did my fiance do better this time?

[ksterlin]

Hi there!
About a month ago i knew nothing about diamonds but now I'm trying to get more educated haha. Anyways, my boyfriend just recently proposed to me but I was unfortunately not very happy with the original diamond in the ring. It looked yellow to me and as it turned out it was j color. So he made a second trip to the jeweler and brought back the diamond attached in the pdf, gia report:13058823
Budget was for under $7000. The color is definitely now more how I like it but the diamond appears dark to me in some lighting and it doesn't seem to sparkle as much as the other one did. I would hate for him to run back and might just think about an upgrade later for an anniversary or something. I attached the gia report.

 

[WillyDiamond]

It scored a 1.8 on the HCA that is OK......VG, E, VG, E..........perhaps you can do better

The SI2 concerns me........is the stone eye clean?

Others much smarter than me will have to chime in about the table size, etc.

 

[arkieb1]

A couple of things, firstly its got a large table and your previous stone possibly had a much smaller table. I liked smaller tables in stones that I pick generally because it gives them more fire, so that could be one issue impacting brilliance. It is fairly rare but in a very small minority of stones, surface graining can also make some stones appear slightly dullish looking, usually it has no effect at all and internal graining can be more of an issue, but you could have that rare stone where it is an issue. I would guess your eye prefers a smaller table in the cut, the bonus of a larger table however, is the makes the diamond have a larger spread some people love these diamonds because they represent more value for money.

We can't really compare it to the other stone because you have only posted one certificate so we can't see the difference between the two.

 

[TC1987]

I'm thinking, from the proportions, it could be a bit shallow and have a "head shadow" darkness at close ranges due to light obstruction. Search "head shadow" and "obstruction." Does it sparkle more and brighten up at arm's length? "Pendant stone" might be another term to search. Shallower diamonds are often used for pendants because there's no head obstruction issue that way. But most people will see your diamond at arm's length anyhow, so if head obstruction doesn't bother you personally, a shallow stone might be okay. I have one or two like that, and they don't bother me.

And also, with those proportions, it probably has more brilliance than fire, or the fire is around the rim.

Look up that crown angle and see if it's in the range where durability is a concern. But I don't think it's quite shallow enough to be a worry. But there's also a feather there. Check on that feather vs. durability.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Please don't settle for this one. Return it and start all over. Aside from the cut being not so great, I would not like all those feathers (cracks) that appear to reach the girdle. We can help you with the proportions that will result in a well cut stone. Seriously, you need to start with GIA Excellent cut stones only (or AGS Ideal), or you will continue to be disappointed. Even within GIA Excellent, some stones will be better than others.

Here are some examples of what you can get for $7k:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.01-carat-g-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-257628 (and there should be a pricescope discount)

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.08-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-246976

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/10986/

 

[hawk25]

I agree with DS, I think you can still do better, and those feathers could cause problems. The GIA Excellent cut grade is already relatively wide, and there are even GIA Ex stones that I wouldn't recommend. So you shouldn't settle for a very good cut grade. Please stick with GIA Ex or AGS Ideal cut stones only. You'll never be disappointed going for the best cut diamond you can buy.