Gap in market around 1,4ct ?

[newicebuyer]

When searching I´ve noticed that there seem to be a gap in the market from around 1.3 to 1.5 ct
There are lots of stones in the 1.2 range and lots of stones above 1.5 but the area in between is pretty sparsely populated.
Can anyone explain why ?

 

[Deelight]

my guess is because of the price jump when the diamond hits 1.5cts

 

[D&T]

I don''t know either, but my sweet spot was the 1.4 range. and I eyed a couple of them a while ago, but have since been sold

 

[Circe]

This is why there are a lot of not-ideal stones on the market: being savvy, cutters frequently consciously make the choice to hit the mark on price-jumps, even if it means proportions are a bit wonky. So if we jump in price at each quarter-carat ... it''s the .9''s and the .4''s that are going to be the hardest to find, made either on-purpose by cutters making the best of their rough and cutting to AGS standards, or by cutters who stretched as hard as they could and ended up with "mistakes" like 1.49 ct. stones.

 

[newicebuyer]

So a cutter would rather end up with a bad 1.51 cut than a perfect 1.4 because a bad 1.51 or above will still fetch more than a perfect 1.4 ??
I know you pay for carat weight, but I thought that all these new H&A 57 facets or above stones fecthed a bigger premium?

 

[stone-cold11]

There is a premium, so it is a balancing act for the cutter to get the most $$ out of the rough. Apparently, the ok cut 1.5c $/carat premium is more than the H&A premium of a sub 1.5c stone.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/17/2009 4:52:06 PM
Author:newicebuyer
When searching I´ve noticed that there seem to be a gap in the market from around 1.3 to 1.5 ct
There are lots of stones in the 1.2 range and lots of stones above 1.5 but the area in between is pretty sparsely populated.
Can anyone explain why ?

This is usual, cutters will normally try to hit the magic weights such as 1 carat, 1.5 carats, 2 carats etc rather than below as there are greater financial gains involved. This is sometimes at the expense of cut quality, more profitable to cut a mediocre 1.5 carats than a well cut 1.4 cts.

 

[jet2ks]

In addition to the great points of the others, the cutter has to take into account the extra time it would take to cut a 1.4 H&A vs. a typical commercial 1.5 and what the market is looking for. If they can sell one stone quicker than the other, even if makes a little less profit, then they can turn the $$$ into more stock and keep going. It is a very delicate balancing act and I don''t envy them at all.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Every time that we have to finish a stone just under a magic weight (1.00, 1.50, 2.00, even 0.90), my heart bleeds. And so does our wallet.

But we have to do this in order to preserve the brand-value. The majority of cutting-houses however have various production-lines and they have more liberty to choose the bigger stone.

Live long,

 

[glitterata]

I actually own an 1.45 carat Infinity. Bad luck for Paul, great for me!

 

[bgray]

actually i was once advised that when diamond hunting keep your eye out for odd numbers: for example a 2.59 to a 2.89. there is less manipulation of a diamond for weight yield within certain carat weight bands. When i was looking i noticed that stones that were 3.01 carats were often quite deep. now this isnt all the time but if you really start paying attention you will see its often true

 

[zabak80]

I just purchases a 1.46. The only difference between the 1.46 and a 1.5 average dimension is .01 mm.

The 1.46 was significantly cheaper than the 1.5

 

[kenny]

I guess I was lucky to stumble onto a 2.26 carat asscher that was very well cut for good light performance instead of being cut to achieve some 2.25 threshold.

 

[coda72]

I have a 1.33 carat that I absolutely love and feel like it was a good deal. These stones do exist, but you have to be looking for them pretty consistently and ready to jump on one if it comes available.

 

[highlander14]

Just found a 1.36 and it was roughly 2k less than comparable 1.5 and above stones. The stone should face up very similarly to a 1.5 once set.