Basic Hearts & Arrows questions

[JP13]

Like a lot of people, I'm shopping for an engagement ring. Settled on roughly 1.25 carats, G-H, VS1-VS2, GIA EX or AGS Ideal, HCA under 2.0.

Considering a H&A diamond, and curious to hear from those of you know know a lot more than me...

Would the average person (like me) plainly see the difference between an AGS Ideal, and an AGS Ideal H&A? I assume most AGS Ideal stones are already going to perform extremely well. So I'm trying to gauge how much could you improve by "upgrading" to a H&A like WF's ACA?

What would you expect a reasonable price difference to be, assuming all other things are equal? Is $1K in the ballpark for the bump from an AGS Ideal diamond to the same thing but AGS H&A/ACA?

I guess in plain terms I'm trying to decide 1) how significant/noticeable the difference is and 2) what the typical premium costs. With that I can decide if the price difference is worth it or if I should use the $ to bump from H to G, get something a little bigger, etc.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You can easily gauge the price difference by looking at WF's ACA versus their Expert Selection. I have some ACA's and I have a regular GIA excellent cut, and it is difficult to tell the difference. I think it is mainly mental knowing you have "the best". But we all have to balance out the specs we want with our budget. If the budget allows, get the ACA. But if not, you can get a great AGS Ideal cut or GIA Excellent cut and no one but you will know the difference.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi,

I had both 2 ACAs and an Expert Selection of the same sizes and couldn't tell the difference. I compared those to my really nicely cut non H&A and only can see the difference when looking under my ideal scope.... But, these are diamonds smaller than a 1.25. For that size, I'd look at the Expert Selection line. You're going to get a great diamond and save a bit of money. If you save $1K, you can get a little matching pendant to go with the new ring

 

[JP13]

That's valuable feedback diamondseeker and MC. Much appreciated!

It sounds like a very good quality AGS Ideal would be tough (for a knucklehead like me) to differentiate from the same-spec AGS Ideal diamond that's "ACA." Or at least when they're not right beside each other. Seems like spending the extra $1K or so might have more impact increasing size or improving color...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

That's valuable feedback diamondseeker and MC. Much appreciated!

It sounds like a very good quality AGS Ideal would be tough (for a knucklehead like me) to differentiate from the same-spec AGS Ideal diamond that's "ACA." Or at least when they're not right beside each other. Seems like spending the extra $1K or so might have more impact increasing size or improving color...

Yeah, be sure to look at color, in person, as well before deciding. I went up in color on my ES (purchased an E) but discovered, as a pendant, it looked too icy white and I preferred slightly warmer stones (my G is perfect), so I would, in the future, look at ES but of about the g/h range. I have a D but it's bezel set in platinum, but it doesn't have that pure ice color the E had.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Like a lot of people, I'm shopping for an engagement ring. Settled on roughly 1.25 carats, G-H, VS1-VS2, GIA EX or AGS Ideal, HCA under 2.0.

Considering a H&A diamond, and curious to hear from those of you know know a lot more than me...

Would the average person (like me) plainly see the difference between an AGS Ideal, and an AGS Ideal H&A? I assume most AGS Ideal stones are already going to perform extremely well. So I'm trying to gauge how much could you improve by "upgrading" to a H&A like WF's ACA?

What would you expect a reasonable price difference to be, assuming all other things are equal? Is $1K in the ballpark for the bump from an AGS Ideal diamond to the same thing but AGS H&A/ACA?

I guess in plain terms I'm trying to decide 1) how significant/noticeable the difference is and 2) what the typical premium costs. With that I can decide if the price difference is worth it or if I should use the $ to bump from H to G, get something a little bigger, etc.

Thanks for any insight!

no,i can't see the difference.

my guess is about 4% more for H&A stones.