Any opinions on these two 2+ carat round stones? AGS-000 GIA- Ex, Vg, Ex

[John NC]

Hi Folks, been reading multiple threads on the site (and others) for a while and have ordered 2 diamonds to be delivered tomorrow (Abazias) and would love to hear any input of one you like over the other and why, or why you dislike one etc... I''ll post my thoughts and decision once they come and I have looked at them in person.

2.27 GIA 8.49-8.56-5.12, I, Si-2 Ex cut, VG polish, Ex Symmetry, no culet, strong blue fluorescence, 59% table, 60.1% depth, 50% upper, 75% lowers, 33 CA, 41 PA, girdle thin to medium, 1.1 on the HCA "100% eye clean" $10,621
2.058 AGS 8.17-8.22-5.04, I, Si-2 triple- ideal, pointed culet 56.1% crown, 61.5% depth 33.9 CA, 41 PA, 55% uppers 82% lowers- 1.6-3.9% girdle, Negligible Fluorescence. Said to be eye clean to most at the office which is a bit scary, 1.3 HCA. $11,950

Both came back Excellent on the gia facetware software, don''t have sarin or ideal-scope images or anything like that.

I love the size of the first, the strong blue fluorescence it seems is the only questionable attribute (again just by looking at the grading report), as fluorescence is a hotly debated topic... so we''ll see. The AGS looks good on paper but if there are any readily visible inclusions it will be iffy.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks! John

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/18/2009 4:55:38 PM
Author:John NC


Hi Folks, been reading multiple threads on the site (and others) for a while and have ordered 2 diamonds to be delivered tomorrow (Abazias) and would love to hear any input of one you like over the other and why, or why you dislike one etc... I'll post my thoughts and decision once they come and I have looked at them in person.

2.27 GIA 8.49-8.56-5.12, I, Si-2 Ex cut, VG polish, Ex Symmetry, no culet, strong blue fluorescence, 59% table, 60.1% depth, 50% upper, 75% lowers, 33 CA, 41 PA, girdle thin to medium, 1.1 on the HCA '100% eye clean' $10,621


2.058 AGS 8.17-8.22-5.04, I, Si-2 triple- ideal, pointed culet 56.1% crown, 61.5% depth 33.9 CA, 41 PA, 55% uppers 82% lowers- 1.6-3.9% girdle, Negligible Fluorescence. Said to be eye clean to most at the office which is a bit scary, 1.3 HCA. $11,950

Both came back Excellent on the gia facetware software, don't have sarin or ideal-scope images or anything like that.

I love the size of the first, the strong blue fluorescence it seems is the only questionable attribute (again just by looking at the grading report), as fluorescence is a hotly debated topic... so we'll see. The AGS looks good on paper but if there are any readily visible inclusions it will be iffy.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks! John

Hi John and welcome!

From the info provided I prefer the sound of the second diamond, as to strong blue fluorescence on the first, it is rare there is ever an issue with it and personally I think it is a nice feature of the near colourless diamonds. Can Abazias give you any images of the diamonds do you know?

Hopefully they will be eyeclean, a quick tip for you - check them out carefully in different lighting conditions, inclusions can pop out in some lights more than others so give them a good test drive!

 

[John NC]

Hi Lorelei! I was hoping you'd hear my plea for help- Big fan, read many of your posts including one very helpful tutorial concerning the relationship between crown and pavillion angles.
Anyways, yes a couple other folks have liked the AGS stone better (on paper)- Abazias is a drop shipper so they won't have contact with the stones. I'll have them tomorrow and can try to take some pics with my digital camera, but from what I've seen it's hard to get a good photo. What pops out to you about the AGS stone over the GIA?
Praying for eye clean and awesome...
Thanks- John

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/18/2009 5:18:37 PM
Author: John NC
Hi Lorelei! I was hoping you'd hear my plea for help- Big fan, read many of your posts including one very helpful tutorial concerning the relationship between crown and pavillion angles.
Anyways, yes a couple other folks have liked the AGS stone better (on paper)- Abazias is a drop shipper so they won't have contact with the stones. I'll have them tomorrow and can try to take some pics with my digital camera, but from what I've seen it's hard to get a good photo. What pops out to you about the AGS stone over the GIA?
Praying for eye clean and awesome...
Thanks- John

* Blush...*

You are too kind John, thank you! I am so pleased if I have been of help!!

