Help arcticcatmatt buy a 1 carat princess cut

[bunnycat]

1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-229218 is way too shallow, see how much black there is in the video. that is why it does not get GIA's top grade.

I think the 1 ct I SI1 I posted is a better choice.

+1, it may be a little more than the other I that you are looking at, but don't forget the PS discount. That ought to bring it under $5k.

My main concern on the I you are looking at (and someone please correct me if there's no grounds for this concern) is possible obstruction due to the shallow pavilion an shallow-ish crown combination (34/40.2). I'm wondering if that's why it looks so dark in the video. I'd ask the gemologist about it. I'm not sure that's something an idealscope would reveal.

you shouldn't need to waste an idealscope request on the one the rep suggested. It's H/A and already has one posted in the link on the upper right of the stone.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ Thanks. I just punched in the one you found.
Light Return Very Good
Fire Very Good
Scintillation Very Good
Spread Good

Total Visual Performance 2.4 - Very Good - Worth buying if the price is right

I will make that my 3rd idealscope

 

[bunnycat]

^ Thanks. I just punched in the one you found.
Light Return Very Good
Fire Very Good
Scintillation Very Good
Spread Good

Total Visual Performance 2.4 - Very Good - Worth buying if the price is right

I will make that my 3rd idealscope

Looking forward to seeing the IS images on them. You can already look at the IS on the .97 because it's already listed where the stone is. So far, that's my favorite. The face up is very nearly the same as the others you are looking at and I can see already the IS image is fine.

Your I- 6.42mm
JulieN's pick- 6.39mm
rep's pick- 6.37mm

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ I really don't like that the .97 is an Si2 and don't want to pay extra for 'hearts n arrows' stuff

 

[bunnycat]

^ I really don't like that the .97 is an Si2 and don't want to pay extra for 'hearts n arrows' stuff

Well- that's understandable. Everyone has their tolerance for inclusions. I can't find an inclusion with the side of a barn myself most times and if I can't see anything while I'm looking at it, it doesn't bother me to know they are there if I looked under a loupe but people vary. I tend to sacrifice clarity for the most fantastic cut possible.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ My rep called me. She is funny. She doesn't like the one I first picked out for the same reason you guys said.. so she found this one
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-208416
Light Return Excellent
Fire Very Good
Scintillation Very Good
Spread
or diameter for weight Very Good

Scores 1.9 on the HCA

I am wondering what it looks like to the naked eye

 

[arcticcatmatt]

What I don't get is
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-229218
is $4,780 (that is the one that scored 1.1 and excellet but its pavallion angle was a touch off so it might appear black when looked straight on.

but this
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-208416
is $500 more.. same diamond but proper pavillion angle and scores 1.9 on HCA

 

[Lula]

What I don't get is
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-229218
is $4,780 (that is the one that scored 1.1 and excellet but its pavallion angle was a touch off so it might appear black when looked straight on.

but this
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-208416
is $500 more.. same diamond but proper pavillion angle and scores 1.9 on HCA

The second diamond is graded a GIA Triple Ex. The first diamond is VG VG VG. That could account for the price difference. The first diamond appears to be overly shallow (as others have mentioned) -- your rep is looking out for you!

 

[bunnycat]

What I don't get is
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-229218
is $4,780 (that is the one that scored 1.1 and excellet but its pavallion angle was a touch off so it might appear black when looked straight on.

but this
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-208416
is $500 more.. same diamond but proper pavillion angle and scores 1.9 on HCA

HCA is not a diamond grading/selection tool. It's a yes or no rejection tool. A 1.1 is not better than a 1.9. My own informal observations of the HCA from running lots of numbers through it is that I tend to see the shallower stones come in around 1. Shallower stones can also have some issues looking dark head on (not always, that's why you need to evaluate it). Over 2 is the cut off. A score over 2 doesn't mean the diamond is a dud, and you can still find some nice stones out of the boundaries (like JulieN's pick). It's just meant to help narrow things down a bit when combing through massive inventory.

The cut grade on the stone you selected is also VG (as opposed to Excellent) if you look at the GIA report. A VG is probably going to cost less than a stone graded Excellent in cut so that may also affect what you see. As people tend to say on here, "diamonds are priced what they are worth".

 

[arcticcatmatt]

I didn't know a diamond was priced based on its pavallion angle and I assumed if it got a great grade on the HCA it was a good one to buy. This stuff gets so confusing to a non-diamond nut like myself. I thought I had exactly what I was looking for since the HCA said 1.1 and excellent.. the thought of looking at the diamond and seeing black is bad.

