Are there smaller, yet high quality Princess cuts?

Number6 · May 13, 2004

Good day!

First off, I have been reading the site for a few weeks, soaking up information. So I first want to thank all the contributors to this site and the forum for the wealth of great info.

I''m in the market for an engagement ring.

The "recommendations" (err.. "instructions"?) from my special lady are as follows: Princess Cut, Cathedral Setting, Yellow Gold.

Other than that, I''m on my own.

After getting some diamond education and looking at the budget, I am looking for something like this:

.8 to 1 Carat
D or E
VVS2 - VVS1
Very Good Cut
1.00 to 1.06 Len/Width Ratio

I found a few of the on Blue Nile and a few more on WhiteFlash. Other than those it seems I really can''t comparison shop much online since there seems to be very few diamonds that meet these criteria. A few of the sites recommended on this site were lucky to find one or two in my range.

Am I looking for something that''s just really rare or what?

For the few that I do find in my range, should I get sarin results? (I think those are available for the Princess cut, yes?)

Also, one of the sites I read warned against putting a colorless diamond in a yellow gold setting, but I haven''t seen this advice corroborated on other sites. I don''t know what to make of it.

Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Rhino · May 13, 2004

Hi Number6,

My response will be in the bold.

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On 5/13/2004 1:50:00 PM Number6 wrote:

Am I looking for something that's just really rare or what?

Yes. Especially if you are looking for finely cut princess cuts.

For the few that I do find in my range, should I get sarin results? (I think those are available for the Princess cut, yes?)

Yes and yes. The question is do you know how to interpret the numbers from the Sarin of a princess cut?

Also, one of the sites I read warned against putting a colorless diamond in a yellow gold setting, but I haven't seen this advice corroborated on other sites. I don't know what to make of it.

Sounds like a good reason for them to try and talk you into a lower color stone. I am not against lower colors if the cut compensates for it but I'd have to see the hard proof of that before dropping the $$$.

Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

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Hope that helps.

Number6 · May 13, 2004

Thanks for the reply Rhino.

I think I know what to do with the Sarin, I take the results and look up the values on the AGA chart to get a sense of the quality of the cut. (If I'm wrong, please correct me!)

I happen to have found a diamond that fits my needs (I think) but the sarin and the GIA report differ on things such as the dimensions of the diamond. I'm not sure what to make of that, since length/width is crucial in Princess cuts.

Here is what I am considering:

GIA Cert says
.9 C
E color
VVS2
depth 69.7
table 73
Girdle Thin to Thick
Polish/Sym VG/VG
Culet None
5.61 - 5.23 - 3.63 dimensions
L/W ratio 1.08

Sarin report says
Sarin reports dimensions as 5.59 - 5.22 - 3.64
L/W ratio 1.07
girdle 3.1%
crown angle 43
crown% 9.2
Pavilion Angle 59.6
Pavilion% 56.1
Total Depth 69.7%
Pavilion Depth 2.93mm 56.1%
Table size 3.81mm
Culet off center .04mm
Table off center .05mm
Table off culet .08mm

If I understood everything correctly (far from likely) then I have a final grade of 2A on the Cut Report from gemappraisers.com.

I'm not sure if I want to take up the yellow gold/colorless diamond fight, since the yellow gold directive is from the special lady and I don't want to make an issue of it. (She's going to wear it after all!)

I attached a picture of the idealscope and it looks to my untrained eye that there is gray and white around the edges but that's to be expected with princess cuts, yes?

There were very few diamonds to choose from for this ring, so I hope I found a good one.

Any advice/thoughts/feedback appreciated...