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Engagement Ring Diamond Advice (HOF)

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Yuri1

Rough_Rock
Trade
Joined
Aug 22, 2020
Messages
6
Hi all,

There is so much great info on this board, I hope you all can share some advice regarding a diamond I found.

Background -- I recently started looking for an engagement ring on a modest budget. I've decided on a round diamond and a simple white gold solitaire. A pretty common option from what I understand.

After several days of obsessive shopping, I found this stone for sale locally. I'm attaching the GIA certification. Below are some key facts:

- It has an "HoF' logo inscription; however no HOF serial number
- I contacted HOF and they said it could be a non-serialized HOF diamond but there is really no way to know for sure
- The stone has a Very Good GIA rating, which is somewhat unexpected because HOF are supposed to be AGS Ideal. However after digging into it, I believe this may be due to the different ways GIA and AGS measure girdle; which is "Thin/Very Thin" and therefore preventing the "Excellent" rating.
- Since it's a smaller size stone, I don't think very thin girdle is an issue for me.
- I looked at the diamond in person and it looks great. I was able to compare it to a Excellent graded stone and couldn't really tell any difference; however I have zero experience so that doesn't say much.

Please share your thoughts or advise.

Yuri
 

Attachments

Yuri1 said:
- I contacted HOF and they said it could be a non-serialized HOF diamond but there is really no way to know for sure
Click to expand...

This is laughable.
 
flyingpig said:
This is laughable.
Click to expand...

I agree, but am confused about the GIA cut rating. Specs look well within the range of what they usually rate as XXX. Any ideas?
 
flyingpig said:
This is laughable.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand the humor. I was paraphrasing; I think they said "There is not an easy way to be certain". In case that makes the difference :)
 
OP: what is your total budget, are you in the US, and are you open to buying online?
 
Where are you? The USA or the UK?

Either way, you can do better by buying from one of the PS-recommended vendors (and I did!).
 
I am in US; and yes, I'm open to purchasing online. In fact I'm surprised I found something interesting locally. The price on this diamond is $2880 after some negotiations.
 
Yuri1 said:
I am in US; and yes, I'm open to purchasing online. In fact I'm surprised I found something interesting locally. The price on this diamond is $2880 after some negotiations.
Click to expand...

What are your preferred colour/clarity/carat weight specifications?
 
I think around .75ct. I or better color, and SI1 or better clarity as long as it's eye clean.
 
Yuri1 said:
I think around .75ct. I or better color, and SI1 or better clarity as long as it's eye clean.
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Well, you've got almost 800 stones to choose from in the search engine, assuming US$3000, I+, SI1+, 0.70ct+, with filters applied to only pull out GIA XXX and AGS000 stones with Excellent HCA scores! :)

https://www.pricescope.com/diamonds/TT86ur

The Whiteflash ones at the top are in-house 'super-ideal' cuts.
 
Thank you, yes I found the search function also. So did you see something more competitive than what I found in the original post?
 
Yuri1 said:
Thank you, yes I found the search function also. So did you see something more competitive than what I found in the original post?
Click to expand...

Anything from whiteflash will be top quality and much better than the one you posted. They also have a $1 upgrade policy if you ever want a larger stone in the future.
 
If you are 100% sure you will never upgrade and want something bigger, I like this one: https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0....Cut-Round-Diamond/D45407187?&refer=pricescope

It's a tiny bit deeper than we usually recommend (we usually say to stick with 62.4 or less for depth), but I like the fat arrows in this one and it gets you 6mm size.

This is the biggest whiteflash option in your budget and it is perfection https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4278329.htm?source=pricescope
 
Personally I wouldn’t buy a “very good” cut diamond. I have worked/communicated with a couple of vendors, and my favorite is hands down whiteflash even though I’m only into old cut diamonds these days. Their customer survive and upgrade policy are amazing. However, I do think a 0.1ct makes a big difference. What are your priorities? Are you buying this for your girlfriend? What does she prefer? Do you have any plan to upgrade in the future?
 
OP, listen to the great advice you're getting here. An ideal cut stone with edge to edge sparkle will look better than a stone a bit bigger with average specs. Don’t settle for “very good”. You have a nice budget and can get a knock out stone!
 
Love dogs -- thanks for your suggestions, both options you provided look very good!

I'm not planning to upgrade in the foreseeable future. My girlfriend isn't part of the shopping process but she is not particularly interested in the details.

Just to clarify, the only reason I was considering the "Very Good" stone in the original post is because I believe the only reason it didn't get a Excellent grade is because of the Thin girdle; which doesn't appear to be a downside to me. Also maybe the HOF logo bears some value.

One more question, WF photos show a very prominent contrast of the black arrows while Adiamor does not. Is this just due to the way it's photographed?
 
Yes, it is the difference in their photo set-up.
 
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