Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out both)

[oakdale19]

Hello,

I have read through most of the guides/information. They have been incredibly helpful. I have also browsed the forums for quite a while. This site is an amazing resource.

About us
We have visited over quite a few stores and have two "favorite" diamonds. I have included the information on the two below. Any insight on either (and their price-value) would be greatly appreciated. There are so many things to consider and I am no expert! Thanks!

Additionally, I would welcome suggestions of stores to visit. I live in Orange County but can travel to the Bay Area, LA, Sacramento, or San Diego (basically anywhere in CA). We have visited a few stores including South Coast Jewelers (Santa Ana), Liberty Diamonds (OC), Padis (SF), Gail Jewelers (Newport Beach), and Joe Escobar's (Campbell). We were considering visiting Derco (SF), Geoffrey's (San Carlos) and Victor Canera (LA). Sorry for the lengthy paragraph. Please find the diamond info below. All information, insight, and advice is welcomed. This is an enjoyable yet stressful process.

Both Diamonds are GIA graded and have inscriptions on the diamond (the GIA number lasered on?).


Diamond 1
Price: $4900
HCA: 2.9 (I think I entered in everything right)
ROUND BRILLIANT

Measurements 6.41 - 6.43 x 3.90 mm
Carat Weight 0.98 carat
Color Grade F
Clarity Grade SI1
Cut Grade Excellent
PROPORTIONS

Depth 60.7 %
Table 59 %
Crown Angle 32.0°
Crown Height 13.0%
Pavilion Angle 41.4°
Pavilion Depth 44.0%
Star Length 50%
Lower Half 80%
Girdle Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted, 4.0%
Culet None

FINISH
Polish Excellent
Symmetry Excellent
FLUORESCENCE
Fluorescence Medium Blue
CLARITY CHARACTERISTICS

Clarity Characteristics Feather

http://www.gia.edu/otmm_wcs_int/viewimage.jsp?IMG_TYPE=PROPIMG&IMG_NO1=8BBA5D68C5331CD8A9BFAABF7FF610BD&s=1440347687602


Diamond 2
Price: Approx $6,750
HCA: .9 (I think I entered everything right but I didn't know the culet percentage)
ROUND BRILLIANT

Measurements 6.48 - 6.49 x 3.86 mm
Carat Weight 1.00 carat
Color Grade D
Clarity Grade SI2
Cut Grade Very Good

PROPORTIONS
Depth 59.5 %
Table 56 %
Crown Angle 34.0°
Crown Height 15.0%
Pavilion Angle 40.2°
Pavilion Depth 41.5%
Star Length 50%
Lower Half 75%
Girdle Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted, 3.0%
Culet Small

FINISH
Polish Very Good
Symmetry Very Good
FLUORESCENCE
Fluorescence None
CLARITY CHARACTERISTICS

Clarity Characteristics Twinning Wisp, Natural

http://www.gia.edu/otmm_wcs_int/viewimage.jsp?IMG_TYPE=PROPIMG&IMG_NO1=BF0DF486510DC098D14F79709D5C38B9&s=1440348370547


Thanks!!

 

[MissGotRocks]

Re: Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out b

Hello and welcome!

I would have to pass on those two stones. The crown angle on the first is shallow coupled with a deep pavilion angle. The second stone is overall rather shallow at 59.5 depth and the pavilion angle is very shallow. Although the second scores a .9 on the HCA, the light return category is only very good.

Your best buys will probably be through online vendors here rather than walking into a store and finding an ideal cut stone - unless they carry them specifically or are well versed in ideal cut. The recommended vendors here generally have wonderful return policies if you are not thrilled with the diamond.

Try to stay within these parameters:

Depth no more than 62.2

Table 53-58

Crown angle 34-35

Pavilion angle 40.6 - 40.9.

GIA triple excellent stones have wide variances so within that grade you will find some not so desirable stones. You just can't go by that grading alone. Always ask for an idealscope or ASET image if they are available. Lastly, we would all be happy to help you find the most beautiful, sparkly stone that we can. Either post stones that you are considering or give us your budget, size, color and clarity preferences and we'll see what we can do. You may also use the search information at the top of the page as well.

I'm sorry to disparage your chosen stones but I wish someone could have done the same for me years ago - would have saved me a lot of money and a lot of heartache!

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3428946.htm?source=pricescope

I'm sharing this stone with you more for comparison purposes than anything (although it is a very well cut stone but I don't see the eye clean symbol on it) regarding color and clarity. The stones you posted were D color - top of the line - and SI2 - bottom of the line. I'd drop down a bit in color - G & H would be fine but this particular stone is an F color. I'd probably raise the clarity to VS2 or SI1 to try to get an eyeclean stone.

