BGD Blue Diamond opinions Appreciated!!

[Snowy]

Hello!

Serious lurker here!

Finally making the jump and buying the diamond! But want to make sure that it's the right one and need PSer's expertise! The current diamond we have on hold and are looking to purchase is below:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=BLAGS-104052029007

BGD mentioned that there are more diamonds on the way but we aren't sure if we want to wait and risk losing this diamond. To my eye, the ASET, stats etc look great. I'm thinking it will be completely eye-clean, face up white (w/ medium fluor) and hopefully there is good finger coverage (size 4-5 ring size).

I am looking for a hearts and arrows around the 10,000 mark that is a crazy fiery sparkler and completely eye clean even one inch away from the face and looks very very white, especially as it is going to have F/G sidetones. I prefer icy white but with the price, I think I'll have to stick with G/H. So far this seems the best for the price point. I'd rather go up in carat and lose clarity as long as it's eye-clean. And I wonder how different the grading is between AGS and GIA.

I'd love to hear expert PS opinions!!

 

[slg47]

this one looks great!!! but you did mention you wanted H&A...BGD Blue are not sold as H&A. The IS/ASET looks great though. If you are interested, perhaps ask them for a hearts image? Also, if you are concerned about the color you could get it shipped to you before you get it set.

 

[Snowy]

I'm not big on the H&A, just the fire, scintillation and the light return it provides! My fiancé really likes the look of it though.

H&A is out of the budget for the specs we want, but I figure any line that has BGD on it would be a very beautiful cut diamond.

slg: I've seen your ring before in three stone threads! The Grace pear sidetone setting with a princess? Love the avvy!

 

[slg47]

I'm not big on the H&A, just the fire, scintillation and the light return it provides! My fiancé really likes the look of it though.

H&A is out of the budget for the specs we want, but I figure any line that has BGD on it would be a very beautiful cut diamond.

slg: I've seen your ring before in three stone threads! The Grace pear sidetone setting with a princess? Love the avvy!

Well, with this one you should see arrows/fire/scintillation. It looks to be a beautifully cut diamond that's for sure!

my three-stone is actually a custom design from BGD...it looks similar to the Grace 3-stone pears from the top but has a different profile

 

[centralsquare]

The stone looks great!

 

[Snowy]

I hope! From all the research I've done it seems great. I was hoping there were more choices such as lower clarity so I could go bigger with carat size and a little concerned about the icy whiteness of it or lack thereof.

Going to speak with Brian Gavin soon so very excited and more reassured from hearing that the stone looks great! Want the ring asap so wondering if we should ship it to us or just buy blind.

 

[Snowy]

And for some reason HCA comes up with an error saying that the girdle is dangerously thin and won't give a score.

The price seemed to jump from a couple months ago, so I think this is very good for the price??

 

[slg47]

And for some reason HCA comes up with an error saying that the girdle is dangerously thin and won't give a score.

The price seemed to jump from a couple months ago, so I think this is very good for the price??

maybe you entered something incorrectly...I get HCA 0.8

Total Visual Performance 0.8 - Excellent
within TIC range

 

[Snowy]

You're right! I was doing something wrong. I put in the data from the AGS report and got 0.7 for the HCA score.

But I've been told that some diamonds that score under 1 aren't the best and most people prefer 1-1.5. I'm searching and trying to research more on this topic on pricescope at the moment to figure out why and what I do regarding this piece of news.

 

[slg47]

You're right! I was doing something wrong. I put in the data from the AGS report and got 0.7 for the HCA score.

But I've been told that some diamonds that score under 1 aren't the best and most people prefer 1-1.5. I'm searching and trying to research more on this topic on pricescope at the moment to figure out why and what I do regarding this piece of news.

anything under 2 is 'equal' on the HCA test...it is just 'under 2' and 'over 2'. This diamond has a great IS image and ASET image which trumps HCA. so there is nothing to worry about!

 

[Amys Bling]

looks like a beautiful stone. I would be curious as to whether or not BGD has a tad lower clarity since you said would wouldn't mind going lower in clarity to go up in carat.

 

[Snowy]

slg47: most likely going to make the final decision in a couple hours! Very excited to hear this especially as we might just be buying blind. Thanks for your informative answers, they were super reassuring!!

Amy's Bling: Definitely one of the questions I want to ask once Brian Gavin calls back! I would prefer with the same price point a bigger carat since it can still be eye clean with VS2 or SI1. But the images look so good for this stone! I really do wonder how it looks in person and is affected by sidetones that are F/G and in platinum.

