Can you please comment on these 2 stones for earings.

[tinv]

They are eye clean. Why does HCA penalize this kind of diamonds which GIA gave triple EXELLENCE ratings.

 

[Lorelei]

They are eye clean. Why does HCA penalize this kind of diamonds which GIA gave triple EXELLENCE ratings.

Hi Tinv,

GIA Excellent aren't created equal, their method of cut grading allows some undeserving proportion combos to get the Excellent cut grade but unfortunately, stones such as the ones above with such deep pavilions can allow light leakage which is definitely undesirable and in an I colour, colour entrapment is going to be a possible issue, the stones could look darker and more warm for their colour grade than if the pavilion angle was 41 deg or less. The HCA is very useful in order to eliminate these stones. I would keep looking personally, also some shallower proportion combos can make excellent earrings, those that score below 1 HCA, so that's something to consider.

 

[tinv]

@Lorele - If these stones are on the border-line of EX. Would they still be better than most of the GIA VG stones? I am on a budget and if they are at least as good as the VG stones, I am ok with them. From your description, it should like these are "sick" stones?

 

[heididdl]

I agree one stone is a 60 - 60 an the other is 61-61 keep looking. You will be happy you did when you finally get the perfect stones. Be patient you'll find ideal stones

 

[Lorelei]

@Lorele - If these stones are on the border-line of EX. Would they still be better than most of the GIA VG stones? I am on a budget and if they are at least as good as the VG stones, I am ok with them. From your description, it should like these are "sick" stones?

Hi Tinv,

Not necessarily, I have seen some GIA cut grade VG with nice proportions that have been checked out with images and have been a good choice for the intended purpose. With these, the pavilion angles are so deep that colour entrapment in I colour is going to be a distinct possibility, these stones could look dull due to the chance of light leakage and hold more colour so your I colour could actually look less white than they should for the colour grade. I do understand you are on a budget but if you give us an idea of what you have to spend, maybe we could find a great pair of stones for you? We would be pleased to look for you if you wish!

 

[tinv]

I have a budget of $6400 for the earrings. I am looking for two 0.90 ct I, Si2, EX/EX-VG/EX-VG, None-Faint and score well on HCA. Thanks everyone for your reply so far.

 

[Lorelei]

I have a budget of $6400 for the earrings. I am looking for two 0.90 ct I, Si2, EX/EX-VG/EX-VG, None-Faint and score well on HCA. Thanks everyone for your reply so far.

I had a look around tinv, so far these are the best I found but I will continue to search. Bear with me here, in order to get you the most size, the two stones in question come to around $5909.00, they are .80 cts each. They both could match well where it matters for earrings with the table and diameter measurement. One is an I1 clarity which might work perfectly for earrings if Jon at Good old Gold verified it was eye clean or eye clean enough according to your requirements. The other has a little extra depth but that doesn't make any difference as far as matching the other stone as the diameters are reasonably close and it has SI1 clarity. Both have AGS0 cut grade and both have GOG's lifetime guarantee so if you ever wanted to upgrade to larger still, you could do so.

Both are within one colour grade, one is H colour the other I which would also make them possibly suitable for earrings subject to Jon agreeing they are a good match.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/12073/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11836/

Just something to think about.

I will check some other vendors to find more but these are a place to start.

Two more. Both H colour, SI2 clarity and faint fluorescence but I doubt you would ever notice it. Both are well cut diamonds, one has a little more depth than the other and other slight differences that you would never notice for earrings, they both could match again with table and diameter, ask someone at James Allen to verify if they are eye clean to your specifications and would match suitably for earrings. If interested, request Idealscope images for each.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-h-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-234599

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.80-carat-h-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-241466

 

[tinv]

Thank you very much. It seems like you can only go as far as 0.80 ct. I was trying to get two 0.90 ct but it seems like to obtain those with my budget, I will have to go with drop shippers and the issue is you basically buy the diamond based on certificate alone. Would it be safe to get those triple EX with VG-EX HCA scores from drop shippers? The only issue left is you don't know what the Si2 clarity characteristics of the diamonds

 

[Lorelei]

Thank you very much. It seems like you can only go as far as 0.80 ct. I was trying to get two 0.90 ct but it seems like to obtain those with my budget, I will have to go with drop shippers and the issue is you basically buy the diamond based on certificate alone. Would it be safe to get those triple EX with VG-EX HCA scores from drop shippers? The only issue left is you don't know what the Si2 clarity characteristics of the diamonds

I am having difficulty with the in house diamonds finding .90ct for the budget, we can certainly look at the non in house listings bearing in mind as you say with SI2 clarity it might be more of a challenge getting eye clean stones and it might take more work finding out if they are eye clean to your specifications, but it's not impossible. Bear in mind too that carat weight does not necessarily equal face up size, well cut .80ct can face up larger than poorly cut .90 in some cases and look larger visually too due to the edge to edge sparkle lighting up the stones all the way around. But we can certainly see what's out there, bear with me and I will see if I can find some others that might be worth further consideration. It would be preferable to get one of the trusted vendors to call two contenders in to see how well they match for earrings, eye clean, clarity issues etc but that's up to the individual.

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?pt=setform&track=DiamondSearchRD#diamonds_pid=LD04384651

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?pt=setform&track=DiamondSearchRD#diamonds_pid=LD04439710

I found these 2, if interested check they are eye clean to your specifications and that there aren't any loss of brilliance issues being SI2 clarity as we could be buying these blind so to speak, but they might suit your needs, they appear to be well cut although no way of knowing exactly how they will look and perform without images and they are of the weight you would like. They are also well within your budget. Ask BN if someone can evaluate these for you.