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Engagement ring diamond ?

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eaf72

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 15, 2017
Messages
11
I'm finally buying an engagement ring from my girlfriend's family's jeweler. With my budget of $18k we picked out a GIA certified 1.7c excellent cut H color SI1 clarity stone with a custom 14K white gold setting, 0.81c side stones matched H to the center (actually came in $550 under budget). I will be returning to look at the diamond more carefully, but my concern is that the SI1 will have inclusions visible to the naked eye, especially in a diamond on of this size. Would SI1 in a 1.7c stone show rather obvious inclusions to the naked eye?

I'm ok with the H color, but I'm not ok if there are noticeable inclusions to the naked eye. What are your thoughts about the clarity vs size?

Also, what are your thoughts about the price of $17,450?

Thanks!
 
Do you have the GIA report #s (center plus side stones)? Please post them. It is pretty much impossible to provide you with any feedback otherwise. $17,450 could be a fair market value or a total rip-off, but you have given us no significant information to judge based on..
 
I'm sorry, I haven't yet seen the official GIA report or number yet. I only know the GIA ratings of the diamond as above - 1.7ct, triple excellent, H color, SI1 clarity, no fluorescence. The side stones weren't selected yet but were going to match the H color of the center stone.

What's a reasonable amount for a custom setting with H side stones, I imagine the other diamond characteristics aren't too important for such comparatively small stones, but I imagine they will be very similar to the center stone with a total number of 8 diamonds and weight of 0.8ct.
 
We need the GIA report. Triple excellent doesn't mean much...
 
I'm sorry I'm rather new to diamonds, but how much do the exact measurements of the diamond and location of the inclusions impact the value of the diamond. Obviously inclusions located on the surface of the diamond in plane sight or that make the stone blurry would make it undesirable, but I didn't realize there could be so much variance among equally graded GIA stones.
 
It could make a big difference in value and light performance.
 
It's not a math formula. The numbers and how it actually looks to the naked eye and under magnification matter. When you get a copy of the GIA repost post it. Or share the GIA number. Then after looking at that, there will be additional questions. We do not have nearly enough to go on right now.
 
I have to tell you, from what we have seen here "girlfriend's family's jeweler" rarely equals nice diamond. Sorry to say....

Give him a ring and ask him for thr GIA report number
 
What whitewaive and LLJsmom have said so far...
Cut is the most important characteristic when it comes to diamonds, and not just "excellent", specific pavilion and crown angles, table %, depth %, etc. use the HCA tool recommended above. Also, the same is true for smaller stones. Especially in a three stone, it is extremely important that the cut quality is identical. You will see a dud very quickly next to an ideal cut stone, you don't want that look, trust me. 0.4ct each is a large size not to have its own GIA report as well. You will see that many people would actually recommend AGS over GIA, but there are excellent stones graded by both labs. Get the certificates and come back and post the #. Do not buy anything in the meantime.
 
I'm sorry, I misspoke before, the side stones are 4 equal sized stones on each side for a total of 8 stones, 0.8ct total, and a 1.70 center stone.
 
eaf72 said:
I'm sorry, I misspoke before, the side stones are 4 equal sized stones on each side for a total of 8 stones, 0.8ct total, and a 1.70 center stone.
Click to expand...

0.1ct each may overwhelm the center stone.. but if that's what your gf wants, that's fine I guess. Ok, no certificate needed for the side stones, but you still want to make sure that they are well cut stones. What is the quote for the setting?
 
I didn't get the individualized quote for the setting vs. the stone, I will do that tomorrow. The total was $17,450.
 
eaf72 said:
I didn't get the individualized quote for the setting vs. the stone, I will do that tomorrow. The total was $17,450.
Click to expand...
Separate quotes is what you need. Come back with those and the GIA report # tomorrow. Or call them today, if you can.
 
 
Gia 5243438633
 
Ok..not a terrible choice.. this is a FIC diamond, which means that it will be more fiery than brilliant. I personally would pick one of the stones recommended by farrahlyn over this one. This diamond is also slightly deeper than desired at 62.7, which means that the diamond will face-up smaller for its weight. Can you get an ASET image of this diamond?
 
