Getting Started: Oval Advice

[anne273]

Hi all,

I've found this community to be a wonderful resource! I really appreciate all that I've read as I've begun my diamond search with my boyfriend.

I wanted to ask some specific opinions on tradeoffs when it comes to an oval diamond.

I've been lucky in that we have a larger budget of 35K. I really like lower settings so I'm focused on getting a oval, halo, split shank, platinum band that's very close to my finger (I dislike high settings). That will wind up being about 4K of the budget. We've been looking at diamonds in the 2-2.4 carat range, D-F, IF-VS1, no-faint fluorescent, excellent/very good percentages, around the 1.35-1.4 ratio. However, it seems that for a really great quality diamond, we'll end up more in the lower carat range. Therefore, I have a few questions:

1. What are people's thoughts on moving the search to include G? My boyfriend really felt that the color showed at that size and the grade.
2. Is it worth going to VV range over V? (I'm guessing no)
3. I'd really love to end up around 2.25 carats. I've been reading a lot on the standards and ideal ranges for table/width dimensions. I'm curious, though, with wanting a lower setting, would it be smarter to go for a larger table (more towards the 60% vs. the 55%), as long as a bow tie isn't showing?

I know that this is very much personal opinion but I'd love to hear other's experiences and thoughts.

Thank you all!

 

[Gypsy]

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king. With fancies though (anything other than a round brilliant), that is a little complicated. But no other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. And with ovals the numbers on a lab report are meaningless.

There really is no other way to determine if you have a good oval cut is to see images of the stones, and then you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.

That's what an ASET image does. http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance Please read.
And ASET shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return That is why you won't see us recommending vendors like Blue Nile, as they do not provide images or ASET images for their diamonds. James Allen and Good Old Gold do this. So do Brian Gavin, B2C and Whiteflash and High Performance Diamonds. ERD does too, for stones they source for you.


Keep in mind that bowties are especially hard to shop for because so many have bowties. So finding a bright, well cut oval is a herculean task at times if the stock at vendors is poor. But luckily, ovals don't have points (like marquise and pears) so they don't concentrate color the way those do at the tips.


If you don't know what a bowtie is let us know.

 

[Gypsy]

It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. So... no. Not really. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H for RB. With Ovals I think you are PERFECTLY FINE at G.

If you are talking fancy shapes without ideal light return (because there is no 'ideal' for EC's Radiant, etc) it's a bit different.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them side by side. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white, you only see the contrast because of the proximity. But it's very slight, you could set an F center with G sides and never tell the difference. And even H sides depending on the setting and the size of the sidestones... especially with round brilliants.


I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.

Also again, please remember. You won't be wearing your G next to a D. And just because you see color differences doesn't mean that it has to bother you.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I would focus on F-G, VS1-VS2. You can't really set your expectations on particular measurements on a fancy cut like an oval. The key is to find the best cut one you can. I like Good Old Gold for fancy cuts in particular because they will call in some and do light performance testing for you as well as make a comparison video of the stones. Here is an example of two videos they recently made comparing ovals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxgo_NCmwis&index=5&list=UUEV7slr-i-VduBBnfv9MxhA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yexYBhb5b8&index=6&list=UUEV7slr-i-VduBBnfv9MxhA

 

[Gypsy]

Now. Clarity. Ovals are hard enough to shop for and have enough challenges without you restricting yourself to anything beyond eyeclean.

An eyeclean Si1 will look EXACTLY the same as an IF diamond when you are wearing it. So I highly suggest you don't handicap your search more by placing additional restrictions on the search. I would advise you stick to eyeclean Si1 and above.

 

[Gypsy]

I would focus on F-G, VS1-VS2. You can't really set your expectations on particular measurements on a fancy cut like an oval. The key is to find the best cut one you can. I like Good Old Gold for fancy cuts in particular because they will call in some and do light performance testing for you as well as make a comparison video of the stones. Here is an example of two videos they recently made comparing ovals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxgo_NCmwis&index=5&list=UUEV7slr-i-VduBBnfv9MxhA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yexYBhb5b8&index=6&list=UUEV7slr-i-VduBBnfv9MxhA

DS a lot of the best cut ovals I've seen have had D color. I wouldn't restrict the color and the candidate pool by limiting the search to F-G. And I really do think eyeclean Si1 is fine.

I do think that GOG is a great recommendation. They have awesome quality ovals. But other vendors might also have nice stones, so it's worth a look around.

 

[Gypsy]

What setting type do you want? And is that included in the 35K budget? We need to account for that.

 

[Gypsy]

Oh. And you shouldn't compare diamonds by carat weight. You should compare them by measurements (we refer to that as spread).

Here are two nice choices from B2C:

http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-5306095-2.01-carat-Oval-diamond-F-color-VS1-clarity.aspx

 

[anne273]

Thanks Gypsy.... these are great resources. We visited a couple stores this weekend and were really comfortable with one who explained ovals the same way you did and has an ASET machine in store. They take a look and 'regrade' each diamond even more stringently than the certifications to make sure you are getting what you pay for. I'll keep you all updated! Thank you again.

 

[Gypsy]

Thanks Gypsy.... these are great resources. We visited a couple stores this weekend and were really comfortable with one who explained ovals the same way you did and has an ASET machine in store. They take a look and 'regrade' each diamond even more stringently than the certifications to make sure you are getting what you pay for. I'll keep you all updated! Thank you again.

This is GREAT news!

 

[anne273]

Gypsy, I was reading through a few threads and saw you mention that you are in the SF area. I am as well! If you have any shop recommendations for scouting out, I'd love any advice.

 

[Gypsy]

Joe Escobar in Campbell. You will find better prices online on actual center stones. But for setting selection and quality, trying anything on, going on a field trip to a great local jeweler there's none better.