Carat Vs. Cut, which should I sacrifice? Please help!

[sihyun.s.woo]

Hi,
I am trying to choose between three diamonds. They have very similar except they differ on these qualities:

Diamond #1 Select Ideal Cut 0.53 Carat SI1 $825
Diamond #2 Ideal Cut 0.46 Carat VS2 $867
Diamond #3 Very Good Cut 0.57 Carat SI1 $891

Would the SI1s have visible inclusions? How big is the difference between a select ideal cut and an ideal cut, then from an ideal cut to the very good cut? How much should the carat weight factor in? Thank you!

Shawn

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/28/2008 12:34:33 PM
Author:sihyun.s.woo
Hi,
I am trying to choose between three diamonds. They have very similar except they differ on these qualities:

Diamond #1 Select Ideal Cut 0.53 Carat SI1 $825
Diamond #2 Ideal Cut 0.46 Carat VS2 $867
Diamond #3 Very Good Cut 0.57 Carat SI1 $891

Would the SI1s have visible inclusions? How big is the difference between a select ideal cut and an ideal cut, then from an ideal cut to the very good cut? How much should the carat weight factor in? Thank you!

Shawn

Welcome to Pricescope,

Cut is extremely important if you are going to have a beautiful diamond, so could you post the links please so we can look at the proportions of the diamonds? Labels won't help you determine which is the best cut stone or give you any meaningful comparison, evaluating the proportions is the way to do that.

We need the following info -

Type of grading report
depth%
table %
crown and pavilion angles
polish and symmetry grades
girdle thickness
diameter measurements.

That way we can tell which diamond is the best cut, vendor applied labels such as Select Ideal do not guarantee you a well cut diamond. Also as to whether an SI1 clarity is eyeclean to your standards or not, the only way is to ask the vendor to inspect each diamond for you and if you don't want to see any inclusions when looking closelt at any angle, make sure you tell them that. With the size diamonds you are considering you could probably find an eyeclean SI1 without too much difficulty, just be clear with the vendor.

 

[Regular Guy]

Hi, Shawn, and welcome.

The descriptors vendors used are not standardized, with respect to how variances in cut are actually played out.

You want to get the detail instead on each and any diamond you''re considering...that is typically posted right on the certificate...whether GIA or AGS (preferred), and then analyze from there. Often, you''re not really paying a considerable premium for cut, after all. Regardless, that is a priority for most here, and we would say both that you always want the best cut, and you do not want to trust the dealer on specifying that characteristic.

 

[sihyun.s.woo]

stone #1
http://www.uniondiamond.com/diamonds/diamonds.php?search_type_id=3&action_type_id=2&item_id=AB121976#

stone #2
http://www.mondera.com/Diamond/diamondproduct.aspx?partno=590420

stone #3
http://www.mondera.com/Diamond/diamondproduct.aspx?partno=620387#

It has taken me so long to find theses stones. Thank you so much for your help!

Shawn

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/28/2008 12:57:01 PM
Author: sihyun.s.woo
stone #1
http://www.uniondiamond.com/diamonds/diamonds.php?search_type_id=3&action_type_id=2&item_id=AB121976#

stone #2
http://www.mondera.com/Diamond/diamondproduct.aspx?partno=590420

stone #3
http://www.mondera.com/Diamond/diamondproduct.aspx?partno=620387#

It has taken me so long to find theses stones. Thank you so much for your help!

Shawn

Stone #2 is my pick Shawn, that one has definite potential, with the first the report isn''t loaded so we don''t have all the info and it is EGL graded, the third doesn''t have the best proportions.

 

[sihyun.s.woo]

thank you so much!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Shawn, if you use this search tool and put in excellent-excellent for cut and check only GIA and AGS for labs, you''ll come up with mostly great stones without having to sift through a lot of bad ones:

https://www.pricescope.com/sift.aspx

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/28/2008 2:21:56 PM
Author: sihyun.s.woo
thank you so much!

You are most welcome! Check very carefully with the vendor if this is the one that you want, that it is eyeclean to your standards. And let us know how you get on!