Educated newbie looking for a few answers please.

[Portlis]

Hello,

As my title indicates, I'm a novice when it comes to diamonds, but I've been doing research on the matter for the better part of a month now. I'm needing to pull the trigger here VERY soon on an engagement ring (need it in about 10 days now) so I've narrowed my search to some of the more reputable online dealers. It really seems that every B&M store in my area wants to fit into my budget by offering me a lesser quality stone rather than a better price on what I actually want. Online seems to be the best bang for my buck no matter which way I cut it. But I digress.

I have a few questions that I hope the more experienced members can help me with, so here goes:

1) Should I have any reservations about ordering from an online source such as Bluenile or James Allen? JA in particular seems to have the best prices around, but BN offers a bit better selection. What do I need to know about both of these places that their websites might not tell me? Does a consumer actually receive any real benefit from ordering in a B&M store compared to one of these more reputable online resources? Of course the sales reps in the stores want me to believe that both of these places have downsides and keep throwing out the "cleaning" story over and over. This question leads me to....

2) If I was interested in a setting from Bluenile and a stone from JA, what would be the best way to go about doing it? Is this even possible? Would I buy the setting from BN and have it shipped to JA to have the stone placed in it? Or is this just a bad idea all around and I should just stick to one site or the other? And if possible, is this sort of thing realistic in about a week time frame?

3) Regarding a more specific stone: Would you guys see any reason not to purchase this particular stone? The price seems right (around $3.5k), and it seems to be just about everything I'm looking for. (around .9, AGS or GIA, H or better, SI1 or better, Ideal/Ideal/Ideal or EX/EX/EX with no major drawbacks such as a strong fluorescence)

Shape: Round
Carat weight: 0.90
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Certificate: AGS
Depth: 60.3%
Table: 61.2%
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Girdle: Thin to slightly thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Negligible
Measurements: 6.21*6.24*3.75
Crown Angle: 33.2°
Pavilion Angle: 41.0°

The two things that jump out at me are the slightly larger table and the variation on the girdle. To my surprise, however, when punching the values into the HCA, it comes out at 1.9 in the excellent range despite the larger table. In a way, this almost seems as though it would be MORE desirable due to the slightly larger appearance even. Or is there something I'm overlooking? I've punched the values of MANY stones I've found in the so called "sweet spot" of 55%-59% into the HCA only to find out that it returns a poor value of 4-5 which surprises me. And with regards to the girdle, should that concern me?

Being SI1, it should have only inclusions not noticeable to the naked eye, correct? Or am I wrong on this? To see the actual stone I'm kinda looking at, it's here: http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1306898.asp

Looking at it, the only thing that remotely concerns me is the obvious inclusion at about the 4'oclock position. What do you think?


4) And on a completely different note, short of stealing one of her rings which will be very obvious, what's the best way to get her ring size!?

Thank you so very much in advance for your help, it's greatly appreciated!

 

[stone-cold11]

Stone looks promising. The stone has a shallower crown, usually more brilliance and better spread but at the cost of some fire performance. Ask JA to check if it is eye-clean and request for an idealscope image to confirm. Inclusions visible in the loupe image might be eye-clean and vice versa, due to lighting, stone orientation, etc. Only way is for the vendor to see the stone and call it as it is.

BN does not offer idealscope image and upgrade/buyback policy, JA does.

Regarding settings, BN would not sell some settings without a stone purchase from them. But many of their settings are from large casting houses, such as Stuller, Adwar, which other jewelers probably have access to, so ask JA about it if you are going with a stone from JA.

The girdle variation is fine, AGS measures the girdle differently from GIA, AGS measure the valleys and hills of the girdle while GIA just the valleys, so AGS will usually have a larger variation in girdle.

No other way than stealing her rings to be really sure, assuming she wears them on her ring fingers. :p

Else ask her mum, sisters, friends if they can keep a secret.

 

[yssie]

Hello,

As my title indicates, I'm a novice when it comes to diamonds, but I've been doing research on the matter for the better part of a month now. I'm needing to pull the trigger here VERY soon on an engagement ring (need it in about 10 days now) so I've narrowed my search to some of the more reputable online dealers. It really seems that every B&M store in my area wants to fit into my budget by offering me a lesser quality stone rather than a better price on what I actually want. Online seems to be the best bang for my buck no matter which way I cut it. But I digress.

