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Buying Engagement Ring - Any help is appreciated

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ATLBravesFan

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
4
Hey guys,

I am brand new to the site and am seeking feedback on the ring I am debating on buying to propose. My girlfriend wants an oval diamond with a yellow gold band. She does not care about size, so i am leaning towards a .9 carat rather than going to a full carat. The specs of the diamond are:

DIAMOND INFORMATION
SHAPE: Oval
CARAT WEIGHT: 0.90
COLOR: G
CLARITY: IF
POLISH: Excellent
SYMMETRY: Very Good
FLUORESCENCE: None
L/W/D (MM): 7.68*5.37*3.37
L/W RATIO: 1.43
MORE DIAMOND INFORMATION
DEPTH %: 62.80
GIRDLE: Slightly Thick - Thick
TABLE %: 58.00
CULET: None
CERTIFICATE: GIA
CROWN ∠: 36.60
CROWN %: 15.70
PAVILION ∠: 39.60
PAVILION %: 42.40

I've done some research on the Color and Clarity but dont really know much about the angles and percentage ratios. The price of the diamond is $4,650. Is this a good value for the specifications listed? Any feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks so much!
 
:wavey: Do you have pictures or video of this diamond? I don’t know if IF clarity is required (e.g. for cultural reasons), but you may be overpaying for clarity.

Have you checked out August Vintage ovals, which are cut for ideal performance and to eliminate the bow tie effect? There are a couple in the price range of the one you posted for comparison sake.

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/collections/opulence
 
Diamond--0.90-Carat_4_first_.jpg
Here is a picture of the diamond. I will definitely check them out. Thank you! If i did lower the clarity, what would you suggest?
 
Personally, when it comes to clarity, I would say ‘eye clean’* which is different for everyone, but generally you won’t see any inclusions with the naked eye at say a range of 10". Eye clean can be SI2 on up, but to be safe, I would probably stick around VS2 and up, but do wait for others to chime in here.

*assuming none of the eye clean inclusions poses a setting/structural risk.

Another option to widen the pool of candidates would be to consider an antique oval, which are so romantic and beautiful if you find a nice one. They will have broader flashes vs the more ‘splintery’ flashes in modern cuts. Here is an example that is currently listed for private sale (not by me): https://loupetroop.com/listings/rin...-cut-oval-diamond-gia-vvs2-i-color-in-setting
 
You have to look at the measurements, though. He's going to need to go to a higher weight to get close to the size of that stone he posted. But an Opulence Oval is definitely the best cut.

Please hang on and don't buy that stone yet. Let us see what else is out there. I think you can do better with that price point. Look at James Allen. I wouldn't look below VS2 clarity when buying online.

This is a pretty one that I might rather have over the one you posted. Very hard to find well cut ovals. You can get over a carat at your price point, but a nice cut is the hard thing to find.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.92-carat-g-color-vs1-clarity-sku-3829085
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
You have to look at the measurements, though. He's going to need to go to a higher weight to get close to the size of that stone he posted. But an Opulence Oval is definitely the best cut.

Please hang on and don't buy that stone yet. Let us see what else is out there. I think you can do better with that price point. Look at James Allen. I wouldn't look below VS2 clarity when buying online.

This is a pretty one that I might rather have over the one you posted. Very hard to find well cut ovals. You can get over a carat at your price point, but a nice cut is the hard thing to find.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.92-carat-g-color-vs1-clarity-sku-3829085
Click to expand...

Excuse my Ignorance, but how do you tell whether the cut is good? I thought that Symmetry and Polish was one of the cut specifications? Which the stone i posted was excellent and very good. Is this not correct? I am new to all of this so dont know much other than what i have read online.
 
With fancy cuts, like ovals, its more about the look than the numbers...numbers dont tell us anything.

Opulence Ovals will have the best light return...there are AGS000. A category they could not get if they did not have the best light return.
(they use ray tracing to figure out the light return).

So if you dont have an AGS000 stone how do you tell if it has good light return? You have to use your eyes and know what to look for. I'll
try to give you the short and dirty on it with some examples.
You really need pictures...better yet videos to see how the facets reflect as the stone moves/turns.
1) Minimize the "mush" outlined in blue in the next photo...Most ovals will have some* mush but you need to minimize it.
oval 121.PNG
2)Look for centers where the bright/well defined facets stretch out towards the ends as the stone is slightly rotated. The nice facets are outlined in
blue below and you want them to go as far as possible towards the longer rounded ends. These facets return light well...mush consumes light (bad).
marked oval.PNG
3. Look for centers like the below stone (and the stone DiamondSeeker posted). These have a lot of nice facets that reflect light well as the stone moves.
big area oval.PNG
4. Stay away from dark bow ties...ok, stating the obvious here.:???:

With fancy cuts you have to look for stones with the best light return then you sort of have to say to yourself is it eye-clean enough and is
the color good enough? You cant go saying I want a F/VVS2 and expect that you're going to find one. Its way different than looking for a round.

Ok, that's enough to chew on for a while. That stone DiamondSeeker found is nice. Look for stones that are similar if that stone doesnt work for you.
 
tyty333 said:
With fancy cuts, like ovals, its more about the look than the numbers...numbers dont tell us anything.

Opulence Ovals will have the best light return...there are AGS000. A category they could not get if they did not have the best light return.
(they use ray tracing to figure out the light return).

So if you dont have an AGS000 stone how do you tell if it has good light return? You have to use your eyes and know what to look for. I'll
try to give you the short and dirty on it with some examples.
You really need pictures...better yet videos to see how the facets reflect as the stone moves/turns.
1) Minimize the "mush" outlined in blue in the next photo...Most ovals will have some* mush but you need to minimize it.
oval 121.PNG
2)Look for centers where the bright/well defined facets stretch out towards the ends as the stone is slightly rotated. The nice facets are outlined in
blue below and you want them to go as far as possible towards the longer rounded ends. These facets return light well...mush consumes light (bad).
marked oval.PNG
3. Look for centers like the below stone (and the stone DiamondSeeker posted). These have a lot of nice facets that reflect light well as the stone moves.
big area oval.PNG
4. Stay away from dark bow ties...ok, stating the obvious here.:???:

With fancy cuts you have to look for stones with the best light return then you sort of have to say to yourself is it eye-clean enough and is
the color good enough? You cant go saying I want a F/VVS2 and expect that you're going to find one. Its way different than looking for a round.

Ok, that's enough to chew on for a while. That stone DiamondSeeker found is nice. Look for stones that are similar if that stone doesnt work for you.
Click to expand...

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.90-carat-g-color-if-clarity-sku-5097566

This is the diamond i was originally looking at. It is no longer available but what do you think of this one? Do i need to look for something that looks better to the eye than this one?
 
Did you hold that oval diamondseeker linked?
 
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