I asked for idealscopes. My rep just went on a 1 week vacation and I have a new rep. I told them I have to have this thing in my hands by the end of the month.. 2 weeks.. they still said that can happen. So hopefully an idealscope comes back good on something!

 

[TC1987]

The HCS isn't setting the price, not are crown and pavilion angles the entire story. The HCS is just a tool to look at simple geometry. What the cutter does with the minor facets affects the appearance, character, and value. They are probably priced according to carat weight, color, and overall beauty. That's why you can reject them "by the paper" but not necessarily buy them "by the paper." But if you stick with the top cut grade, and especially a H&A with AGS 000 cut grade, the diamonds' appearance will be more "standardized." Wonky can still be beautiful, but the more wonky, the harder is it to evaluate for an online purchase.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/Articles/MinorFacets/ fmi on minor facets.

This won't help you, but one of the reasons that I bought twice from Good Old Gold is that they ran their diamonds through numerous test instruments and published all of that data and the computer model in the listing.

 

[JulieN]

I didn't know a diamond was priced based on its pavallion angle and I assumed if it got a great grade on the HCA it was a good one to buy.

The PA is out of range for GIA Excellent grade, it causes it to go to a "Very Good" grade, which lowers the price.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

How did I do this time? Spent hrs. put this on hold.. its a .9c is that still big?
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-230078
1.2 on HCA!
excellet
excellent
excellent
very good

Seems like that diamond is cut ideal and should sparkle like crazy and be big? and looks very clean. Seems like if I want just .1 of a carat more to make it 1 carat and .3 dia larger.. its going to cost me $1000 more. I attached the idealscope for this diamond. I don't know how to read it

 

[Niel]

I agree a .9 is a good idea. Not all that distinguishable from a 1ct when on her hand (sense its not being compared to anything else)

Seems eye clean. what did the JA rep say about it?? Is that the only one you reserved?

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ I drew it up in CAD to compare the
5.52 dia I have
6.4 1c
6.19 .9c

the difference between 1c and .9 is sooo tiny and will save me 1000 dollars. I did just buy her a snowmobile 2 months ago LOL.

The rep said its definitly eye clean.. Thats all that was said about the diamond. My good rep is out on vacation and the rep that was supposed to call me, didn't.

A rep last night said this diamond was called in once before to be looked at but was put back. He said maybe it wasn't eye clean. But the rep I talked to this morning said its DEFINITELY eye clean.

Looking at it in that link, it has to be eye clean. Is .9 considered large? I asked the guys at work and the biggest any of them bought was .75.

 

[february2003bride]

I'm laughing out loud. You know how they say to never judge a book by its cover? I took one look at the photo you posted, even before reading the text, and thought "yup she looks like a princess kind of girl!"

Get the princess.
Get a sturdy no-nonsense setting with sturdy no-nonsense Vprongs.
Get it insured.
Get back to your kayaking, hunting, skiing...

This! Get what SHE wants! And congrats

 

[Niel]

I'm laughing out loud. You know how they say to never judge a book by its cover? I took one look at the photo you posted, even before reading the text, and thought "yup she looks like a princess kind of girl!"

Get the princess.
Get a sturdy no-nonsense setting with sturdy no-nonsense Vprongs.
Get it insured.
Get back to your kayaking, hunting, skiing...

This! Get what SHE wants! And congrats

She said she would take a round or princess.


Sense you have a snowmobile, I assume you live in the Midwest (sorry if I'm wrong) and if that's the case yes a. 9 is considered large. My. 8 is bigger than most people I know. And when its not its because the person is clearly well off. I believe the average is. 5. If you have time id also cll in the. 9 ct I Vs2 I posted on the first page. Give them a comparison so they can tell which is better. Not just pass/fail.

And sorry your rep is out. That happened to me. The first person I had was amazing, the second not so much.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ Nope. Central NY

Yes.. I should probably start this thread over but no time. She said she would take a round or a princess.. I went over it with her over and over and she kept saying round or princess.. then I said she stood a good chance of losing a princess because the prongs and corners and her lifestyle.. she said "then round.. I don't want to lose it"

I looked up the .9 you posted from page 1.. great diamond. I contacted JA and they said 4450 pricescope price. 210 dollars more than the very clean SI1 I posted the idealscope of. JA would not give me an idealscope on it because I am maxed out. I'm not willing to pay 210 more for a grading on the paper. If its eye clean I am good.

