Diamond search! .75-.89ct H&A for WF 3-stone platinum setting

[tevyk]

Problems: I''m an engineer -- I over-analyze everything. And I''m terribly indecisive. And, as I found out in my first trip to a B&M jeweler yesterday to actually see what these sparkly things look like in person, I think I may be a bit more sensitive to color than most -- I compared a .75c G with a .9c I; I could only see the difference face-up from a pretty steep angle (perhaps 60 degrees, if 0 degrees is looking straight-on), but thought both looked sort of yellow-y against the white tray they were sitting in. Or maybe I''m being too picky, as I don''t think I saw any loose HOF stones up close that I *didn''t* think looked sort of colored, including (I think) an F (and I''m not overly interested in paying for color higher than F!)

Comments: The jeweler I went to had Hearts On Fire stones (which is the only reason I went there) and those were the only ones I bothered to look at -- I would imagine they are pretty representative of how color will show with the WF ACA''s I''ve been looking at? Regarding the HOF diamonds I saw: a) wow .. sparkly! b) the B&M jeweler wanted an arm and a leg for them! IIRC, he said 12k for a 1.02c H SI1. Glad I found Pricescope!


What I''m looking for:
With that in mind, I think my preference would be to pay a bit more for a G-H over an I, and I''m just not comfortable with J. Though I''d probably be willing to take a serious look at an I if someone took a look at the stone and could convince me that it faced up white.

I believe I mentioned these previously, but my size preference is the upper end of the .75-.89 range .. might consider something a little bigger too, and clarity-wise I''m not concerned as long as WF or GOG or any of the other respected vendors here would call it "eye clean".


Here''s a diamond I found that I absolutely love, but waited just a few hours too long to act on:
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-232067.htm#


I''m going to say that my center stone budget is a max of about 4.5k (this isn''t a "target" by any means

)

Thanks everyone!

 

[tevyk]

Oh, also ... I currently have this diamond on hold until ~6PM EST Thursday.
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-684405.htm#

From my other thread:

Author:tevyk
Regarding the inclusion... that one under one of the "arrow shafts" kinda bothers me ... when I first looked at this stone, I noticed it pretty quickly even in the un-magnified image of the diamond and without knowing where the inclusions were. A ruler and some quick math tells me it shows up as about 5x on my screen. Jamie says "to locate the inclusion, it would require some effort at less than 3 inches from your naked eye", though that almost sounds like a canned response about SI2 diamonds.

Anyway, I called and put it on reserve for 24 hours. What do you all think of the diamond? At the moment, I''m leaning towards ''no''; I''m hesitant to buy something that I know isn''t eye-clean without seeing it in person.

 

[honey22]

A couple of ACAs for you to check out, I think if the 4.5K stone budget could be bumped up to 5 - 5.1K, and assuming those F SI1 are eyeclean, you could check out these. Especially if you are concerned about colour, I would stick with the F colours. It''s not just a visual thing, if you are not ''mind happy'' about the colour, you are going to imagine it and not be 100% happy. Good luck

 

[tevyk]

Honestly, I think I''d be "mind-happy" with anything I or better.

Thinking about it some more and considering that I thought I saw color in an F, I feel like it almost had to be picking up the color from something nearby or the lighting or something. And I had to look awfully hard to see the difference between a G and an I, though I could from an angle if I tried and they were right next to each other.

Now how often is anyone really going to be comparing this diamond right next to another under close scrutiny?

This was so much easier before I actually started thinking about the reality of *buying* a diamond

 

[honey22]

Date: 5/8/2008 1:28:24 AM
Author: tevyk
Honestly, I think I''d be ''mind-happy'' with anything I or better.

Thinking about it some more and considering that I thought I saw color in an F, I feel like it almost had to be picking up the color from something nearby or the lighting or something. And I had to look awfully hard to see the difference between a G and an I, though I could from an angle if I tried and they were right next to each other.

Now how often is anyone really going to be comparing this diamond right next to another under close scrutiny?

This was so much easier before I actually started thinking about the reality of *buying* a diamond

Well, that''s good news, you can really maximise your budget. And you are totally right, unless you run into one of us PSers on the straight wearing your username on your t-shirt, you are unlikely to hear someone say - you went for the I - here is my G next to it............

