Diamond Review

[stevendominy]

Hi all,

First, thank you to everyone who posts here. I have learned a lot and this forum has been a vital resource for getting to this point. Now, I would like for you guys to help me evaluate a stone:

Round Brilliant
Measurements: 6.62 - 6.75 x 3.94 mm
Carat Weight: 1.04 carat
Color Grade: D
Clarity Grade: VS2
Cut Grade: Very Good
Proportions:
Depth: 58.9%
Table: 62%
Crown Angle: 32.0°
Crown Height: 12.0%
Pavilion Angle: 41.8°
Pavilion Depth: 44.5%
Star length: 55%
Lower Half: 80%
Girdle: Thin to Medium, Faceted (2.5%)
Culet: None
Finish:
Polish: Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Fluorescence: None


Light Return Good
Fire Poor
Scintillation Poor
Spread Excellent

The price I would pay is $6,000.

The most important factors to me was making sure that it was colorless and had a nice polish. I do not understand how to tell if this diamond is 1a, 3b, or whatever else.

 

[jet2ks]

Blech

! That is a very poorly cut diamond, no matter the color or clarity level. It is cut that gives a diamond its sparkle and life, and this diamond will likely have neither.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/2/2009 9:20:24 AM
Author:stevendominy
Hi all,

First, thank you to everyone who posts here. I have learned a lot and this forum has been a vital resource for getting to this point. Now, I would like for you guys to help me evaluate a stone:

Round Brilliant
Measurements: 6.62 - 6.75 x 3.94 mm
Carat Weight: 1.04 carat
Color Grade: D
Clarity Grade: VS2
Cut Grade: Very Good
Proportions:
Depth: 58.9%
Table: 62%
Crown Angle: 32.0°
Crown Height: 12.0%
Pavilion Angle: 41.8°
Pavilion Depth: 44.5%
Star length: 55%
Lower Half: 80%
Girdle: Thin to Medium, Faceted (2.5%)
Culet: None
Finish:
Polish: Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Fluorescence: None


Light Return Good
Fire Poor
Scintillation Poor
Spread Excellent

The price I would pay is $6,000.

The most important factors to me was making sure that it was colorless and had a nice polish. I do not understand how to tell if this diamond is 1a, 3b, or whatever else.

Hi Steven

This diamond is not well cut, I would suggest looking for some others - no point buying a diamond if it is so poorly cut as this, it won't sparkle or show much life....

You have a nice budget and can get a beautifully cut diamond with it that you can be proud of, I really recommend you pass on this one.

Yuck.

If you like we could find you some nice stones to consider if you are interested in buying online?

 

[denverappraiser]

I’m going to assume this is GIA grading so I think you can trust the colorless part but ‘good’ is near the functional bottom of the scale in terms of polish and it shouldn’t be difficult to do better.

Given that list of priorities, may I ask why you chose this one? Also if I might, how did you decide that polish and color should be your priority attributes?


Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[stone-cold11]

Lousy cut stone. Will look dull.

 

[Ellen]

Hi Steven,

I echo the others, you can do better!

And jet is right, color (or lack of), and clarity (and polish as well) play no real role in sparkle, a diamonds most important job! You could easily go to G and still have nothing but a nice white diamond. Clarity can easily go to the VS2-SI1 range.

Cut, is what you really need to focus on. And as Lorelei mentioned, if you were to be open to online purchases, we can help. However, we can also give you some guidelines if you are wanting to buy locally!

 

[stevendominy]

I am very open to buying online.

And, the lady and I went ring shopping a number of times, and she seems to be able to tell a difference in color, and if she has it in her mind that she would like a colorless stone (whether she is right or not), I am happy to give her one.

 

[stone-cold11]

Is she looking at a GIA/AGS graded stone or from one of the lesser labs that are more common in brick mortar stores? As those labs are more lenient with color and clarity grading, that would have skewed your color perception.

