shape
carat
color
clarity

Can't decide between two diamonds!

EventH

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
5
Im very near to purchasing an BGD engagement ring BUT have been going back and forth over the main stone and cant make up my mind!

Here are the two:

The .575 G VVS2 HCA: 0.7
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.575-g-vvs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104087405040

.716 I VVS2 HCA: 1.5
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.716-i-vvs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104087405016

Both of these are fluorescent, which I want for the diamond. The .716 is stretching the budget a little HOWEVER my main concern with it is that its cut is not as good, as seen in the provided aset/idealscope images (look at the center star, how it is not as symmetrical with the larger stone, and the more thorough solidity of the red in the .716 vs .575), AND the HCA scores being better for the smaller stone.

I want to get the larger stone but don't know if it is worth the $500. Will the different in cut be noticeable? Am I imagining the difference will be larger than it is?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

fair75

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 28, 2015
Messages
87
First of all, is there a reason why you need a VVS2 clarity diamond? VVS2 is overkill unless the recipient of the diamond wants it for personal or cultural reasons. A very eye-clean SI1-VS2 stone will virtually look no different from a VVS2 in terms of sparkles, fire and brilliance if cutting is the same or extremely close. If you can lower the clarity to even VS2, you will be able to get a bigger diamond. Also is there a reason why one diamond is G and the other is I? What is your requirement of color?

One thing I do want to mention is AGS certified stones are viewed by some consumers/people in the trade to be a bit softer on color than GIA. Although there is no consensus, some people on this forum have reported that their AGS diamonds have more color than the GIA ones in the same color grade. If you decide to purchase the G diamond, just ask them to give you an opinion on how it compared to the other stones in the same grade. D/E/F and G color diamonds don't really benefit from having medium or stronger fluorescence because it often would make the stones look cloudy/hazy. However, since this is from Brian Gavin, I wouldn't worry about it since the stones in this lineup are selected and checked by Brian Gavin to ensure that fluorescence doesn't have a negative impact. H/I color diamonds, on the other hand, generally would look whiter by having medium (to some extent, strong) fluorescence.

I do see that the arrow patterns and the light returns do seem to be a bit better for the G diamond. But these differences aren't really going to be noticeable if the two diamonds were the same size. You need to keep in mind that these two diamonds are ideally cut and have great ideal scope/ASET scope images. However, you will most likely appreciate the fire and sparkles more in the 0.716 ct diamond because of the size. The fire will be bigger and more numerous than the 0.575 ct. The scintillation will likely be better in 0.716 ct diamond since it has less crown-only painting than the 0.575, even if you might have difficulty noticing without seeing other diamonds side-by-side. This is another technical issue which you probably don't need to worry about. To make the long story short, slight crown-only painting improves the overall light returns but suffers slightly in terms of scintillation. The reason you see more solid red in the G is that it has crown-only painting to improve light returns.

If you really want a bigger diamond with great performance, my vote goes to the I color diamond. But if you don't need a VVS, you can get a even bigger diamond by going with VS2-VS1, or even a nice eye-clean SI1.
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
Of these two, absolutely the blue I color gets my vote. It will be visually much larger than the other and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the cut on that stone. But I also agree with fair75, there's a lot of territory between GVVS and I VVS2. I would absolutely include VS1-VS2 in the search and hopefully some H stones might be an option, too. VS1, particularly, is extremely clean and you will have difficulty finding inclusions with a 10x loupe. So in my opinion, it is paying for a mental factor only to buy VVS. VS2s can be great, but I evaluate those individually because I like a stone that is 100% eyeclean from all directions.
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
27,198
EventH|1469866655|4060786 said:
Im very near to purchasing an BGD engagement ring BUT have been going back and forth over the main stone and cant make up my mind!

Here are the two:

The .575 G VVS2 HCA: 0.7
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.575-g-vvs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104087405040

.716 I VVS2 HCA: 1.5
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.716-i-vvs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104087405016

Both of these are fluorescent, which I want for the diamond. The .716 is stretching the budget a little HOWEVER my main concern with it is that its cut is not as good, as seen in the provided aset/idealscope images (look at the center star, how it is not as symmetrical with the larger stone, and the more thorough solidity of the red in the .716 vs .575), AND the HCA scores being better for the smaller stone.

I want to get the larger stone but don't know if it is worth the $500. Will the different in cut be noticeable? Am I imagining the difference will be larger than it is?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Event,
Wow, you must be a detail kind of guy :) . Let me say, even by PS standards you are over analyzing this. Buy/get the .71
for the following reasons...
- HCA is a rejection tool. Anything 2 or under is good. .7 is not better than 1.8. We dont usually run AGS000 stones through
the HCA especially when we have ASETs/Idealscopes.
-The cut on the smaller stone looks ever so slightly better but you wont be able to distinguish this. What you will be able to distinguish
is the size difference. This photo shows the size difference on a size 6 1/2 finger...

- color - Because this is a really well cut stone, the "I" will face up very bright and will have lots of sparkle. You may see a tint of
color from the side. The size difference will be more noticeable then the color difference.

BUY the "I". IMO* the size difference is worth the extra money. :wavey:

tyty

round_size_difference.png
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
27,198
Fair and DS...I checked BGD and there are no other Blues that have lower clarity and size. The next largest stone in $3k or less
is a .55 H/VS2 at $2k. Over his budget is a .7 H/VS1 at $3200.

Edit...I checked for plain BGD and no better buys than that .71 I/VVS2
 

diamondseeker2006

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
58,547
Glad tyty addressed something I forgot. Just to reaffirm what she said, you do not need to use the HCA on any ideal cut diamonds, but especially not on BG Signature stones or other branded hearts and arrows stones.

Ahh, thanks for checking the inventory, tyty. I'll look around and see if there are any elsewhere.
 

Snowdrop13

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
2,960
It looks like needing fluorescence is limiting your options a bit- there just aren't very many in that size. I had a look at Whiteflash, similarly they don't have a large number. There is this one http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3631990.htm# but it's probably above your budget? It also has some numbers outside what is recommended here, although is AGS 000.
 

EventH

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
5
I appreciate the input, especially yours, tyty.

VVS2 is of course overkill in terms of clarity, however BG does not have a huge selection otherwise in the .55 - .725 range. You will notice that among the BG signature stones the .716 is the least expensive for its size. Fluorescence is not a must but it is desirable for this particular ring. The main reason I am going with BG is because this is a (somewhat) custom project and he has the right setting, and I can fit all the criteria I'm trying to match into a 4k budget.

I think I'm going to go with the larger stone.
 

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
33,852
EventH|1469940897|4061024 said:
I appreciate the input, especially yours, tyty.

VVS2 is of course overkill in terms of clarity, however BG does not have a huge selection otherwise in the .55 - .725 range. You will notice that among the BG signature stones the .716 is the least expensive for its size. Fluorescence is not a must but it is desirable for this particular ring. The main reason I am going with BG is because this is a (somewhat) custom project and he has the right setting, and I can fit all the criteria I'm trying to match into a 4k budget.

I think I'm going to go with the larger stone.
A very nice stone.. :appl:
 
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