For those who have upgraded... 3ct question !

[m-2-b]

If you take a look at a comparable diamond w/ the kind of specs that Frankie is looking for in a 4 ct RB it will take her a very, very long time for her to upgrade (120K):
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1184358.asp

So I think if she's found the deal of the century on this 3 ct, she should go for it while it is still affordable for her to do so. Also, the halo will make her ring diameter 11mm+ which will make a huge difference in size--much bigger than a 4ct RB by itself.

 

[frankiextah]

hi all !

thank you so so much for all of the valuable and honest opinion here. i'm so grateful to all of you !

for me, 3ct has always been my RB brilliant dream size. any bigger than that i prefer chunkier facets like a super beautiful AVC ! so this 3ct would be it for me, until i can inherit my mom's 4ct RB's !

while considering this deal i had a brief chat with VC and he is more than happy to recreate the exact setting for me, and provided me a quote, which is basically exactly the same price i paid for my current setting. That said, i have a pretty good feeling that i can let go of my current one to a good home in order to recoup some $ ? for reference, i sold my SK setting for $2.8K.

p.s. i recently received an offer for $20K on the studs. i am most likely going to take that offer over the vendor's, but will have to decide if i like this 3ct H color stone first. this could be another $1000 knocked out of the total.

 

[frankiextah]

btw, here's a preview of the actual diamond....



the plot:



I have requested for the vendor to send me IDEALSCOPE images, as well as a top down profile view against white background. I should be receiving these on Monday or so.

 

[minmin001]

hi all !

thank you so so much for all of the valuable and honest opinion here. i'm so grateful to all of you !

for me, 3ct has always been my RB brilliant dream size. any bigger than that i prefer chunkier facets like a super beautiful AVC ! so this 3ct would be it for me, until i can inherit my mom's 4ct RB's !

while considering this deal i had a brief chat with VC and he is more than happy to recreate the exact setting for me, and provided me a quote, which is basically exactly the same price i paid for my current setting. That said, i have a pretty good feeling that i can let go of my current one to a good home in order to recoup some $ ? for reference, i sold my SK setting for $2.8K.

p.s. i recently received an offer for $20K on the studs. i am most likely going to take that offer over the vendor's, but will have to decide if i like this 3ct H color stone first. this could be another $1000 knocked out of the total.

I'd suggest you take the 19k trade with the vender unless the 20k buyer is willing to pay you through wire transfer. With paypal's 2.9% fee you are closer to getting just $19.4k and with all the risk etc involved I'd rather trade them in for peace of mind.

 

[frankiextah]

To clarify, the $20K offer is coming from a reputable PS vendor, someone whom i have personally worked with in the past, and is willing to proceed with wire transfer as soon as i have made a decision.

 

[CharmyPoo]

I would sell to the consumer ... rather benefit them

 

[frankiextah]

hi charmy !

i would love to as well but so far no takers on DB and the clock is ticking ...

 

[Phoenix]

OMG OMG!! Frankie, that is one beauuuuutifuuul stone, from what I can see thus far. The arrows look very crisp and the plot so clean of inclusions!! I'd be very surprised if the IS image showed up anything different.

Have you not had the chance to see the stone in person yet?

Congrats on the new price. I'd love to know who these various vendors are (the one selling you the stone as well as the one making you the $20k offer on your studs). You're getting some amazing deals there!

 

[frankiextah]

thanks Phoenix !!

i will definitely reveal the trade in vendor when/if the transaction has settled, however i'm going to have to keep the $20K offerer's identity a secret . I will post photos this coming week after my appointment to see this diamond in person

now i am a teensy bit worried that everything looks too good to be true - an ideal cut AGS diamond price going down this much $$ ... hopefully nothing fishy/funky about this ! i wonder what's up with these prices... i've been tracking this particular diamond for almost a year now and the price has changed about 4-5 times since then, highest being at around $72K and lowest at $53K now, $50K wire price.

if i let go of my studs for $20K, i will only be shelling out approx $3K with my 2.32ct trade in.

for the potential new halo setting, VC recommended a slightly thinner halo than my current one, so the overall measurement of the new stone with halo will be at around 12mm-12.2mm.

 

[Phoenix]

thanks Phoenix !!

i will definitely reveal the trade in vendor when/if the transaction has settled, however i'm going to have to keep the $20K offerer's identity a secret . I will post photos this coming week after my appointment to see this diamond in person

now i am a teensy bit worried that everything looks too good to be true - an ideal cut AGS diamond price going down this much $$ ... hopefully nothing fishy/funky about this ! i wonder what's up with these prices... i've been tracking this particular diamond for almost a year now and the price has changed about 4-5 times since then, highest being at around $72K and lowest at $53K now, $50K wire price.

if i let go of my studs for $20K, i will only be shelling out approx $3K with my 2.32ct trade in.

for the potential new halo setting, VC recommended a slightly thinner halo than my current one, so the overall measurement of the new stone with halo will be at around 12mm-12.2mm.