Also a well cut stone will show less color face up than a badly cut stone.

 

[stone-cold11]

This look promising. Request an Idealscope image from JA if you are interested.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1254565.asp

 

[jet2ks]

OK, can you give us some parameters for size and budget?

EDT: Just going by what you have above

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-1467011.htm

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/2/2009 10:17:21 AM
Author: stevendominy
I am very open to buying online.

And, the lady and I went ring shopping a number of times, and she seems to be able to tell a difference in color, and if she has it in her mind that she would like a colorless stone (whether she is right or not), I am happy to give her one.

Thats fine, if she prefers colourless and it matters to her then of course stick with that! We can definitely have a look around to see what is out there which might suit you.

Before we start, is the 6k budget just for the diamond or does it need to cover the setting too please? Size/ weight preferences also too?

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/2/2009 10:17:21 AM
Author: stevendominy

I am very open to buying online.

And, the lady and I went ring shopping a number of times, and she seems to be able to tell a difference in color, and if she has it in her mind that she would like a colorless stone (whether she is right or not), I am happy to give her one.

No problem, I understand.

Here's one, if eyeclean. They will be able to look it over and tell you. This would get a 2% PS discount.

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-2106428.htm#

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/2/2009 10:35:12 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 9/2/2009 10:17:21 AM
Author: stevendominy

I am very open to buying online.

And, the lady and I went ring shopping a number of times, and she seems to be able to tell a difference in color, and if she has it in her mind that she would like a colorless stone (whether she is right or not), I am happy to give her one.

No problem, I understand.

Here''s one, if eyeclean. They will be able to look it over and tell you. This would get a 2% PS discount.

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-2106428.htm#

Beauty!!

 

[stevendominy]

Hi all,

Thank you for all the good replies so far.

6k is for the diamond only, and is actually on the high end of what I was expecting to pay.

the criteria I have been working with is fairly simple, because I am new to this.

I would like a colorless diamond, no less than VS2 and at least one carat. I have been putting a lot of emphasis on polish and symmetry, but not for any particular reason, those just seemed to look nice to me.

Also, if it helps, I am able to pay via cash or wire.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/2/2009 10:39:09 AM
Author: stevendominy
Hi all,

Thank you for all the good replies so far.

6k is for the diamond only, and is actually on the high end of what I was expecting to pay.

the criteria I have been working with is fairly simple, because I am new to this.

I would like a colorless diamond, no less than VS2 and at least one carat. I have been putting a lot of emphasis on polish and symmetry, but not for any particular reason, those just seemed to look nice to me.

Also, if it helps, I am able to pay via cash or wire.

That sounds fine, definitely take a look at Ellen's and the guys' selections, hers should come in a bit under 6K with bank wire payment. Polish and symmetry aren't as important as the overall proportions such as the crown and pavilion angles, these are the ' engines' which help drive the light return to give you the sparkle, fire and brilliance you expect from a diamond.

 

[stevendominy]

Ellen''s ring is an SI; I would like no less than VS2

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/2/2009 11:08:00 AM
Author: stevendominy
Ellen's ring is an SI; I would like no less than VS2

Ok then we will have to look to see what else is out there and see if we can get the size being colourless and VS clarity, looks like SC's is one of the few options out there for your specs and budget.

 

[stone-cold11]

The JA stone I listed should be below 6k after the PS discount and wire.

 

[denverappraiser]

You might want to put some more thought into your specs. Few people, including experts, can spot the differences in polish between the top grades without the aid of tools and nearly everyone can spot the differences in cutting. Similarly, few people can spot the difference between a D and an F without the use of comparison stones. There’s nothing wrong with buying a D and aiming for an excellent polish but the polish spec in particular is a decidedly unusual requirements even with your added ones (VS2 minimum, 1.00ct minimum, $6k maximum). Read through the tutorial on cutting and ask your jeweler to show you some stones that they promote as being especially well cut without worrying so much about the price at the moment. The exercise is in calibrating your eyes and your taste with what the various reports say.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[stevendominy]

denverappraiser,

Would the stone posted by Stone Cold, http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1254565.asp be a good choice for me then, if I discount any real consideration of polish? As I mentioned before, I have no basis for liking a stone with a good rating on polish, and what I thought looked nice could easily be attributable to a number of other things.