 

[oakdale19]

Re: Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out b

Thanks for the information and advice! I appreciate the honesty and directness. I am definitely still a novice and still trying to learn. If anyone has time, I had a few follow up questions below. Thanks!

I am a little scared of going through an online vendor but I would welcome suggestions. We are looking for a D-G color, SI1 eye clean or VS2, very good-excellent cut diamond around 1 ct. Are there other things I should be looking for? Do I just search using the pricescope diamond search option? I've read and looked at blue nile, whiteflash, and high performance diamond.

After we pick the round center diamond, we are looking for a cushion halo ring with pave (small diamonds on the side, right?). Is it generally worth it to go custom versus a cast setting? We were looking at a simon G ring if we didn't go custom.

18K versus platinum? We were told 18K is sometimes preferable to platinum because the smaller stones fall out easier with platinum. Is this true?

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for your help.

Hello and welcome!

I would have to pass on those two stones. The crown angle on the first is shallow coupled with a deep pavilion angle. The second stone is overall rather shallow at 59.5 depth and the pavilion angle is very shallow. Although the second scores a .9 on the HCA, the light return category is only very good.

Your best buys will probably be through online vendors here rather than walking into a store and finding an ideal cut stone - unless they carry them specifically or are well versed in ideal cut. The recommended vendors here generally have wonderful return policies if you are not thrilled with the diamond.

Try to stay within these parameters:

Depth no more than 62.2

Table 53-58

Crown angle 34-35

Pavilion angle 40.6 - 40.9.

GIA triple excellent stones have wide variances so within that grade you will find some not so desirable stones. You just can't go by that grading alone. Always ask for an idealscope or ASET image if they are available. Lastly, we would all be happy to help you find the most beautiful, sparkly stone that we can. Either post stones that you are considering or give us your budget, size, color and clarity preferences and we'll see what we can do. You may also use the search information at the top of the page as well.

I'm sorry to disparage your chosen stones but I wish someone could have done the same for me years ago - would have saved me a lot of money and a lot of heartache!

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3428946.htm?source=pricescope

I'm sharing this stone with you more for comparison purposes than anything (although it is a very well cut stone but I don't see the eye clean symbol on it) regarding color and clarity. The stones you posted were D color - top of the line - and SI2 - bottom of the line. I'd drop down a bit in color - G & H would be fine but this particular stone is an F color. I'd probably raise the clarity to VS2 or SI1 to try to get an eyeclean stone.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Re: Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out b

Hi Oakdale,
Since you're actually looking at stones in person, you're in a far better position to judge how much you love each one.
We all have preferences and for those who can see the differences there's a range of taste. There's nothing in either stones measurements that stands out to me as an elimination factor.
Personally I love 60% tables- but I would never select a diamond based solely on that parameter.
I also LOVE D/SI2 when I find eye clean examples - great value there.
Again, since you're looking locally you're in the best position to judge the clarity.
Examine the diamond closely under bright lights and also outside the high intensity jewelry store lighting.

 

[oakdale19]

Re: Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out b

Thanks for the response!

We've seen quite a few stones but the ones in our budget (we'd love to stay around/under $7K for the center stone) these have looked the best. At the same time, since we are both quite new to all of us, we did not want to rush any decision. We wanted to post here and see if there was any glaring issue we were missing with these diamonds (and any others we might consider buying).

Thanks again for all the advice and comments!

Hi Oakdale,
Since you're actually looking at stones in person, you're in a far better position to judge how much you love each one.
We all have preferences and for those who can see the differences there's a range of taste. There's nothing in either stones measurements that stands out to me as an elimination factor.
Personally I love 60% tables- but I would never select a diamond based solely on that parameter.
I also LOVE D/SI2 when I find eye clean examples - great value there.
Again, since you're looking locally you're in the best position to judge the clarity.
Examine the diamond closely under bright lights and also outside the high intensity jewelry store lighting.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Re: Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out b

http://www.goodoldgold.com/ecommerce/0.96ct-f-vs2-platinum-select-round-ideal-cut-diamond.html

Here is a very well cut stone that kisses the one carat mark. GOG is a very trusted vendor and this stone comes in right at your price point. Give them a call - I'm sure they would be happy to talk with you and help you any way they can. They are an online vendor but also have a brick and mortar store in Long Island. I do believe they are closed on Mondays though.

 

[oakdale19]

Re: Diamond Comparison: Please help me choose (or rule out b

Thanks for the response! I'll definitely check them out.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/ecommerce/0.96ct-f-vs2-platinum-select-round-ideal-cut-diamond.html

Here is a very well cut stone that kisses the one carat mark. GOG is a very trusted vendor and this stone comes in right at your price point. Give them a call - I'm sure they would be happy to talk with you and help you any way they can. They are an online vendor but also have a brick and mortar store in Long Island. I do believe they are closed on Mondays though.