I totally understand your concern RE pricing. Those are huge price fluctuations. But as diamond prices have gone down recently, price reductions are to be expected (in fact, that's why we bought the 5ct - I'd been watching diamond prices shoot through the roof and go down slightly, so I thought better do it now or we'd never have another chance). But still, I hear you on the steep price drop (almost 50%) on this particular stone. You live in NY, right? Why not ask David Wolf to appraise it? That way, you'd know for sure if there was something "funky" going down!

That's amazing, you'd hardly be out of pocket! Congrats!

No worries about the identity of the 3ct vendor. I imagine they'd be flooded with enquiries if everyone knew who they were, lol.

He he, we should meet up to compare my 5ct with your new halo'ed ring. I may also ask VC to halo my 3ct, so would love to see how it looks IRL. Do you come back to HK very often? I am there at least 2-3 times a year (I used to live there and still have tons of friends and have also met up with some HK PS'ers).

Good luck with the viewing. I hope the H is as good as it sounds and that it's not too warm for you.

Btw, I still drool over your mom's gorgeous HUGE bling! The woman doesn't just have gorgeous bling, she's also drop-dead gorgeous! I am jealous, ha ha!

 

[bgray]

I feel compelled to add that David Wolf while a nice man is hardly independent. He knows all of these vendors and they know him. I had an extremely troubling experience using him and another appraiser recommended here. I am not implying that he is dishonest but for what its worth it is a bit like home appraisal: the appraiser wants to make sure the house appraises well so that the house sells and the agents keep referring to that appraiser. The absolutely only reason to use anyone is to verify that the stone matches the cert. Most of us can determine that ourselves OR use a GG anywhere. I would not advise using an appraiser if you are buying from any one of the known and trusted vendors simply because its a forgone conclusion and a waste of your money. If you are buying from an individual or having something assessed prior to selling it that is a different story.

 

[frankiextah]

Phoenix,

thanks for the re-assurance ! i did also track 3-4 other 3ct diamonds and i too did notice price drops recently, ok phew !

i do plan to have the stone appraised right away and then send off to VC for the new setting.

and then perhaps i can list my current VC setting on DB ?

no plans to returning to HK this year since DH and I will be spending the end of year holidays in London and Paris ! so will return to HK sometime 2013 ...

one last concern --> the 3ct stone with new VC setting will come up to be around 12-12.2mm with halo. my current stone in its setting is currently 11.5mm exact. will I see an overall size difference ? understand that the potential new stone/setting will be MORE stone and LESS halo.

 

[Laila619]

11.5 to 12 mm should be a visible size difference.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Frankie I am not sure it is worth upgrading at all.

Since you plean to halo your mount, the overall increase in finger coverage is simply going to be negligible. With the bare stones the increase in diameter from a 2.3 to a 3.0 is 7.4%, but with the halo adding 3mm to overall diameter, the actual increase in coverage is only 5.5% more. And that is even assuming that Victor will increase the overall diameter of the halo to keep identical proportions. That seems near impossible and most likely the halo will have a smaller diameter proportionally than a perfect replica might have. I think that comparing the new ring with a 3ct to your current ring, you would be monumentally underwhelmed!

 

[Phoenix]

Phoenix,

thanks for the re-assurance ! i did also track 3-4 other 3ct diamonds and i too did notice price drops recently, ok phew !

i do plan to have the stone appraised right away and then send off to VC for the new setting.

and then perhaps i can list my current VC setting on DB ?

no plans to returning to HK this year since DH and I will be spending the end of year holidays in London and Paris ! so will return to HK sometime 2013 ...

one last concern --> the 3ct stone with new VC setting will come up to be around 12-12.2mm with halo. my current stone in its setting is currently 11.5mm exact. will I see an overall size difference ? understand that the potential new stone/setting will be MORE stone and LESS halo.

How fun! You'll have a great time. Paris, in particular, at Xmas is magical!

Are you not having the stone appraised first before committing to buy? Or do you have to buy it before you can have it appraised? If it's the latter, I am sure you've made sure there's a return period (?).

I personally do not think it's a mistake to upgrade from your current stone (2.3ct, right?) to a 3ct. I have a 2.374ct and a 2.656ct and I definitely notice the difference in size. You will for sure notice the size increase, as you said going from stone-to-stone. But only YOU will be able to discern the overall effect of the change in the rings, with the halo, ie. whether or not it'd please you. Is there any way you could ask VC to do a drawing of the 3ct with the thinner halo next to a drawing of your existing ring, so you can compare? Also, before you trade in yr existing ring, would you be able to go to various jewellers in NYC to see how a halo'ed ring with a thinner halo would look next to yours? It's quite hard to say on paper or for anyone of us to predict, you'd have to go see for yourself.