14.900 for the stone
 
Another choice they showed me was a 1.57 G VS1
5172747673

This stone was $15.500
 
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eaf72 said:
Another choice they showed me was a 1.57 G VS1
5172747673

This stone was $15.500
Click to expand...
This is a terrible option, it's 5.5 on HCA. Completely scratch the 1.57 G VS1!
The other stone has some potential, but it will display more fire than brilliance. Look for videos of FIC stones online and see if you/your gf likes them. It has a higher crown angle at 36 which is outside of the ideal range (34-35). I prefer balance between fire and brilliance, but some people prefer more fiery stones. Also, we really need to see an ASET image to see if there is any light leakage, an image to see how bad the inclusions, etc. Some of the primary inclusions are feathers and clouds. it is also noted on the report "Additional clouds are not shown". Clouds could potentially make the stone look..well, cloudy..
 
I looked at both stones today, the 1.57 looked clean and fiery, in not sure how the HCA affects that. The only really noticeable inclusion in the 1.70 SI1 is the cloud in the crown, which is noticeable at certain angles, otherwise it looks rather clean.
 
Do not buy the 1.57
 
eaf72 said:
I looked at both stones today, the 1.57 looked clean and fiery, in not sure how the HCA affects that. The only really noticeable inclusion in the 1.70 SI1 is the cloud in the crown, which is noticeable at certain angles, otherwise it looks rather clean.
Click to expand...
Hi eaf72. The 1.57 is a steep deep diamond which excels in jewellery store lighting. You may not find it so clean and fiery in other lighting environments. Make sure you look at stones in diffuse lighting environments (compare them to better ideal cuts if you can), put your hand over them and see how they react.

You don't want to buy a diamond that looks great until the second you walk out the door of the jewllery store.
 
The 1.57 G/VS1 is way too steep pavilion side for a 36 CA. For a CA that high, PA should be around 40.5 (but then you are likely to have a shallower stone). Maxim is that if crown is steep, pavilion should be shallow (and the opposite applies as well). That plus it is too deep.

Like gm has said, ask if they are willing to let you take the stone by a window next to natural light. Or under regular lighting. Jewelry store lighting has that strange habit of making any stone (regardless of how well it was cut) perform spectacularly. Until you view it in diffused lighting, which is where most of us spend our time rather than under high intensity spotlights.
 
I have eliminated the 1.7H SI1 because of two noticeable clouds.

Now I have it narrowed down to these two stones,
GIA 6242081467
GIA 2247450603
One is a 1.7c H vs2, and one is a 1.6c H VS2. Both are eye clean, though the 1.6 looks a lot clearer and more colorless. The 1.7 is $700 more. The brilliance seemed almost equal out of the diamond lighting. Any recommendations between the two? Thank you!
 
The 1.6 scores HCA2.4. The 1.7 scores 5.4

Both are essentially steep/deep stones. I'm not too keen on both of them.
 
I was wondering why one of the two H stones looks so much more white. Neither of them have any fluorescence, how can that be?

In the 1.7 it appears that you can see more colors in the stone. Is that a matter of the way it reflects the light?
 
Hi each color grade is made up of a range of colors. So you could have an H that is closer to a G, or it could be closer to an I.

The 1.7 might look darker because it is a sleeper stone and won't give you as good of light return, which will make it appear dark/dim.
 
Tell this jeweler you only want to see diamonds with these numbers:
Depth 60-62.3
Table 54-58
Pavilion 40.6 to 40.9
Crown 34-35

He has shown you turds so far.

I think it is time to walk away from him. You tried him out and he can't deliver decent diamonds for you to choose from. You gave him a chance and now it is time to walk away.
 
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Whitewave is giving you good advice. You have a nice healthy budget, you can find something excellent - though you may need to either give your current jeweler very specific requirements or consider another vendor.
 
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