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First Post- Help on Diamond?

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AKY

Rough_Rock
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Nov 5, 2009
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Hey everyone!

I have never heard of pricescope before today, although I have done a decent amount of research on diamonds for the past few months.. Not sure how that happened since today pricescope was on the top of my google list. Anyhow, I have been some reading on the forums and I wanted to thank everyone for their informative posts.

I was hoping that you would all be able to help me out with my type of diamond choice. I am kind of looking for areas where I can make sacrifices and areas I shouldn''t..

A little about me.. I am turning 20 in March, and it is my plan to get engaged next spring (about 6 months from now). I know I may seem young and this post is not going to be about whether I should be married at such a young age (21, so not all that young), but my age does have an effect on my ring choice! I am in University, and I am definately not in a position to be dropping $10,000 on a ring. On the other hand, I am a bit of a perfectionist, and I know that I don''t want to take the cheap route.

On the other side of the equation is my girlfriend =) Here is the great thing.. She is a very down to earth kind of girl, and she would get upset at me if I spent over $3000 on the ring ^^ She doesn''t want anything huge, and she is really likes the classic round solitaire.

We have been browsing through many of the diamond stores in Ottawa for fun, so I do have a pretty good idea of what she likes.
I have been looking at Bluenile.ca, and I was curious what Blue Nile''s reputation was on here? One of the things I have read in the negative feedback from Blue Nile, is that some people have had their diamond fall out of the setting within the first year of getting the ring. My current plan is to buy a loose diamond from BlueNile and buy a white gold/platinum setting from a local jeweler and have them affix the diamond. I was wondering what everyone thought about this kind of plan?

Lastly, I wanted to show you a diamond I was considering and see what you guys thought about it.. My price range is probably from $1750 to $2250 for the loosediamond, I was hoping to keep the final price at or under $2500.

This is a diamond being sold on BlueNile.ca for approx $2300. You will notice the carat is pretty small! 0.65. I would prefer something around 0.75, but haven''t found anything I like, althogh I should probably widen my parameters for depth and table.

Let me know what you think.

http://img.bluenile.com/is/image/certs/?src={/4/GIA2101977083_zoom.jpeg}&fmt=swf
 
Hi AKY and welcome!

Don't worry, we are not here to judge but to help you find a great diamond! BN are an excellent vendor, one downside to them is that they don't supply images such as Idealscope and ASET that we like to see and that many informed buyers want. If you prefer to stick to BN we can certainly see what they have available.

The diamond you posted has an ' iffy' crown and pavilion angle combination, I would really want to see an Idealscope image for this diamond, without I would keep looking at this stage for a diamond which has a ' safer' angle combo.

I would suggest if you want to go bigger, broadening your parameters for colour and clarity, you could consider G or H colour and SI clarity if verified eyeclean, we even have some I and J colour owners who adore their still very white diamonds. So that is an option and if the cut is great there really won't be any visual sacrifice.

Would you like us to hunt for some diamonds which might suit you? Also I assume $2300 is Canadian dollars, what is the US equivalent please?
 
Numbers look ok to me. BN do not have an upgrade policy but other vendors do, will you be considering that?
 
Hi AKY,

Just another reassurance, many people here have purchased diamonds this size and smaller and are thrilled with them. The last statstic I heard was that the average e-ring in the US was about .4ct, so a .65 is definitely not small. Not 100% sure how Canada compares on size, but I seem to think that the average there is slightly smaller than US.

I think the numbers on the stone you are looking at are good, no worries.

One point of consideration. Since you are still in school, if there is any thought of upgrading the ring in the future, when finances permit, make sure to look at a vendor''s policies closely before purchasing. Blue Nile does not have an upgrade policy, while other vendors have various policies up to giving 100% of the orginal purchase price as a credit toward the upgrade--within their guidelines. If upgrading is never going to be a concern, then that is not an issue, but I just wanted to point it out.

Best of luck.
 
Wow, thank you for the quick replies everyone.

In regards to the common question in the last two posts, I will most likely not be planning any sort of upgrade policy. My girlfriend has expressed that she would be very content with even a .50 carat ring, and as long as I get a ring of decent quality and brightness, I see no reason to be upgrading it.

Lorelei, it would be great if you could find some similar diamonds. $2300 is about $2160 US right now.

You guys seem to think the number were ok, and I was choosing based on depth/table, and the various other qualities, I hadn't looked into some of the specifics that you mentioned Lorelei. I understand that many people here are enthusiasts regarding diamonds and jewelery, and I can understand it as I feel the same in certain hobbies I am involved in. Heh, I know that a lot of times diamonds are bought by people who go to the store with a faint conception of the 4 C's, and find something that they think looks pretty nice and they lay down the cash. I certainly don't want to be one of those people.. On the otherhand, I am also not looking for the 'perfect' diamond, if you understand what I mean. Price range is a big thing. Like I said I would like to keep within the 0.65 to 0.75 carat range and a budget of around $2000. If you guys could help me out that would be amazing.

If I can make sacrifices on colour and clarity, that would be great as well as long as the diamond is of a good quality. I understand this is harder to determine with Blue Nile because they don't offer the same sort of images..

