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choice between two blue nile stones

sunnyside74

sunnyside74

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Jul 10, 2014
Messages
147
Hi All,

Long time lurker, and I find myself looking for some advice on two stones on blue nile. Let me begin by stating my normal preference is for old cut stones (the 3.05 antique cushion noted in the prior post is much more my speed, I have a former ering that was a beautiful 2.2 ct OEC, K, VS2 that I loved very much). However, my soon-to-be fiancee's family was formerly (now retired) in the diamond business and basically told my fiancee that old cut stones were a poor investment choice. I could fight this, but I have decided to opt for peace instead - i just want to find a pretty stone... I'm a surgeon and pretty detail oriented, so I was put in charge of finding a modern brilliant. For me, color is not as important as clarity (my surgical loupes are a blessing and a curse). I wanted something about 8.5 mm in diameter, VS2 clarity or better, any color J or above... Which seems to land me at ~ 2.3 Cts. We have been to some brick/mortar stores, and looked around for awhile online, and came up with these two candidates

stone #1:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD04702370,,, 21868$
2.3 Ct / I / VS 2 / GIa excellent cut / Ex symmetry / VG polish
on HCA gets 1.4
table 56%, depth 62.5%, crown angle 35.5 deg, pavillion angle 40.6 deg

Stone #2
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD04130654,,, 22682$
2.33 / I / VS 2 / AGS 000 / ideal polish / sym
on HCA gets 3.6?
table 56.7%, depth 62.4%, crown angle 35.4 deg, pavillion angle 41 deg

I guess my question is why the disparity between the HCA scores, especially since stone #2 is listed as AGS 000, yet falls totally outside of the range when plotted on the HCA

Second, for the PSers, which stone would you choose, I consider the price difference to be pretty negligible.

many thanks!
 
sunnyside74|1407507242|3728524 said:
I guess my question is why the disparity between the HCA scores
Click to expand...

The disparity in HCA is primarily due to the higher pavillion angle in the second stone.
 
I prefer the GIA stone.

Make sure they are both eyeclean. Not all VS2s are.
 
Thanks gypsy.

I emailed them after your reply and got a photo sent to me, and an email today that the wholesaler had pulled the stone and said it was eyeclean. As they weren't sure they would be able to have someone verify that I found two other stones in the interim, and was wondering if anyone had thoughts on which was the best choice.

stone #1 as above
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD04702370,,,,,,, 21868$
2.3 Ct / I / VS 2 / GIa excellent cut / Ex symmetry / VG polish
on HCA gets 1.4
table 56%, depth 62.5%, crown angle 35.5 deg, pavillion angle 40.6 deg

stone #2
2.28 Ct / GIA XXX / J / VS1 / HCA 1.3, AGA 1A
table 57%, depth 61.5%, crown angle 34.5 deg, pavillion angle 40.8 deg
8.45 x 8.5 x 5.2 picture #2

stone #3 (a little pricier)
2.2 Ct / GIA XXX / I / VVS1 / HCA 0.7, AGA 1A
table 55%, depth 61.2%, crown angle 34.5 deg, pavillion angle 40.6 deg
8.43x8.39x5.14 (no pic yet)

any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

_21363.jpg

sgrd560_2.jpg
 
I need a road map. Which stones do each of the pics correspond to?
 
Sorry about that:

The stone with the black background is "stone #1"
The darker stone below is "stone #2"
I don't have a picture of stone #3 yet, I've reached out.

I've run the search on pricescope but couldn't find equivalent stones in my price range on the more favorite PS sites (GOG, JA, etc)

I'm looking to keep the whole price tag below 25k, but that includes a custom setting that will be around 2000/2200.

Thanks again
 
I don't see the point in looking at a J color stone. You have very nice I options.
And I don't see the point in wasting money on VVS clarity when you have all the clarity you need in VS.

#1 from the photo looks fantastic. The numbers are great. And it's a GIA stone. Frankly, I'd hit the "Buy it now" button and make that puppy mine.
 
thanks so much re:the custom work link, very helpful. I had the good fortune to spend 1.5 years in goldsmithing classes with a custom jeweler when I was out from surgery going through chemo, which was an amazing experience and gave me a lot of insight and appreciation into the process. I have already reached out to Erica (formerly of JBEG) to start talking about the process.

re:stone 1 vs stone 2, and this is probably me totally overthinking it (sorry) - but should I care that stone 2 has excellent polish (vs very good for stone 1) and a better AGA score (1A vs 1B). I know the photo they sent of #2 was not a 'glam shot' like the high res one sent of stone 1, so it makes them hard to compare. I just thought the crown angle and depth of stone 2 were slightly better, and I would rather have a more sparkly stone than a very slightly more white one... (I know at this point it is just numbers and does not take into account the actual stones - symmetry, etc)

also, while stone 1 is well in budget, stone 2 is about 2k cheaper... and all things being equal, for a slight bump in color is there any reason to think it would be a poor stone? or is the pic from stone #1 so great, you think it is really that much better cut?

sorry for all the questions,
--a
 
Yes, number 1 is better than number 2. And I do think it is 2k better.

