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Ben Bridge 3carat?????

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cutie1515

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I have 2 options with my e-ring.

1. a 30grand ritani 2carat yellow diamond (with .50 carats of tiny pave diamonds around the yellow diamond and down the band)

2. a 3 carat ring from ben bridge. now (this is the one i really want to know about) i e-mailed ben bridge about the ring and the basic stats on it and this is what they gave me

and again, these were just rough estimates on the general ring

it''s 23grand (which seems a little low, but maybe i am mistaken)

and below is EXACTLY what was sent to me in the e-mail from ben bridge (i just copied and pasted it)

at least I1 in clarity, and at least J in color
Many will be H or I in color

All of these diamonds will have AGS documentation that accompanies them in the store with the specifics for each diamond.


do you think with such a huge rock, that...those stats would really show up in the ring and make it look bad? I mean, i guess i just want to know if we are paying that much for a ring, is it worth it? i mean, if your throwing down 25grand on a ring...you want it to look good.

just want peoples person opinions THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!
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jaz464

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You mention nothing about the cut of these diamonds. This has a huge impact on price and an even bigger impact on looks.

I would not want an I1 diamond, especiallly in 3 carats, even if it is AGS.

H, I, J colors can be just fine in RBs that have excellent cut.

Why are these your only options?
 

Sundial

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Personally I would not want I1 clarity in a diamond that large and I would have to see the J color in person to make sure that I was okay with the way it looked.
 

kenny

Super_Ideal_Rock
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For the same price you could get a much larger stone.
Just keep going down in clarity!

Seriously, wouldn't an eye-clean stone (without 3-carat bragging rights) be preferable?
 

cutie1515

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i''m sorry, i forgot to put the cut. it could be either a round or princess.

and those arn''t my only 2 options...those are just the 2 i have come down to.

I reallyl want the Ritani, my heart is with colored diamonds.

I also wanted something with a wow factor (which the ritani is) but I saw a 3 carat at ben bridge and saw the price and thought to myself "that is do-able"

I knew the stats didn''t sound good on the ben bridge ring, i have been looking at rings online and researching them for a yr now, but when it actually comes to putting the stats to what the ring will actually look like, i have no clue.

We are saving for a ring, and I saw the price of the B.B ring and i figured I wouldn''t have to wait as long, but I don''t want something that isn''t going to look good.

I think I''m going to go with the Ritani.

Thank you so much for helping me!
 

diamondseeker2006

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By cut, they are meaning cut quality, as in excellent, very good, etc. You might want to read this tutorial on the 4 C''s before buying a diamond. A 3 ct. stone for $25,000 is very bad news. I wouldn''t even consider it.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/
 

cutie1515

Rough_Rock
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Apr 4, 2006
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ben bridge didn''t give me the stats on the quality of the cut. I was on the pricescope thing on this site....but i''m not sure of the stats i should be looking for

like when it talks about the % of the depth and table (what is a good %)

what should i look for on the griddle?

and what is...

what should a good quality (not perfect but good to the eye) diamond be like for these 5 things???

Cul
Sym
Pol (i know this means polish)
Flr
Measurements

i really appreciate all of yalls help (i''m from texas, i say yall)
 

kcoursolle

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Jan 21, 2006
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10,595
I''d be leary from a place that doesn''t give specific cut quality info. Also, an I1 will not be eye-clean in a three carat stone. If you want a large stone and value for your money, check out this beautiful diamond below. It''s got great proportions and is better than J color and is an SI2.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&item=868726

It''s not quite the 3 carats you were going for, but it''s several thousand less and is excellent quality.
 

kcoursolle

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Date: 12/3/2006 7:48:02 PM
Author: cutie1515
ben bridge didn't give me the stats on the quality of the cut. I was on the pricescope thing on this site....but i'm not sure of the stats i should be looking for

like when it talks about the % of the depth and table (what is a good %)

what should i look for on the griddle?

and what is...

what should a good quality (not perfect but good to the eye) diamond be like for these 5 things???

