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Finding an engagement ring

AV_

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 5, 2018
Messages
3,889
I will search for the highest grades up to USD9K, HCA 'Ex', approx. 7 mm - expecting 1.3cts D-F/VS

nts.
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Very good point, thanks.

I found this one on JA that has quite nice arrows. Scores 1.4 on the HCA, very good scintillation otherwise all excellent. Great price point too.

 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Actually it has a less than idea crown angle (31.5 deg)
 

LittleKite

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
113
I did some search for you on JA and here are a few stones that caught my eyes (they look beautiful and symmetric).

This one looks crystal, sharp, and does not have a thick girdle (a common way to increase weight). It is the most expensive one.

Same as before, 1.5ct+, slightly thicker girdle, looks great.

Smaller, but very friendly for budget. Btw, if you use super zoom, you will be able to identify the GIA number. I checked the profile. It looks great to me.
 

daisygrl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 30, 2019
Messages
1,002
Also, OP, try to do some search and figure out from whom you want to buy (what is their return policy, customer service, and also upgrade policy.) In case she will want an upgrade, Blue Nile and James Allen require you to spend twice as much for an upgrade. But they might be the only ones who do not offer "super ideal" cut in case you do not want to pay premium. Otherwise, I would look at HPD, Brian Gavin, Victor Canera - all of them have great diamonds as well as upgrade policy.
 
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JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
I did some search for you on JA and here are a few stones that caught my eyes (they look beautiful and symmetric).

This one looks crystal, sharp, and does not have a thick girdle (a common way to increase weight). It is the most expensive one.

Same as before, 1.5ct+, slightly thicker girdle, looks great.

Smaller, but very friendly for budget. Btw, if you use super zoom, you will be able to identify the GIA number. I checked the profile. It looks great to me.

Thanks heaps! I'll have a look through them.

Also, OP, try to do some search and figure out from whom you want to buy (what is their return policy, customer service, and also upgrade policy.) In case, she will want an upgrade (and we always down the road), Blue Nile and James Allen require you to spend twice as much for an upgrade. But they might be the only ones who do not offer "super ideal" cut in case you do not want to pay premium. Otherwise, I would look at HPD, Brian Gavin, Victor Canera - all of them have great diamonds as well as upgrade policy.

Thanks for the advice! I've discussed the upgrade option with her and she's of the mind she doesn't think she wants an upgrade down the line due to sentimentality. Returns are another thing that's tricky because of being in Australia, so it'll need to be a very good reason before we try and return it.
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Thanks heaps everyone for the ongoing advice.

Just a question re inclusions, what should I look out for? For example this is a VS2 but has two clear crystals on the table. How visible (obviously you can't be sure) would these be in person and not magnified?


cert.jpeg
 

LittleKite

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
113
Here is my approach: change the Zoom from 20x to something like 2x or 3x, look at the diamond carefully. If you do not notice anything even if you try very hard, it is "eye-clean" IMO.

Of course you need to decide whether you want "eye-clean" or "mind-clean", the later is a different story.

Thanks heaps everyone for the ongoing advice.

Just a question re inclusions, what should I look out for? For example this is a VS2 but has two clear crystals on the table. How visible (obviously you can't be sure) would these be in person and not magnified?


cert.jpeg
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
That makes sense, thanks. It's been discussed and we're both happy to go with eye-clean!

Using your advice, that one I posted looks eye clean to me.
 

LittleKite

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
113
That makes sense, thanks. It's been discussed and we're both happy to go with eye-clean!

Using your advice, that one I posted looks eye clean to me.

I did not post that one because one arrow was shorter than the rest, shown both in the video and in the ideal scope image. But this is something minor and may not bother you at all. Another point is that the 1.41 I-VS2 has strong florescence, which could potentially enhance the color under the sun. Its profile also looks good to me.
 

daisygrl

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Dec 30, 2019
Messages
1,002
I did not post that one because one arrow was shorter than the rest, shown both in the video and in the ideal scope image. But this is something minor and may not bother you at all. Another point is that the 1.41 I-VS2 has strong florescence, which could potentially enhance the color under the sun. Its profile also looks good to me.

The arrows are symmetric. The stone is just tilted in both images. The hearts image is nice so the stone is symmetric.
 
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LittleKite

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
113
The arrows are symmetric. The stone is just tilted in both images. H&A are nice so the stone IS symmetric.

You are right. The hearts image shows that the stone is symmetric 98%. However, I do not understand why the sellers cannot take photos/videos in a way the best presents their stones. Don't they want to sell?
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
The ER took a bit of a backseat as we unfortunately had a family emergency.

I was wondering what your thoughts were on this diamond (that I have on hold to await the photo):

Has good numbers apart from being a bit deep.

This is the photo they sent me: img_1592345574619.jpeg

From a settings POV, this is probably my favourite from BN:


Any thoughts? I know it's hard without proper imaging.
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Ended up biting the bullet are ordering the combination above. Excited to see it in person when it gets here at the end of July!

Thanks everyone for your help.
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Was able to obtain photos and videos of diamond.


Looks like there's some light leakage at the bottom on that IS image, but I don't think it looks too bad. Not perfect, but it was a pretty good price (~$8300). Due to arrive later this month.
 

adele_h

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 11, 2014
Messages
142
Was able to obtain photos and videos of diamond.


Looks like there's some light leakage at the bottom on that IS image, but I don't think it looks too bad. Not perfect, but it was a pretty good price (~$8300). Due to arrive later this month.

Hi there!

If this one doesn’t work out for whatever reason, it could be worth checking out Australian Diamond Network.. their website isn’t anything flash, but the owner Wade used to be a member of the community here and has a good idea of what a PS person would like from their diamond with regards to light performance.. he wound up sourcing me a lovely GIA XXX stone which also fulfilled AGS ideal criteria for much less than I would have paid at any of our retail stores.

I hope this stone works out for you though!
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Looks like you can see the internal graining on the table adjacent to one of the arrows. Hopefully that won't be visible to the naked eye given you can't see it super well on the video. Overall I'm happy all things considered.

Any thoughts?
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
Hi there!

If this one doesn’t work out for whatever reason, it could be worth checking out Australian Diamond Network.. their website isn’t anything flash, but the owner Wade used to be a member of the community here and has a good idea of what a PS person would like from their diamond with regards to light performance.. he wound up sourcing me a lovely GIA XXX stone which also fulfilled AGS ideal criteria for much less than I would have paid at any of our retail stores.

I hope this stone works out for you though!

Thanks for that! I did look at some local options but they all seemed more expensive than online.
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
These are the ASET and IS images.

FM404911-ASET white-05.jpg FM404911-IdealScope-04.jpg

Based on my untrained eye, that's light leakage on the table that's greatest adjacent to the three bottom arrows, with that yellow area due to internal graining.
 

Lykame

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 1, 2018
Messages
1,433
I know you have this ring in person now (congratulations!) but I suspect that the images above are tilted based on the way the arrows look etc, so I'm not sure how accurate that light-leakage area is. However, I'm far from an expert when it comes to these things.

What do you think of it in person?
 

JA6

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
28
I know you have this ring in person now (congratulations!) but I suspect that the images above are tilted based on the way the arrows look etc, so I'm not sure how accurate that light-leakage area is. However, I'm far from an expert when it comes to these things.

What do you think of it in person?

Looking at in person I do think the ring was slightly tilted when they were taking it. With my untrained eye (and using a loupe), I can't pick out the light leakage area.

Overall I'm very happy with it! Haven't had a look at it in the sunlight yet, but overall, the gamble paid off I think.
 
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