shape
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Help choosing between two round solitaire diamonds

JL1990

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May 5, 2019
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1. 1.27 Carat, F Colour, VS2, 6.91 - 6.97 x 4.30 mm (Asking - USD $14,000).png 2. 1.27 Carat, E Colour, VS1, 7.05 - 7.11 x 4.27 mm (Asking - USD $14,800).png Hi I am new to this forum and was hoping that you could provide me with some insights between the selection between two round cut solitaire diamonds from Tiffany and Co (which of the two you would recommend). They are pre-owned and sold by different sellers on ebay.

1. 1.27 Carat, F Colour, VS2, 6.91 - 6.97 x 4.30 mm (Asking - USD $14,000)
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2. 1.27 Carat, E Colour, VS1, 7.05 - 7.11 x 4.27 mm (Asking - USD $14,800)
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It would be great to hear what i should be looking out for and which diamond you think is better.

Many thanks,
J
 

sledge

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First off, welcome aboard!

In regards to which one, most of us will be focusing on the cut quality because that is what makes all the sparkle and fire.

Before I jump into that, I might note both have fantastic color and clarity grades. The GIA is a click better on both color and clarity so I do prefer that aspect, assuming both stones are equally priced.

Also, you mentioned diamonds -- does this mean the Tiffany is a stand alone stone without the signature setting and blue box? Only asking because many people consider the entire ring, not just stone, to be unique and special.

One thing I dislike about Tiffany is they grade their own stones. I know they have a strong reputation but I do believe when borderline cases exist that bias could enter the picture and a more favorable grade could be assigned. There is nothing to indicate that happened here, I just prefer an independent 3rd party lab that is well respected and has no bias in the matter to provide grading. GIA is such a lab.

Looking closer at the cut, neither certificate provides us the crown or pavilion angles which we need to start assessing what kind of cut quality each stone may possess. I do see both stones only have very good (VG) symmetry and polish. I would expect both to have excellent. While the polish is less critical, the symmetry bothers me because the more symmetry we have the more perfection, which means more sparkle and fire.

The Tiffany has a 59 table and 62 depth. The GIA has a 56 table and 60.3 depth. It would be my assumption the Tiffany will have more steep crown and/or pavilion angles, whereas the GIA stone despite its favorable smaller table will likely have more shallow crown and/or pavilion.

The overall dimensions help further support this as the GIA stone is a little larger diameter than the Tiffany, despite being the same weight.

Using this limited info, my initial thoughts are the Tiffany may have more desirable proportions that will exhibit more fire.

Being a used stone, you would obviously want to check for chips and other damage. In particular the GIA stone I would closely inspect the girdle as the thin to medium girdle is not only helping account for the shallow depth but thin girdles are more prone to chipping.

Do you have any other information that could help us further analyze the cut?
 

gm89uk

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The GIA gem trade is from '96. Just wondering why is this an option (are you limited to just these choices) and will you get an updated report to ensure it's the same diamond as described 23 years ago?

Not in love with the Tiffany report
 

JL1990

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lovedogs

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I hate to be negative but I wouldn't buy either of these. They are very overpriced bc of the brand, and neither looks like ideal cut to me. Cut is the most important thing in making a diamond sparkle, and I feel like both of these options leave a lot to be desired.

Are you open to alternatives?
 

joelly

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Your budget is great so why not buy from reputable vendors recommended by pricescope. I’m just curious and not much help to you I’m afraid.
 

Weecam

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59EE4D01-24F4-4092-8A9A-8DCD5461888C.jpeg
3E226DE0-F4A1-4195-9027-53B5272798FC.jpeg
I bought a pre-loved Tiffany & Co. 1.18ct G VS1 diamond platinum solitaire ring on eBay thinking that it would be among the best of the best and when I received it, it didn’t impress me....This was before I found PriceScope.
I ended up selling it on eBay at a loss in order to purchase a diamond and setting from Whiteflash. A trusted vendor here.
That diamond DID impress me! So much so that I upgraded with the same vendor and I was able to use the same setting with a new head to accommodate the larger diamond.
IMHO don’t waste your money on Tiffany, even preloved.....sorry :silenced:

Edited to add a picture of my 1.62ct Whiteflash diamond.
 