It just seems a lot pricier than the BGD Blues I've seen purchased by PSers earlier this year!

 

[swingirl]

slg47: most likely going to make the final decision in a couple hours! Very excited to hear this especially as we might just be buying blind. Thanks for your informative answers, they were super reassuring!!

Amy's Bling: Definitely one of the questions I want to ask once Brian Gavin calls back! I would prefer with the same price point a bigger carat since it can still be eye clean with VS2 or SI1. But the images look so good for this stone! I really do wonder how it looks in person and is affected by sidetones that are F/G and in platinum.

It just seems a lot pricier than the BGD Blues I've seen purchased by PSers earlier this year!

Diamond prices have gone up this year. A lot!

 

[OCgirl]

I am a BGD Blue owner. My engagement ring stone spec is very similar to what you are purchasing. Mine is a 1.22 ct G SI1 with medium blue fluor. I originally wanted an F color stone in the carat range but this stone presented itself and was a lil bit under our budget (would've grabbed a bigger carat with the same specs but there wasn't any other). We set it in a six prong solitaire so might be different from what you're looking for.

All I can say is the G color with the excellent cut blows me away. It is so white I am super happy with it. I used to think I need an F to satisfy my color sensitive eyes but now I'm a firm believer that cut makes ALL the difference. The BGD blue outshines my De Beers solitaire pendant (also an ideal cut) wayyyy much. It's such a fireball and it pretty much grabs ANY light in the room. It can even shine in a dim bathroom (yea I know. I tried). The medium blue flour is barely detectable. I saw some glimpse of blue shine under the sunlight one day and that's about it (I live in California), even though I wouldn't mind more. I'm gonna consider a stone with strong blue next time

Congrats on your upcoming purchase and don't forget to show us the ring when you get it!!

 

[OCgirl]

Oh and I forgot to mention I also wear a 4-5 ring size. My ring size is 4.5 and the 1.22 ct provides GREAT finger coverage. You'll love it!

 

[minmin001]

looks like a beautiful stone~

 

[Snowy]

if you click on it now it says...

SOLD

I would actually like to go up carat and lower clarity but the ASET etc looks amazing!! Still in debate if I should hold out on production just to check out the other stones in my price range. Brian Gavin mentioned that with the lower HCA score it will have less fire but I think the stone will be fantastic!

 

[atp223]

hey snowy! my boyfriend and i just bought a blue!! we had two BGD stones shipped an appraiser during our search, an I from the signature line, and a slightly bigger J from the blue line.

i had wanted a bigger one, so we only had the J appraised, but we looked at the hearts and arrows through an H&A viewer with the appraiser, and he said he actually liked the hearts of the blue stone better - meaning, they were there and fabulous . i know they are not branded like that, but there is probably a good chance most of those stones still have them.

anyway, the J got a 0.6 on the HCA, and it still looked plenty firey and gorgeous to me. also, the I was SO white - the J was really pretty but not quite white enough for me. we ended up going with another I from the blue line; it is SI1 and supposedly eye clean - I am desperately hoping it really is and can't wait to see it for myself!

but anyway, i just wanted to tell you that the blues are gorgeous, and 0.6 HCA was still firey, and that if the I without fluorescence looked super white, then I bet the H with fluor will be absolutely amazing. congrats!!!

ETA: http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=BLAGS-104052029014 that is the J we looked at. If anyone is in the market for a J...this is a gorgeous stone!!

 

[Snowy]

i'm pretty excited about the diamond but I'm not sure why I didn't see the cloud and the other inclusion on the face of the diamond. I'm a bit worried that it'd be able to be seen from an inch away from the face and that would actually really bother me. A LOT. So might hold off to see more choices later but either way I know that I'll be working with BGD a lot in the future. It was a pleasure talking to Brian Gavin this morning, who consoled us about buying blind!

 

[atp223]

snowy - I am a total newbie, so maybe those who know more can chime in, but the diamond you are looking at is VS1, right? I'm pretty sure there is no way you would be able to see the inclusions in a VS1 stone...

also, when we first started looking, and vendors would tell us that an SI1 (a clarity grade at which you DO have to worry about seeing inclusions) was "eye clean" from 6 inches away, I was like "what does that mean??? that from 5 inches you can see the inclusions??" and then I tried to focus on a diamond that was less than 5 or 6 inches away (esp less than 4), and it was hard and gave me a headache. hold something an inch in front of your eye - unless you are incredibly near-sighted, I don't see how you could focus on something that close!

if you want to wait for more diamonds in case you can get a bigger one, totally do it, but I don't think you should worry about the inclusions in a VS1!

