believe the new diamond must be double the price of the first one. So if you buy a diamond for $4K, you can trade up to an $8K+ stone.

It seems the pricing from JA is better, just looking at the diamonds you have linked, but it's hard to tell without the pictures, IS and ASET images. You could ask JA to send these images to you for the diamonds you have picked. And reserve the diamonds while you are reviewing them, so they don't get scooped up by someone lurking.

One question - do you care about how big the diamond looks on your finger? RB's give you a lot of finger coverage for the carat weight. Take a look at the mm dimensions of some of the diamonds in your range.

I know nothing about cushions, but I would be concerned about the J-K range if you haven't seen anything "warmer" than an I in person. I think I've read that cushions can show more color than RB's - someone correct me if I'm wrong.

If you feel pressure to get a stone and will upgrade later anyway, maybe get a RB from WF - one of their ACA's or ES's - and then upgrade to the shape you love later. They have a GREAT upgrade policy. Just a thought.

 

[cristinajanusz]

I'm really not indecisive about cut, I just happen to appreciate them all (excluding a few...) My fiancee let me choose my own but if he had been the one to pick I would have been happy with an august vintage round, august vintage cushion, asscher, h&a or octogon as long as the cut is great and the size is right. How do you pick between those?!
Anyway, this is what Good Old Gold's lifetime guarantee page says:
"This policy is for all diamonds featuring our "Lifetime Guarantee" and is stated on each individual diamonds web page. Diamonds qualifying for lifetime trade up are on select round & square Hearts & Arrows diamonds, princess cuts, asschers, cushions and any diamond listed with our "Lifetime Guarantee". Trade back the diamond you purchased from Good Old Gold for the full amount of the purchase price (less shipping). At any time you can trade in the diamond you purchased from Good Old Gold and get exactly what you paid (less the cost of shipping) toward a diamond of at least a $500.00 greater equal or greater value than your past purchase."

So I guess I did misread and there is no lifetime buyback without a trade-up.

 

[cristinajanusz]

Doc-1 what a beautiful ring! The first link for an August Vintage that you have posted in the other topic is actually one I was considering until it was bought! I just thought it was perfect! Its also a great example of having no little rectangular shapes on all four sides like the J SI1 I am considering has. I still don't really understand what they are or how they work. Your wife is officially the luckiest lady in the world in my opinion!
I do care how big it looks on my finger and I am doing some comparisons between round cuts and cushion cuts right now. A 1.08ct August Vintage Round they have listed (K vs2 with strong fluorescence) is 6.46 mm wide and 6.50 deep and the J SI1 cushion I am considering is 6.25mm wide and 4.05 mm deep...that seems like a significant difference to me and there is a .08 difference between them! Thanks for pointing that out!
Since we were talking about color and I have used the K August Vintage Round as a comparison, if the strong fluorescence something that makes this diamond look higher in color as I've been told, or does it detract from value too much to matter? Because it certainly doesn't look like a K in the pictures.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I'm really not indecisive about cut, I just happen to appreciate them all (excluding a few...) My fiancee let me choose my own but if he had been the one to pick I would have been happy with an august vintage round, august vintage cushion, asscher, h&a or octogon as long as the cut is great and the size is right. How do you pick between those?!

You decide! I think this dilemma, and that in your previous threads, is the definition of being indecisive. It is not a bad thing. Embrace it.

 

[cristinajanusz]

Now I sound like that McDonald's commercial! lol

 

[stone-cold11]

So I guess I did misread and there is no lifetime buyback without a trade-up.

Still not sure what you are reading this from?

Buy back is buy back, trade up is trade up, GOG has both under their lifetime guarantee.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/LifetimeGuarantee/

Buy back is anytime you want to cash in on your GOG jewelry, you sell it back to GOG and get back 75% of what you spent for the stone.

Trade up is you sell back for the GOG stone for the full value to GOG and apply that value with at least an additional $500 for a new stone.

 

[cristinajanusz]

Got a reply from Good Old Gold today and they say the 1.22 looks bigger not only because of the carat size but because it is more rectangular. Not a world of difference, just slight. The SI1 is eyeclean unless I'm really trying hard to find the flaws. And they say that the J is not noticeably different from the K.
At this point I am really liking the K. I know it is going to show some warmth and I think as an upgrade from just a half carat I can appreciate everything about that diamond. I will probably upgrade again down the road because I don't want to pay for my ideal setting without my ideal ring, which I just can't afford a two carat or a $3,000 setting anytime soon. I don't know how I feel about the round shape taking up more finger space than the cushion...something to think about before I decide. I 1.22 ct cushion is the same amount of mm wide as a 1 ct august vintage round. I looked at this thread post2692855.html#p2692855 and studied a little. It seems, if I was reading correctly, there is little difference in spread.

