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(first post) What's wrong with this diamond? (round, TH) Looking for perfect cut.

N

nutellaonbothsides

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 29, 2024
Messages
5
Hi. I have heard good things about this community and so I decided to go ahead and register to ask for a second opinion.

For an engagement ring, I am looking for a diamond around 1ct (0.9 - 1.15).
My initial budget was 4-4.5k but I increased it a little to be able to target GREAT CUTS. I am OK to compromise a little bit on the other 2Cs (I, VS2).

I am looking at James Allen because this is the only site proposing the setting I want. After a first post where I received lots of feedback regarding importance of cut, I believe I found the best cut / brilliance I could find for my budget - actually slightly exceeding my budget.

This is the link to the diamond:

1716998340633.png

1716998378073.png1716998392725.png1716998420904.png
Why I am considering this one:
- Amongst other diamonds in the same price range, this seems to be the one with the cleanest ASET / least leakage - although I am still learning about how to spot them. I just see much less white spots for this one.
- The carat weight is spot on with my ideal find: Just a little over 1ct.
- No comment on the GIA report
- No visible inclusions on the zoomed preview.

Now for the red flags:
- Carat is higher than other diamonds with same search filters for that price range. Is diamond market efficient? If yes there is a catch.
- Potential haziness? I am paranoid about it because I can't really see it. Other people seems to though.

Could you please help me understand if there is something wrong with this diamond? It seems to good compared to the other ones for that price range.
For reference this is the link I am using to only display the diamonds I am potentially interested in: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...rom=50.5&TableFrom=54&TableTo=56.5&Flour=None

(although I wonder if table size <56 isn't a bit restrictive)

Thanks in advance for your help
 
Hello and welcome to PriceScope, nutellaonbothsides!
You are right that "cut is king" - and the 1.12 that you've found wears a crown (pun intended?).
The Ideal-Scope result is outstanding.
Proportions and angles are within true ideal ranges.
Should show tons of sparkle and fire in direct lighting conditions and have excellent brilliance in indirect lighting.
I think you've found a winner!
 
Thanks a lot for your responses. I did reserve the diamond because it is at least a strong option.

@lovedogs You made me also consider this one. Maybe it's just me but it appears slightly more yellow compared to my "first choice". Or maybe I am biased. The savings wouldn't be negligible. Also an inclusion is visible on the x20 zoom but that's probably negligible. Question now is whether I want to pay 10% more for a clean GIA + potentially slightly better color... Maybe yes...

@DejaWiz Thanks for the extra option - and decision freezing associated. In your eyes (ahah), is the color difference worth it? Would you say that otherwise the diamonds are almost perfectly identical? Having ASET images clearly helps me feel better without seeing it in person, and I guess I was extending my budget past 5k for the "True Hearts" premium so not having here makes me feel a bit insecure.
 
nutellaonbothsides said:
Thanks a lot for your responses. I did reserve the diamond because it is at least a strong option.

@lovedogs You made me also consider this one. Maybe it's just me but it appears slightly more yellow compared to my "first choice". Or maybe I am biased. The savings wouldn't be negligible. Also an inclusion is visible on the x20 zoom but that's probably negligible. Question now is whether I want to pay 10% more for a clean GIA + potentially slightly better color... Maybe yes...

@DejaWiz Thanks for the extra option - and decision freezing associated. In your eyes (ahah), is the color difference worth it? Would you say that otherwise the diamonds are almost perfectly identical? Having ASET images clearly helps me feel better without seeing it in person, and I guess I was extending my budget past 5k for the "True Hearts" premium so not having here makes me feel a bit insecure.
Click to expand...

You're very welcome!
Color is very subjective based on our own individual sensitivity and tolerance.

Here are the side profile screenshots for both the I and H color diamonds:

Screenshot_20240529-132423-859.png

Screenshot_20240529-132441-490.png
 
There is no issue with “haziness” in that first diamond. That is not a thing with vvs natural diamonds , not sure where you are getting that.

You cannot compare color between pictures, even the same website, as lighting and other environmental factors differ and affect the appearance of body color. Rely on the GIA grade. While there can be a range of tint within color grades it is usually only apparent when you get into J and lower colors, where the range of actual tints included in the grade becomes wider. So I would not consider this factor in my evaluation.

How much experience do you have with diamonds? I am asking because inclusions are actually very hard to see. Even in SI1 and many SI2 diamonds it can be very hard to see inclusions with the naked eye I have found. You pay a lot for VVS and even VS1 clarity. I don’t think it’s necessary personally and consider VS2 to be a very very clean stone. If you want the comfort of knowing you will never see the inclusions with your eyes, sure pay the premium. But please don’t hunt things down with a 20x magnification and worry you will see it! You never ever will. Save the money unless it’s a preference (and you choose to pay the premium for that preference).

You likely won’t be able to tell the difference in person between H and I color. I can’t. Two color grades different is when I start really seeing the difference. The choice comes down more to just preference not an objective difference (which you cannot assess with pictures anyway)
 
@DejaWiz now with your screenshots, it does look like the I is yellower than the H. I guess it depends on the angle.
I want to surround it with sapphire side stones with a platinum setting (https://www.jamesallen.com/engageme...aped-blue-sapphire-engagement-ring-item-16649). Hopefully that doesn't make the color more visible.

@Dreamer_D To answer your question, my experience is none. I am from Europe so the rare diamonds I've see in real life were probably max 0.5ct, as we tend to do smaller carats there. Thanks for your thoughts regarding clarity. As you say it's more a personal preference at this point when most people won't see it up close enough anyways. I guess I have a "geek" background so "specs" matter but it's also a bias.
 
DejaWiz said:
You're very welcome!
Color is very subjective based on our own individual sensitivity and tolerance.

Here are the side profile screenshots for both the I and H color diamonds:

Screenshot_20240529-132423-859.png

Screenshot_20240529-132441-490.png
Click to expand...

Stick with the H
 
I would put budget towards color over clarity all else being equal.

Don’t forget you can’t judge color from photos. Try to visit a store to compare if you can in person. Don’t draw conclusions based on those images Deja posted. It could lead you astray.
 
Dreamer_D said:
I would put budget towards color over clarity all else being equal.

Don’t forget you can’t judge color from photos. Try to visit a store to compare if you can in person. Don’t draw conclusions based on those images Deja posted. It could lead you astray.
Click to expand...

As I stated: color is very subjective based on individual sensitivity and tolerance.

Both screenshots have nearly identical environments - the background and lighting appear to be the same.

To your point, yes, it is always best practice to go and compare varying color grades of well cut and proportioned diamonds in order to discover and establish personal degrees of sensitivity and tolerance.
It was not my intention to lead you astray, nutellaonbothsides.
 
Thanks. This made me look for better color grades. In truth I don't really need 1.12c nor VVS2 clarity. I just want the best "naked eye" experience, so if at this point color is the "next thing to improve", maybe I should look at H.

@DejaWiz The 1.05 you showed me looks great. However it would ship too late as a setting. I need to time the shipping so it's there when I am home to collect it, which is a tight window and so I calculated that diamonds shipping on June 3rd with a setting should arrive not too early and not too late.

What about this 1ct one: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...ferral&utm_campaign=earthdiamonds-ps&a_aid=ps
 
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