Buying a stone for my girl

[tyty333]

Date: 5/2/2009 10:56:04 PM
Author: RevChris
I think I may have found something close to what you recommend Whitby.

GIA Report

IdealScope

Sarin
Aset


For $2331.00

Do I have the right idea?Pic

I''m not much on evaluating the numbers but this stone looks gorgeous to me!

 

[rickster123]

Rev......go with the opinions on this thread and take the plunge, you will be making the smart choice sight unseen. You can always return it if you dont like it in person but I think you will be pleasantly surprised...and relieved. Good Luck

 

[RevChris]

I''ve been looking and looking and appreciate all this help. I actually opened up my budget for the stone a little more to $3000.00 CAD and did alot of reading on Crown/Pavillion numbers and Depth and table ect.
I have also decided to go with BN since no where else seems to prepay the duty/tax and I hate getting stuck with huge broker fees and the like.
Because I opened up the budget a little I wanted to go with biggest bang for my buck carat wise, but since I am buying sight unseen and need the ring for the upcoming long weekend I decided I would be willing to go VS2 or better only to avoid shipping back and forth due to carbon spots ect.
I went to all the local shops and decided I am comfortable with an I Color grade since I cant see the difference (hope that doesn''t break your heart whitby ).

Now with my limited knowledge on crown and pavillion I scoured the available gems and eventually decided on
http://www.bluenile.ca/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-i-colour-vs2-clarity_LD01123884?filter_id=1
as the stone for the ring after a review on the AGSL that leads me to beleive this is a 1A or 1B cut gem, that is of course unless one of you experts see''s something in the AGSL report that just screams "Rev has no idea what he is doing".

You all have been the best help on what has been one of the most difficult purchasing desicions of my life!

 

[Ellen]

Hi Rev,

I understand about price influencing things. Glad you went out and looked at some stones, that''s the best way to tell!

Everything looks fine from the numbers, but if possible, I would recommend having an independant appraiser check it out when you get it. Just to be safe.

I say go for it!


And you''re very welcome!

 

[stone-cold11]

Looks good from the numbers.

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 5/4/2009 11:56:36 AM
Author: RevChris
I''ve been looking and looking and appreciate all this help. I actually opened up my budget for the stone a little more to $3000.00 CAD and did alot of reading on Crown/Pavillion numbers and Depth and table ect.

I have also decided to go with BN since no where else seems to prepay the duty/tax and I hate getting stuck with huge broker fees and the like.

Because I opened up the budget a little I wanted to go with biggest bang for my buck carat wise, but since I am buying sight unseen and need the ring for the upcoming long weekend I decided I would be willing to go VS2 or better only to avoid shipping back and forth due to carbon spots ect.

I went to all the local shops and decided I am comfortable with an I Color grade since I cant see the difference (hope that doesn''t break your heart whitby ).


Now with my limited knowledge on crown and pavillion I scoured the available gems and eventually decided on

http://www.bluenile.ca/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-i-colour-vs2-clarity_LD01123884?filter_id=1

as the stone for the ring after a review on the AGSL that leads me to beleive this is a 1A or 1B cut gem, that is of course unless one of you experts see''s something in the AGSL report that just screams ''Rev has no idea what he is doing''.


You all have been the best help on what has been one of the most difficult purchasing desicions of my life!

lol - funny

i''m so pleased you''ve found something you''re really happy with. color is a personal thing, (well, all taste is a personal thing, i suppose!) and what one sees, another won''t, or might not care about even if they do. it was sensible to go look at some stones and work out what matters to you. when you get the stone, remember to take advantage of the 30 day return window, and have any extra tests you want done and check it out in all lights. i dont normally set in BN''s settings but, if you do, my understanding is that the 30 day return policy still applies so long as it''s been set in one of their settings.

good luck and i wish you all the best! (you''ve ended up in a much better place than the IF .4 you were considering when you first came to PS! your girl is going to be so pleased )

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/4/2009 11:56:36 AM
Author: RevChris
I''ve been looking and looking and appreciate all this help. I actually opened up my budget for the stone a little more to $3000.00 CAD and did alot of reading on Crown/Pavillion numbers and Depth and table ect.
I have also decided to go with BN since no where else seems to prepay the duty/tax and I hate getting stuck with huge broker fees and the like.
Because I opened up the budget a little I wanted to go with biggest bang for my buck carat wise, but since I am buying sight unseen and need the ring for the upcoming long weekend I decided I would be willing to go VS2 or better only to avoid shipping back and forth due to carbon spots ect.
I went to all the local shops and decided I am comfortable with an I Color grade since I cant see the difference (hope that doesn''t break your heart whitby ).