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Pimberly

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I bought a pre-owned Tiffany and I do love it. The older Tiffany certificates and Tiffany GIA certificates, which are the ones you posted, don’t have all the information you need to make an informed choice. I immediately ruled out every ring with the older certificates. The newer certificates show pavilion and crown angle. I’ve also noticed a lot of the older Tiffany certificates have diamonds in the “good” and “very good” ranges for symmetry and polish. That really isn’t true of newer Tiffany diamonds. Almost all of them are excellent across the board. It took me awhile to find a Tiffany diamond that fell within the PriceScope ideal perimeters, but with some patience it can be done.
Of course, if would have been easier to just go to Whiteflash and get a Tiffany imitation setting, but for whatever reason I really and truly wanted the real thing. I priced out what it would cost to get a replica vs what I paid for the pre-owned Tiffany and it was cheaper to buy the Tiffany.
If your heart is set on Tiffany, keep digging for better choices. If it isn’t, you can get a beautiful replica ring elsewhere that will probably actually out-perform the Tiffany. Neither choice is wrong.
 
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Ss52

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There are two other trusted super ideal diamond vendors here. Whiteflash has already been mentioned. There’s also Brian Gavin and HP Diamonds.

1.312 E Vs2, Gavin’s Black line, his finest. $14,497. If diamonds were music, this one would be Flight of the Bumblebees. Hit sparkle button
https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/.../1.312-e-vs2-round-diamond-bkags-104097580019

1.22 E VS1, HPDiamonds, $13,832 wire price. Awesome.
https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD9888

Much better values, and safer than eBay. All three vendors have unmatched customer service, a good return window, and excellent upgrade policies for the day DSS hits. (Diamond shrinkage syndrome is real.)

Have a great hunt!
 

TimMD

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I was about to send the link to the Brian Gavin Black listed above by Ss52. For the prices you listed this would definitely be one to consider but there would be many options with that budget with all the information available to make an informed decision as opposed to these older reports without all the necessary information. Good luck!
 

sledge

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Thanks for posting the additional information.

Unfortunately I just don't see a good reason to carry on pursuing either one of those stones. As others have pointed out, you can grab a super ideal diamond with a traditional Tiffany solitaire and be at the same money or less.

More importantly, the super ideal alternate stones listed will be complete sparkle bombs that are guaranteed performers, have current certifications, advanced imagery and superb trade in values (spend $1 more and get FULL credit of original stone). Not to mention the security and ease that each offers in the form of customer service.

In fairness, I'm not much of a Tiffany fan. Mainly because you pay a hefty premium for average quality. Their saving grace is the customer service side and the ability to name drop. Since both your original listings are used, you lose the customer service perk (yet gain it and more with one of the super ideal vendors provided as alternates).

That leaves you name dropping only. I'd much prefer to spend my $15k and get true quality.
 

JL1990

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Thank you all for your advice. After reading more I decided to look at Brian Gavin’s black line diamond which looks stunning.

Black line Hearts and Arrows 1.312 Round E VS2
https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/.../1.312-e-vs2-round-diamond-bkags-104097580019

However, I still like the Tiffany setting and feel that victor canera’s “Gabriella raised mounting” settings seem nicer than those available on Brian Gavin’s website. However, it seems like the reviews on Brian Gavin’s black line diamonds are better than victor canera’s heart and arrows line.

