Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistake??

[jasons]

Hi everyone, I'm a bit terrified because the diamond I just bough ranks well as far as GIA is concerned, but is only a 3.9 in the HCA test. I really respect your opinions, so could you guys please tell me what you think? Did I basically just buy a steep/deep diamond that is carrying useless extra carat weight that I paid for? Will this diamond still be bright?

Here's the price & specs (from the GIA report):

Price: $6,667 USD
Carat Weight: 1.14 carats
Color Grade: F
Clarity Grade: SI2 (eye clean)
Cut Grade: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: Medium blue (my girlfriend likes the way it looks)
Depth: 62.4
Table: 56
Crown: 35.5
Pavilion: 41
Cutlet: 0


Here's the HCA Test Result:

Light Return Very Good
Fire Good
Scintillation Good
Spread or diameter for weight Very Good

Overall 3.9. Very Good. Worth buying if the price is right

Please tell me what you think. I could still return it in 30 days, and I'm starting to stress a bit that I may have bought a dud. I haven't seen it in person; I've only seen its specs on the website. The website is trustworthy, and it comes with the GIA cert, etc. Thanks for your help!

 

[yssie]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

Could well be a nice one, don't freak out just yet


Remember HCA is just one tool of many - and it's not by any means infallible. GIA averages, then rounds 8 sections of diamond, then prints the results on the report, without more info/scan/pics neither we over the internet nor HCA have no idea what sorts of ranges went into those rounded averages, or how those ranges are actually working together in the final stone.

My recommendation: is the stone already being shipped out to you? If so, when it gets in, take it in to a place that has some other GIA/AGS ex/id cut stones of the same size, and compare, compare, compare. Compare in the direct light by a window, in the diffuse office lights, in the counter spolights, under a desk where it's dim. See how your stone fares to your eyes against those others (have the jeweller give it a scrub first, and be careful not to handle it afterward - use the tweezers, so you're not comparing dirty with clean). Put it on a brightly coloured piece of paper and see if you can see right through it looking head-on. You're within the return period, which is good, if after comparing you decide you prefer different types of proportions... From those numbers there's simply no way that stone is outright "bad", so if you like the way it looks, regardless of what the papers or tools say, that's really the most important thing!

If it hasn't already been shipped out then we can help you find "safer" stones if you want to cancel the transaction and start over. Safer, meaning, combinations of proportions that if all else is well people are generally likely to find pretty - no guarantee that all will be well with a "safe combo" stone, or that a "safe" stone will be pretty to your eyes, and no guarantee that a "borderline" combo won't be a beauty, as I said earlier without more info than the GIA report we just don't have enough to say for sure.

Edit - how do you know that it's eyeclean? Have they checked it to your specifications, whatever they are (clean from 6" face-up, from 12"?)

 

[denverappraiser]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

It's a GIA-excellent. That means it's not a dud. Whether it's better or worse than some other excellent's is going to depend on your criteria about what constitutes 'better' and the X grade does cover quite a bit of ground, but NONE of them are objectively duds.

The purpose of the 30 days is so that you can look at it in person, show it to your friends, get it appraised and generally see if you love it. If not send it back. I understand it's a nervewracking transaction but you're exposure isn't nearly as high as you think. Think of it this way. You haven't bought it yet. So far, all you're into it for is the cost of shipping both ways. That's probably $100 or so. When you get it you may choose to get an appraisal for another $100 or so. That puts you into it for $200. Only after that are you going to be making the deal. It's not a $6700 blind purchase, it's a $100 blind purchase, and the potential savings over the other alternatives is thousands. That's a good bet if you've done even a mediocre job of choosing your dealer and, given the GIA pedigree and the 30 days, I suspect you've made at least a decent choice. All in all you're doing it just right. There's no need to stress here.

If you get it and you're still nervous after you've looked at it in person, contact a nearby appraiser for assistance in working through it. Most of us don't bite and it's usually not really very expensive given the budgets involved.

 

[jasons]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

thanks for your feedback guys. Yssie, I can't be certain that it's eye clean, but I was told that they're gemologists would ensure it was before the sale could go through; if I find that it isn't, I can return it without a penalty.

Does this diamond even fall into the steep and deep category? Or am I vastly misinterpreting the angles and specs on this diamond? Is there a chance that this diamond will still be an excellent performer?

 

[jasons]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

Sorry to bump but could anyone please evaluate the dimensions of this for me? I have nowhere near your guys knowledge on this and I really need your help. The salesman says there are no depth issues, and that it falls in the ideal range perfectly. What do you guys think?

 

[slg47]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

Sorry to bump but could anyone please evaluate the dimensions of this for me? I have nowhere near your guys knowledge on this and I really need your help. The salesman says there are no depth issues, and that it falls in the ideal range perfectly. What do you guys think?

like yssie said it could very well be a nice diamond and the HCA is only one tool. perhaps take it to an independent appraiser who uses idealscope/ASET?

 

[tina sparkle]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

how does it look to YOUR eye? is it a real sparkler? if you think it's beautiful don't worry so much about the other factors, it may not be perfect but if it's GIA excellent, it's probably pretty darn nice.

 

[stone-cold11]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

Not the best, could be better. What is the lower half size?

 

[jasons]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

edit, server issue. Specs are posted up top

 

[stone-cold11]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

Same conclusion, at least the lower half is not smaller, that would be worse.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Re: Can you please evaluate this diamond for me? Huge mistak

thanks for your feedback guys. Yssie, I can't be certain that it's eye clean, but I was told that they're gemologists would ensure it was before the sale could go through; if I find that it isn't, I can return it without a penalty.

Does this diamond even fall into the steep and deep category? Or am I vastly misinterpreting the angles and specs on this diamond? Is there a chance that this diamond will still be an excellent performer?

It is NOT a steep deep by any stretch. GIA Ex is a broader category of well cut than many cut nuts prefer, but it is still a category of well cut stones that most consumers are very happy with. There is a very good chance this diamond is an excellent performer! If you want reassurance, then take it for a test drive like Yssie suggested when you get it to make sure your eyes like it compared to other diamonds with tigher cut-nut proportions, perhaps AGS0 diamonds are Jareds or similar for comparison. Most likely, unless you are a very well informed consumer with developed taste for the flavour of diamond appearance, this stone will make you happy! If not, try again, and no harm no foul.