Now with my limited knowledge on crown and pavillion I scoured the available gems and eventually decided on
http://www.bluenile.ca/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-i-colour-vs2-clarity_LD01123884?filter_id=1
as the stone for the ring after a review on the AGSL that leads me to beleive this is a 1A or 1B cut gem, that is of course unless one of you experts see''s something in the AGSL report that just screams ''Rev has no idea what he is doing''.

You all have been the best help on what has been one of the most difficult purchasing desicions of my life!

This diamond looks promising from the numbers, could be an excellent choice.

 

[RevChris]

Hello all,

Thank you all for being so supportive. While I wait the few days for my funding to clear I am driving myself crazy searching and searching for stones , this technical search balancing cut , clarity color and carats with cost is almost adicting!
I have a question for all the more knowledgable than me folks (I hesitate to say expert opinion , because I know someone will correct me if I do) If a Diamond is cut to all 1A standards except for the Pavillion Depth which is 44% (so 2B) would the stone make for good placement in a ring?

I found my way over to JA and am enjoying scouring their database of pictures and have come accross a few potential winners in the 3/4 ct area, plus they have me prepay the tax/duty like BN so I can expand my search. All that on top of the ability to scour SI stones for Eye Clean rocks!

Thanks Again everyone!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 5/5/2009 4:08:45 PM
Author: RevChris
Hello all,

Thank you all for being so supportive. While I wait the few days for my funding to clear I am driving myself crazy searching and searching for stones , this technical search balancing cut , clarity color and carats with cost is almost adicting!
I have a question for all the more knowledgable than me folks (I hesitate to say expert opinion , because I know someone will correct me if I do) If a Diamond is cut to all 1A standards except for the Pavillion Depth which is 44% (so 2B) would the stone make for good placement in a ring?

I found my way over to JA and am enjoying scouring their database of pictures and have come accross a few potential winners in the 3/4 ct area, plus they have me prepay the tax/duty like BN so I can expand my search. All that on top of the ability to scour SI stones for Eye Clean rocks!

Thanks Again everyone!

I want to make sure I understand this. Are you asking if a stone with these specs (but larger) would be a suitable stone to buy in place of the one you were going to order from BN? If so, that depth is really deep, I'm thinking not. But you could post some stats so we could say for sure.

 

[RevChris]

Hey Ellen,

Im pretty happy with the one I found on BN , but since I got some time to kill I''ve been hunting around JA for the past day or so, as someone with a Math degree I have found the technical aspect of stone grades to be quite interesting.
Anyways, I found a stone that had Table:56% Depth:61% Crown height: 15.4% and Pavillion depth: 44% (which as I understand it puts it outside the 42.5-43.5 range that would qualify it as a 1a/1b stone). Being as I am brand new to this I was wondering where the limit is on some of these specs that make it appropriate for a ring. (I found the handy AGS cut chart online, but was wondering if their were "informal" rules that could guide one to a nice rock that was technically unsound in just one area).
Anyways thanks for getting back to me on this stuff.

 

[stone-cold11]

Use the HCA, https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp and read the warnings and information, http://diamonds.pricescope.com/ideal.asp. Will probably make you more interested in round brilliant.

 

[Ellen]

Ditto stone on the HCA.

 

[RevChris]

FOUND IT!

http://www.jamesallen.com/grading_report.asp?pic=1237777&type=2
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1237777.asp



The DCA tool loves it, my pocketbook loves it and the picture just screams buy me
Thank you all so much!

Plus 7% off for no reason I can figure out!

 

[RevChris]

I will get some pics of the stone in setting for you all when it arrives!

Thanks again for all your help

 

[Ellen]

Copy and paste won''t work for me, but if you''re happy, I''m happy.

 

[stone-cold11]

Looks good, good luck then.

 

[Lorelei]

Lets see if I can do the links

http://www.jamesallen.com/grading_report.asp?pic=1237777&type=2

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1237777.asp

The diamond looks great Rev!

 

[Ellen]

Thank you miss!


Congrats Rev, I look forward to the pics!!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/6/2009 8:38:31 AM
Author: Ellen
Thank you miss!


Congrats Rev, I look forward to the pics!!