Oh and also, recently I compared my friend's 5ct, un-halo'ed, next to my halo'ed pear. My pear, withOUT the halo, is almost 13mm x 9mm. With the halo, it's prob 15x11 or even larger (I've never had it measured). However, putting the halo'ed pear next to the nikked 5ct, the latter totally outshone the pear. The sparkles from the centre stone give it a more ...I dunno...substantial look that no melee would be able to do. I realise that this is not exactly comparing apple-to-apple, since RB's and pears have different looks. But just something else to think about.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Frankie I am not sure it is worth upgrading at all.

Since you plean to halo your mount, the overall increase in finger coverage is simply going to be negligible. With the bare stones the increase in diameter from a 2.3 to a 3.0 is 7.4%, but with the halo adding 3mm to overall diameter, the actual increase in coverage is only 5.5% more. And that is even assuming that Victor will increase the overall diameter of the halo to keep identical proportions. That seems near impossible and most likely the halo will have a smaller diameter proportionally than a perfect replica might have. I think that comparing the new ring with a 3ct to your current ring, you would be monumentally underwhelmed!

And now that I read your post about actual measurements (I was just estimating) it is only a 4.4% increase in size!! You will be underwhelmed.

 

[bgray]

Frankie I am not sure it is worth upgrading at all.

Since you plean to halo your mount, the overall increase in finger coverage is simply going to be negligible. With the bare stones the increase in diameter from a 2.3 to a 3.0 is 7.4%, but with the halo adding 3mm to overall diameter, the actual increase in coverage is only 5.5% more. And that is even assuming that Victor will increase the overall diameter of the halo to keep identical proportions. That seems near impossible and most likely the halo will have a smaller diameter proportionally than a perfect replica might have. I think that comparing the new ring with a 3ct to your current ring, you would be monumentally underwhelmed!

I agree...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I pretty much agree. Your current ring is large and gorgeous and you know you'll someday get larger diamonds from your mother. I probably wouldn't sell my studs at that price and my VC setting at a loss to gain that little bit of size.

 

[frankiextah]

With 0.90mm difference - stone size increases from 8.49mm to 9.39mm (with halo, it would be from 11.49 to 12.39), there should be a visible overall size difference, correct? This is to assume that I will be using the same 1.5mm halo width = 3mm total on both sides.

Thanks everyone regarding size... I will have more visibility and thoughts after my diamond appt on Wed !

 

[Dreamer_D]

A .9mm increase is less noticable the bigger the stone gets. My math has the increase at ~5% including the halo. That is similar to the increase from 1ct to 1.15ct in percentage increase. For me, when I have upgraded, the proportion increase needed to get close to 7%+ to be really noticable and for the diamond to *feel* bigger when worn.

 

[ForteKitty]

Are you guys calculating just the diameter difference or are you accounting for the entire surface area? I ran some quick numbers and it looks like the diamond alone will be about 19% larger. Assuming the halo stays the same, the entire surface area will be about 15% larger. This is just flat surface, not taking into consideration the spherical shape of the crown. I think you can definitely see a difference of 15%!

 

[decodelighted]

I don't believe the visual difference would be worth even the *hassle* to me ... even if it was a $$ wash. WITH the $$ involved -- HELL NO.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Yes, I think that of course there would be some visual difference but the key is whether or not the difference that you would see is really worth the additional money for the stone and new setting minus the earrings. It's a large outlay of cash and you want to make sure you get your money's worth in visual difference.

 

[mrs jam]

Frankie, I agree with Phoenix that you WILL get plenty of visual "oomph" out of the larger stone. My stepmother upgraded her round brilliant a couple of years ago from a 2.42 RB to a 3.10, and I could definitely notice the difference, even though the smaller diamond had been haloed and the 3.10 is in a standard 6-prong setting. For me, haloes do not trick my eye into making a smaller, surrounded diamond appear larger than a diamond that IS actually larger in surface area.

 

[frankiextah]

here's the IS image the vendor sent me today ...

 

[MissGotRocks]

Looks like a very nice stone!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Definitely a great stone!

 

[Laila619]

Looks good!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Are you guys calculating just the diameter difference or are you accounting for the entire surface area? I ran some quick numbers and it looks like the diamond alone will be about 19% larger. Assuming the halo stays the same, the entire surface area will be about 15% larger. This is just flat surface, not taking into consideration the spherical shape of the crown. I think you can definitely see a difference of 15%!

I was talking about diameter, but of course the two ways of looking at it are the same thing, just different ways of quantifying the change in size. When I said I find 7%+ noticable, that translates to about 30%+ in size increase.

For me its not only *can* you see a difference, but it is worth $20k These are both empirical questions in a way that nly frankie can answer by seeing the stone and deciding if its worth it.

 

[Phoenix]

here's the IS image the vendor sent me today ...

Gorgeous! Can't wait to see what you decide after your appointment tomorrow, Frankie.