Diamond ASET IDEAL H&A Please help

[yassz]

I am planning on buying a diamond but I would like to know if this diamond is any good.







It is
VVS1, Excellent Cut, I color - with IGI certification
and scores 2.8 in HCA

Thank you very much

 

[delight]

Forget this diamond. Cut doesn't look good. More importantly, it's from IGI. Get one graded by AGS or GIA for a start.

 

[McGinnis]

+1

I don't think that's an excellent cut...GIA would never allow that. It's probably a lot cheaper in price compared to a GIA with the same stats because what their cert. is charging you is probably what gia stones go for when they are cut below excellent. I bet your color is misrepresented on the cert as well. GIA all the way!
BTW, someone once asked me this at a mall jewelry store:
"GIA is just another certificate. It doesn't mean it's a more beautiful or valuable stone because it's graded by GIA, so why not pay less since GIA is like a brand name?"
It's really how you look at it I guess...I can buy a crap stone graded by GIA but you know what? I'll know that all the specs on that grading is indeed true. When you're searching and you see a cheaper stone graded by a smaller non reputable company, it's probably cheaper but remember that the color cut and clarity is not the same as the GIA stone claiming to state the same color cut and quality. So are you really saving money? If GIA graded that stone, that diamond would probably be on that website for cheaper than listed because in all honestly, GIA doesn't sugar coat anything therefore it must be listed online similar in price with the lower cut, clarity, and color and probably cheaper.

Buy a medium fresh apple $6 dollars from the market or a larger apple for $6 at a gas stop...the catch? The larger one is half rotten. So you cut the half off and are left with a small apple. You just paid $6 dollars for an apple that is visually "large" but small in quality. With that $6 if given to the market would have given you not a large apple but a solid medium with no rotten spots.

hope that helped. I wish someone would have put it that way for me when I purchased my first stone from Kays...the horror

 

[yassz]

thank you so much for your input I guess I will pass on this one due to lower level certification

 

[yssie]

What IGI?
Where do you live?
GIA and AGSL are considered the most reputable and robust options in the US. That is not necessarily the case around the world.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/igi-diamond-buying-advice.191543/#post-3488557?hilit=IGI#p3488557']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/igi-diamond-buying-advice.191543/#post-3488557?hilit=IGI#p3488557[/URL]

In the global picture IGI reports are very reputable. The IGI Antwerp lab has a very strong history in Europe. IGI Mumbai is well respected and IGI Hong Kong has nothing short of a top reputation in Asia. In fact the loose diamond reports from the IGI HK lab are considered on par with GIA but more consistent. Increasingly, the IGI HK "Hearts & Arrows" grading report is becoming the report of choice for cut-quality focused diamonds in China.

The negative sentiment about IGI in the USA has largely been arrived-at based due to the "finished jewelry appraisal-reports" seen at many jewelry-counters. These reports list a replacement-value and are famously misused by salespeople. Note that IGI NYC is the only lab to issue such reports. The other IGI worldwide locations do not.

More discussions on labs and grading standards:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/is-igi-really-that-bad.128091/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/is-igi-really-that-bad.128091/[/URL]
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/igi-grading-system.182725/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/igi-grading-system.182725/[/URL]
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/why-isnt-igi-and-egl-reputable.145897/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/why-isnt-igi-and-egl-reputable.145897/[/URL]
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ags-gia-igi-question.87892/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ags-gia-igi-question.87892/[/URL]
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/igi-vs-gia.154566/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/igi-vs-gia.154566/[/URL]


It might not be a stone that we self-proclaimed cut nuts would choose if we have dozens of choices but it's certainly no doozy. Proportions on the report aren't likely to tell us much - we can see there's nothing wildly outrageous from the from the pics, opposing areas of "leakage" due to asymmetry...

How big is the stone? Depending on how big this thing is... say 3.5+? There just aren't as many stones out there to choose from, so you either have to relax your standards or pay a premium for a precisicion-cut specimen from a specialty boutique.

Date of report?

 

[04diamond<3]

what's your budget?