Do you know how to read an idealscope image? http://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope

How I predict the idealscopes of #1 and #2 would be:
#1
3377_gia2156415718-ideal.jpg
#2:
9282_gia1179544949-ideal_3.jpg


AGS trades at a HIGHER PRICE than GIA. So if the stones are the same carat weight, color and clarity and one is a GIA Ex and the other an AGS0 and that AGS0 stone is 2K cheaper... there is usually a reason.

And since you are shopping at BN, all I have are predictions. Now if you were shopping at a vendor that provided idealscopes, then we would know head to head which stone performed better. But we can't do that. So prediction is all we are left with.
 
Wait, which #2 are we talking about. I'm getting confused. The original #2 AGS I VS or the new #2 J.
 
ah, sorry -- i think i was misleading here.

after your reply to my first post, I kicked out the AGS stone entirely. Stone #2 is a GIA stone. The two stones in comaprison are

stone #1
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?stockno=LD04702370,,,,,,,, 21868$
2.3 Ct / I / VS 2 / GIA excellent cut / Ex symmetry / VG polish
on HCA gets 1.4
table 56%, depth 62.5%, crown angle 35.5 deg, pavillion angle 40.6 deg

stone #2
2.28 Ct / GIA XXX / J / VS1 / HCA 1.3, AGA 1A ... ~19800$
table 57%, depth 61.5%, crown angle 34.5 deg, pavillion angle 40.8 deg
8.45 x 8.5 x 5.2 picture #2

RE: idealscope, that would be much better - am I missing something in my searches? I just can't seem to come up with a comparable stone at some of the places that offer idealscope / aset images. Do you see any other potential stones out there?
 
Ok. So the AGS stone is out. I was confused.

Between those two... no there isn't much difference, at least, not from the information at had. Would I pay 2k for a step up in color? Maybe. But I can also see myself saving the money. 2k can buy a nice band or stacker.

So.. no, I don't think there is a bad choice between those. Pick whichever appeals to you.

And no, I looked at the other vendors and didn't see anything that was competitive. But you can call Wink if you want and see if he can come up with something for you. Mention/link him to these two. :wavey:

NO, that one is not better. It's a 60/60 with a 41 degree pavilion angle. Some people prefer 60/60's. Mostly old school jewelers who have ignored the last 15 years of technology. I would NOT buy a 60/60 with a 41 degree pavilion angle without an idealscope.

This is YOUR RING. You need better boundaries. Stick to your guns. Thank them for their help. But tell them you have done your research and you prefer a Tolkowsky style round brilliant over a 60/60 as you prefer colored light return over white light return. You understand that it's a matter of preference, and that they might prefer 60/60 stones. But as it is your ring, you want one of these.
 
sunnyside74|1408079537|3732813 said:
also, this is the stone his family member is trying to get us to get through a friend (it is also the most expensive), after telling me this one was much better than the other two I have listed...

Carat Weight: 2.35 / I / VS2 / GIA XXX, faint fluoro
Depth:60.50 Table:60.00 crown angle 34, pavillion angle 41
8.57x8.62x5.20

http://www.eternitybyyoni.com/2.35-I-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-GIA-6171549158/ds-1567813/

am i wrong to take a pass here?
Click to expand...


Oh. But if you can get an idealscope from Yoni and DO prefer white light over colored. Then you can go for this one.
 
thanks so much for all your advice gypsy, I will call wink tomorrow

RE: the stone from his family friend, thanks, I had mentally rejected it for those reasons, but its nice to have some backup agreeing wtih me :-) I much prefer colored light return.
 
And that's all you have to say. Just be firm, honey. It's your ring.

There is a line at which 'helpful assistance' becomes 'overbearing meddling". And when that is crossed it is up to you AND YOUR FIANCE to push them gently back over it by saying, "we appreciate the feedback and the assistance, but we've got this, we're happy with this decision that we have made together and IT'S OKAY IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH IT. BUT you DO have to respect it."

Okay? It's very good practice for marriage too.
 
thanks gypsy.

We declined it - my fiancee is great at trusting my judegment, he knows i did the research here, and trusts my judegment over his uncle's

His uncle went to look if he could source either of the 2 blue nile stones, and is looking for the wholesaler for stone #1. For stone #2, he knows the wholesaler and emailed my finacee saying the stone had a cavity and black crystal (this is on the GIA report, and I'm not sure if the guy looked at the report alone or saw the stone)

Since the stone is VS1 it should not be visible to the eye looking down from the top, correct? I just want an eyeclean stone. Is this a reason to pass on the stone - to my knowledge these inclusions dont cause structural problems?. I attached the GIA reports with the inclusion plots for both stone #1 and #2 below (the family friend's stone is out)

sorry for so many questions, i really appreciate all the help and advice.
 

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