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goldalex27

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
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6
First i would like to just say thank you for all your help this is very confusing and frustrating. I am in the market to by my GF an engagement ring within the next 2-3 weeks. The sooner the better. I am looking to purchase at least a .50 caret diamond. I am really looking for something thats going to sparkle a lot. Right now i am looking at the 2 rings below. The only info she has told me was that she wants either a round or a princess cut diamond. I am willing to sacrifice size for quality.

I guess my questions are:
Is the Hearts & Arrows Ideal cut a really good diamond?
Between the Round and Princess cut, which cut will sparkle the most?
If anything is wrong with these 2 diamond can you please tell me what it is and what i need to be looking for in that area?


Round Diamond
Shape: Round
Carat weight: 0.55
Cut: Hearts & Arrows Ideal
Color: D
Clarity: VS1
Certificate: AGS
Depth: 61.6%
Table: 55.9%
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Girdle: Thin to medium
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Negligible
Measurements: 5.28*5.30*3.26

Crown Angle: 34.4°
Crown %: 15.20
pavilion Angle: 41.0°
pavilion %: 43.30

or

Princess Diamond
Shape: Princess
Carat weight: 0.78
Cut: Ideal
Color: G
Clarity: VS1
Certificate: GIA
Depth: 73.3%
Table: 71.0%
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Good
Girdle: Thick to very thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 5.03*4.95*3.63
Ratio: 1.02

Thanks again.
 
For a newbie you sure know how to pick 'em! :)
I am not too keen on the princess one you posted, but the round one looks great.
The round one, although weighing less, has a larger diameter on it, so will look bigger too.

I am only asking because you posted that you wanted 'at least' half a carat - did you want to go larger? If you want to, you can actually drop both color and clarity with no visible effect to the naked eye and either save some $$ for your wallet, or increase the size. Your decision!


ETA:
Please place any diamond you are interested on hold so that no one else snatches it up while you consider it!
 
How far in color and clarity can I drop with noticing it to the naked eye?
 
Is this a good reliable site to order from? I was looking to order my setting from James Allen that why i was kinda looking at getting my diamond from them. I saw on another post that you should try to buy the diamond and setting from the same place.
 
Yes, JA has a very good reputation.
Some people are extremely color sensitive, others are color sensitive and prefer warmer colors, others are just plain color blind! :)
It would be good for you to go looking in stores in person at GIA or AGS graded stones (EGL sometimes has difficulty with reproducibility, so for this purpose stick to GIA/AGS) to see what your color tolerances/preferences are. I would be willing to bet you could go down at least to a G, if not even lower and still not notice any shade.
 
Here is one form JA.

0.72ct I VS2

Here is another. 0.71 G SI2

If you are willing to go down in color or clarity you can get something larger than .50ct. Unless your GF is very color sensitive you could spend your money on a beautiful cut and go with lower colors. Many of us consider G, H, I and even J acceptable colors. G and H look pretty white. Even the slight warmth of an I or J are not distracting when you have an ideal cut with lots of sparkle and fire.
 
Date: 1/22/2009 8:47:48 PM
Author: swingirl
Here is one form JA.

0.72ct I VS2

Here is another. 0.71 G SI2

If you are willing to go down in color or clarity you can get something larger than .50ct. Unless your GF is very color sensitive you could spend your money on a beautiful cut and go with lower colors. Many of us consider G, H, I and even J acceptable colors. G and H look pretty white. Even the slight warmth of an I or J are not distracting when you have an ideal cut with lots of sparkle and fire.
Click to expand...
swingirl and I were posting at the same time - either one of these are beautiful too!
 
Thank you guys for you help.

As far as asking them if it is eye-clean or not. Are they known for being honest? Am i able to take their word for it and be confident and knowing that i am getting a good ring.


As far as the cuts goes. Does the round cuts gives more sparkle or are they more attractive than the princess cut?
 
Yes, I would trust them on their eyeclean response - if they lied, you got it and then returned it, the stone would be off the market (for other potential buyers) during the entire purchasing/mailing/decision process so it is not in their financial interest to be dishonest. Just be clear with them what you are looking for as far as eyeclean
http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/SI/

Rounds generally show larger then princesses for the same carat weight. I believe rounds are generally considered a more 'timeless' or 'classic' look (such as the 6 prong round Tiffany that people often think of when the topic of erings is brought up), but it really truly boils down to the shape (round or square) that you and your gf like. Princess cuts can be harder to purchase online, but with a little bit of effort and a reputable vendor can certainly be done (an easy cheat way is to look for AGS 0 graded princess cuts)

ETA:
remember that clarity grading is done under 10X magnification, so if you jack the magnification up high enough, it is likely you are bound to see something, even on an IF graded stone)
 
For sparkle, you can''t beat a round. A well cut princess will sparkle too, but they have a different look. Round stones are more traditionally used in erings, although the princess cut is rather popular. If you are not 100% sure that your gf will love the princess, stick with a round.

