diamond pendants

[pad3006]

Hi Everyone;
I had a question about diamond pendants. I was in Bailey Banks and Biddle the other day with my GF and we saw a gorgous one, it was 5/8th of a carat, it was H or I color but then I1 clarity. She was going crazy for it b/c it sparkled a lot but i was suprised at the poor clarity of it but you couldnt see any inclusions for the breif time I saw it.
It was 1700 for it, and it was set in white gold. How is that price? I dont have the cut angels or anything of the sort but it was a princess cut. Where would be a good place to look for a loose stone possibly of better quality? I did some searching on whiteflash and diamonds.com but do you all have any other suggestions? It would be good if they had fiancing so I could pay it over time. Thanks a lot.
Any other advice on what claritys are acceptable would be apprecaited too. thanks

Phil

 

[Lorelei]

Actually in a pendant a properly graded well cut I1 can be a good choice which gives you more bang for the buck. This is because pendants aren't scrutinized as closely as diamonds on the finger and if there is a small visible inclusion the chances are it won't be noticed. Of course you and your GF might prefer to go higher in clarity and that's fine too. A clean SI2 might be a good compromise for clarity or SI1. VS clarity in my opinion is a bit of a waste in a pendant as you are paying for what the eye can't see. Can't say for price as we would need to know who certed this diamond - GIA, EGL etc.

You can check out WF, Good Old Gold, Wink at Winfields, James Allen, Bill at Pearlmans - look on the PS vendors list. I take it you want a Princess Cut for this pendant? Make sure you make the CUT your top priority as this is what makes the diamond beautiful. You can use the PS your Diamonds tool above, enter your specs and search by cut too.

 

[ladykemma]

shade the pendant with your hand and look at it with your eyes and then the loupe. get it out of the twinkly store lights. is it eye clean?

generally when I shade the pendant that''s when I see the big black spots or frozen spit.

i have a pair of I-1 leverbacks that are eye clean. go figger. i caint see what the grader saw.....

seems a fair price. BBB is a good reputable store.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

A lot of stores don't use the best clarity stones in pendants or earrings. I would focus more on the cut than the clarity. Bailey Banks & Biddle sometimes gives 15% discount from the price tag - you should ask if there is a discount for that particular pendant. One of their payment plans gives you a year with no finance charges. but it might depend on the price of the item. The salesperson should have told you about the various payment plans.

 

[Mara]

that seems like a lot to pay for a 5/8 of a carat (.625) at H I1.

the online price stats say that an H I1 1A cut grade (excellent) princess would sell for around $1350 per carat, so more like $900 for the stone itself. if it was just a basic 4 prongish setting for the stone, that is worth about $200 with the chain so i'd say not more than $1100 for the whole thing, not $1700.

you could build your own from scratch and save $$.