Cul
Sym
Pol (i know this means polish)
Flr
Measurements

i really appreciate all of yalls help (i'm from texas, i say yall)

This is somewhat personal and comes largely down to "preferences." One thing to keep in mind is how the stone performs on the HCA cut advisor (see tools tab top of screen). A score of over 2.0 usually means you can toss it out and a score lower than two means that it has potential. There are other threads on this explaining the HCA better, but this is a start.

Here are my "preferences" for cut, and others may have slightly different preferences. I would suggest reading the tutorials on this site first so you know what these numbers mean.

depth: 60-62 (prefer 60-61 for spread, but 62 will still have nice performance)
table: 54-57
crown/pavillion: 34.4-35.0/40.5-40.9
girdle: thin to med, thin to slightly thick, med, etc. However, stay away from thick, ext thick, or very thin, ext thin
culet: VS or none is fine
polish/symmetry: VG, EX, or ID
Flour: I actually like a little blue flour. I would take anything from none to strong as long as the vendor said it didn't impact performance. I wouldn't want yellow flour though, just blue.
clarity: eye-clean, but value for $$. So...probably VS2-SI2.
color: J or better, maybe I or better in a 3 carat stone. I'm not that color sensitive though in a well-cut stone. Others might want higher color than me.
 

Cehrabehra

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Jun 29, 2006
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a 3 carat from a B&M that is 22k is one I''d probably run from!!!!
 

jaz464

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Jul 11, 2005
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Honestly, 20-30k is a lot of money to spend when you don't even understand cut. I would do a lot of research before plunking down that much money. By cut I did not mean shape. I meant table, depth, pavillion, crown, girdle, etc. information. These are crucial to learn about. I would worry less about color and clarity and start learing all you can about what makes for a superior cut.
 

jenniegirlm

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 18, 2006
Messages
165
How about scheduling an in-store consultation with Ben Bridge? Before that, do your research on the cut quality you prefer, print out stuff from the PS tutorials, and be armed with knowledge. Ask to speak with a staff member who is a GIA graduate. I think that Ben Bridge is the only mall store I walked into that had SOMEONE know what I was talking about. It turns out that she was taking GIA classes because the company encourages it and pays for it as well.
 

Lorelei

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Welcome
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You have a nice budget, spend it wisely. Learn about cut - that is what makes a diamond beautiful, then start looking and comparing the proportions of each diamond so you can get a feel for the light performance of each. Take a bit of time to do this and you won''t be sorry. For that budget you may not end up with 3 carats, but especially if you look online, you could end up with something of a nice size with a great cut. It isn''t so much an I1 clarity which can make a diamond unattractive, however once you get into the larger carat sizes it is very hard to find an eyeclean stone, but cut is the most important thing to give a diamond it''s beauty. Also a J colour can face up beautifully with a great cut.
 

winternight

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2006
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887
I know some people want to get the biggest stone possible but honestly the stone isn''t going to ''wow'' if it isn''t a great 3 ct. stone - well at least it isn''t going to wow anyone who knows even a little bit about diamonds, IMO. Just talked to my mom about a co-worker of her''s trying to brag about a 1.5 ct that didn''t have any ''shine'' according to my mom, she was very underimpressed b/c she could tell it wasn''t a great stone. So yeah I don''t think a stone that large with those stats would look good. Have you ever seen a larger diamond that''s cloudy or just doesn''t have much shine - its sad.

Also the bigger the stone the more color matters.

You have a great budget btw! You will get a gorgous ring.
 

cutie1515

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Messages
22
Thank all of you so much for your opinions and feedback. Like I said, I have my heart set on the yellow diamond ritani ring. I was VERY IFFY on the Ben Bridge...I knew it sounded to good to be true, but I just wanted to go on this board and i guess have the proof for it. I''m going to contact Ritani today.

I really do appreciate everything you guys had to say!
 
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