If the idealscope comes back on the shallow pavillion 1 carat great for 4800.. I'd buy that over this ideal .9 for 4240

This is cutting it too close for me. I am tempted to order this ring right now with this .9 I posted above instead of waiting for idealscopes for the 1 carat diamonds.

also.. james allen told me I can't get this ring (with the etched band) with 5-6 prongs.. 4 prongs only. I really want more than 4 prongs

 

[Niel]

Oh OK. I don't know what the average is in that area specifically. But the average nation wide is 1ct. So I think you'll be good. Especially considering how poorly cut many 1ct stones are, they end up facing up around that size anyways.

The one you are waiting for is that the one the others weren't so sure on? If so I probably wouldn't wait if you're in a rush. If they are sure its eye clean I think this is a very nice stone for your budget.


Was there any other setting she liked?

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ She said she liked this band too http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/platinum-flat-edged-diamond-solitaire-engagement-ring-item-1807 why that is $400 that the same width with etched sides I dont' understand.

I just don't want that gut feeling I had last time I bought an engagement ring.. I felt it was small.

interesting little thread of .9 vs 1.0 [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/90-vs-1-carat.152706/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/90-vs-1-carat.152706/[/URL]

 

[Niel]

^ She said she liked this band too http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/platinum-flat-edged-diamond-solitaire-engagement-ring-item-1807 why that is $400 that the same width with etched sides I dont' understand.

I just don't want that gut feeling I had last time I bought an engagement ring.. I felt it was small.

Its not small. It gets lost sometimes here in the world of 6 ct stones, but that size is very respectable and much larger than most have, especially in regards to a quality stone

Did she like any settings with 6 prong?

This one is sort of flat like the style she likes and has 6prongs. I don't know if she saw and passed on this, but might work.


http://www.jamesallen.com/mobile/item-page.asp?item=1933

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ She didn't click that one. She only selected the two I posted here.

My sister in law showed me her .75c round ring last night. It looked very big but the sparkle wasn't there. I am different than my brother hehehe. She did however say she has 6 prongs and has done everything with it (I mean everything.. including aligator hunting and african animal hunting).. she has hit it on alot of things and she said its never budged in 15 yrs.

Hearing that just made me want the 6 prong.. Loryn is just like her. We are going bow fishing this week and running up 2 miles of waterfalls after work today.. maybe 4 is just fine? grrr I don't know.

 

[Niel]

Then just her the engraved one. I think the 4 prong will be fine if you're worried about security. But she does have to take it off doing some things. That's just the best idea for any ring. If she wants to west it 24/7 I say get a bezel. (The bezel would make it look larger too)

Maybe just go back and bring up your concerns with her? See of with that in mind she likes the bezel or 6 prong options.

 

[Laila619]

A 6 prong setting is like a tank--you can break multiple prongs and still not risk losing the stone. It would be great for her since she's really active!

 

[arcticcatmatt]

She ruled a bezel out she said that looks way to futuristic lol.

I just talked to JA. They have NOT ordered idealscopes because I had 4 diamonds on hold grr. I guess thats what happens when your rep goes on vacation and the replacement rep doesn't call you back .

So I just told them to take the most expensive 1 carat off.. which was around $5,400 and keep this .9 on there. The rep I just talked to said this .9 is perfect and I can't go wrong.. I should just order that now.

They told me they can make that ring in 6 prongs but the wedding band won't sit flush with the ring.. I told him I would have them solder them together (loryns mom did that and loryn liked the idea). He said they could do that after we get married but there will be a little gap between the ring. What do you all think about that?

The rep told me 6 prongs can make a small diamond look smaller.. but size I am probably buying .9 it should look great. They also offered double claw prongs. All these options they did say the double claw is a unique look and cost $150 extra.

I am leaning on 4 prongs.. if she wants 6.. I'll send it back and get 6 put on.. I need this thing now. I can't wait till thursday for idealscope images of diamonds that are almost 1000 more and .3 mm wider. Can't even see that. I'll probably call this afternoon and order it and get it here.. such a big purchase on something that doesn't burn fuel. I fear 6 prongs is a modification and will add time and hide alot of the diamond we've worked hard to spec out.

 

[bunnycat]

How did I do this time? Spent hrs. put this on hold.. its a .9c is that still big?
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-230078
1.2 on HCA!
excellet
excellent
excellent
very good

Seems like that diamond is cut ideal and should sparkle like crazy and be big? and looks very clean. Seems like if I want just .1 of a carat more to make it 1 carat and .3 dia larger.. its going to cost me $1000 more. I attached the idealscope for this diamond. I don't know how to read it

I'm a little confused. You said you had 4 diamonds on hold and so they didn't process any of the idealscopes, but you have an idealscope for this stone? Why ask for another then if this is already the idealscope for a stone you have on hold?