 

[Snowy]

atp223: I didn't even think about that! Thanks for the reassurance!!

OCgirl! I am definitely going to have to search through and look at your ring! The specs are very similar except yours is a whiter color! i'm so excited to hear from your experiences!

 

[slg47]

atp223: I didn't even think about that! Thanks for the reassurance!!

OCgirl! I am definitely going to have to search through and look at your ring! The specs are very similar except yours is a whiter color! i'm so excited to hear from your experiences!

how do you plan to set the diamond?

also, atp is right...no need to worry about VS1 inclusions...they will not be visible to the naked eye.

 

[Dreamer_D]

There is no way you will see inclusion in a VS1 with the naked eye, don't worry

 

[centralsquare]

With it GIA/AGS grading, there isn't a need to worry. I have a VS2 and I cannot see any inclusions.

 

[Snowy]

Definitely reassured. I love this stone after looking at the ASET... but we shall see. BGD kept mentioning how great the IS and ASET looked but I just realized I'm not sure if he ever said how great it looked in person.

But can't wait for it! I just want to make sure that I'm getting the biggest brightest diamond for the price but I think my mind is just in the pricing of diamonds it was like 2 years ago when I first/last looked into it. I think back then 8500 could get a great RB around 1.6 ct centerstone. Now, not so much. Seems like you can't hit the 1.5 mark with my price range for the completely eye-clean, white, RB, similar to H&A.

Random comment: Went to Tiffany's today to get sized for a ring that was so similar to what I'm getting and the price? $36,000. E VVS1 1.26? ct centerstone and .65 tcw for two sidestones in platinum. My jaw dropped a little. I was also surprised how snooty and condescending the saleslady was to us when I had mentioned we were looking elsewhere as well for similar rings. Wouldn't even properly size us when we asked, I'm guessing since she figured we wouldn't buy anything right then and there so didn't want to waste time bringing out sizers. So glad we had already decided to work with BGD.

 

[m-2-b]

What did Brian say was coming in the pipeline from his recent trip overseas? More of his Blue line or Signature H&A?

 

[Phoenix]

What did Brian say was coming in the pipeline from his recent trip overseas? More of his Blue line or Signature H&A?

Yes, I'd like to know too. Thx.

Snowy, the reason that Brian mentioned the IS and ASET images being great is to prove to you that the stone will be one firey, sparkly diamond when you do see it in person. I have bought 8 diamonds from Brian, one of which is a "blue" and they're all BEAUTIFUL!! I trust Brian implicitly.

ETA: Actually, I've bought 10 diamonds from Brian (2 have been returned for an upgrade). The latest 2 are 0.44ct each to be put into a 5-stone ring. I'm waiting for him to get me the other 3 stones. I have no doubt they'll all be amazing.

 

[OCgirl]

atp223: I didn't even think about that! Thanks for the reassurance!!

OCgirl! I am definitely going to have to search through and look at your ring! The specs are very similar except yours is a whiter color! i'm so excited to hear from your experiences!

Ahhh you won't be able to find pictures of my ring (except for my profile pic). I'm still waiting for my bf to propose!!!
Sorry I wish I could share some pictures with you BUT if you search BGD blue I know there are quite a few other Pricescopers who also own BGD Blues.

To also chime in on the VS1 clarity issue - you won't see anything!!! Even my SI1 is eye clean and I remember I was so paranoid I told Brian it has to be eye clean from 3 inches. The standard 6 - 9 inches wasn't good enough for me. And it was super clean. I'm sure the VS1 is MORE than clean (I'm sure if that's possible ).

Let us know what you decide!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I will also chime in and say that it is hard to see inclusions with a 10x loupe in a VS1 stone! It is my favorite clarity! I think your stone will be gorgeous!

Also, just FYI and to hopefully make you feel better, no, you couldn't get an ideal cut 1.6 ct. in your spec range for $8500 two years ago. Mine is 1.63 H VS1 H&A and it was $14,000 5 years ago and would sell for around $21,000 now. Diamonds have definitely gone up, but going above 1.5 cts. was always a big price jump. You would have had to go to much lower color and clarity even back then to get into the below $10k price range for well cut stones.

 

[Snowy]

Hmm I'm not sure what I was looking at before I'm all sorts of crazy as you may tell!

Basically I'm in love with this stone. The more I look at it, the more I fall deeper in love if even possible!! No doubts, and I don't want to wait. I just want to get it now and say "this is the ring I want to pass to any future children" I just cannot wait whatsoever. This will be the longest weeks of my life before I get married to the love of my life with the perfect ring, and start the perfect life!