 

[yassz]

So this is the insert of the report and my budget is anything below $5k

Report City + Date MUMBAI June 17 2013
Description Natural Diamond
Shape And Cut Round Brilliant
Carat Weight 1.00 Carat
Color Grade I
Clarity Grade VVS 1
Cut Grade Excellent
Polish Excellent
Symmetry Excellent
Measurements 6.37 - 6.40 x 3.97 mm
Table 57%
Crown Height - Angle 15.5% - 36°
Pavilion Depth - Angle 43% - 40.7°
Girdle Thickness Medium To Sl. Thick (fac.)
Culet Pointed
Total Depth 62.1%
Fluorescence Slight
Comments IDEAL CUT ROUND BRILLIANT

 

[John P]

FYI, the reflector graphics you posted (H&A, IS, ASET) are not actual photos. They are computer-simulations generated from a 3D scan of the diamond. This is not bad, but it's a point of clarification. The ASET simulation used was also 'backlit,' which has a different look than the non-backlit ASET images many PS sellers use.

Additionally, unless the stage and lens of the scanner were misaligned, the table of this diamond is slightly tilted, relative to the girdle plane. That's why there are aberrations in the arrows image and some light leakage under the table at 8:00 in IS and ASET.

Yssie's post about IGI grading standards is good information.

So this is the insert of the report and my budget is anything below $5k
Measurements 6.37 - 6.40 x 3.97 mm
Table 57%
Crown Height - Angle 15.5% - 36°
Pavilion Depth - Angle 43% - 40.7°
Girdle Thickness Medium To Sl. Thick (fac.)
Culet Pointed
Total Depth 62.1%
Fluorescence Slight
Comments IDEAL CUT ROUND BRILLIANT

Based on the given measurements it would be GIA EX in proportions and a candidate for AGS3 light performance. The final grade would depend on finish standards applied at those labs and, in the case of AGSL, their judgment of its physical symmetry (RE the tilted table).

 

[yassz]

Thank you John and Yssie for your replies.

I wouldn't mind if this diamond ends up being 1 or 2 grades off because the price of this diamond is well within my $5k budget for a loose diamond.

I am looking for a minimum of:

1 carat
VS2
I colour
VG cut

I was just wondering if this diamond would meet these minimum criteria if they were to be graded by GIA or AGS.

 

[John P]

I am looking for a minimum of:
1 carat
VS2
I colour
VG cut

While the weight is 1.00 carat, at 6.385 average girdle diameter it faces-up more like a diamond of 0.95 carats. The price you quoted seems low for 1.00 ct, but in-line with 0.9X in that class and category.

I was just wondering if this diamond would meet these minimum criteria if they were to be graded by GIA or AGS.

IGI's labs are well-regarded, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. But grading of color, clarity and finish (largely) is ultimately human, and even subject to daily dynamics, so the only way to know would be to send it in. The end result may also depend on which lab-location you send it to, when you send it, whether the diamond is a "solid" XYZ or a "borderline" XYZ and even what the grader(s) had for breakfast that day.

 

[John P]

VG cut

PS: Since ± 85% of the standard manufacturing envelope in-use by the world's largest diamond manufacturers will result in either EX or VG, you may want to up your cut standards.

 

[04diamond<3]

you can find some very white J's:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.06-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-153764
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.02-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-184916

JA offers PS members an additional discount (1-5%), and will provide you with ideal scope images. You can request them after placing the stones you're interested in on hold.

I don't believe you'll find what you want with your current criteria. Both of the above stones are gorgeous!

 

[yassz]

you can find some very white J's:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.06-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-153764
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.02-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-184916

JA offers PS members an additional discount (1-5%), and will provide you with ideal scope images. You can request them after placing the stones you're interested in on hold.

I don't believe you'll find what you want with your current criteria. Both of the above stones are gorgeous!

Do I have to call them to get the JA discount?

So I will adjust my criteria to J color and EX cut, should I also look for excellent polish and symmetry? or will it not make much difference?

 

[04diamond<3]

you can find some very white J's:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.06-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-153764
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.02-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-184916

JA offers PS members an additional discount (1-5%), and will provide you with ideal scope images. You can request them after placing the stones you're interested in on hold.

I don't believe you'll find what you want with your current criteria. Both of the above stones are gorgeous!

Do I have to call them to get the JA discount?

So I will adjust my criteria to J color and EX cut, should I also look for excellent polish and symmetry? or will it not make much difference?

You can just chat them to put the stones on hold and request an ideal scope image. For your budget, I think you should change your requirements to a J. You can get a very white looking J...look up some of the topic is "show me the bling" for examples. A lot of people here have J or K colored stones and say they face up pretty white.

Again, for your budget, going to a "VG" for symmetry and polish would be helpful. Like J colored stones, you can find a very well cut "VG" rated stone in your budget. Some "VG" stones are better cut than some "EX" stones. Both of the stones I posted are "excellent" for symmetry though.