* curtseys*

Most velcome!

 

[whitby_2773]

hey - great job! nice choice!

she''s gonna love it which setting are you going with?

 

[RevChris]

I went with the JA Comfort fit Solitair setting (2mm) 18K White gold. 4 Prong.
She doesnt wear any jewlery except for her class ring right now and she has a very simple style so I didn''t want to go too flashy.

If she isn''t 100% into the setting I will get it switched to her taste after the fact (it wont hurt my feelings , lol).

But I''m sure she will love its simplicity.

 

[jet2ks]

Great choice! Can''t wait to see pics.

 

[RevChris]

I''m getting super excited about this ring showing up on Tuesday.
I''ve started looking for an Appraiser in my area (PEI Canada) and their doesn''t seem to be any listed in my Yellow Pages, the local Jewelers all tell me they send them away to get done and I want to avoid taking it to someone who also sells.

The GIA Dossier says the stone has "Feather" so I want to get it independently appraised by someone who will know if this particular feather might be primed to split the stone in half or let a lot of light leak in or something. Also I will be looking to insure the ring so I think the GIA Dossier will likely not be enough as it doesn''t have a value.

Hah , Maybe I just need calm down!

Anyway , I found the list of independent appraisers (EGL and IGI in Canada) but those will involve sending the stone away. Can anyone provide me with some feedback to whether or not they will be able to give me the info I''m looking for (extent of the feather essentially plus replacement value for insurance purposes)?

I find the websites for the 2 appraisers listed above slightly confusing on what they provide.

 

[jet2ks]

James Allen will send an appraisal with the ring that you can use for insurance purposes. And there is no worries about a feather in a VS2 stone. If the feather was big enough to be a problem, it would have a much worse clarity grade. If you want to get an appraisal, that is still fine, but I see nothing to worry about. If you want to just verify the stone, take it to a jewler and have them check the inscription against the cert.

 

[RevChris]

Thanks for the reply jet (and everyone).

I think I might just need to take a chill-ax for the next few days.
I''ve been pricing at the local B&M shops and can''t believe the deal I feel I got, I''m just afraid I''ve gotten into a get what you pay for situation where the ring will literally split in half on me or something , lol . I''m seeing much less technically clean rings with smaller stones set in 14K (the B&M all seem to display 14K Gold and then try and upsell on 18K).

Gotta just relax for the weekend and take a breath.

 

[RevChris]

Ah Man , apparently Fed-Ex''s idea of "Overnight Priority" is closer to overnight(s) priority and I wont get her ring until tomorrow...

Thing got stuck in customs, I guess this is common for shipments to canada , hopefully the Taxes dont total more than $800.00 or I''m screwed!

Well here''s hoping everything is okay!

 

[Ellen]

*fingers crossed*

 

[RevChris]

I had my fingers crossed too , but I''m still fighting with Fed-Ex after they screwed up some basic things, looks like it will be sometime tomorrow.

Too bad the 2 days I had to get it delivered without her being home are now gone thanks to Fedex bungling .
I had to resort to telling her I f''d up a material order at work by accidnetly having it shipped to my home address and now a package with a huge tax bill will be showing up tomorrow and when it does I need to go straight to work. ARG FedEx!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 5/13/2009 6:08:05 PM
Author: RevChris
I had my fingers crossed too , but I''m still fighting with Fed-Ex after they screwed up some basic things, looks like it will be sometime tomorrow.

Too bad the 2 days I had to get it delivered without her being home are now gone thanks to Fedex bungling .
I had to resort to telling her I f''d up a material order at work by accidnetly having it shipped to my home address and now a package with a huge tax bill will be showing up tomorrow and when it does I need to go straight to work. ARG FedEx!

Oh no! I''m sorry. But hey, you came up with a REALLY good fib!

It will all work out, don''t worry!

 

[RevChris]

Just so you can get an idea of all the phone calls and delays at customs and fedex take a peep at this pic.

The worst part is I wasn''t contacted between delays and the delays were for things I had either already told them (Fedex) on prior phone calls or for things I instructed them to do on the Power of Attorney I had to fill out.


Oh well , looks like tomorrow is the bug day for receiving the ring. Right on our 2.5 year anniversary lol.



One good thing about the Fedex broker experience however was they through some magi got my ring cleared as a personal item or something and there was only 150$ in tax/duty charged including the broker fee. Which is cheap madness vs the tax I would have paid locally!