shape
carat
color
clarity

Any advice welcome

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
Joined
Aug 1, 2002
Messages
21
Hi all,
I'm based in the UK and I have been searching the internet for a D IF AGA cut grade 1A princess cut diamond for some time now and I think I have finally found one details below:

Carat 0.57
Color D
Clarity IF
Meas. 4.95 x 4.42 x 3.19 mm
Depth % 72.2 %
Table % 66 %
Girdle MD
Culet None
Polish V good
Sym. Good
Fluor. None

Price $2878

I am interested in anyone’s opinions on the cut, price etc. of this diamond and if anyone knows of a better deal?

Also as I am in the UK any tips on shipping from the US would be appreciated.

Best Regards

A Hopeless Perfectionist
 

pricescope

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 31, 1999
Messages
8,266
HP,

I'm not going to comment on the stone because it is D-IF...:-o

Depth and Table are looking good but as you know it is not enough.

?

.

I'm going to post couple of GemAdviser examples for Princess.


----------------
Also as I am in the UK any tips on shipping from the US would be appreciated.
----------------


You can find some useful info in previous posts on this subject. Search this board (
search.icon.gif
menu at the top) using key words like UK, London, or England

Here are just a few results:






[/u][/u][/u][/u][/u][/u][/u]
 

wndrful

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
Messages
40
I have heard on the forum that, once an IF stone is mounted, the minute cracks that develop along the bezel make the stone VVS1. Is that true? .

If it is then, does it make sense to get an IF? Just get an VVS1.


During my first diamond shopping experience, the jeweler couldn't find VVS1 inclusions even through a microscope. She cleaned the diamond couple times and still she couldn't find them. Then she showed me a VS1, she could find two inclusions, but couldn't find the third one (she knew there were three.) She then looked in the cert. Found all three and told me where they were. I could see two but not the third one. :))

Mind you I have really good vision. 20/30 (or 30/20 ??!!) and can read street signs from mile away. Then and then I decided, there would be better uses for my money (even charity). :))

Then I saw an SI1 with a small crystal trail near the girdle. That looked cool. Very unique. I would have been willing to pay premium for that! :sun:
 

RubyBleu

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
64
Buying IF at a half carat is virtually a waste of money - ok not really, but that's a lot to pay for nothing (pun) - remember, you are paying for RARITY not QUALITY. An IF is not necessarily a better stone that a VVS or a VS - it is just MORE RARE stone - hence, the higher price. Will you be able to tell it's IF? No - no one will be to appreciate it except you who will have bragging rights (and the cert to prove it) - but then again, no one will be able to verify it (or see the dif for themselves) so half your friends will think you are lying and the rest will resent you for it.

It is true that when some stones are set, the bearding along the girdle can run, and technically change the clarity grade - it just depends on how the stone was bruted - if the girdle is faceted, and what kind of hack for a Jeweler you have (to some extent the setting and the cut).

That said - I love top stones too. I'm a sucker for D IF's. A couple years ago I bought a 1 carat D IF Princess cut for a mate on the Market in Antwerp for around $3600 US - would I ever buy this kind of stone retail? Hells no!

If the stone is certed, and it is well cut and the price is to your liking then buy it. But Watch-out! If she says "I wanted a carat..." you are screwed. It's a myth that woman don't generally prefer size over quality - they want the big rocks, and most don't care how much Mojo's in your stone. (another bad pun).

RB
 
Joined
Aug 1, 2002
Messages
21
Ruby,

Although I value your advice and comments re D IF's I am afraid that I am an incurable perfectionist (or snob) which ever way you want to look at it.

It is not so much the size of the diamond that I am foremost concerned about. It is as you says the rarity and perfection, and to a certain extent the effort required to find such a rare diamond that will make this ring the ultimately special gift I want it to be. Basically I am looking for a stone that is as rare, special and as beautiful as the woman I intend to give it to (as you might have guessed by now I am also an incurable romanticist) :love:. I supose i might be being a bit selfish and you might be completely right and all my parnter wants is a good big diamond to show off to her friends but I think a D IF says that little something extra even if it is only her and I who know. I don't care what my friends think I doubt I'll even tell them It will be our little secret (and every one else who reads this :wink2:.)

