Down To Two, Please Help With Advice!

[shizzweak]

Hi PS,

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a diamond/setting at a local jeweller. I’ve done a lot of research but ultimately cannot decide between two stones. It’s a small jeweller that I chose for the setting and warranty, and also I’m in Canada so it is hard for them to get super-ideal cuts.

I would really appreciate some help in deciding between these two:

#1
Shape and Style: Round Brilliant
Measurements: 5.80 - 5.83 x 3.63 mm
Cut Grade: AGS Ideal 0
Color Grade: AGS 0.5 (E)
Clarity Grade: AGS 4 (VS2)
Carat Weight 0.752
Fluorescence: Negligible
Light Performance: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Table: 55.2%
Crown Angle: 35.1
Crown Height: 15.8%
Girdle: Faceted, 1.4% to 3.7%
Pavilion Angle: 40.8
Pavilion Depth: 43.2%
Star Length: 50%
Lower Girdle Length: 76%
Total Depth: 62.3%
Culet: Pointed

HCA 1.8

#2
Shape and Style: Round Brilliant
Measurements: 5.90 - 5.92 x 3.72 mm
Cut Grade: AGS Ideal 0
Color Grade: AGS 1.5 (G)
Clarity Grade: AGS 5 (SI1)
Carat Weight 0.803
Fluorescence: Negligible
Light Performance: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Table: 55.1%
Crown Angle: 35.4
Crown Height: 16.0%
Girdle: Faceted, 2.0% to 4.6%
Pavilion Angle: 40.8
Pavilion Depth: 43.1%
Star Length: 57%
Lower Girdle Length: 78%
Total Depth: 62.9%
Culet: Pointed

HCA 2.5

As you can see they’re both deeper and have a steeper crown angle than what is ideal, but the .803 carat is worse. I went to take a look in the store and compared them. Low and behold they were similarly “sparkly” in the store light and in natural light but my time out of the store was limited. I should also add that there is one barely visible inclusion in the .803 carat stone but it can be set close to a prong and I doubt it would be visible. It was fairly difficult for my inexperienced eyes to see a large difference in performance and so that is why I need your expert advice!

On one hand I would lean towards the larger stone since it’s bigger and I don’t see the practicality in paying for E colour vs G and VS2 vs SI1 when she won’t see the difference. On the other hand I am wary of buying a stone that has an HCA score a decent amount above 2.0, and that with years to look at the rock in multiple light settings the 0.752 could noticeably outperform the .803.

Also the 0.752 is $300 more than the 0.803.

So which would you choose? Would the naked eye be able to see a performance difference between these stones in better/different light? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[RockyRacoon]

I would go with the .752ct.

Many folks can see the color difference between E and G. G color is nothing to sneeze at, but there is something to be said for D/E colored stones.

The difference in size is .1mm (the thickness of a sheet of paper). Once set, it is unlikely that the difference would be noticeable.

I prefer the specs/proportions of the .752ct, and, as a result of that and all of those other factors, would go with the .752ct.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I agree that the .75 is potentially better cut and I'd prefer VS2 clarity. A .80 should be 6mm. I don't understand why they are allowing stones with that depth in the top grade.

 

[shizzweak]

Thanks for the advice! The weeks of reading led me to select the 0.75 as well, but when I actually saw them there was practically no difference and I started to doubt the value of 0.75.

As for the depth issue, I was trying to find out how close to the thresholdof being bumped down a grade from ideal the 0.803 was. The 0.752 seems to be more safely in the ideal region based on the table/CA/PA charts from AGSL but I'm not sure about depth. My only two concerns are the steep crown angle and total depth % with these stones.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

#1 is fine. 62.3 is my personal limit for depth. Any deeper and it starts affecting diameter. There are many other ideal cut stones in the world besides these two if you want more "perfect" numbers. You can look at Whiteflash and Good Old Gold if you want to compare some superideal cuts.

 

[shizzweak]

Thanks Diamondseeker, that helps. I have considered whiteflash quite a lot and from the picture love the diamonds they offer. The thing that held me back from buying a better diamond online is the fact that I live in Canada and so any potential warranty work and cleanings would be a pain. Also the CAD is not looking pretty against USD right now

I found a setting that I know she'll love in a smaller local shop here with lifetime warranty on the band diamonds and cleanings/replatings. They don't seem to have as easy of access to super ideal cuts. It's been at least a month they've shown maybe half a dozen stones to me and the 0.752 seems to be the best value for what I'm looking for. I could wait and keep looking for a few more weeks, but dammit I want to give my girl a ring! All things considered I like this one.

This is the setting if you're curious. http://www.noamcarver.com/details.asp?SKU=B001-01WM-100A.

 

[tyty333]

Pretty setting...make sure they dont make the tip of the prongs too big. Since it is a double prong they need to be 2 delicate
prongs especially on a .75 stone.

The .75 would also be my choice!

 

[chrono]

Another vote for the smaller 0.7 ct diamond as something I would pick due to the slightly better cut, colour and clarity when there is a negligible cost and size difference.

 

[shizzweak]

I'll go with the smaller of the two then.

Does anybody have any experience with smaller jewelers getting super ideal cuts? I've only really read of super ideal cuts coming from online vendors and sometimes found at larger stores such as Tiffany's, but that could be biased since the people shopping online would be more likely to post about it online.

I'd be interested to know how difficult it could be for a smaller store, especially in Canada, to secure a super ideal cut from a more unbiased source that isn't trying to close a sale.