Everyone,

Thank you so much so far! Based on what you all have said so far, my only real requirements should be that it is colorless and as nice a cut as I can find? And, an additional question of, how nice of a stone should I expect for 6k?

 

[denverappraiser]

That looks like a nice stone for a nice price. Whether it’s the right one for you is a more difficult question. This is always something of a balancing act of attributes against the price. In this case you have:

A premium associated with GIA grading.
A premium associated with the ‘excellent’ cut grade.
A premium for ‘excellent’ in both polish and symmetry.
A premium for being over 1.00cts.
A discount for using a low margin, Internet based vendor.

It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. These are all popular items (which is why they cost a premium) and are oft recommended here. In general, I agree with these recommendations.

F color, VS2 clarity

Along with the cutting, this is why I recommend you go look at some actual diamonds, not just scans of lab reports. Most people start to see a hint of color in a 1 carat size at about I while a few will see it as high as G or H. Some are J or K. ‘D’ comes with a certain amount of bragging rights for buying the best and it does have an icy look to it that a lot of people like. This, of course, all comes at a premium price and it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. A similar logic happens with clarity. With most stones and for most people, the line of ‘eye visible’ is somewhere between SI1 and I1. That’s a big range and an important decision is whether you are willing to pay extra for something you can’t see. If so, how far up this line do you care to go? VS2 is a good and popular compromise but not everyone makes the same decision or uses the same reasons. If you drop to SI1 you can go up in something else and still keep your budget. If you go up in the color you need to offset it somewhere else. That's where the balancing act happens.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/2/2009 12:42:39 PM
Author: denverappraiser
That looks like a nice stone for a nice price. Whether it’s the right one for you is a more difficult question. This is always something of a balancing act of attributes against the price. In this case you have:

A premium associated with GIA grading.
A premium associated with the ‘excellent’ cut grade.
A premium for ‘excellent’ in both polish and symmetry.
A premium for being over 1.00cts.
A discount for using a low margin, Internet based vendor.

It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. These are all popular items (which is why they cost a premium) and are oft recommended here. In general, I agree with these recommendations.

F color, VS2 clarity

Along with the cutting, this is why I recommend you go look at some actual diamonds, not just scans of lab reports. Most people start to see a hint of color in a 1 carat size at about I while a few will see it as high as G or H. Some are J or K. ‘D’ comes with a certain amount of bragging rights for buying the best and it does have an icy look to it that a lot of people like. This, of course, all comes at a premium price and it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. A similar logic happens with clarity. With most stones and for most people, the line of ‘eye visible’ is somewhere between SI1 and I1. That’s a big range and an important decision is whether you are willing to pay extra for something you can’t see. If so, how far up this line do you care to go? VS2 is a good and popular compromise but not everyone makes the same decision or uses the same reasons. If you drop to SI1 you can go up in something else and still keep your budget. If you go up in the color you need to offset it somewhere else. That''s where the balancing act happens.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

Good advice, with emphasis on the highlight.


Steven, just a fyi, I have a .58 stud that is SI1, where the inclusions can''t even be found with a loupe. That would not be unheard of in a 1 ct. stone. However, if this is just a personal preference for VS2, I understand. But if you think you can''t get a nice diamond that is SI1 clarity, I just wanter to point out that''s not always the case.

And just for funsies, here''s a 2.36 J SI2, which is totally eyeclean. I love posting this diamond, just to show folks what a great cut with lower clarity can look like. And this is blown up like a gagillion times.

Compliments of LynnB.