Color or Clarity

[lenhejo]

Hello all,

Will a jump from F to E have a larger or smaller monetary impact on the value of the diamond than a jump from VS2 to VS1? Is one jump more ideal than the other. I am looking at 3 stones and can't decide between the two. One of the stones is an F VS2, the other is an E VS2 and the other is a G VS1. All 3 are AGS 0, H&A cuts.

Best Regards.

 

[Hest88]

The answer to that depends on your eye. I doubt either choice would make a significant visual difference, but some people are really sensitive to color while others have eagle eyes when it comes to inclusions.

Is one cheaper than the other? Maybe you can just go for the practical difference.

 

[moremoremore]

A jump up in clarity is more expensive. it's not an emerald cut, right?) So i'd go for the E. I'm very color sensitive. I'm also (apparently) very clarity sensitive...but in a vs2, you're fine....

 

[lenhejo]

The stones are as follows:

3.09 ct E VS2 H&A (most brilliant, superbly cut H&A)

3.36 ct F VS2 ($4000 less than the E VS2- inferior cut)

3.61 ct G VS1 (also superbly cut H&A - same price as F VS2)

Any opinons?


Thanks for all your help.

 

[Hest88]

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On 6/7/2004 5:15:37 PM lenhejo wrote:

The stones are as follows:

3.36 ct F VS2 ($4000 less than the E VS2- inferior cut)

3.61 ct G VS1 (also superbly cut H&A - same price as F VS2)

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Wait, the 3.61 H&A costs the same as the 3.36 inferior cut?

 

[WinkHPD]

Without even going to look at the numbers, I will say this, you might want your intended recipient to get involved here. Many women will prefer the larger stone and HANG the numbers. Many would rather have the E color. For an investment of this size into her happiness, why not honor her with a choice?

Wink

 

[Rank Amateur]

Maybe one of the vendors can look at a recent rap sheet for you.

The older sheet I have shows F/VS2 to F/VS1 at an 8% premium. F/VS2 to E/VS2 is a 3% jump while F to G/VS2 is a 5% decrease. The total to go from G/VS2 to E/VS1 is 18%. It really starts to add up. Jump up to D/VS1 and it's another 10% up to 28%! And a D/VS1 is nearly twice that of an I/SI2.

Interestingly, at the VVS1 level the premium to go from F to E is 22.5% and E/VVS2 to E/VVS1 is a whopping 24%.

Real asking prices are not based strictly off of Rap but it does enable you to get the idea of how the price jumps around on the color/clarity matrix. Throw cut in there and the matrix needs to be 3 dimensional!

 

[moremoremore]

Wink- you have been trained well! hehehehehe

Yes, SHE is all that matters! LOL

That said....EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, I pick the EEEEEEEEE!

 

[hoorray]

If the 3.6 G/VS1 is $4000 less than the 3.09 E/VS2, if you want it to be that big, you should probably go with the G/VS1. Odds are it's a beautiful stone, and still super white, and size usually wins. That said, for this amount of $$, I'd nix the inferior cut stone since you have a superbly cut one for the same price with better clarity and neighboring color. I would have the E/VS2 and the G/VS1 shipped to a local appraiser so that you (and maybe your intended) can select between them. I had trouble timing-wise doing that with a few stones, and everyone's advice was that the size difference was noticible enough that odds were I'd pick the largest stone. So I did. However, my curious brain wishes I had been able to compare a couple side by side to choose. Also, I had a size limit that beyond it was too big for my hand. (3c was too big -- mid 2's was great). I don't know if you think any size is too big or not.


And, to answer your question,

, I think clarity jumps cost more than color jumps.

 

[researcher]

I tend to agree with both LOP and moremoremore (of course!). My first choice would be to call in both stones and see which one speaks to you, but, while I tend to think that size is important (I was willing to drop in both color and clarity for size and cut), round diamonds have such a large spread that I tend to think they look a bit silly when they get too big--unless the person wearing them has larger fingers. Assuming she has average size or smaller fingers, I would go for the 3.09 ct and get the beautiful "E" in color! It will be a very big stone, but not too big (and will give you more setting options--although you will probably have to go custom no matter which stone you choose). Once you reach the 3.5 ct mark I think the size of her finger should definitely be considered. If the "G" faces up white (and neither of you are extremely color sensitive) and she has hands that can hold that stone I say go for it!!!

 

[lenhejo]

Here is the the 3.095 carat E VS2:

AGS Ideal O
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Proportions: Ideal
Isee2 Analysis - 9.7/10
Brilliance Scope Analysis:
White Light: High
Color Light: Very High
Scintillation: Very High

Total depth: 61%
Table size: 56.2%
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavillion Angle: 40.9
Pavillion Depth: 43.1
Culet Size - .4% - Very Small
Girdle Min: 1.2% - Thin
Girdle Max: 1.8% - Sl. Thick
Girdle Avg: 1.5% - Medium