Diamond 1 or 2? Please help me decide.

[mrkazoo]

Hi, I''m new on the board, although I''ve been surfing and reading and taking in the volumes of info on here and also on diamondtalk.com. So recently, I took a trip down to goodoldgold and I narrowed my search down to these two diamonds-

1) .90 F SI1 6.26-6.29x3.81 60.7% 55% thin, ex/ex/none/none $4929
2) .92 E SI1 6.26-6.30x3.84 61.1% 57% thin, ex/ex/none/none $5097

Diamond 1 can be found here.
Diamond 2 can be found here.

There are 2 long inclusions on 1) but they are all off on the side near the edges. The brilliance report came out to be very high, very high, very high, 9.7

There is 1 major inclusion on the top in the table for 2) but otherwise its pretty clean. For its brilliance report it got high, very high, high, 9.3.

Both are eye clean and are otherwise very similar. I''m leaning towards 2) because it''s a higher grade and its inclusion isn''t that big even though it''s on the table. However, the brilliance report was quite a bit less than 1). Also, the lightscope analysis does show 1) to be darker red so it does seem to give better light. So this is a hard choice... I did look at both side by side for all the tests and to me I can''t tell the difference. So what do you think?

 

[Stephan]

I prefer number one!

 

[moremoremore]

I say #1. They are both icy white. Go for the F!!!

 

[mrkazoo]

Really? Two for 1)? Why is that? Is it because the brilliance report is higher that the F is better? From the inclusions, the E looks better under the scope but they are both eye-clean nevertheless.

Any other thoughts?

 

[elmo]

If you're buying from GOG I like the 95 point E-VS2 better than both. That's a pretty big feather on the first one.

 

[mrkazoo]

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On 4/11/2004 10:55:37 PM elmo wrote:

If you're buying from GOG I like the 95 point E-VS2 better than both. That's a pretty big feather on the first one.----------------

Well, the $700-800 price difference was not much of a justification to go up from SI1 to VS2 especially since no one would know the difference nor see the feathers.

So, for these 2 choices, which would you choose? I'm leaning towards the E SI1 only because the inclusions 'look' better under 10x but the F SI1 does score better in brilliance, light return and fire. So I'm still pretty torn...

Also, for people who are in the loop, are these prices fair?

Any suggestions that can help sway my decision towards one or the other will be greatly appreciated. tia

 

[fire&ice]

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On 4/12/2004 9:49:12 AM mrkazoo wrote:

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On 4/11/2004 10:55:37 PM elmo wrote:

Well, the $700-800 price difference was not much of a justification to go up from SI1 to VS2 especially since no one would know the difference nor see the feathers.

----------------

The issue is not the actual "seeing" the feather. The issue goes to durability of the stone in the long run. Feathers can fracture. But, I'm freaky about feathers.

 

[noobie]

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On 4/12/2004 9:49:12 AM mrkazoo wrote:

----------------
On 4/11/2004 10:55:37 PM elmo wrote:





If you're buying from GOG I like the 95 point E-VS2 better than both. That's a pretty big feather on the first one.----------------

So, for these 2 choices, which would you choose? I'm leaning towards the E SI1 only because the inclusions 'look' better under 10x but the F SI1 does score better in brilliance, light return and fire. So I'm still pretty torn...

Also, for people who are in the loop, are these prices fair?
----------------

Since you asked, I'm with elmo and F&I. I would prefer to spend the money to avoid the feathers.

But between the two, I like #1 because of the perceived performance scores. I would phone Jonathan and ask his opinion. WRT the feathers, you may wish to consider the mount and the protection that what you will pick may provide. Personally I don't like feathers that break the surface.

As far as fair price goes, it's all relative. I've found GOG's pricing competitive, especially considering the analysis and service. You may find a similar stone on a brokered basis for less, but you won't get all of the information on it. Considering what you pay appraisers for their service (which I think is fair), the additional analysis that GOG provides is very fairly priced. Only you can decide what you want. I tend to like maximum reports and information, since diamonds tend be be long term keeper items, so I probably wouldn't mind paying a premium for it.

 

[aljdewey]

Actually, it really depends on where the feathers are positioned. I spoke to Rich Sherwood on this recently, and a particular diamond had a surface reaching feather. I asked Rich specifically about durability issues on it, and he said it wasn't a concern on the stone because the feathers were on the pavilion side and wouldn't be subject to blunt trama when set.

 

[Hest88]

I vote for #2, since you say you couldn't tell the difference between them. If the woman you're buying this for knows nothing about diamonds, she'll be impressed by the "E."

 

[hoorray]

Have you asked Jonathon his opinion? My bet is he has one, and it is an educated one

.