Before buying a diamond online...

[unleash10]

What do you guys do?
How do you insure that you are making the right choice?

I am planning to buy a diamond/setting from whiteflash, but I don't know what to do to make sure I am getting the right stone.
Do you guys just buy it , and have it shipped to your place? Do you talk to customer service before on the quality of the diamond? Do you get it appraised after receiving it?
Can I get it appraised if they already put it on the setting??

Thank you

 

[Didine]

If, you're buying from WF, I sugest you stick to their in-house stones (ACA, Expert selection and premium selection) because all of the info and images such as ASET and Idealscopes are already provided. Since the stones are in-house, you can discuss your specific criteria with them such as the stone being eye clean to your standards and etc. You can get stone appraised loose or you could get the ring appraised after it's been set, that choice is totally up to you. WF has a return policy, so if you're unhappy about the stone or ring you can contact them and go from there. If you know what shape you're getting, you can post your budget and specs and we can help you find a great stone.

 

[TC1987]

^ Good advice. Color is probably the only ting that you cant really judge any way but to look at diamonds in person. D to H or I is white for e-rings. I is where most people can start to notice a bit of tint (I know I can see tint in an I color diamond, and it's obvious in a princess cut so maybe D-G or high H for princess.) J and lower are okay for some people but far too yellow for others.


I won't say that all the super ideal H&A diamond are the same, but they are going to be pretty similar. I bought mine from Good Old Gold, and one of the reasons that I did so was GOG provided so many different ways to "see" and visualize the diamond without actually going to the store. In particular, I used the online live Brilliant Scope / Gemex, and the Gem Adviser model, and I studied the light/dark contrast and the way the light played over and reflected from the diamond, much like I'd do by tilting and rocking the diamond while inspecting it in person. I don't want to scare you off, but the ideal cut diamonds can have subtle nuances, and I actually bought one diamond that was kind of a little bland, and then I upgraded it a couple of years later to a larger one that is just perfectly Wow. But to be fair, I'd also studied what angles and girdle facets and arrows widths I seemed to gravitate to, and I better understood the reports and data analysis on the second purchase than I did on the first. I am not saying that the first diamond was bad. It was a gorgeous diamond. It was 99.0% what I wanted, but the one I traded for was exactly 100%. I was buying this diamond for myself, and thus I was being extremely 1) frugal, and 2) picky. I was trading off certain things to keep the price just as low as I could.

fwiw, I prefer the smaller table sizes like 55%-56% and a decent crown angle, for fire. Pricescope identified a "firey ideal" and a "brilliant ideal" and there are sets of crown + pavilion angle pairings that correspond to those labels. And also a range that gives great light return and decent balance between fire and brilliance across the board in many different lighting conditions.

I saved this guideline from thread [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-are-the-perfect-diamond-proportions.167553/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/what-are-the-perfect-diamond-proportions.167553/[/URL] and it appears on here elsewhere as "the cheat sheet," lol.

depth - 60 - 62%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees
girdle - thin to slightly thick, thin to medium, etc (avoid very thin or thick)
polish and symmetry - very good and above

note - with crown and pavilion angles at the shallower ends ( CA 34- PA 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35- PA 41) check to make sure these angles complement in that particular diamond - eyeballs, Idealscope, trusted vendor input - check as appropriate!

Also, configurations depend on each other. A little give here can still work with a little take there.

With that said, here''s a "Cliff''s Notes" for staying near Tolkowsky/ideal angles with GIA reports (their numbers are rounded): A crown angle of 34.0, 34.5 or 35.0 is usually safe with a 40.8 pavilion angle. If pavilion angle = 40.6 lean toward a 34.5-35.0 crown. If pavilion angle = 41 lean toward a 34.0-34.5 crown.

GIA "EX" in cut is great at its heart, but it ranges a bit wider than some people prefer, particularly in deep combinations (pavilion > 41 with crown > 35). In other words, there are some GIA Excellents that are better than others.

Also, always check diameter to be sure stone faces up as large as it should, ex: 1 ct. 6.5mm, 1.5 cts. 7.4mm, etc.

Don't let me scare you off. If whatever you buy doesn't wow you, you can return it and get something else. Diamonds have to be seen. The super ideals with H&A pattern are quite homogenous in appearance and the differences and nuances tend to be more subtle. There are lots of gorgeous diamonds here in Show Me The Bling, and most of them were bought online.