Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Better value: Smaller G or Larger I?

D

dandyman11

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
19
Tough call. The G is a branded ACA cut, but the I has better clarity and is larger. I think the decision would depend on 2 things:

1) Is the G eye-clean to your standards? Ask WF to have an eagle-eyed individual inspect it from various distances/angles. If not, I'd immediately rule it out and get the I.

2) How color-sensitive are you? Most people would consider I-J the beginning of the range where you may see some warmth. Some (like myself) aren't very color-sensitive and can't tell an I from a D face-up. (My princess is an I, by the way.) G diamonds, on the other hand, take an extremely sharp eye for color to distinguish from a D-F diamond. So if you're particularly color-sensitive, go for the G; if not, the I is still in the running.

In the event that you're not color-sensitive and the SI1 is eye-clean, leaving both in the running, I *think* I would choose the G just because it's an ACA and the size difference isn't big enough for me to notice.
 
Let's see if numbers can help you.

I color diamond:
Selected: 61.4% depth, 56.6% table, 34.8° crown angle, 40.8° pavilion angle
Light Return Excellent
Fire Excellent
Scintillation Excellent
Spread or diameter for weight Very Good
Total Visual Performance 1.4 - Excellent within TIC range

G color diamond:
Selected: 61.2% depth, 55.5% table, 34.8° crown angle, 40.8° pavilion angle
Light Return Excellent
Fire Excellent
Scintillation Excellent
Spread or diameter for weight Very Good
Total Visual Performance 1.4 - Excellent within TIC range

They are both excellent performers, but I 'd go with the I color because :
the G has to many flaws for my tastes (I inspected it with the virtual loupe)
the I is bigger
the flourescence, although negligible, will help the I color to seem whiter
 
H color is usually my preference for a ring stone, but I am getting an I-J pair of earring stones because you simply can't see them from the side when on the ears! I am picky about clarity and some SI1's would bug me. So this is a toss up, really.
 
Well,you know the saying- "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I think the same is true when talking about a better value. Here on PS you will find split views- lower color and bigger carat is a better value.... while others feel the opposite.

1. Have you / future FI looked at stones in person to determine your color sensitivity? If not, that is a good starting point. You can easily plug in numbers to the HCA calculator and determine throught the numbers- and online vendor pics if the cut is good, but color is not that easy to determine remotely. It may serve you well to go into a store and look at G, H, I color stones to see how you both feel.

2. Clarity- most people here on PS say they just want eyeclean (cannot see any visible inclusions with the naked eye) while others want a mind clean- knowing there are pretty much no inclusions at all. How do you feel on the issue?

3. carat- I don't know that a .1..... difference in carat will be noticable to you or anyone else, so you can pretty much say for this stone it's the same in size...essentially. If you can see a slight difference, will it be noticable to pick the stone soley based on size? really up to you.


IMHO I would go with the better quality stone and leave carat aside since it's sooo close. Better quality really is what YOU think is most important... I would say cut is a huge factor as it will make it have more sparkle, hide color better, etc.
 
The I is reserved now - I hope you did that because some lurkers and PS'ers would steal the gold out of your teeth if it was a bargain :tongue: .

Did you ask about the G SI - and whether that 12 o'clock inclusion is eye clean?

For me a G SI and a J VS are the same in value both have possible good and bad points depending on YOUR preference.
 
Hmm... I had a 1.25 "I" that I ended up trading a few months later for a G because the color really bothered me.

Like the others have said, though, color is subjective. Many women would prefer the larger stone and better clarity. "I" is certainly not an unattractive color, perhaps just a bit less crisp than the G or colorless range. I actually think the colors that came off my "I" when it showed fire were in some ways more beautiful.

Color will also be more obvious the higher you go in carat size. At 1.224, I'd make sure you are comfortable with a little warmth.

HTH!
 
I'd go with the G (if eye-clean), the size difference isn't that much and I prefer the higher color. But, as the other posters have said, color is a matter of personal preference.
 
I will go check out the G to see how eye-clean it is. Is Whiteflash pretty good at informing you how "eye-clean" it is over the phone?
 
1.116 Carat Round
G
SI1

Depth % 61.6
Table % 56.7
Crown Angle 34.8
Star 54.0
Pavilion Angle 40.9
Crown % 15.0
Lower Girdle % 79.0
Measurements 6.65x6.66x4.10
Culet Pointed
Fluorescence Negligible
Girdle Thin to Medium Faceted

"Eye-Clean"
 
size always - I personally cannot think of a time where two equally well cut eye clean diamonds wouldn't have the bigger one winning lol
 
I would go for the larger I, that looks like a pretty nice diamond.....
 
I would go with size, too. All things being equal, why wouldn't you go with the larger diamond.

*sigh. But i think since all things aren't equal I'm probably going to go with the G color ACA.

I think there's a higher likelihood of her noticing the tint in color over her wishing her diamond was 0.2mm larger. She wears a 4.5 ring size so I'm hoping her finger is skinny enough to wear the Diamond still looks fairly large.

Thanks for all of your opinion and help guys!

Wish me luck!
 
Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top