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Help Deciding Between Two

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RoyEP3

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
28
Hi everyone! Can you please give me your take on these two diamonds?

1. (See pictures below for first diamond. Attached GIA cert. No video available.)

1021161_1.jpg
image (1).png image.png

2. (see website) https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD09522762 (if the link doesn't work, copy and paste it to your browser instead of clicking on it)

I really want to lean toward the 2.4 being that it is colorless, flawless, and excellent cuts, and all "very good" under the ideal-scope HCA tool for light return, fire, scintillation, and spread from the ideal-scope.com adviser chart. All that in a 2.4 is amazing on paper. The only problem is the "strong blue" fluorescence. What is your overall opinion on this?

The second diamond that is 2.13 is my second choice. It is smaller, and at VVS2, but has medium fluorescence. It also shows "excellent" on light return, fire, and scintillation, and "very good" on spread on the ideal-scope website. By the way, I am a little confused as to why 0.9 is not ideal for rings, even though a score closest to 0 is a better score. Can someone please explain this?

I really want to go with the 2.4, because it looks great on paper, but I know it is taking a chance since I cannot see the fluorescence in person. Also, am I missing about these two diamonds that you would stay away from?

Thanks,
Roy
 

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Last edited:
#1 is such a strange looking diamond. Maybe I'm missing something. But IMO it is not cut well. There is too much light leakage under the table, which is that white ring you see in the ASET image (the green and red one).

#2 is too deep for my liking, But it seems OK per the HCA tool and it looks nice. I just prefer to buy from a vendor that can provide at least an idealscope image.

Can you tell us your budget so we can find you a better diamond? Do you absolutely have to stick to F in color and super high clarity (VVS1 or higher)? Minimum carat weight?
 
Thanks for the assessment. The following are my minimums of what I am looking for in the order of importance.

- 2.1ct (would really like 2.2+)
- F
- An excellent HCA score
- VS1 (unless there is a stellar VS2 out there)

I'm still up in the air about fluorescence, and will consider strong ones for a bigger diamond.

My budget is $30k but I'm really hoping I can find something for $25k. Thanks again for the help.

Oh and I know I didn't mention cut, but I assume we're all only going to mention excellent cuts here.
 
#1's images look strange. I am not too sure if it is due to photography/lighting issues or poor cut quality itself or both. It is not the best cut diamond for sure; but at the same time, it is not as bad as it appears initially.

I hope experts help and explain what's going on in the first and second photo.
 
#1 has way too much leakage in the center and I wouldn't consider it, period.

#2 is a very nice diamond and a good choice. All of the numbers look good.

Closer to 0 on the HCA is not better than a 1.9 score. You want Excellent on everything and very good for spread...that's where ideal cut stones usually score. (Most will score between 1.0 and 2.0.)

KKJohnson said:
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3784279.htm
Click to expand...

This is a gorgeous stone!!!

I'd definitely recommend expanding your search at least down to VS1 as that is a very clean diamond.
 
Echoing the sentiments above, the 2.4 just looks strange and has a good bit of leakage. Of the two you listed, i prefer the second. I don't mind fluoro, just make sure you inquire about any potential haziness or milkiness in the stone due to the fluoro. It's rare but can happen. Also depends on whether or not you want to see your stone turn blue-ish in the direct sunlight. Some love it, some dont. And of course, strong fluoro will mean a discounted price which is always nice.

As far as the HCA, anything below 2 is good. 0.9 is not better than 1.9 but it does lend a different look. If you note this explanation on the HCA page:

Shallower stones, in the lower red areas of the chart, will look darker when viewed from close up. They are not as good for rings. Shallow stones have a bigger spread and can be great for pendants and earrings that are not usually viewed from very close proximity (a close observers head obstructs light sources).
Click to expand...

If your biggest concern is size, why not drop to a G, which will still be a VERY white stone? Is there a particular reason you prefer D-F color? ditto on clarity. Dropping to an eye clean SI1 could get you some size. Remember that these videos and pictures are zoomed WAY in and even though you may see a little crystal close up, in real life, a VS1 and up is going to be eye clean. Many, many eye clean VS2 stones and definitely some SI1 stones that are eye clean. completely get if there are reasons on both of those counts but know that such high color and clarity will bring your budget up.

That said, i found these:

F VS2
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD09005329?refTab=DIAMONDS

F VS1
crown angle is slightly lower than recommended but i really like it
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD09478162?refTab=DIAMONDS

A particularly nice G VS2
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...rat-g-color-vs2-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-3257547

Nice stone with a very nice price (G VS1)
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...g-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3461627

NOT RECOMMENDING THIS STONE, just showing you that there are eye clean SI1 stones out there:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...d-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-3613540
 
This is a very nice one if you wanted to see a really nice SI1

https://www.victorcanera.com/diamonds/n15rt1-2.070-h-si1-ideal-hearts-arrows-round

Budget Stretch and a drop in color but defiantly good contenders if you are able to increase just a bit $$ wise.

https://www.victorcanera.com/diamonds/ags104096334002-2.234-g-vs1-ideal-hearts-arrows-round

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3891297.htm

https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD9231

I looked at JamesAllen and BlueNile but honestly I don't think you will do better than Whiteflash or CBI performance. This site has made me very bias lol
 
Thanks for taking the time to pull up other options everyone. This has lead me to reevaulate some criteria, and I will be starting a new thread now to discuss other options.
 
The HCA tool is used to narrow potentially good performing diamonds out of the pool of GIA Ideals. It helps to predict performance only. Think of the HCA tool as a coarse filter only. The WF diamond is a super-ideal and documents its excellent performance with IS and ASET and H&A images. WF ACA are true Hearts & Arrows (where James Allen "True Hearts" are really 'near' most of the time).

So, you have a lot of options posted above by other PS members with varying color, clarity and size. Do you have have a direction you want to go? What can we do to help you narrow your choices?
 
RoyEP3 said:
Can someone help me to understand what is so great about this diamond at this price? It scores a 2.4 on the HCA tool, but I'm assuming the ASET image is what people are going by. Is this considered true hearts and arrows?
Click to expand...
IMO, Yes and yes.
 
RoyEP3 said:
It scores a 2.4 on the HCA tool, but I'm assuming the ASET image is what people are going by.
Click to expand...
An average cut stone with those "real" numbers the hca would likely be right.
But with good precision cutting and GIA rounding messing with the numbers it could be great.
GIA grossly rounds the numbers meaning you have to always consider what could be in the rounding or look at images if available.

My main point is real scope Images over hca the majority of the time.
 
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