Although the comment about the setting causing fracture is deeply concerning:blackeye: any further info anyone can offer about this would be much appereciated i.e. which settings to avoid etc. I was contemplating a tension setting would this help or just make things worse? what are faceted girdles?:rolleyes:

Cheers

HP
 

RubyBleu

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
64
I'm just like you - which has gotten me into a spot of trouble. As of yet, I have not bought my GF any Diamonds - and I am in the industry in a HUGE way. Imagine the pressure on a single guy in his thirties who has access to the cheapest and best diamonds in the world to not only get good but to get big for the woman in his life - (I'm not Nicky Oppenheimer, but we share the same access to stones). So I was thinking the other day, maybe I'll get her some nice little studs...

By the time I finished thinking about it, I was pricing 4 ctw D, IF's in Plat.... for studs! I had to stop myself because I was getting silly. Can you imagine what kind of Ring I would have had to get for her after that? I bought her a nice Sterling Silver necklace and bracelet instead – and she loved them (which is why we are together in the first place – she doesn’t have Diamonds in her eyes when she looks at me.)

Getting a 1/2 carat D IF for your lady is a wonderful gesture - and the fact she is not a "size queen" is a tribute to the special lady that I am sure she is. You know what you want - and why you want it. Two lovers, against the world, with a very special stone as a symbol of their love and the bond they share - what could be better than that. You've got it made! Enjoy and don't look back.

RB
 

RubyBleu

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
64
Don't worry too much about bearding on a girdle ruining your clarity grade when set - if the bearding is that bad it should be listed as a comment on the GIA cert - Only on really badly bearded diamonds do feathers sometimes result from the stone being set. It's been a while since I've been involved in this area of things but I think you have little to worry about - as long as you've got a great Jeweler who is setting your stone you will be fine. Perhaps others can comment with more current experience in this.
 
Joined
Aug 1, 2002
Messages
21
Hey RB whats all this about Antwerp? Is it worth me making a visit? Am I likely to getter a better D IF Princess? I won't have to pay any import:naughty: which is a big bonus? how does it work? I dont imagine they have stalls :wink2:

any help welcome

HP
 

RubyBleu

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
64
Well, for the average consumer, the idea of Antwerp can be exciting, but the way it is structured, you'd not really have access to people selling stones. It can be very hard to get access to the folks on the market, and I've never had to go to the floor of a Bourse to buy (or sell) because I have offices for buying etc, but I'm pretty sure the joe on the street would not be allowed into the bourse - it's kind of private and there are security issues, and getting into offices is the same - you need an invite really... The risk is pretty high also that you'd get taken if you were not with someone so although the idea is cool, you are better off doing what you are doing.

Just a quick look at the Rap (Rapaport price list)

A .50 - .69 "D" IF is listed at 7500 per carat (rounds)
A .46 - .49 "D" IF is listed at 5500 per carat

now these prices are a fiction, but they do show how there is a premium for stones at .50

In Antwerp, people buy stones based on a percentage discount on Rap - anywhere from 25 to 44%...it depends on the category as well as other factors... When they negotiate price, all you hear them talking about is cryptic numbers like 33 or 34 - this is usually the discount from the latest Rap they are selling or willing to buy at... For this category of stone, (if memory serves me right) 32-36% discount sounds right... Anyone with the latest Market knowledge please chime in.

But then you pay more on a per stone basis when you "pick" an individual stone or stones - because most of the stones sold in Antwerp are sold in parcels of dozens if not hundreds of stones (that way they can slip in a few dogs). You also pay a premium for cut, certain sizes (like there might be a 10% premium on stones .60 -.69) or even certain clarity and color grades. It just all depends. You need the latest data on what the market is doing... Also, Rounds are the most expensive - Princess cuts are cheaper...

For this reason alone, the lay person will never buy efficiently on the Market...

But it is neat to think about -
 

RubyBleu

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
64
A little note regarding your reference to not paying duty...

When we buy rough, sometimes we'd get Africans come up from the Congo with goods to sell - and we knew that they didn't ship them through the HRD or official channels - they just brought 'em in themselves. We'd call these diamonds "browns" for obvious reasons. Don't worry - We'd always boil them in acid first before looking....:lickout:

RB
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top