I still think you are going to be blown away with an ACA, they really are little balls of sparkle. And if you are not 100% satisfied with it, you can always send ot back and change it, or upgrade the stone later.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 5/8/2008 2:10:23 AM
Author: honey22

Date: 5/8/2008 1:28:24 AM
Author: tevyk
Honestly, I think I''d be ''mind-happy'' with anything I or better.

Thinking about it some more and considering that I thought I saw color in an F, I feel like it almost had to be picking up the color from something nearby or the lighting or something. And I had to look awfully hard to see the difference between a G and an I, though I could from an angle if I tried and they were right next to each other.

Now how often is anyone really going to be comparing this diamond right next to another under close scrutiny?

This was so much easier before I actually started thinking about the reality of *buying* a diamond

Well, that''s good news, you can really maximise your budget. And you are totally right, unless you run into one of us PSers on the straight wearing your username on your t-shirt, you are unlikely to hear someone say - you went for the I - here is my G next to it............

I still think you are going to be blown away with an ACA, they really are little balls of sparkle. And if you are not 100% satisfied with it, you can always send ot back and change it, or upgrade the stone later.

username on t-shrit...here''s my G next to it!!!! roflmao honey, your a gas!

 

[honey22]

Date: 5/8/2008 4:03:06 AM
Author: arjunajane

Date: 5/8/2008 2:10:23 AM
Author: honey22

Date: 5/8/2008 1:28:24 AM
Author: tevyk
Honestly, I think I''d be ''mind-happy'' with anything I or better.

Thinking about it some more and considering that I thought I saw color in an F, I feel like it almost had to be picking up the color from something nearby or the lighting or something. And I had to look awfully hard to see the difference between a G and an I, though I could from an angle if I tried and they were right next to each other.

Now how often is anyone really going to be comparing this diamond right next to another under close scrutiny?

This was so much easier before I actually started thinking about the reality of *buying* a diamond

Well, that''s good news, you can really maximise your budget. And you are totally right, unless you run into one of us PSers on the straight wearing your username on your t-shirt, you are unlikely to hear someone say - you went for the I - here is my G next to it............

I still think you are going to be blown away with an ACA, they really are little balls of sparkle. And if you are not 100% satisfied with it, you can always send ot back and change it, or upgrade the stone later.

username on t-shrit...here''s my G next to it!!!! roflmao honey, your a gas!

It''s the drugs talking today - spent the night in the emergency dept for my arthritis - not a fun night, meds have made me a little loopy. I hope the OP comes back - I might have scared him off!!

Sorry for the threadjack - but I have to ask - what on earth does roflmao stand for? I am just dense and don''t get it!!

 

[Imdanny]

rolling on (the) floor laughing my ass off

 

[chrono]

The response isn''t canned. Trust me, these PS vendors with in-house stones know their stones. I''d guess that you''d be hard pressed to find the inclusion on the table in real life because you''ll be "blinded" by all the sparkle shooting out of the stone. At this point you have 2 or 3 options:
1. Get the stone shipped to you for personal review. If you don''t like it, return it and get another.
2. Keep looking for another eye clean SI2
3. If you really want to open up your options to a mind clean stone, maybe you need to upp it to an SI1 stone.

 

[tevyk]

Thanks for the advice, all.

Chrono -- I''d sort of considered of that myself, about being ''blinded'' by the sparkles and thus unable to see the inclusion. Getting it shipped to me is a good idea ... I''ll give that some thought. My initial clarity range was VS2-SI1 and that is still what I would prefer, it''s just that WF doesn''t *have* any ACA stones in that range in the size I''m looking for -- that''s the only reason I''m considering this diamond to begin with. There are either some .9c F SI1''s for over $5k, or several in the .7 - .74ct range, but I don''t know if I want to go that small ... especially with the ''heavy'' setting I''m thinking about.

 

[Regular Guy]

Teyyvk,

Here''s three to tempt you...

Best wishes,

 

[tevyk]

Thanks RegularGuy! I had actually found that .803 F SI2 this morning and asked Jamie about it. She pulled it and said it''s eye-clean and "a much better SI2". And in a great color!

She called this afternoon -- I''ve got it reserved and am going to talk to her again tonight. Anyone have thoughts/comments on this diamond?

