Expert help please- down to 2

[r1214]

I thought I was 99% sure on my diamond selection, but now I've got another stone prospect and I need some expert advice. Long story short, I was working with a dealer that my best friend referred to me, and he was great to work with and very helpful. We had a stone as a candidate and then he stopped responding to me for a week. Since I have a target proposal date and I am running out of time, I did even more research and picked a AGS Ideal diamond from another dealer (who is also a popular Pricescope vendor). I put a deposit on it and that diamond arrives tomorrow. This weekend the original guy got in touch with me and said he's had some unfortunate personal events take place and is sorry he hasn't been in touch and still wants my business (yet he's already sold the diamond we were considering). I tell him it's a little late but that I'll give him the specs on what I've already put a deposit on, and he can try and find something close and I'll consider it. Another couple days pass and now he's sent me diamond specs from another dealer that he buys from, and now that I've compared them, I'm feeling a bit of a tough decision with precious little time. I hate to ask him to ship it to me just so I can look at it next to the other one, but I'm sure that he would do that if I requested. I have used the Holloway adviser on both and here is where we're at:

Diamond #1 (from PS vendor that I've already put a deposit on)
AGS Cert: 0009734005 ...I can't get this to pull up online
1.202CT, VS2, H
61.1% depth
57.3% table
34.7° crown angle
40.7° pavilion angle
Cutlet 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Fluorescence: None
6.84 - 6.86 x 4.19
This ranks a Holloway score of 1.1 and is Excellent on all marks except the spread which is Very Good

Diamond #2 (from the friend's dealer and his jeweler source)
GIA Cert: 2106491098
1.24CT, VS2, G
59.9% depth
56% table
32.5° crown angle
40.8° pavilion angle
Cutlet 0
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: Faint
6.99 - 7.04 x 4.20
This ranks a Holloway score of 0.7 and is Excellent on all marks.

The thing is, Diamond #1 is an AGS Ideal 0 with AGS Certificate. It clearly falls in the AGS/GIA overlapped Ideal range on the Holloway adviser. Diamond #2 actually falls outside of both Ideal ranges and the GIA cert that comes with it says it is a Very Good cut and not Excellent. So why does Diamond #2 have a slightly (0.4) better rating on the Holloway adviser from the Excellent spread? Is that worth me trying to change my plans and get Diamond #2 in my possession to compare? I'm sure I won't be able to tell a difference other than tiny difference in size. My fear is that I'm going to run out of time as my proposal date is in the next 2 weeks. I'm probably just over-analyzing this. This has been one of the hardest purchases I've ever made and I don't know that I've ever done this much research on a buying decision!

 

[stone-cold11]

Don''t use the HCA score to choose a stone. It should only be use as a rejection tool for non-performer, scores higher than 2.

That said, stone #2 is cut for more for brilliance than fire while #1 is a more balance cut between fire and brilliance. I would prefer #1 especially for a ring.

 

[yssie]

ditto Stone-cold - closer to 0 than to 2 does not make a diamond "better". In fact, lower HCA scores may be shallow, making them less objectively beautiful than a diamond that scores in the 1-1.5 range. The first stone will be more balanced in terms of fire and brilliance, while the second will be heavily slanted against fire. I''d prefer the first, the colours are my favourite thing

The second diamond you posted has a shallow crown, and not a steep enough pavilion to clearly make up for it. I would not choose this stone without ASET/IS confirming no headshadow issues.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/3/2009 7:42:09 PM
Author: yssie
ditto Stone-cold - closer to 0 than to 2 does not make a diamond 'better'. In fact, lower HCA scores may be shallow, making them less objectively beautiful than a diamond that scores in the 1-1.5 range. The first stone will be more balanced in terms of fire and brilliance, while the second will be heavily slanted against fire. I'd prefer the first, the colours are my favourite thing

The second diamond you posted has a shallow crown, and not a steep enough pavilion to clearly make up for it. I would not choose this stone without ASET/IS confirming no headshadow issues.

Yssie, I hope you don't mind me mentioning this, but with pavilion angles, yes a steeper pavilion can balance a shallow crown angle but also once you start getting much over 41 degrees various other undesirable issues can take effect such as leakage and colour entrapment in some diamonds which are near colourless and below.

r1, the first diamond would be my choice in this case.

 

[r1214]

You all are fantastic, thank you so very much for the quick response. I''m struggling with the difference of fire and brilliance. I''ve read the definitions but haven''t seen it side by side in person so it''s hard to understand. I''m going to go with your expertise though. I am getting, dare I say, *giddy* about seeing diamond #1 later today.