I prefer the AGS diamond as I prefer the table size and the angle combo, LGF etc -I take it the diamond has a diamond quality document and Ideal for both polish and symmetry?

The first could be a very nice diamond also, it is just going by the info we have, the second shows the most potential.

 

[John NC]

Hi there, Yes the AGS is ideal cut/ polish/ symmetry.
What''s your take on Fluorescence? I don''t want to be at dinner with a crowd at a place with crazy lighting/ blacklights and someone look at the ring and say, "Hey it glows!"... I just don''t know!
If that AGS triple ideal is eye clean it might just be the winner, seems risking any issues with Fluorescence could be, well, risky! HA! My mind is fried.
Uh oh... one Fed Ex package just arrived at the office! Waiting on the other- I''m nervous!
Thanks- John

 

[John NC]

Hi folks... I made a slight mistake on the AGS posting. Here's the document (had to reduce it over and over to get it to fit so it's blurry), but the correction is this:

AGS- triple ideal, 2.058 round. The numbers are: 33.9 CA, 41 PA, 56.1% crown, 61.5% depth, 53% uppers (instead of 55), 82% lowers, and down the right the numbers are 14.8%, 1.6-3.9%, 43.3% (didn't have all this complete)
Have the stone in hand... looks ice white and killer. Don't really know how to evaluate it in person, but it looks eye clean in varied lighting conditions. With a magnifying glass (probably 5x magnification) I can begin to see a couple minor inclusions, and I was worried because the grading doc seemed a little busy- but to me it looks eye clean top and bottom without magnification.
Is any of that a big deal?
Still waiting on the 2.27 STRONG BLUE 100% eye clean GIA Ex.... YIKES!
Going to take them both in to a pro, but so far this AGS looks pretty darn good.
Any additional tips on how to look for brilliance and fire?
Thanks- John

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/19/2009 10:03:07 AM
Author: John NC
Hi there, Yes the AGS is ideal cut/ polish/ symmetry.
What''s your take on Fluorescence? I don''t want to be at dinner with a crowd at a place with crazy lighting/ blacklights and someone look at the ring and say, ''Hey it glows!''... I just don''t know!
If that AGS triple ideal is eye clean it might just be the winner, seems risking any issues with Fluorescence could be, well, risky! HA! My mind is fried.
Uh oh... one Fed Ex package just arrived at the office! Waiting on the other- I''m nervous!
Thanks- John

Hi John,

Strong blue fluorescence is fine with me, very rarely it can have a negative effect by making the diamond look cloudy in some lights but this is extremely unusual. You might notice it in a nightclub in blacklighting but I don''t know how obvious any glow would be not having seen one in action in this way!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/19/2009 11:31:36 AM
Author: John NC
Hi folks... I made a slight mistake on the AGS posting. Here's the document (had to reduce it over and over to get it to fit so it's blurry), but the correction is this:

AGS- triple ideal, 2.058 round. The numbers are: 33.9 CA, 41 PA, 56.1% crown, 61.5% depth, 53% uppers (instead of 55), 82% lowers, and down the right the numbers are 14.8%, 1.6-3.9%, 43.3% (didn't have all this complete)
Have the stone in hand... looks ice white and killer. Don't really know how to evaluate it in person, but it looks eye clean in varied lighting conditions. With a magnifying glass (probably 5x magnification) I can begin to see a couple minor inclusions, and I was worried because the grading doc seemed a little busy- but to me it looks eye clean top and bottom without magnification.
Is any of that a big deal?
Still waiting on the 2.27 STRONG BLUE 100% eye clean GIA Ex.... YIKES!
Going to take them both in to a pro, but so far this AGS looks pretty darn good.
Any additional tips on how to look for brilliance and fire?
Thanks- John

The numbers all look fine John.

