Diamond Cert./clarity preferences

[smooleys]

So, I was talking with my girlfriend the other day about diamonds (info. gathering) and we started talking about the certification that comes with the stone. Who generally gets to see this? Is the cert. mainly for the man to use when purchasing and for insurance purposes and the woman shouldn''t look at it? I always assumed that she would be looking at it to see what stone she has. But, my girlfriend seemed to think that she wouldn''t look at it (or care much for that matter).

The reason that I post this question is that I was looking at diamonds with a VS2 clarity, but have been reading a lot on how an eye clean SI1 can save you money if you wanted to go bigger. I guess it comes down to whether I should go for an SI1 that is bigger or a VS2 that is slightly smaller. The sizes I''m considering are from 1.25-1.35 (VS2 up to 1.3 and and a 1.35ish for a SI1). Would most women rather have a VS than SI?


I''m curious to hear what you all think?
Thanks!

 

[Upgradable]

My stone is an I SI2 HRD certification. Neither the color nor clarity cause me any disappointment because of the cut. It falls under the GIA standard for Ex/Ex, and it has breat symmetry and life. My personal preference is for quality of CUT! The rest, it is very white face up and completely eyeclean. I think this is the main theme you will find here from Pricescopers.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/10/2008 8:21:05 PM
Author: Upgradable
My stone is an I SI2 HRD certification. Neither the color nor clarity cause me any disappointment because of the cut. It falls under the GIA standard for Ex/Ex, and it has breat symmetry and life. My personal preference is for quality of CUT! The rest, it is very white face up and completely eyeclean. I think this is the main theme you will find here from Pricescopers.

Ditto Up, if the diamond is well cut, then you can choose any colour and clarity you like and the diamond will look great.

 

[Ellen]

I''d say the majority on here would opt for an eyeclean SI1 to get a larger size, but certainly not all. If your girl does not know a lot about diamonds, and doesn''ty seem to care, she may not mind at all. She may want to see the grading report, just to get to know her stone and its inclusion locations/characteristics. They can be good for identification purposes.

And I agree that cut should come first.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I think the general feeling about VS clarity is that it''s "safe" because that''s the threshold where you know you will get an eye-clean stone. If she does not care about the actual specs of the stone, there is no reason why you can''t achieve that eye-clean goal with an SI stone.

Among my close friends who are engaged/married, I''m the only one who poured over the certifications before we ever bought a stone. My other friends wanted something nice, but simply didn''t care about the mathematics or specifications of the stone. I don''t think any of them know the clarity of their stone and haven''t looked at the certification at all. If your girlfriend really doesn''t care about the specs, I don''t see why a VS vs. eye-clean SI would matter.

 

[smooleys]

I agree and thanks for your input. I guess (and I know this is silly) that I was concerned about her friends and others who might ask her about the specs giving her a hard time about the SI1 clarity. While I know this shouldn''t matter and is not accurate, I find myself thinking about it. That''s what happens when you go from 24/7 studying for the bar to having nothing to do!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 8/11/2008 10:43:42 AM
Author: smooleys
I agree and thanks for your input. I guess (and I know this is silly) that I was concerned about her friends and others who might ask her about the specs giving her a hard time about the SI1 clarity. While I know this shouldn''t matter and is not accurate, I find myself thinking about it. That''s what happens when you go from 24/7 studying for the bar to having nothing to do!

You are not the first guy to say that.

And what we tell people is this, get an extremely well cut stone, and regardless of what the clarity is (if eyeclean), that all that''s really going to impress people. The majority of women out there aren''t wearing incredibly cut stones (because that is not the majority of what''s on the market), so your girlfriends ring will really stand out in a good way, no matter what. Just educate her on how cut really makes the diamond, so she can accurately relay that on, if need be.

 

[sparxs111]

My experience is that most of the comments people will make will be "WOW that''s big" or WOW, look at that sparkle". This means as suggested above go for the best cut. Most people won''t come close to saying what a nice stone you have but what clarity is it??!! Go for the sparkle, its a killer every time!!!

 

[AndyMN]

Date: 8/11/2008 11:13:48 AM
Author: sparxs111
My experience is that most of the comments people will make will be ''WOW that''s big'' or WOW, look at that sparkle''. This means as suggested above go for the best cut. Most people won''t come close to saying what a nice stone you have but what clarity is it??!! Go for the sparkle, its a killer every time!!!

That’s absolutely right; First they look at the size, Second they look at how sparkly it is. In fact, I work with clients to consider RANGES of color and clarity and finding the best possible cut, rather than locking oneself into F-VS1 to the exclusion of all else and possibly passing up a fantastic, say,G-SI1 (example) that has superior cut quality in little or NO visible color and clarity difference. People are often times surprised at how white a J color faces up when a diamond is cut to superior quality!

 

[stone_seeker]

Date: 8/10/2008 7:41:26 PM
Author:smooleys
So, I was talking with my girlfriend the other day about diamonds (info. gathering) and we started talking about the certification that comes with the stone. Who generally gets to see this? Is the cert. mainly for the man to use when purchasing and for insurance purposes and the woman shouldn''t look at it? I always assumed that she would be looking at it to see what stone she has. But, my girlfriend seemed to think that she wouldn''t look at it (or care much for that matter).


The reason that I post this question is that I was looking at diamonds with a VS2 clarity, but have been reading a lot on how an eye clean SI1 can save you money if you wanted to go bigger. I guess it comes down to whether I should go for an SI1 that is bigger or a VS2 that is slightly smaller. The sizes I''m considering are from 1.25-1.35 (VS2 up to 1.3 and and a 1.35ish for a SI1). Would most women rather have a VS than SI?



I''m curious to hear what you all think?

Thanks!

A certificate may help for insurance but you will need an appraisal or a receipt if you want a cash value insurance policy.

As for S1 for VS2, its a decision the 2 of you should make together. If she doesnt mind SI1 and would like the extra size, then you can certainly find a quality SI1 and gain many points in size.

If size isnt an issue and she rather know or tell her friends the stone is "v-quality" in terms of clarity then there are many many great VS2''s to pick from and you likely dont need to worry about eye cleanliness at that level. For the most person, seeing both an SI1 and a VS2 side by side, all else being equal, you will unlikely notice anything anyway.