Help choosing a princess please??? So confused!

[amyholder]

Hello everyone- I''ve been reading posts here for a little while and have really come to respect your opinions. I''ve been searching for a princess cut diamond, but I''m really confusted about tables, depths, etc. I have a diamond on hold, and I have the GIA report, but I''m not sure where to find the table, etc. I want to make absolute sure I pick a good diamond, as I don''t plan to upgrade for a long, long time. When I choose the diamond, it was before I began reading everyones post, and I only paid attention to the color and clarity......I''m feeling insecure about the cut and am getting more and more confused. This will be my first real diamond!

Does anyone mind checking about my GIA report and giving me your thoughts? Pros and cons, etc?

The report number is 1116198453.

My price range is around $4500.....

Thanks for any suggestions/comments that anyone can provide! I can''t begin to express how grateful I would be!

 

[Regular Guy]

The general sentiment here is that numbers alone can''t very well tell much about performance. Tools like ASET are known to help.

You might read the "helpful threads" sticky at the top of this Rocky Talky section, third item down, and lots of posts here altogether saying much the same.

 

[stone-cold11]

What is the diamond weight in carat, as printed on the report?

 

[amyholder]

1.14 carat

 

[amyholder]

Thank you Regular Guy. I will absolutely check that out. I really like the diamond and it looks good to me, but I''ve never looked for a diamond before. I just wanted to make sure you guys didn''t notice any obvious issues that I hadn''t taken into consideration. After reading all of you guys post here, I called my jeweler and asked to see some more princesses just to double check. But I wanted you guys opinions before I went back.....

 

[stone-cold11]

The stone could be ok but the thick to very thick girdle is a negative as that will hide some weight. To really judge the cut of a princess, we will have to see the ASET image. Ask your jeweler to see if he can call in some AGS0 cut graded diamonds. AGS being the only lab that grades princess on cut performance.

 

[amyholder]

thanks so much! we have been looking at soloman brothers and when i check them out on their website, they only look like the are EGL or GIA certified. But I will ask him about that. They also have a 25 day return policy, so I could probably have it graded later on my own. I hope anyway! Did the dimensions look okay? Too deep or too shallow?

 

[stone-cold11]

Depth is ok, just the girdle is too thick.

 

[Regular Guy]

I might be interested in this one...

 

[amyholder]

Date: 10/16/2009 6:51:33 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Depth is ok, just the girdle is too thick.

Stone-cold11- So I''ve read about girdle here and I know it''s bad and adds weight that does nothing, but I don''t actually understand it. I was trying to explain what you mentioned to my boyfriend and I couldn''t do it. Other than try to explain that it''s like eating emply calories, lol! Which makes no sense. Do you mind explaining it to a dummy about diamonds like myself? Thanks so much!

 

[stone-cold11]

Consider the same color and clarity stones, the next factor that influence the price will the carat weight.

Ok, consider a cube of 2inch in each direction. From the top, it has a 4 square inch face-up area, just for example this stone has a girdle of 0.1 inch, if now the stone has a girdle of 0.3 inch, the total volume becomes 8.8 cubic inch instead of 8 cubic inch, but from the top, it still looks like a 8 cubic inch cube but now you are paying for the extra 0.8 cubic inch volume.

Volume being proportional to the weight. Hope that makes sense.

 

[amyholder]

Date: 10/16/2009 8:42:26 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Consider the same color and clarity stones, the next factor that influence the price will the carat weight.

Ok, consider a cube of 2inch in each direction. From the top, it has a 4 square inch face-up area, just for example this stone has a girdle of 0.1 inch, if now the stone has a girdle of 0.3 inch, the total volume becomes 8.8 cubic inch instead of 8 cubic inch, but from the top, it still looks like a 8 cubic inch cube but now you are paying for the extra 0.8 cubic inch volume.

Volume being proportional to the weight. Hope that makes sense.

Yes, it actually does, thank you. I wonder why jewelers don''t just price the ones with thick girdles accordingly, to account for the empty space? Anyway, now that I''m looking at girdles, I''ve noticed some (quite a few actually) that say "thin to very thick". How is that possible?

 

[stone-cold11]

Those are just not cut very well. Very few can cut a consistent girdle.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 10/16/2009 8:13:46 PM
Author: amyholder

Date: 10/16/2009 6:51:33 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Depth is ok, just the girdle is too thick.

Stone-cold11- So I''ve read about girdle here and I know it''s bad and adds weight that does nothing, but I don''t actually understand it. I was trying to explain what you mentioned to my boyfriend and I couldn''t do it. Other than try to explain that it''s like eating emply calories, lol! Which makes no sense. Do you mind explaining it to a dummy about diamonds like myself? Thanks so much!

Basically a too thick girdle can be compared to empty calories, they can be wasteful! As that implies, a girdle which is too thick can hold weight, sometimes this is intentional so the finished result can hit a certain carat weight, the girdle is a convenient place to add some * fat* as in a piece of meat. Look for a '' leaner'' diamond without so much fat. However it is important to treat each diamond as an individual and get an expert to check such girdles, if the thick parts only cover a small portion of the girdle it might not be an issue, but check in each and every case.