Test it out in as many different lights as you can to see how it behaves, try non direct sunlight, candlelight if possible, as many different lighting situations as you can to see which one speaks to you the most.

Check it out at different angles and distances with the naked eye to see if you can spot any inclusions - but I think you have all this pretty much covered by the sound of it and taking the diamonds to a pro is always a good idea.

 

[John NC]

OK, got both stones.... the GIA 2.27 definitely faces up a bit bigger than the AGS 2.058... and I took both up onto the balcony in direct high noon sunlight, no oily and hazy appearance out of the GIA strong blue, and they both appear to have the same level of blue fire (as well as other colors). In FL lighting (not UV) they both sparkle like mad.
I''ve attached a couple photos, but it''s hard to capture what''s going on.
With my hands cupped around them, shaded the AGS seems to have an ever so slight edge in brilliance maybe? But maybe 5%. Cupped with hands/ shaded the GIA seems to have more visually eviden arrows. Crown is wider so maybe the larger ''window'' in to see the arrows helps that effect. 59% crown on the 2.27 and 56.1% crown on the AGS 2.058.
A cool effect is holding something shiny and black above them to shade them from the diffused sunlight and fluorescent office lighting- lots going on.
Anyways, any opinions? Remember the larger GIA is a savings of $1,322 over the AGS.
For some reason the pics came out bad... don''t show much and blurry... I''ll try to take better pics later.
Thanks- John

 

[Lorelei]

They both sound like excellent diamonds John, do you have a preference between them now you have been able to compare them?

 

[John NC]

OK... drumroll please! ...

Went with the 2.058 AGS-000.
I came up with a new highly scientific test to judge light return. In diffused lighting cup your hands around the 2 stones side by side mounted in a folded piece of paper, use a hole punch to make 2 holes about 2 inches apart in white paper to display the diamonds. Well while shading the diamonds blur your eyes to the point of getting a headache, and get real close and you can judge which diamond has a better light show.
OK so not so scientific but I did notice that the slightly smaller AGS seemed to have a bit more brilliance. Otherwise they are both awesome.
Candle light does make them look yellow but it''s a neat effect.
Fluorescent lights might be in your garage or in your kitchen ceiling... you know the old tube lights? Really gets the diamond going.
Took them to the appraiser (DCA Diamontologist/ GIA Gemologist/ Appraiser) and he sat down with his microscope and various lights and tools and reviewed both stones with me. The AGS won out in most categories so I went with it. He pretty much immediately pointed out a feather under the table to me, which I hadn''t seen... but once he showed it to me I could pick it out without too much trouble.
He said the AGS was just better all around.
Speaking of the STRONG FL- NO IMPACT on the color or clarity of the GIA even in direct high noon sunlight. They both throw off the same level of blue fire (along with all the colors of the rainbow it seems).

OH almost forgot- asked Amanda Friday night and she said YES! Very excited.

Her coworker is a diamond nut and wants me to send over all the specs. Amanda said she keeps coming over and checking it out. I have the "GCAL Audit" accompanying the AGS triple ideal grading report, says it qualifies for the GCAL "Zero Tolerance" 4 C''s consumer quarantee. Includes photomicrographs, optical symmetry analysis (EX), optical brilliance analysis (EX), Cut stats (ideal cut, ex. light performance, ex. finish, ex. proportions etc). Pretty cool.
Seems like a pretty good deal for such a well cut diamond- $11,943 (stone only).
Anyways, thanks to ALL!
John

 

[Lorelei]

LOL- CONGRATS John on your pick and your engagement!!!

Pictures...?

 

[Kaleigh]

Congrats John. Can''t wait to see some pics!!!