1.228ct D-VS2 Canera Ideal Hearts H&A Diamond.
https://www.victorcanera.com/diamonds/ags104095645005-1.228-d-vs2-hearts-arrows-round

1.405ct F-VS2 Canera Ideal Hearts H&A Diamond.
https://www.victorcanera.com/diamonds/ags104102374002-1.405-f-vs2-hearts-arrows-round

There is also one more Tiffany solitaire which seems to have better specs.
https://gemmabywpd.com/collections/...nd-solitaire-ring-in-platinum-f-vvs1-1-15-ctw

I really appreciate your advice and hope you could give me some insights on these choices.
 
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bmfang

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Thank you all for your advice. After reading more I decided to look at Brian Gavin’s black line diamond which looks stunning.

Black line Hearts and Arrows 1.312 Round E VS2
https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/.../1.312-e-vs2-round-diamond-bkags-104097580019

However, I still like the Tiffany setting and feel that victor canera’s “Gabriella raised mounting” settings seem nicer than those available on Brian Gavin’s website. However, it seems like the reviews on Brian Gavin’s black line diamonds are better than victor canera’s heart and arrows line.

1.228ct D-VS2 Canera Ideal Hearts H&A Diamond.
https://www.victorcanera.com/diamonds/ags104095645005-1.228-d-vs2-hearts-arrows-round

1.405ct F-VS2 Canera Ideal Hearts H&A Diamond.
https://www.victorcanera.com/diamonds/ags104102374002-1.405-f-vs2-hearts-arrows-round

There is also one more Tiffany solitaire which seems to have better specs.
https://gemmabywpd.com/collections/...nd-solitaire-ring-in-platinum-f-vvs1-1-15-ctw

I really appreciate your advice and hope you could give me some insights on these choices.

VC’s H&A and BGD’s Black series stones are both excellent choices. If you do go with VC, you get a discount on the setting if you buy one of his stones.

As for that second hand T&Co ring, yes, you get better clarity, but I would want to see a copy of the Tiffany grading report first. There is a fair likelihood that the Tiffany branded stone will not have good proportions and therefore will not have good light performance.
 

lovedogs

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VC’s H&A and BGD’s Black series stones are both excellent choices. If you do go with VC, you get a discount on the setting if you buy one of his stones.

As for that second hand T&Co ring, yes, you get better clarity, but I would want to see a copy of the Tiffany grading report first. There is a fair likelihood that the Tiffany branded stone will not have good proportions and therefore will not have good light performance.
I wouldn't go with that T&Co ring either. You won't get any of the perks of buying from the trusted vendors, and it only has the in-house certificate, which isn't as good as GIA or AGS. I would buy from VC or BGD back a thousand times before buying a second hand T&Co piece.
 

bmfang

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Scrolling through the pic on the T&Co pre-ownedstone, there is a very blurry pic of the grading report.

Angles seem to be ok (looks like it’s a 33.# CA paired with a 41.0 PA). I am worried about table and depth as it appears to have a 58% table coupled with 63.#% total depth. Can’t see the physical size dimensions of the stone too easily as well.

As for the setting, OP, you have said you like the Tiffany solitaire right? While yes, it is an iconic design, I haven’t been too impressed with the classic solitaire settings I have seen in person. I’d much rather one of Victor’s hand forged Gabriella six prong solitaires instead.
 
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Pimberly

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I have to say I really wasn’t concerned about the Tiffany certificate not being good enough for my ring. I know they guarantee (for the original buyer) their certificate will match a GIA cert and I really doubt they would risk their reputation by fudging numbers. And I think the real Tiffany setting is perfection in person. It’s really well-proportioned and beautiful. Not saying that’s the ring the should pick, but just wanted to add my view for balance since a lot of people around here are anti-Tiffany.
 

Pimberly

Rough_Rock
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Just wanted to add that if you do want to see more pre-owned Tiffany, you should check out Blue Chip Jewelry and email the owner directly. He gets a lot more rings in stock than the ones that make it to the website and he’ll take down your info and a list of your wants for diamond (color, measurements, etc) and let you know when he gets a match in stock. I ended up finding one on consignment that matched what I was looking for before he got one in stock, but he was very nice to work with and I know he has a return policy.
 
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