The scope itself looks fine. You want lots of red contrast with some black and little white/clear (leakage). I'm assuming the inclusion for it is that smudgey thing up near 11 o'clock? Have they confirmed it's eye clean? There's also something near 5 o'clock too that I can see on the IS image.

You may want to double check that all the info really does match up for this stone. I noticed the link itself calls it a .5 H VS2, whereas when you click on the link you get taken to the I SI 1....and it is clearly not a .5 ct stone at 6.19mm.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ They are being a pain. I had 3 1ct diamonds on hold on Friday awaiting idealscopes. Monday I asked them about this .9.. they said "we have that right here on file from someone else requesting it".. I said great I will take it.. but then they said well we have to take 1 of the 1cts off then.. makes no sense right?

When you ask for an idealscope, they put it on hold for you. You can only have 3 diamonds on hold. So when I asked for the idealscope of the .9.. even though they already had it, they had to put the diamond on hold and knock one of the 1 cts out.. I'll buy this .9 for 4240 before I pay 5400 for a 1ct.

all they told me was "this is for sure eye clean, I can tell from the video on the website of it rotating"

 

[bunnycat]

^ They are being a pain. I had 3 1ct diamonds on hold on Friday awaiting idealscopes. Monday I asked them about this .9.. they said "we have that right here on file from someone else requesting it".. I said great I will take it.. but then they said well we have to take 1 of the 1cts off then.. makes no sense right?

When you ask for an idealscope, they put it on hold for you. You can only have 3 diamonds on hold. So when I asked for the idealscope of the .9.. even though they already had it, they had to put the diamond on hold and knock one of the 1 cts out.. I'll buy this .9 for 4240 before I pay 5400 for a 1ct.

all they told me was "this is for sure eye clean, I can tell from the video on the website of it rotating"

Yes- I'm well aware of their weirdness with IS images. My first stone was from JA.

Errr....eyeclean? I'd leave that up to the gemologist. *I* can see the inclusions on the video as clear as the SI 2 you didn't like and I am not good with inclusions. I tend to be wary of inclusions that show up on Idealscope images (again, you've got a change right in front of you to compare the IS of this one with that SI2 from earlier), but I'd wait for the gemologist's remarks if it were me to be safe. At leastyou have a 60 return period if you get it and DO find you can notice the inclusions.

 

[arcticcatmatt]

^ To me this .9 is much cleaner than the Si2 .9 hearts and arrows from earlier.

Well.. the rep just told me that if I dont' think its eye clean I can send it back and put in a different diamond. The rep I am talking to now is liking the 1st 1ct I found.. for about 4800.. the one that most of you dont' like the 40.2 pavallion angle.. the rep 'lisa' I am talking to now says that angle is just fine.

Its pretty much down to those two diamonds in my eyes..
1.00 carat I Si1 great hca 4780 shallow pavaillion slightly out of spec, gia very good
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-229218

.90 carat I Si1 great hca 4240 everything in spec, gia excellent/ideal
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.50-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-230078

I am leaning towards the .9.. we know its good.. and I don't have to wait. They are saying thursday for the idealscope of that 1.0 carat now. That could make me miss delivery for our trip. Their dia is .2 of a difference. .1 on each side.. can't even tell the difference anyway I bet

 

[february2003bride]

She ruled a bezel out she said that looks way to futuristic lol.

I just talked to JA. They have NOT ordered idealscopes because I had 4 diamonds on hold grr. I guess thats what happens when your rep goes on vacation and the replacement rep doesn't call you back .

So I just told them to take the most expensive 1 carat off.. which was around $5,400 and keep this .9 on there. The rep I just talked to said this .9 is perfect and I can't go wrong.. I should just order that now.

They told me they can make that ring in 6 prongs but the wedding band won't sit flush with the ring.. I told him I would have them solder them together (loryns mom did that and loryn liked the idea). He said they could do that after we get married but there will be a little gap between the ring. What do you all think about that?

The rep told me 6 prongs can make a small diamond look smaller.. but size I am probably buying .9 it should look great. They also offered double claw prongs. All these options they did say the double claw is a unique look and cost $150 extra.

Funny, I find 6 prongs make any round diamond over .75ct look bigger.

Regarding the ring soldering and there still being a gap- I have a few friends who have their rings soldered. Most have the sets where there are no gaps between the rings. A couple of friends have gaps and over the years complained about how much GUNK gets caught between the soldered rings and how hard it is to get it out. And if you think about how many products women use (lotion, make up, soap, etc) that's a lot of gunk stuck between two rings. Just something to consider if there will be a small gap.