I have a few questions that I hope the more experienced members can help me with, so here goes:

1) Should I have any reservations about ordering from an online source such as Bluenile or James Allen? JA in particular seems to have the best prices around, but BN offers a bit better selection. What do I need to know about both of these places that their websites might not tell me? Does a consumer actually receive any real benefit from ordering in a B&M store compared to one of these more reputable online resources? Of course the sales reps in the stores want me to believe that both of these places have downsides and keep throwing out the "cleaning" story over and over. This question leads me to....
I think BN sells some settings w/o stones, some they do not, so best to inquire about the specific setting you have in mind. Some people prefer to see in person before buying, and seeing in person - esp. choosing from a selection of stones - is more difficult and expensive when you have to ship loose stones around! There is also the fact that B&Ms offer checkups, plating, polishing, cleaning services locally... if you can, best to buy stone and setting from one vendor because it's A) faster B) cheaper w/o shipping stone around C) safer and much better for peace of mind if you don't have to ship stone around D) one vendor has all liability, and you don't need to worry about insuring the loose stone, etc.

2) If I was interested in a setting from Bluenile and a stone from JA, what would be the best way to go about doing it? Is this even possible? Would I buy the setting from BN and have it shipped to JA to have the stone placed in it? Or is this just a bad idea all around and I should just stick to one site or the other? And if possible, is this sort of thing realistic in about a week time frame?
above

3) Regarding a more specific stone: Would you guys see any reason not to purchase this particular stone? The price seems right (around $3.5k), and it seems to be just about everything I'm looking for. (around .9, AGS or GIA, H or better, SI1 or better, Ideal/Ideal/Ideal or EX/EX/EX with no major drawbacks such as a strong fluorescence)

Shape: Round
Carat weight: 0.90
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Certificate: AGS
Depth: 60.3%
Table: 61.2%
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Girdle: Thin to slightly thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Negligible
Measurements: 6.21*6.24*3.75
Crown Angle: 33.2°
Pavilion Angle: 41.0°

The two things that jump out at me are the slightly larger table and the variation on the girdle. To my surprise, however, when punching the values into the HCA, it comes out at 1.9 in the excellent range despite the larger table. In a way, this almost seems as though it would be MORE desirable due to the slightly larger appearance even. Or is there something I'm overlooking? I've punched the values of MANY stones I've found in the so called "sweet spot" of 55%-59% into the HCA only to find out that it returns a poor value of 4-5 which surprises me. And with regards to the girdle, should that concern me?
If this stone has a platinum report, AGS uses both the proportions and a ray tracing simulation to determine cut grade - takes precedence over HCA, which considers only four inputted parametres. Larger table is a personal preference - can certainly have pretty diamonds outside that 55-59 sweet spot for H&As we see on PS. AGS grades girdle from thickest to thinnest (valleys & hills), as opposed to say GIA that measures only in valleys, so larger girdle spread is unsurprising.

Being SI1, it should have only inclusions not noticeable to the naked eye, correct? Or am I wrong on this? To see the actual stone I'm kinda looking at, it's here: http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1306898.asp
cannot judge clarity or eyeclean from a picture/plot. Determine what eyeclean means to you (distance? from the side? w/ 20/20 vision?) and ask vendor to evaluate that specific stone by your standards. But, If you use a common definition like clean from 10" from face up in day-to-day lighting.. an eyeclean SI1 is not difficult to find in these sizes

Looking at it, the only thing that remotely concerns me is the obvious inclusion at about the 4'oclock position. What do you think?



4) And on a completely different note, short of stealing one of her rings which will be very obvious, what's the best way to get her ring size!?

Thank you so very much in advance for your help, it's greatly appreciated!

ETA: What SC said, he beat me to it

 

[antelope1]

In terms of consumer policies, JA is superior to BN for all the reasons that SC and Yssie covered (buy back, inspection period etc).

If you're not sure about her ring size, is it possible to give the diamond to her in a temp setting? I wonder if JA would sell you the the sterling silver claw thing that they use at jewelery stores?

 

[rizdak]

Having just finished the diamond-buying process myself (whew.....), I'd add that

3) it's rare for a JA diamond to be an AGS 0 WITH a Platinum DQD. Good job finding this one. I'd put nearly all your consideration into the AGS light performance rating than HCA or Idealscope. In my personal exp with JA, they take somewhat fuzzy Idealscope images (I think it's their camera setup), but are honest in their evaluations. I had them look at a couple VS diamonds and actually they said that one of them was not eye-clean... so I was impressed with their honesty. So...definitely ask them to make sure it's eye-clean. The arrow shafts look thin to me but I'll defer to the real experts about this.

P.S. If you're concerned about fluorescence, JA will say whether certain diamonds have the oily/milky problem under different lighting conditions. So if you do happen to find another diamond with fluorescence, you could ask JA to evaluate it first before disqualifying it.