Blue Nile Dilema

[RC4806]

Ok, I have found two virtually identical diamonds on Blue Nile.

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-g-color-si2-clarity_LD01430310

http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-g-color-si2-clarity_LD01441310

They fit my specs and seem to be a great buy. Probelm is, I called Blue Nile and they told me they can''t provide any further information other than the lab report. Best they could do is I could request they check that after I order that it is eye-clean. So question is
a) Are they good enough that I take my chances on one, evaluate it on my own, and send it back if it doesn''t meet my expectations?
b) Pass on both and keep looking and forget Blue Nile?

If (a), anything that stands out? Or is it a coin-flip?

 

[Lorelei]

They both look good, great proportions and so on, without Idealscope it would be reasonable to assume they will be good performers - but of course one can't say without actual images. But personally I think if you were buying by numbers alone these would be a fair bet. What I would do now is to see what the verdict is on which is eyeclean, make sure the BN rep understands your expectations concerning this. I know you don't have to officially order a diamond for them to check it is eyeclean...? Have you reserved either of these diamonds?

 

[Mrs W]

I would not buy a SI2 from blue nile bc you never know if eyeclean or not....stone 2 i think would be more eyeclean but there was no plot so I dont really know. Both diamonds would be nice stones cut wise and you do have 30 days to send back if you are not happy with the clarity and the price is really good to pass up on. Hard decision....Have you considered going down in color to get the size you want from a better dealer like WF?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 12/15/2008 10:27:46 AM
Author: Lorelei
They both look good, great proportions and so on, without Idealscope it would be reasonable to assume they will be good performers - but of course one can''t say without actual images. But personally I think if you were buying by numbers alone these would be a fair bet. What I would do now is to see what the verdict is on which is eyeclean, make sure the BN rep understands your expectations concerning this. I know you don''t have to officially order a diamond for them to check it is eyeclean...? Have you reserved either of these diamonds?

Agreed. Reserve and have them check for eyecleanliness using YOUR standards.

 

[RC4806]

Yes, I have found an H SI1 from James Allen. Here is the Idealscope. Now what do you think?

 

[RC4806]

Date: 12/15/2008 10:37:28 AM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 12/15/2008 10:27:46 AM
Author: Lorelei
They both look good, great proportions and so on, without Idealscope it would be reasonable to assume they will be good performers - but of course one can''t say without actual images. But personally I think if you were buying by numbers alone these would be a fair bet. What I would do now is to see what the verdict is on which is eyeclean, make sure the BN rep understands your expectations concerning this. I know you don''t have to officially order a diamond for them to check it is eyeclean...? Have you reserved either of these diamonds?

Agreed. Reserve and have them check for eyecleanliness using YOUR standards.

Based on the "ship" dates posted on the site, I don''t think they are in-house. Do you think they would bring both in? I didn''t get that impression on the phone, but I''ll certainly call back.

 

[stone-cold11]

They will check for eye-cleanness since they still need to set it. If it is not to your expectation and you return it, they will loose $$ by not getting to an understanding with you in the first place.

 

[RC4806]

Alright, they are reserved and they will check eye-clenliness. I guess I talked to the wrong person earlier. No Idealscope images though.

 

[stone-cold11]

ya, they do not do IS image so you will just have to buy by numbers with BN.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/15/2008 10:56:17 AM
Author: RC4806
Alright, they are reserved and they will check eye-clenliness. I guess I talked to the wrong person earlier. No Idealscope images though.

Ok thanks for the clarification, I thought so.

The JA image looks good, do you have the proportions for the diamond please?

 

[RC4806]

Date: 12/15/2008 11:18:55 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 12/15/2008 10:56:17 AM
Author: RC4806
Alright, they are reserved and they will check eye-clenliness. I guess I talked to the wrong person earlier. No Idealscope images though.

Ok thanks for the clarification, I thought so.

The JA image looks good, do you have the proportions for the diamond please?

yes,

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?find=1&cid=130&item=1198903

 

[beach]

Will the culet being off center bother you?? Ideal scope looks good but symmetry seems off....

 

[RC4806]

Date: 12/15/2008 5:53:10 PM
Author: beach
Will the culet being off center bother you?? Ideal scope looks good but symmetry seems off....

Probably why the symmetry is listed only as very good. Anyway I think I''m going to go with one of the Blue Nile diamonds even though I can''t get an Idealscope. I like the specs better.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 12/16/2008 9:41:07 AM
Author: RC4806
Probably why the symmetry is listed only as very good. Anyway I think I''m going to go with one of the Blue Nile diamonds even though I can''t get an Idealscope. I like the specs better.

