Advice needed!

[prometheus]

Hi all,
I am very close to buying the diamond for my girlfriend's engagement ring. The trouble is, I have narrowed it down to four diamonds and I'm stuck on which to choose. I was wondering if anybody has any advice or thoughts that would help me narrow it down to the final choice? Right now I am leaning towards the .61 ct D as I believe it has the best table/depth values, and is colorless, but I'm not sure if the differences are small enough that the .63 wold be better... Neither the florescence or prices shown will have much effect on my choice. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Aaron

 

[Rockinruby]

Let me ask a question first....is there a particular reason you are looking for D and E stones? Is your girlfriend very color sensitive? Normally you could come down in color & clarity to get a larger stone, but maybe she specifically wants these specs?

 

[centrifuge41]

Likewise, how come VS1? Assuming these are GIA certified, then you could save some $ (or move some budget to other specs) by choosing VS2 or SI1. Maybe ~90% of VS2 stone are eye clean. And maybe ~70% of SI1 stones are eye clean.

Stone 1 is slightly deep. HCA 2.3. Probably a no go.

Stone 2 is a tad deep, but the angles work well. HCA 0.9. A potential candidate, though it doesn't face up quite as large as what a shallower stone could. Light Return: Excellent. Fire: Excellent. Scintillation: Excellent. Spread: Very Good (see previous sentence).

Stone 3: Too deep! Pavillion angle 41.2. Not too many stones with >= 41 are worth considering. HCA 4.5

Stone 4: HCA 2.7

Stone 2 is likely the best choice, since the easiest filtration method is to reject stones whose HCA > 2.0. But, it'd require more research to know if Stone 2 is a great performer or not. It's kind of hard to tell since there aren't any images or ASET for most stones on Bluenile.com.

Have you thought about spending a tad bit more to shop off of James Allen? They have 20x pictures, and a rotating view for each stone. It'd be easier to find the ones with awesome symmetry and light return. To stay within budget, you could lower the clarity to VS2 and SI1 and still be able to find eye-clean stones. That's another benefit of shopping off of sites with pictures. I assume that 0.6x is the desired size? No need to shop for 0.7 or 0.8 or whatever?

I won't suggest backing down on color if you and/or gf have been to actual B&M stores and prefer colorless stones. I do too. So does my fiancée. We have a sharp eye for color and can usually guess the color +/-1. We were naturally attracted to the D's.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Wow centrifuge, you went to some trouble to find those stones and look up the additional specs needed!

Prometheus, what was missing in your first post were the crown and pavilion angles and diameter measurements. We could not pick a stone just from that limited information. To help you find GIA Ex cut stones that will be more likely to fall into ideal cut territory and score better on the screening tool (HCA) try using these:

table: 54-58

depth: 60-62.3

crown angle: 34-35.0

pavilion angle: 40.6-40.9

 

[prometheus]

I was curious how you found those additional specs. I really appreciate the help! I'm pretty set on E or D for color as we are both pretty color sensitive. I didn't know about the HCA tool, that is very helpful! I took your advice and I believe I found one on James Allen.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...ns=Images&advancedParameter=CaratSliderBottom

It is a IS1, and while on not big on the obvious marks on the front under magnification, I think it is a good compromise when considering its specs and color, .8 HCA . I talked with the sales rep and they didn't think it would be visible to the naked eye. I guess I always have their return policy to fall back on. Any final thoughts on this one?

 

[centrifuge41]

For your first 4 stones, I went on Blue Nile (where you got your screenshot, I believe), and opened up the certificates. That's how I got the angles and measurements, then ran it through HCA.

Nonetheless, with Blue Nile, it's hard to tell, since there are no pictures. It's best to visualize certain elements, such as symmetry and clarity.

On your James Allen link, I couldn't find just your stone. The link seems to be a search query, rather the link to one specific stone.

URLs for a single stone look like this: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.23-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-ut-sku-785050
You can post the URL, or give us specific specs if you don't want to link it directly. Or, call them to put it on hold first, if you feel it's a winner. That's because there's lurkers who browse PS and snipe the stones that have been deemed good

 

[prometheus]

oops, Here is my first choice,
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-d-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-796908

and this would be my second,

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-e-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-774786

Thanks for the heads up I will call and see about putting it on hold.

 

[centrifuge41]

Choice 1: this one has a bit of a black crystal on the table at 6:30 or so, and another on the table at 4:00 or so. It might not be eye clean. It does face up larger than choice 2, at 5.55mm.

Choice 2: seems decent. Rated for excellent symmetry. But it's not perfect symmetry. The 6:30 and 9:30 arrows have missing components, and the 8:00 arrow is a bit wide headed. Seems decent. If you choose this one, see if they can physically inspect it for you (it has a James Allen logo, so it should be a 1st party stone). Ask them what you like, but also be sure to ask them to confirm that the strong blue fluorescence doesn't make the stone look milky colored.

Both of the above have a 55 or 56% table. Slightly small, but that could be a preference thing. Most likely these stones would have better fire (more rainbow) but return less scintillation (black/white contrast).

1 more for your consideration:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.60-carat-e-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-450327 slightly thick facet takes up some weight without making it as big face up as your choices. Symmetry looks great though. The greyer look is probably due to the camera (since the inclusion type isn't cloud).

 

[prometheus]

Thanks for the all the help centrifuge! I really liked the third one you showed me and ended up purchasing it! I'm exited to see it in person and get it set.

Thanks again!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

That last one shouldn't have been purchased without an ASET image. The crown angle is 36 which is outside of the safer numbers which I posted above. It faces up small, too. This one you posted before would have been the better choice, in my opinion (as long as you are okay with fluorescence).

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.61-carat-e-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-774786

 

[prometheus]

Oops, that 36 crown angle slipped by me. It turned out not to be a problem as my order was still in the pre-order stage. I ended up going with this one http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-e-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-445733
All the values are with in the range, with a pavilion of 40.6 just making it, and getting a .8 on HCA. It is also not quite as deep as the last one, which, if I understand correctly, makes it face up a little better. I also used the diamond inspection service and had him go over it with me. The symmetry is rated "very good" but from what I read it is very hard to distinguish between that and "excellent". Anyway, I feel good about the decision (I even found a 100 off coupon ).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Okay, well I am SO glad it wasn't too late to change it! This one should be less risky as far as leakage goes, although we are always at a disadvantage when we can't get the ASET images. Good luck and I hope you love it!