Beginning the Hunt for a Marquise

[notso]

Hello all,
Thought I''d introduce myself as I''ll probably be asking for some opinions before too long. I''m an Ensign in Navy flight school right now and have met the girl of my dreams. Looking to get her a marquise based on numerous hints. I lurked on here for sometime arming myself with the basic knowledge then went out to the local jewelry stores to realize their prices were much higher than sites like whiteflash.com for inferior stones (on paper at least). My budget for the stone is about 2500, and after thinking about it and reading the input on this forum, along with the stones I saw in local stores I think I''m looking for VS-SI1 and G or H in color to get the most bang for my buck. When I searched for ideal cut parameters based on table and depth these tended to show that the stones I can afford are in the 3/4 carat range. This will work great with the setting I have planned. I''m really excited about this, and once I get in narrowed down a little more on diamonds I will post the ones I am considering, and maybe a sketch of the setting if I can get it.
My one question is about girdle. It seems that there is a wide range acceptable for a 1A or B cut so I''m wondering what is the real story with it and how important is it. Thanks a lot.

 

[honey22]

Fancy shapes are harder to purchase sight unseen and can''t be bought from the numbers.

Whiteflash will be lots better in price than B&M stores and you will get a much better cut stone. They are less common cuts so I don''t know you will get lots of feedback here even with photos, so I would suggest you give Whiteflash a call and discuss what size, colour and clarity stone you can get with your budget

Don''t forget to come back here with pics

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/27/2008 8:02:07 AM
Author: honey22
Fancy shapes are harder to purchase sight unseen and can''t be bought from the numbers.

Whiteflash will be lots better in price than B&M stores and you will get a much better cut stone. They are less common cuts so I don''t know you will get lots of feedback here even with photos, so I would suggest you give Whiteflash a call and discuss what size, colour and clarity stone you can get with your budget

Don''t forget to come back here with pics

Ditto - please use any charts as a guide only, otherwise you could miss out on some lovely diamonds which could suit you perfectly. As to the girdle, you want to avoid very thin, extremely thin unless you have the guidance of an expert vendor who can see the stone, and tell you if it is a potential durability issue or not. Otherwise look at the whole diamond, also you will need a vendor who can provide photos and ASET images otherwise you are just buying blind with fancy shapes, WF should be able to provide these images for you.