Here''s a suggestion, just slightly smaller/SI1, very well cut. Thought I''d throw it out there. Bankwire is discount.

http://goodoldgold.com/diamond/5133/

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Date: 12/16/2008 9:41:07 AM
Author: RC4806

Date: 12/15/2008 5:53:10 PM
Author: beach
Will the culet being off center bother you?? Ideal scope looks good but symmetry seems off....

Probably why the symmetry is listed only as very good. Anyway I think I''m going to go with one of the Blue Nile diamonds even though I can''t get an Idealscope. I like the specs better.

The specs are rounded averages of the actual measurement of 8 separate facets. They give you a good first indication.

The next step is to check the idealscope, the ASET, the H&A, possibly the full 3D-scan of the stone.

It depends upon your comfort-level how far you want to go with your search, and which risk you want to take.

Live long,

 

[RC4806]

Date: 12/16/2008 10:02:14 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 12/16/2008 9:41:07 AM
Author: RC4806
Probably why the symmetry is listed only as very good. Anyway I think I''m going to go with one of the Blue Nile diamonds even though I can''t get an Idealscope. I like the specs better.

Here''s a suggestion, just slightly smaller/SI1, very well cut. Thought I''d throw it out there. Bankwire is discount.

http://goodoldgold.com/diamond/5133/

Yes, I''ve taken a good hard look at that one. Slightly smaller than I wanted to go and stretching my budget. Not out of the question though.

 

[RC4806]

Date: 12/16/2008 10:17:11 AM
Author: Paul-Antwerp

Date: 12/16/2008 9:41:07 AM
Author: RC4806

Date: 12/15/2008 5:53:10 PM
Author: beach
Will the culet being off center bother you?? Ideal scope looks good but symmetry seems off....

Probably why the symmetry is listed only as very good. Anyway I think I''m going to go with one of the Blue Nile diamonds even though I can''t get an Idealscope. I like the specs better.

The specs are rounded averages of the actual measurement of 8 separate facets. They give you a good first indication.

The next step is to check the idealscope, the ASET, the H&A, possibly the full 3D-scan of the stone.

It depends upon your comfort-level how far you want to go with your search, and which risk you want to take.

Live long,

Except Blue Nile won''t provide all that. However, they do have a diamond that is in their "Signature Ideal" collection. It is a .87 that sizes up the same as the .90 from my post. It has a GCAL report which I haven''t done my full research on yet. Would this be a safer option than the origonal two I posted?

 

[RC4806]

forgot link:
http://www.bluenile.com/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-signature-ideal-cut-h-color-si1-clarity_LD01437697?__fun_frm=i&filter_id=0

 

[Mrs W]

^#''s look good

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Date: 12/16/2008 1:55:53 PM
Author: RC4806

Date: 12/16/2008 10:17:11 AM
Author: Paul-Antwerp

Date: 12/16/2008 9:41:07 AM
Author: RC4806

Date: 12/15/2008 5:53:10 PM
Author: beach
Will the culet being off center bother you?? Ideal scope looks good but symmetry seems off....

Probably why the symmetry is listed only as very good. Anyway I think I''m going to go with one of the Blue Nile diamonds even though I can''t get an Idealscope. I like the specs better.

The specs are rounded averages of the actual measurement of 8 separate facets. They give you a good first indication.

The next step is to check the idealscope, the ASET, the H&A, possibly the full 3D-scan of the stone.

It depends upon your comfort-level how far you want to go with your search, and which risk you want to take.

Live long,

Except Blue Nile won''t provide all that. However, they do have a diamond that is in their ''Signature Ideal'' collection. It is a .87 that sizes up the same as the .90 from my post. It has a GCAL report which I haven''t done my full research on yet. Would this be a safer option than the origonal two I posted?

Indeed, BN does not provide that. It leaves you in the position of basing your decision on limited information. That information looks good, but it is not sufficient.

Like I said, it depends upon your comfort-level. With no more information from BN, nobody can say anything more about this stone. The decision is yours.

As for the ''signature ideal'', there is no extra useful information for this stone. The GCAL gives some nice looking pics, but nobody really knows how to interpret them. And BN does not explain why a certain stone is ''signature'', while another one is not.

Once again, you are stuck with the same reply: ''Numbers look good''.

Live long,

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 12/17/2008 6:26:10 AM
Author: Paul-Antwerp


As for the ''signature ideal'', there is no extra useful information for this stone. The GCAL gives some nice looking pics, but nobody really knows how to interpret them. And BN does not explain why a certain stone is ''signature'', while another one is not.

Once again, you are stuck with the same reply: ''Numbers look good''.

Live long,

Paul, it remains to be determined if BN can be trusted with respect to how they define signature ideal, but as Julie pointed out to me some time ago, they do try.