Evaluating Princess cuts

[hal]

I''ve enjoyed this site and at least feel a little more informed purchasing a diamond.

As a personal preference I like princess cuts and radiants and have chosen to give my intended a square or rectangular stone. As most mountings can mask the clipped corners of a radaint cut I''ve more or less settled on a Princess cut(although the RCDC stats gave me a comfort level of evaluating Radiant cuts that I don''t have with Princess cuts).

The Princess stones I''ve been considering are between 1.0 and 1.11 ct, F or G color and VS1 clarity. All have GIA certs. Lucklily, I can discern a difference in cut and fire and have asked questions about why a stone has a particular appeal and why it doesn''t. Most times the answer has related to cut, but not with a technical discussion.

SO, for the novice, aside from the certification and visual appeal, how do I "technically" evaluate a Princess cut stone as the fancy shape falls outside of the usual % stats listed in this site? Also, does the date a stone was mined/cut have anything to do with it''s marketability? After seeing several stones all dated within the past six months, the 1.11 ct.Vs1 with a date of June 1999 looks great to me....but is it''s shelf life indicative of a problem?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Hey Hal, a good start on evaluating princess cuts would to become familiar with the AGA Cut Class chart on princess cuts, available at www.gemappraisers.com.

Secondly, I would recommend using the IdealScope as a tool to eliminate stones with poor light return performance. It becomes immediately obvious when viewing the stone through an IdealScope. They're available for $30 (with "calibration" cz) at the top of your menu.

A couple tips- Try to find stones in which the table size is close to, equal to, or smaller than the total depth. These stones tend to perform better optically than the reverse, although you might stumble across an exception to the rule.

Also, princess cuts with crown heights of 8%-10% or more seem to perform better as well.

Girdles with "thin" or larger widths are preferable over girdles that have "extremely thin" portions, although sometimes the extremely thin portion is just a very short portion, which might not be so bad, depending on it's location.

Also I had a question for you in regards to your statement:

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although the RCDC stats gave me a comfort level of evaluating Radiant cuts that I don't have with
Princess cuts
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What are the "RCDC stats" you're referring to?

 

[hal]

Thank you RS for the reply. I'll look up the site you passed on and try to evaluate the stone I've tentatively selected against the info from the site.
I really want the diamond to be right as this gal is a one in a million. I can't imagine her ever "trading up" this stone or even wanting to know its stats...I just want the best for her...hence my wanting to make an informed purchase, this diamond will be with us for the long haul.

The stats I found on radiant cuts were from www.radiantcut.com and they at least gave me a guideline benchmark. I purchased a radiant cut in 1985 (wrong wife)and thought I'd do it again as I liked the stone, but actually like the look of the princess cut now just as well, considering the mounting I'm having made.

Any input into the lenght of time that has passed between the present and the date the stone was certified? One source indicated that a stone that has been around for years has likely been passed over by more educated or discerning buyers.

Thanks Again, Hal

 

[valeria101]

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Any input into the lenght of time that has passed between the present and the date the stone was certified? One source indicated that a stone that has been around for years has likely been passed over by more educated or discerning buyers. ---------------

Given how many buyers shop for cut rather than the other Cs, the explanationa above might be true for stones who spent a few centuries in the shop

. A more probable explanation (and one you are less likely to hera, too) is that the stone has passed through the hands of a few dealers and amassed quite a bit of premium in the journey... it hapens. So, the relevant number is not how long ago the stone wa certiofied, but how long this seller ha had it as % of the above. After all, if the stone is right and the price is right, you can never know what hapened. However, a year or so does not stryke me as too long for an expensive stone.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

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Any input into the lenght of time that has passed between the present and the date the stone was
certified?
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This doesn't bother me as much as it does some people. Diamonds can often take circuitous routes before they ever hit the consumer market. Diamond dealers are the biggest of aficionados, creating an entire market of trade between themselves which supports the entire world industry.

Sometimes a stone will be bought, sold & traded a dozen times before it ever reaches the consumer market.
This doesn't necessarily mean the price increases each time, because dealers will often turn stones for what they paid for it (or even less) when they're raising cashflow for another venture, or just to pay the mortgage on a slow month.

Also, a stone can move from the dealer market to the consumer, and then back again for various reasons. Dealers are always buying or taking stones in trade from the consumer. Perhaps a consumer owned the stone for four years, and it is now fresh back on the market.

Sometimes dealers will hold back a really fine stone because the average person doesn't see or appreciate the quality of the diamond, and isn't willing to pay the price the dealer knows the stone is worth.

And then, maybe the stone's a dog and has been warming the shelf because the dealer hasn't come around to admitting that he blew it and paid too much for the stone...

The important thing is how nice the stone is, not how old the cert is. If it's a great stone at a good price, who cares how old the cert is?

If you make your purchase contingent upon getting an independent appraisal, you can't lose.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

Thanks for the RCDC tip, by the way. They've got a nice looking site.