Advice on Oval Brilliant

[Stellastarkat]

I am considering the purchase of the following diamond - GIA Report # 6167357292. I like some qualities such as the D colour and the size being 10mm+. I realise the Good rating for both symmetry and polish is a big gamble. Is it one worth taking? And with the other details, do the numbers work out to be a decently balanced stone?
I am hoping to make purchase this week and have $10,000US. If someone has further advice, this would be appreciated.

 

[kb1gra]

Completely impossible to tell anything without at least a picture.

Is $10,000 just for the stone? or stone + setting?

 

[tyty333]

Completely impossible to tell anything without at least a picture.

Is $10,000 just for the stone? or stone + setting?

Ditto...put the stone on hold then give us a link.

 

[chrono]

Numbers don't tell a thing with ovals but pictures do, so please post some.

 

[Stellastarkat]

I am buying online for stone only. I am looking for at least 10mm long for an oval brilliant. The cost for the stone mentioned is approx $10,000.00.

 

[Stellastarkat]

I don't have a picture. Only the GIA cert.

 

[Travelgal]

The stone is really shallow. Of the 600+ stones James Allen has for 1+ carat ovals, only 5 had a depth of less than 55%. You could have a needle in a haystack, but more likely this is not a well cut stone nor a top performer. Is your budget $10k? Ovals are trickier to buy than a round, but I am sure there are better possibilities than what you are looking at.

 

[kb1gra]

The stone is really shallow. Of the 600+ stones James Allen has for 1+ carat ovals, only 5 had a depth of less than 55%. You could have a needle in a haystack, but more likely this is not a well cut stone nor a top performer. Is your budget $10k? Ovals are trickier to buy than a round, but I am sure there are better possibilities than what you are looking at.

10mm in the long dimension is longer than even some 2ct ovals. I'm taking an educated guess that this stone is a total pancake.

But if you tell a dealer you want 2ct dimensions on a 1.3ct budget that's pretty much all they can show you.

 

[chrono]

I am buying online for stone only. I am looking for at least 10mm long for an oval brilliant. The cost for the stone mentioned is approx $10,000.00.

Not going to get a 10 mm oval for $10K. Just based on the basic stats alone on the report, the chances of this oval being a dud is very high.

 

[Stellastarkat]

This is the stone. The dimensions are 10.61 x 6.23 x 3.18

 

[Stellastarkat]

I would still appreciate any advice on this stone.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

Stellastarkat,

I cannot comment specifically on the diamond you are looking at, but let me give you some information on oval diamonds in general.

In the late 90's and into the early 2000's David Atlaas developed some guidelines and grading classes for oval diamonds which he divided into 8 categories. I will not go over all of the information, but just some basics for you to consider.

He felt the best proportions in an oval diamond would fall in between the 1:33 to 1.00 and 1.66 to 1.00 Length:Width. This can be found by dividing the Length in mm by the width in mm.

Additionally a depth of 59-63% was most desirable. There are other measures for crown height, table percentage, girdle thickness and others.

Most people who use the guidelines use them simply as a starting point. You cannot predict light performance based upon numbers alone. Many labs do not even provide crown height or pavilion depth, so it becomes a mute point to know the 'best' numbers.

Compounding the problem is the consideration of faceting. The oval diamonds are created from rough that is typically not symmetrical enough for a round diamond. If the cutter will work to keep proportions close to those that David Atlas recommends, they could come up with a diamond with great light return. If, however, they cut primarily for weight or surface area (length and/or width) there is a good chance that the facet alignments will result in a poor performing diamond (but not always!)

This poor performance can show up as limited brilliance or sparkle, a large bow tie, or in general the diamond just appears as a 'dud'.'

I say all that to say this: You must see an oval diamond in person (hopefully in direct comparisons to others) to be certain of performance. ASETs can help, the basic proportions above can be used to screen the diamonds, but you MUST look at them in varying light conditions to see if it is truly what you want.