Help! Choosing between 2 diamonds

[rambar]

Hi guys, this is my first post here and I'm really hoping you can give me some advice.

I have been looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend for a good 2 months now and time is running out! I went to the jeweller today because he told me he had 2 nice diamonds to show me which were within my budget. I was quite happy with both of them but each has its pros and cons so I could really use some advice. This is my first diamond purchase so I'm a bit of a newbie, so please bear with me.

Diamond 1:

Princess
Carat: 2.30
Measurements: 7.29x7.17x5.18
Clarity: SI2
Colour F
Pol & Sym: EX/EX
Fluo: None
TA/CR/PV: 67.5
Girdle: Medium
Culet: Pointed
Certificate: IGI
Price: $12,261

This one was much bigger than I thought I would be able to afford. The table is eye clean, but bcs of the SI2, it has an eye-visible inclusion on the side of the stone. Dont know the exact name of this part of the stone, think its pavilion? Will post a picture:

[Link removed by Moderator] See forum policies

Diamond 2:

Round
Carat: 1.88
Measurements: 7.88-8.00x4.94
Clarity: SI1 (eye clean)
Cut: EX
Colour F
Pol & Sym: VG/VG
Fluo: None
TA/CR/PV: 57%/16%-36°/43.5%-41°
Girdle: Medium (Faceted)
Culet: Pointed
Certificate: IGI
Price: $11,750

This one looked v nice and was eye clean which trumped the other, although it was obviously not as large a carat. Strangely, however, the jeweller told me that it was a large diamater diamond and proceeded to bring out 6 or 7 2-2.1 carat rounds which were smaller (measurement wise) than this one. Is it a large diameter for a 1.88?


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So there you have it. I would really appreciate any comments/advice you may have to help me on this.

Are these good stats for the 2 stones? Is the price good? Which would you choose from the 2? Should I keep looking around? I have until December to buy one, but the jeweller said that the 1.88 was a rare one because of its appearance of being larger and that something similar might not come around again before my deadline..

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[yssie]

can't comment on the princess, but for the round
1. You might want to ask for some images -idealscope, aset - that crown/pavilion is called "steep/deep" around here, and may well result in leakage (less light return faceup).
2. that's a HECK of a price for a 1.9 F SI1... Me, I'd be wondering just what the jeweller isn't telling me. I feel safe in saying that you can be sure it's not an F SI1 by GIA or AGS standards...

 

[stone-cold11]

What is the T/C/P of the first stone?

The second stone''s pavilion angle is too steep for that crown angle. Will result in light leakage. Try viewing it away from the store lighting.

 

[rambar]

Thanks to both for your comments.

@yssie: Yes I realise it''s a cheap price, bear in mind though that I live in Dubai and that prices hereare generally considered to be better than in the West, despite it being more of a minefield. Having said that though, I have zero knowledge of what pitfalls to look out for when looking at a diamond apart from the obvious ones so it is very possible that I am not being told something..

@ stonecold, the only information on the back of the packet of the first stone was what I pasted there, ie: TA/CR/PV 67.5%. I can try and get more information from the jeweller tomorrow morning and post it here.

On another note, does an inclusion that is eye visible on the pavilion only get somewhat hidden when the stone is mounted?

 

[yssie]

Well, if those prices are the norm there, I'm surprised there hasn't been a mass PS movement to Dubai

Skip that round, you can do better. You're looking for a ~34 crown with that 41 pavilion, or a ~40.6 pavilion with that 36 crown.

Do note that the round, even though it's a full 0.4ct smaller, looks a *lot* bigger faceup.

If your jeweller is showing you 2 and 2.1 ct rounds under 7.9mm and telling you that's normal, *run*. ~8mm is actually perfect for a 1.9, so that's not a particularly spready 1.88.

Depends where said inclusion is. If it's right at the edge of the girdle a jeweller could put it under a prong and you've got yourself a fantastic deal - a VS look for an SI price! ETA: did you mean that you can't see anything face up, but you can see it from the side? You can ask the jeweller to mount it so it's partially hidden by a prong, depending on your setting...

 

[stone-cold11]

Ok, no way to judge princess from the numbers, didn't notice it was a princess initially.

 

[rambar]

Thanks for all the info yssie! I shall be taking a printout of this thread to him tomorrow and telling him I have very knowledgeable people who can verify what he is telling me!

The inclusion looks *very* similar to the one in this picture as far as size and location:

Not sure it could be hidden in the mount?

 

[yssie]

I honestly couldn''t give you any sort of idea based on that pic - or any pic, really. If you look at it and you can see it faceup, the jeweller might be able to minimize it - prong it, if it''s possible (though it looks like it might be too far inland?)... you won''t be spending too much time looking at your diamond fom the underside when mounted, though, so if you have an inclusion that you can only see from one particular not-top angle... I actually like those, I can tell right away that it''s MY stone without squinting through the loupe for the GIA inscription.

Both princess and round are sparkly, brilliant shapes, so they''re a bit more forgiving of lower clarities - I have a completely eyeclean SI2 RB (my incusions are wisps).

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 10/21/2009 4:09:34 PM
Author:rambar
Hi guys, this is my first post here and I'm really hoping you can give me some advice.

I have been looking for an engagement ring for my girlfriend for a good 2 months now and time is running out! I went to the jeweller today because he told me he had 2 nice diamonds to show me which were within my budget. I was quite happy with both of them but each has its pros and cons so I could really use some advice. This is my first diamond purchase so I'm a bit of a newbie, so please bear with me.

Diamond 1:

Princess
Carat: 2.30
Measurements: 7.29x7.17x5.18
Clarity: SI2
Colour F
Pol & Sym: EX/EX
Fluo: None
TA/CR/PV: 67.5
Girdle: Medium
Culet: Pointed
Certificate: IGI
Price: $12,261

This one was much bigger than I thought I would be able to afford. The table is eye clean, but bcs of the SI2, it has an eye-visible inclusion on the side of the stone. Dont know the exact name of this part of the stone, think its pavilion? Will post a picture:

[Link removed by Moderator] See forum policies


Diamond 2:

Round
Carat: 1.88
Measurements: 7.88-8.00x4.94
Clarity: SI1 (eye clean)
Cut: EX
Colour F
Pol & Sym: VG/VG
Fluo: None
TA/CR/PV: 57%/16%-36°/43.5%-41°
Girdle: Medium (Faceted)
Culet: Pointed
Certificate: IGI
Price: $11,750

This one looked v nice and was eye clean which trumped the other, although it was obviously not as large a carat. Strangely, however, the jeweller told me that it was a large diamater diamond and proceeded to bring out 6 or 7 2-2.1 carat rounds which were smaller (measurement wise) than this one. Is it a large diameter for a 1.88?


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there you have it. I would really appreciate any comments/advice you may have to help me on this.

Are these good stats for the 2 stones? Is the price good? Which would you choose from the 2? Should I keep looking around? I have until December to buy one, but the jeweller said that the 1.88 was a rare one because of its appearance of being larger and that something similar might not come around again before my deadline..

Thanks in advance for your help

Hi rambar

The round is what we call a steep deep, both crown and pavilion angles are a bad fit so this stone will show light leakage so I would scratch it off your list. Can't tell much about Princess just by numbers regrettably, if you bought anASET scope, that would be very helpful so you can check the light return of the diamond yourself.

ASET are straightforward to use and to interpret, more on reading the images here.