Also, I was still curious what someone thought of my idea to buy the loose stone and have a local jeweler mount it. I should have no problems with this, right?

Another thing I was debating was between having a platinum or white gold ring, but I guess that is a seperate issue ^^
 
My concern with 34.5/41 degree crown and pavilion angles is possible light leakage, depending on how tightly the stone is cut. I have seen these combinations which show light leakage in my experience, so without images I prefer to err on the prudent side. The diamond could be perfectly fine or it might show some leakage depending on what the angle averages are , the lower girdle facet length and the precision of the cutting, without images no way to know so if I were in your shoes I would prefer to look for a ''safer'' angle combo before purchase.

As to mounting the diamond locally, make sure the jeweller will assume liability should the diamond get damaged, this is rare but not unheard of so that can be a pitfall of going about it in this way, the seller of the stone will normally assume responsibility should the worst happen!
 
Date: 11/5/2009 12:57:16 PM
Author: AKY
I did find another diamond with similar characteristics but an SI1 instead.. It runs for $1680 US. Again, not sure what to look for on the super specifics besides table and depth, if you could enlighten me on that, that would be great. Thanks.

http://www.bluenile.ca/build-your-own-diamond-ring?pid=LD01577675&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP

http://img.bluenile.com/is/image/certs/?src={/619/GIA6117284649_zoom.jpeg}&fmt=swf
Click to expand...



I will take a look at your selections presently, here is the cheat sheet some of us use in order to find a well cut round diamond.

depth - 60 - 62% - although my personal preference is to allow up to 62.4%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees
girdle - avoid extremes, look for thin to slightly thick, thin to medium etc
polish and symmetry - very good and above

note - with crown and pavilion angles at the shallower ends ( CA 34- PA 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35- PA 41) check to make sure these angles complement in that particular diamond - eyeballs, Idealscope, trusted vendor input - check as appropriate!



As the above implies, configurations depend on each other. A little give here can still work with a little take there.

From expert John Pollard.

With that said, here's a "Cliff's Notes" for staying near Tolkowsky/ideal angles with GIA reports (their numbers are rounded): A crown angle of 34.0, 34.5 or 35.0 is usually safe with a 40.8 pavilion angle. If pavilion angle = 40.6 lean toward a 34.5-35.0 crown. If pavilion angle = 41 lean toward a 34.0-34.5 crown.



GIA "EX" in cut is great at its heart, but it ranges a bit wider than some people prefer, particularly in deep combinations (pavilion > 41 with crown > 35).
 
Date: 11/5/2009 12:57:16 PM
Author: AKY
I did find another diamond with similar characteristics but an SI1 instead.. It runs for $1680 US. Again, not sure what to look for on the super specifics besides table and depth, if you could enlighten me on that, that would be great. Thanks.

http://www.bluenile.ca/build-your-own-diamond-ring?pid=LD01577675&forceStep=DIAMONDS_STEP

http://img.bluenile.com/is/image/certs/?src={/619/GIA6117284649_zoom.jpeg}&fmt=swf
Click to expand...
The diamond above is what we call a steep deep with the angles, light leakage is going to be a given pretty much with that angle combo. See how you get on with the proportions I listed above and I will take a look for you shortly to see what we can find for you.
 
Thanks for that! That is very helpful.
 
Date: 11/5/2009 1:14:45 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Something like this. Call up JA to ask if it is eye-clean if you are interested.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1197117.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131
Click to expand...
emthup.gif
 
Interesting, thanks Stone Cold. I haven''t looked into any US retailers, kind of afraid of what the duty fees and such will be and shipping and insurance from the US.. Says shipping+insurance will be $50+1%, and I guess I will have to find out what kind of surchargees there are
 
Call up JA, they would know as they do have a lot of customers from Canada too.
 
Date: 11/5/2009 1:28:45 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Call up JA, they would know as they do have a lot of customers from Canada too.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, they are a great vendor with many Canadian clients too.

A couple from Blue Nile, with all SI clarities check they are eyeclean to your standards by asking the vendor. With the first diamond there is a grade setting cloud noted, check with BN that it isn't impacting performance.

http://www.bluenile.co.uk/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-g-colour-si1-clarity_LD01495022

http://www.bluenile.co.uk/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-f-colour-si2-clarity_LD01570967

http://www.bluenile.co.uk/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-e-colour-si2-clarity_LD01459179

http://www.bluenile.co.uk/round-diamond-1-carat-or-less-ideal-cut-e-colour-si2-clarity_LD01459179
 
Thank you both for your time spent in helping me.. I would have thought that it would be best to stay away from the SI clarities, but you think an SI2 would be a good value?
 
Date: 11/5/2009 1:59:08 PM
Author: AKY
Thank you both for your time spent in helping me.. I would have thought that it would be best to stay away from the SI clarities, but you think an SI2 would be a good value?
Click to expand...
You are most welcome! Absolutely SI1 and and SI2 can be excellent value and super choices if eyeclean, the trick is to make sure you tell the vendor what your expectations are concerning an eyeclean diamond. For example, if you don''t want to see any visible inclusions from any angle or distance, make sure you tell the vendor that so you are both on the same page.
 
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