Help! 1.5 carat, I1 vs 1 carat,SI2

[odd_shot]

Hi guys!

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I am going to the jewellers on Thursday evening to look at a whole lot of loose diamonds. I'm looking for a brilliant cut diamond to be set in a plain gold setting. I want a solitaire - realistically in my price range I need to decide what I'm willing to compromise on. I've asked to look at 'very good' cuts in the 'HIJ' colour range. I've seen several Js and I love the colour so no problems there.

So the real question is whether I go down in clarity so I can get a 1.5 carat ring - this is my favourite size - no too big not too small. Or I go up a grade in clarity and go down to a carat and then I have less risk of visible inclusions bugging me... There's no way we can afford a SI2 1.5 carat diamond so that's also out of the question.

The I1 1.5 carat diamond will be slightly more expensive (and pushing our budget).

Let me know what your thoughts are on this!

Any and all comments welcome

 

[Lorelei]

Hi guys!

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I am going to the jewellers on Thursday evening to look at a whole lot of loose diamonds. I'm looking for a brilliant cut diamond to be set in a plain gold setting. I want a solitaire - realistically in my price range I need to decide what I'm willing to compromise on. I've asked to look at 'very good' cuts in the 'HIJ' colour range. I've seen several Js and I love the colour so no problems there. Firstly, labels such as ' very good', ' excellent', 'Ideal' that describe a certain level of cut quality are for the most part pretty meaningless and are no guarantee of cut quality, it's the all important cut quality that gives a diamond it's beauty. Each diamond needs careful analysis of it's desirable physical and visual properties, that means checking out the proportions such as depth, table, crown and pavilion angles and other measurements to get a basic outline of the cut if shopping in a jewellery store, this info will be found on the grading reports, I take it you are considering GIA or AGS graded diamonds only? I would suggest starting to read the cut tutorials under Knowledge at the top of the page so you can get a crash course in the difference cut makes. Then when you have all the proportions of the diamonds you are interested in, use the Holloway Cut Advisor under Tools to see which score below 2 and are worth concentrating on, or post all the info here and we can assist you from there. Compromise is no problem as most of us on budgets have to do that somewhere along the line, J colour can be an excellent way to maximize bang for the buck if you have viewed some J colour in person and are ok with it.

So the real question is whether I go down in clarity so I can get a 1.5 carat ring - this is my favourite size - no too big not too small. Or I go up a grade in clarity and go down to a carat and then I have less risk of visible inclusions bugging me... There's no way we can afford a SI2 1.5 carat diamond so that's also out of the question. Clarity - unless you can find a superbly cut and verified eye clean without any transparency issues I1, I would not suggest that clarity for an engagement ring unless you are absolutely sure of the above mentioned points and as you mention any visible inclusions would bug you, I don't think I1 would be a good choice for you unless an exceptional one could be found and even then it might bother you knowing it is of I clarity.

The I1 1.5 carat diamond will be slightly more expensive (and pushing our budget).

Let me know what your thoughts are on this!

Any and all comments welcome

Hi Oddshot and welcome to Pricescope!

Thoughts are in bold above. From the info given I would in no way try to decide between the two diamonds you mention without a lot more detail on each diamond, if you want a beautiful diamond there simply isn't enough to go on at the moment, but hopefully we can help you there. As I mentioned above and it bears repeating, are you considering GIA or AGS graded diamonds? Also, are you set on buying from a jewellery store or have you considered shopping online at all? If so, if you give us an idea of budget, we could look for some options for you if you wish?

 

[lknvrb4]

I would rather start with a smaller, nicer diamond and then upgrade when I could afford it. Several PS vendors have pretty good upgrade policies.

 

[TC1987]

Since you just joined:
http://niceice.com/diamond-buying-secrets/15-seconds-diamond-buying-success/

HCA cut adviser, rejection tool, just look for score under2. Or since you are considering VG cut, maybe can look at 2-3 if you can see the VG diamond next to an excellent cut and there's not much performance hit.
https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca
http://niceice.com/diamond-buying-secrets/5-minutes-diamond-buying-success/

The second tier of the AGA grading scale can be very nice looking and still good performance but not have the symmetry and pattern of the H&A. If you are looking at estate diamonds you may run into some that are nice, just not H&A. Maybe 60/60 diamonds and European cuts (not Old European) with larger tables and more bias toward brilliance than the superideal H&A stones. eta: Some of the major jewelry appraisers here use the AGA grading system. Categories 2A/2B are the ones I'm talking about.

Personally, I can compromise on clarity. Diamonds are never 100% clean when they are worn. If the inclusion is discrete and not screamin' obvious, I can put up with that provided I get ideal cut and fantastic performance. If you don't study the diamond all the time, I1 orSI2 that's not totally eyeclean may be okay.

Also, you are trying for 1.5ct. That's a real competitive size. It's popular for anniversary upgrades. It also appears to be a point that's a price jump per ct, and also a point where you find stones cut to retain weight and not for ideal performance. I found that if I wanted a 7.5mm stone, I had to look at about the 1.6ct range. 1.5ct is a bit smaller than 7.5mm. I found that dropping to say, 1.4ct and 7.3mm still looks close enough to 1.5ct and was budget-friendly. Pricescope has a rough rule of thumb that getting 10% larger face-up size is the point at which an upgrade is worthwhile. Face-up size is surface area, area of a circle.

 

[odd_shot]

Thank you all for your input. It has been very helpful. After viewing several diamonds I found a beautiful round brilliant diamond that I think I am going to buy (decision making is happening this Sunday!). I have used the HCA tool and read the article "5 minutes to success" that you very kindly pointed me too. This diamond seems to stack up pretty nicely - it came out at 1.4 "excellent" and the dimensions all pretty well (with the exclusion of only two off) fall within the suggested characteristics of "Super Ideal".

If any one is interested this diamond I'm really considering is GIA no 2156627452, 1.00 carat, G colour, SI1, Very good cut. It does have very strong blue fluorescence but this doesn't bother me - does anyone have any comments on the fluro?