Good luck!
 
Thank you guys so very much for you help. I do have one more questions though. i have been looking a three different online sites.
BlueNile, Whiteflash, and James Allen. If all three sites had the same exact ring for the same price which site would you go with?

Thanks again for your help.
 
Just my two cents, goldalex... many men think it''s better to get a flawless, colorless diamond and sacrifice size, but when it comes to diamonds, size really does matter to many women. I have a couple of friends that wanted to kill their fiance''s after being presented with a miniscule, flawless diamond. Maybe striking a balance between all the 4 c''s is your best bet.

Just my two cents...
 
I completely agree with piglet.
Oh, the debates and xl speadsheets (My fiance searching for diamonds.) I had to passionately defend my love of oec diamonds and not just let him buy a brand new diamond. Does she have any preferences?
I went in thinking I wanted a big gorgeous diamond with a halo and pave''s reproducing all over themselves. When I tried it on I felt like the real housewives of the oc!
I left ring shopping realizing I loved the gorgeous delicate fiery OEC.
I know ring shopping and the proposal are different for everyone, but we decided to do the shopping together (i pick his clothes out every single day, so i didn''t want him alone in a jewelry store.)
But we really enjoyed it and my fiance even said, (which i thought was cool)
"it is a shame it is not tradition to shop together because it is fun."
Good luck to you,
 
Date: 1/22/2009 10:23:22 PM
Author: goldalex27
Thank you guys so very much for you help. I do have one more questions though. i have been looking a three different online sites.
BlueNile, Whiteflash, and James Allen. If all three sites had the same exact ring for the same price which site would you go with?

Thanks again for your help.
Click to expand...
(As an aside before we begin, I like Good Old Gold and Wink Jones an awful lot too and would also be open to a couple of other places if they were in the running in this scenario)

When you say exact same ring, I am going to define it two different ways -
if you define it meaning exact same diamond, then I would choose the one that stocked the setting that I wanted (unless it was a setting I could have shipped to my vendor of choice)
but... I think what you are really asking is the literal interpretation of what you posted which would be the hypothetical exact same setting and exact same stone for the exact same price which leaves you to determine what else you can get for the money that would sway you.


Out of those particular 3 I would first drop BN. We have purchased from them, but I have been disappointed in replies that previous posters have gotten from BN when requesting additional info from them. I have felt that some of the email responses with regards to request for cut info have been condescending and surprisingly uneducated for their condescending tone (we know that cut is what actually gives the diamond sparkle, and the cookie cutter email reply posters have received indicates that the sales associates at BN are not educated in evaluating cut and what the cut tools actually are and how they work.)
Of course, if it is the same stone you wouldn't be needing additional cut info because you already have it, but since there are two other vendors (with additional trade in policies that BN does not offer that I will get to in a moment) that I have respect for and would rather give my $ to, I would then be down to JA and WF.

So, what can JA or WF offer over the other if they have the exact same product?

They both have a reputation for good customer service so we are splitting hairs on that one.
Over the years I have been here I have seen that many, many people (whether they originally ever intended to or not) end up changing their stone down the road - either an 'upgrade' to a higher clarity or color or carat weight, or a change of shape (say a rb to an asscher to a cushion type of thing because their tastes have changed with time)
Also, sometimes things happen - we have seen engagements get broken and the ring is left. Later the man meets the right person for him and instead of using the same stone he wishes to trade it in for another one - if there is a trade in policy, then he is able to use the $ originally invested for a new stone. It beats being stuck with a ring that you will never get near what you paid for it originally when you try to resell it without a trade in policy.

So, in light of that, I would go with WF, not actually with the intention that I would ever change stones, but because I am just the type of person that generally likes to have all of my options open and WF offers a much better trade in policy than JA - all things equal I will just take advantage of a better option.

But I would seriously be happy to work with either WF or JA (or GOG or Wink). You just made me choose so that was my logic!
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I would look over Good Old Gold and Whiteflash's return, buy-back and trade-in policies. They are fantastic.

*ETA* Add www.highperformancediamonds.com to the list. They will buy your diamond back at any time for 80% of what you paid. That is a LOT more than you would get selling a second hand diamond yourself. Even if you don't think you would ever take advantage of it, it would be really nice to have that option.
 
Date: 1/23/2009 8:37:19 PM
Author: kindred
I would look over Good Old Gold and Whiteflash''s return, buy-back and trade-in policies. They are fantastic.

*ETA* Add www.highperformancediamonds.com to the list. They will buy your diamond back at any time for 80% of what you paid. That is a LOT more than you would get selling a second hand diamond yourself. Even if you don''t think you would ever take advantage of it, it would be really nice to have that option.
Click to expand...
Yes, Wink Jones is www.highperformancediamonds.com, he is also (while he finishes the high performance diamonds website) still www.winkjones.com
 
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