 

[cristinajanusz]

EEK! I'm going for it... I'm going to reserve the K 1.22 ct VS2 august vintage cushion!

 

[stone-cold11]

Good luck.

 

[Dreamer_D]

A decision! Great! When will you see it in person?

 

[cristinajanusz]

I have to do a wire transfer tomorrow and its free shipping overnight, so...hopefully in the next couple of days? I watched the video on it like ten times so I am pretty sure I will like what I'm getting! I'm so excited to have a new stone before the wedding. I didn't know anything about diamonds except that D is the best color when I bought my first stone, and I just jumped on a half carat on Ebay without looking at sizes on my finger in the stores first. The price on Ebay was literally half of what all the stores were selling it for. The seller advertised it as F VS1 and it turned out to be G/H VS2 and I didn't send it back when I found out she lied...my mistake, but I know better now. It is poorly cut too. So yay for my new diamond! I have high expectations of it!

 

[Doc_1]

I have to do a wire transfer tomorrow and its free shipping overnight, so...hopefully in the next couple of days? I watched the video on it like ten times so I am pretty sure I will like what I'm getting! I'm so excited to have a new stone before the wedding. I didn't know anything about diamonds except that D is the best color when I bought my first stone, and I just jumped on a half carat on Ebay without looking at sizes on my finger in the stores first. The price on Ebay was literally half of what all the stores were selling it for. The seller advertised it as F VS1 and it turned out to be G/H VS2 and I didn't send it back when I found out she lied...my mistake, but I know better now. It is poorly cut too. So yay for my new diamond! I have high expectations of it!

congrats!
From looking at my wife's eyes each time she looks at her ring i can tell you have made a great choice!
enjoy it in good health, GOG is a great vendor to work with.

 

[starryeyed]

EEK! I'm going for it... I'm going to reserve the K 1.22 ct VS2 august vintage cushion!

Sounds like you are well on your way to that dream diamond! I'll be anxious to hear your thoughts!

 

[cristinajanusz]

My fiancee and I went setting shopping today and we wanted to see what kind of difference a 1.22 would be from a .50 and she didn't have any cushions so she showed us a 1.21 princess cut and I swear it was the same size as my .50 ct round brilliant. I know a princess isn't an august vintage cushion but this really has my fiancee worried that I'm paying so much for not much of a difference and he wants me to cancel the transaction. Can I tell him it won't be like the princess cut and it really will be a significant upgrade, or will it be significantly smaller than a round brilliant of the same carat weight?

 

[Doc_1]

My fiancee and I went setting shopping today and we wanted to see what kind of difference a 1.22 would be from a .50 and she didn't have any cushions so she showed us a 1.21 princess cut and I swear it was the same size as my .50 ct round brilliant. I know a princess isn't an august vintage cushion but this really has my fiancee worried that I'm paying so much for not much of a difference and he wants me to cancel the transaction. Can I tell him it won't be like the princess cut and it really will be a significant upgrade, or will it be significantly smaller than a round brilliant of the same carat weight?

http://www.ajediam.com/Sizes-of-Diamonds.html
round brilliant in 0.5 carat measures: 5.2 mm

the AVC you are looking at measures more than 6 mm

it is fair to say it is larger. but for the same carat weight the round is more dimensions than the cushions.

However it is what you like in the shapes and what you prefer.

 

[stone-cold11]

princess can be cut differently, carat weight does not automatically translate to face up dimension as face up dimension is 2D, weight is 3D since it is a volume measurement.

For example, let's say from the top you see a surface area of 1 square inch.

If the depth is 1 inch, the volume is 1 cubic inch. If the depth is 2 inch, the volume becomes 2 cubic inch. That is twice the weight but still from the top, they have the same surface dimension.

 

[cristinajanusz]

Yes, I am learning that, and it is about cut too. I found two round stones, one RB and one H&A that are both 1.22ct so I could study the mm difference. Here they are if anyone wants to look.
http://goodoldgold.com/diamond/6403/ 6.82mm x 6.86mm x 4.26mm deep
http://goodoldgold.com/diamond/7028/ 6.70mm x 6.70mm x 4.28mm deep

The diamond I choose at the same weight is longer than one of these but not wider than either. 6.12mm x 6.79mm x 3.98 I think that because it is not as deep it is longer and this is what makes it comparable in size to the other two. So I think for the cut I made a really god choice.