great diamond (I think) on Ebay, good price?

[curious jill]

Hello all,
I''ve been reading various threads, and decided to join the discussions as I''m in the preliminary market for a diamond and am starting to educate myself.

I found a stone on Ebay (I personally love ebay) and wanted to see what anyone thought of it, including price...

"round brilliant diamond EGL H VS1 Ideal Cut"

Carat: 1.28
Color: H
Clarity: VS1

The seller was nice enough to do a sarin report for me, to get the angles, (he''s also got a 100% feedback and listed the egl cert on the site)

Crown Angle: 34.8
Pavillion Angle: 40.7
Depth: 62.5%
Table: 56%
Crown Height: 15%
Pav Depth: 43%

Very good polish and symmetry

Scored a 1.2 on the holloway cut advisor

the seller did say that he would personally grade the color an I rather than the EGL grade of H, but clarity was the same.

Price: $5,700

Does anyone have an opinion?

How about the difference in color from an H to an I?

I do realize it''s a starting point, but IN GENERAL, if the Holloway Cut adviser gives a good grade on a stone, is it more or less accurate? or is there the possibility that a jeweler would look at the stone and say that it isn''t a well cut stone?

thanks a lot!
Jill

 

[diamondsbylauren]

HI Jill,
I love eBay too- but of course all the freedom allows a lot of nonsense- so caution is well warranted.


Generally speaking EGL is NOT an acceptable arbiter of an "Ideal Cut" diamond.

I find the depth of 62.5% to be on the high side- but of course without seeing the dimaond, I can't say it wont look good- albeit with a smaller appearance than a diamond with 60% depth.
In terms of price, it's hard to say based on the questionable grade- it does not sound crazy high- nor does it sound cheap.

 

[Todd07]

Looks like a good price vs. what's in the PS database. It compared well with other H stones with VG Sym and Pol and similar depth and table %. ($6k range)
- Can the seller take an idealscope image so you can judge symmetry and leakage? I believe an IS image along with a Sarin report should tell you the cut quality.
- How's the return policy, or can you send it to an independent appraiser before buying
- Sounds honest if he's calling it an I vs the graded H

. Found an I with similar depth and table for $5.3k but unknown HCA
- How old is the EGL cert and has the diamond been recycled or treated?

Good luck

 

[valeria101]

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On 9/15/2004 3:44:09 PM Ricardo07 wrote:



- How old is the EGL cert and has the diamond been recycled or treated?

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Recycled? What is that ?


EGL has it's own definition and label of ideal cut rounds. The numbers are in accord with the HCA (said somewhere on the PS tutorial too). EGL's are not H&A - but neither are AGS0.

In all honesty, this sounds like a straightforward deal to me.
One ACA harts and arrows, AGS0 and all comes at 1k premium over this particular stone.
On Pricescope's listings one I-VS2 comes with Ideal Scope at the same price. It may be slightly better or slightlty worse if to believe the same HCA score (2.2 for this one). So... why not go for Ebay ?!

Is there a return policy? This is the last bit to make the cut, IMO.

Does the Ebay seller know of PS?

Just curious

 

[Todd07]

check out this post on a 0.5 HCA that had issues.

Killer stone by the numbers, but ...

 

[alexah]

well... there's this WF expert selction stone, complete w idealscope photo 1.23 I VS2 $5750 before PS discount. It's not as deep as the EGL stone, scores a 2 on the HCA, has a GIA cert & Ex/Ex pol/sym

 

[valeria101]

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On 9/15/2004 3:53:32 PM Ricardo07 wrote:

check out this post on a 0.5 HCA that had issues.
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There was worse posted, believe me

But the far off exceptions are not common at all-one in a blue moon a piece with top HCA leaks all light due to way unusual minor facets.

This is why i was asking about the return policy.

If the seller has never used an Iscope before, it may be too much to ask asap.

Below are the 'scopes of the two stones mentioned in my previous post. the ACA is the left pic. The one matching the Ebay quote is to the left. Both are 7mm in diameter and would likely not be told apart by color and clarity alone.

To me, it seems that the non-branded stone has but the slightest deviation from the ACA norm and the Scope pic was taken in different lighting.

Just my 0.2, of course.

 

[valeria101]

here they are...

 

[curious jill]

The EGL cert for this stone (the 1.28 "ideal round") is from july, 2004.

THe seller has a 14 day full return policy (which is really good when compared to most ebay sellers).

here's another "EGL IDEAL" from the same seller, but it didn't perform well on the holloway cut adviser.
should I rule it out because it didn't perform well on that, or might it still be a great stone????

carat: 1.54
clarity: VS2
Color: H

Depth: 60.1%
Table: 59%
Crown Angle: 33.2
Pavillion angle: 41.6
Very good polish and symmetry

scored a 4.8 I think...not good. But excellent on how big it'll look...that's about it on the holloway cut adviser.

Price: $8,000

 

[curious jill]

Also,
The seller DID know what the holloway cut adviser is, and I told him that the larger diamond (1.54 carat ideal H vs2) didn't perform very well.
He said that the computer analysis is sometimes not very accurate.
Of course, he's also trying to sell stones so....

That's why I was asking whether anyone had experience with stones that had done poorly on the cut adviser and turned out to be great, or vice versa.

Thanks,
Jill

 

[ame]

Well Im the anti-ebay but if it comes with the ability to get it appraised and still return it if you dislike the numbers from the appraisal, get it.

 

[Todd07]

My understanding is the search by cut tool helps seperate out the good candidates for closer inspection (top 1% of diamonds?). Very useful when you can't see all them in person and there are too many choices.

A higher HCA score may still be a very attractive diamond that appeals to your eyes and your checkbook.

 

[valeria101]

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On 9/15/2004 6:30:50 PM curious jill wrote:




here's another 'EGL IDEAL' from the same seller,

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I would call such a low score a gamble. And... what is the size of this stone anyway? The "Ex" on spread really compares the predicted diameter with a standard for the weight. But you do have the size infront of you (the diameter) on the cert. How different is it from any other 1.5 cts ideal around? I sincerely doubt that last tenth of a milimeter makes a good excuse for the very low scores on light return.

Anyway, the second stone should look larger than the first given weight and all. Why not go for one with SI clarity instead and a pretty cut? Would the "SI" word on the cert be a problem if the stone is eye clean?

I am with the seller to say that three numbers (table, and two averaged angles) cannot perfectly predict what a diamond looks like. This is why it is not feasible to tell using the HCA if one diamond scoring 1.8 is better, worse or any different than one scoring 2.2! But that nearly 5 is darn down the scale, IMO.