First Diamond!

[southstand]

I live in the UK and have done some hunting on the internet for diamonds...abazias, whiteflash and london-based places too...

I have found the following stone and wanted to check to see if anybody has any opinions on it:

Is it a good looking stone? I''m going to see in the flesh tomorrow but wanted to go in ''armed'' with knowledge!

Thanks in advance!

 

[belle]

wow...e/vvs2

let us know how you like it!

 

[southstand]

Come on people...girlfriend will be here soon so I wont get a chance to check replies before going to see it tomorrow!!

 

[belle]

what kind of replies are you hoping for?

 

[southstand]

Ok, I went to view the diamond...it''s very nice indeed...so nice that I put a deposit on it...

However, there is another diamond for sale (didn''t see it in the flesh, but I could go back) which I''m now thinking I should consider over the other one!

I''m confused!!!

Here are the specs:

I checked both on the HCA and the second one was better, although the polish and symmetry is better on the first...confused as to what is more important...

Can anybody give me their opinion on which one they would select??

Any advice will be gratefully received!

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome to PS

What I would do is go back and compare the two and see what my eyes tell me. Also depends on whether a D is important to you...The second's measurements are just a tad larger too, might not make any difference visually but see what you think, this is probably because the second isn't as deep with the depth. These are both nice diamonds and I would think compare both to see which you prefer.

 

[belle]

Date: 4/25/2006 10:01:44 AM
Author: southstand

I checked both on the HCA and the second one was better, although the polish and symmetry is better on the first...confused as to what is more important...

Can anybody give me their opinion on which one they would select??

Any advice will be gratefully received!

what is more important, is that you pick the one that looks better to your eye. i would not recommend getting a ''d'' with strong blue fluorescence without seeing it first. go back and look at them both (perhaps a couple more) side by side in different lighting conditions and decide which you like best.

 

[Gonzodogg]

I am wondering why so high on the clarity. In those ideal/exelent cut stones that you are looking at you can drop that clarity way down to SI1 and even sometimes SI2 and not see anything with you naked eye. I would at least consider a VS2 or VS1...you can save A LOT of money.

Some people want as close to "flawless" as possible, but for me, I can''t understand paying for something I will never see.

just my .02

 

[southstand]

I was going to start a post about why most of the posters here are happy to go to such low clarity!

Not wanting to start what could be a very contentious debate (I am after all a novice in gemology), but there does seem to be a big difference in what UK / US based buyers want...

To me, having scoured these sort of forums for almost a year now, and worked with US people (here and abroad - I work in IT) it seems that people in the US tend to go for what I think are huge diamonds...whereas the emphasis over here is slightly more understated...(small but perfectly formed etc!)

If I spend my budget on a more included, slightly lower coloured diamond, it''s going to be huge! My girlfriend would simply be too embarrassed to wear it! If I spend half my budget on the diamond (smaller, included, lower coloured again) I will indeed be getting a great value diamond, but I will PERSONALLY feel like I''m not spending enough!

(I must stress the word "PERSONALLY"...I''m not saying I am right, or that large diamonds are wrong...and I also realise that budget is a very personal thing)

Hope my rambling makes sense...and I must reiterate, I''m not trying to offend anybody...

 

[Lorelei]

I am also from the UK and I would venture to say that cut quality is almost unheard of here with the average diamond buyer. It does seem that to many here the most important C is clarity, which is chosen in some cases by a buyer who thinks quality is best represented by this. Just make sure your top priority is cut, then regardless of the colour and clarity you choose you will have a stunning diamond.

BTW welcome!

 

[southstand]

Yes you''re right...most of my friends / family / colleagues would think I''m mad if I started talking about the relative merits of the 4C''s!

It seems our friends in the US are far more clued up when it comes to diamonds!

 

[Lorelei]

Yes, here the fact that it is a genuine diamond is usually good enough! All diamonds are created equal!

However there are a few of us Brit PSers, also my pals Blod the Cat and Mini Mouse, so SOME of us know better

 

[southstand]

Out of interest...do you think the cut on the above posted diamonds are pretty good?

 

[Lorelei]

I thik they are both nice diamonds, if we were to really get picky we could go through a lot more, out of the two I prefer the second. It isn't as deep as the first and the crown and pavillion angles look better. The table on the second is a little larger, some prefer smaller but both are good sizes. The main thing as Belle says is the strong fluoresence in the D, not always considered desirable in a D, but it may be priced accordingly, however fluoresence has it's fans and I am one, but just check that if you go for the D it doesn't make the diamond look oily or mily/cloudy in sunlight, this is unusual but it can happen. I really think go with what your eyes prefer but you have found 2 good contenders. Also does the vendor have a good return policy? It might be more difficult to do, but also an independant appraisal is a good idea just to make sure the diamond checks out, try the yellow pages if you would like to do this to find an appraiser locally.

ETA - I just ran the numbers through the HCA and the second diamond scored far better than the first - a 0.9 so that is a very respectable score indeed.

 

[Rod]

Date: 4/25/2006 12:29:23 PM
Author: southstand
I was going to start a post about why most of the posters here are happy to go to such low clarity!

Not wanting to start what could be a very contentious debate (I am after all a novice in gemology), but there does seem to be a big difference in what UK / US based buyers want...

To me, having scoured these sort of forums for almost a year now, and worked with US people (here and abroad - I work in IT) it seems that people in the US tend to go for what I think are huge diamonds...whereas the emphasis over here is slightly more understated...(small but perfectly formed etc!)

If I spend my budget on a more included, slightly lower coloured diamond, it''s going to be huge! My girlfriend would simply be too embarrassed to wear it! If I spend half my budget on the diamond (smaller, included, lower coloured again) I will indeed be getting a great value diamond, but I will PERSONALLY feel like I''m not spending enough!

(I must stress the word ''PERSONALLY''...I''m not saying I am right, or that large diamonds are wrong...and I also realise that budget is a very personal thing)

Hope my rambling makes sense...and I must reiterate, I''m not trying to offend anybody...

Thank you for pointing out the cultural differences. I''m afraid we American''s tend to think "bigger is better" too much. Just look at all our gas guzzling SUV''s and V8 Big Boy Pickup Trucks!! It sounds like you are doing a very nice job of finding that perfect stone for your girlfriend. The two you have referenced are nice. I tend to like the proportions of the 2nd stone a little better (just my personal preference), but I would want to make sure the strong blue fluorescence doesn''t affect the stone''s beauty in direct sunlight. Just choose the stone that makes your heart beat just a little faster, wrap it in love and you''ll never make a mistake.

Good luck..........

 

[linvillegorge]

It''s all about personal preference. With me, my GF wanted a one carat stone. But, our budget was around $5k and I knew that a quality one carat stone with the setting she wanted was simply not possible. So I picked out a few stones at JA and hopped in my Chevy Tahoe to go check them out. I ended up with an eye clean .91 carat, G color, excellent cut, excellent polish/symetry, SI2 stone.

 

[Dancing Fire]

southstand
since you live in the UK.i too would go for a higher clarity stone if i was buying from a vendor in the U.S.,just to be sure its 100% eye clean (although a VS 1 would do

) instead of buying a SI stone were there''s a possibility of seeing an inclusion.it would be a pain in the buttt to ship it back to the U.S. for an exchange or refund.