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-912919.htm

Thanks!

 

[zerj]

Date: 5/7/2008 8:26:54 PM
Author: tevyk
Oh, also ... I currently have this diamond on hold until ~6PM EST Thursday.
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-684405.htm#

From my other thread:

Author:tevyk
Regarding the inclusion... that one under one of the ''arrow shafts'' kinda bothers me ... when I first looked at this stone, I noticed it pretty quickly even in the un-magnified image of the diamond and without knowing where the inclusions were. A ruler and some quick math tells me it shows up as about 5x on my screen. Jamie says ''to locate the inclusion, it would require some effort at less than 3 inches from your naked eye'', though that almost sounds like a canned response about SI2 diamonds.

Anyway, I called and put it on reserve for 24 hours. What do you all think of the diamond? At the moment, I''m leaning towards ''no''; I''m hesitant to buy something that I know isn''t eye-clean without seeing it in person.

Keep in mind even that ''unmagnified image'' was still pretty heavily magnified unless you happen to have a 10 inch monitor and are running at a really high resolution. I''d suggest spreading out your fingers and rolling your desk chair backwards until the diamond looks like the same size a 0.8caret diamond looks like. Can you still see the inclusion?

That said I personally might pass as I am also one of those anal-retentive engineers and even if its a speck I''d notice it everytime I saw my wifes hand.

 

[Dreamer_D]

When you were looking at diamonds and they looked "yellow", were the walls in the store yellow by any chance?

I bought a J-color from WF and when I opened it, my DH got really quiet and didn't say much. I was ooohin and aaaahhhing (yes they will make you oooh and ahhh), and he was still quiet! I said, "What? What's the matter?" He said, "It looks... yellow!" I couldn't see what he was talking about, but then we went into the kitchen, and he said, "Now it is green!" Yes, we have a yellow living room, and ideal cut stone pick up EVERY bit of color in the environment. It is really amazing. Anyways, that said, unless someone gave me a D and I looked at it really close RIGHT NEXT to my stone, I cannot see a hint of warmth in the stone itself, I will always buy J's from now on. But maybe that's just me!

The stone you selected is beautiful, and I really doubt you will see those inclusions. Wait untill you see how lively ideals are up close. All you see is sparkle.

Just keep it clean. Dirt is the enemy of sparkle.

 

[tevyk]

Date: 5/8/2008 4:53:30 PM
Author: zerj

That said I personally might pass as I am also one of those anal-retentive engineers and even if its a speck I''d notice it everytime I saw my wifes hand.

I think that''s the thing -- I''m probably going to be the most critical of what I picked out and it would bug me. She''s just going to be absolutely thrilled at how sparkly it is. I''m sure she wouldn''t have noticed until I pointed it out under magnification and wouldn''t care after I did, but I think it would have bothered me.

So I passed on that SI2 that I initially posted at the very top of this thread, and found a new .803c SI2 that''s eye clean -- honestly with this one, I''m having trouble discerning inclusions from sparkles and reflections and such even in the 40X image shown. Even if I hadn''t found this new diamond, I''m pretty sure I would have passed on the one I initially posted.

 

[tevyk]

Date: 5/8/2008 5:04:51 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
When you were looking at diamonds and they looked ''yellow'', were the walls in the store yellow by any chance?

I didn''t notice, but after thinking about it some more, I really think they must have been!

I''m sure I''ll be much more lenient with color for anything I/we get in the future, but for my first diamond purchase and for something as sentimentally important as an e-ring, I wanted to get it perfect

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/8/2008 5:13:51 PM
Author: tevyk

Date: 5/8/2008 5:04:51 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
When you were looking at diamonds and they looked ''yellow'', were the walls in the store yellow by any chance?

I didn''t notice, but after thinking about it some more, I really think they must have been!

I''m sure I''ll be much more lenient with color for anything I/we get in the future, but for my first diamond purchase and for something as sentimentally important as an e-ring, I wanted to get it perfect

Hey, whatever floats your boat in the color department, it''s personal preference! That F will look super icy. You could probably safely go to G and not notice any color at all, if it happens that the F doesn''t work out.

 

[tevyk]

I went with that F SI2! I''m pretty excited (and happy to be moving on to the next step)

.... now I just need to figure out my setting