Help deciding on a stone - Idealscope attached

[SunshineGoddess]

First time poster.. Ive learned so much from reading all these forums on pricescope! I appreciate in

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advance any advice, I'm trying to narrow down my selection on the center stone and could really use some help in making some final choices.

Here is my criteria:
GIA
Round Diamond
2+ Carat
VS2 +
J + Color
Excellent Cut/Ideal Cut
Symmetry/Polish Very Good+
Girdle: thin to slightly thick
Table % (53-57%)
Depth % (59-62.5%)
Budget for stone: Up to $28,500 can stretch to $30,000 if it gets us a stone that is just amazing


Most of this criteria I have found from pricescope posters and it seems this is where I want to be, any advice on criteria and if I should tweak it please let me know your thoughts.

Im currently looking at stones on James Allen, they offer a great discount for pricescope customers that is very lucrative. Any comments on if I shouldn't go with them please let me know as this is a BIG purchase and I want to make sure we do it right.

Here are two stones that are standing out to me:
Stone#1
2.04 Carat
H Color
IF
Excellent Cut
GIA
Depth: 61.5
Table: 58
P/S Very Good
Girdle: Med to thick
Florescence: None
$28,140

Here is the idealscope of the stone



Stone#2
2.50 Carat
J Color
VVS2
Excellent Cut
GIA
Depth 62.2
Table: 56
P/S Excellent
Girdle: Medium to slightly thick
Fluorescence: None
$28,800
I dont have an ideal scope for this yet but could request one.

Any thoughts on these? Or if there are other stones you could recommend, I would appreciate the links.

 

[0-0-0]

Not a fan of the IS for #1 at all.

I think these look good.
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1495341.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1489650.asp

 

[Christina...]

I agree with thbmok, I don't like the IS either. Is there a reason that you are looking at stones with such high clarity? You could save if you considered a stone in the GH VS1 VS2 or even an eye clean SI1. It would still appear nice and white and most likely eye clean. You can ask JA's gemologist to inspect the stone for eye cleanliness for you.

 

[SunshineGoddess]

Thank you both! Why are you not at fan of the IS? Can you give me some insight so I can learn what to look for?

 

[0-0-0]

The IS image shows a stone a bit short on cut precision/optical symmetry. The uneven patterning throughout the stone can be problematic. The facets may look less crisp and on/off scintillation may suffer when compared against a stone with better cut precision/optical symmetry. You can take a look at some of JA's H&A cuts for examples of what the IS image of stones with better cut precision/optical symmetry look like. http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1315169.asp

 

[SunshineGoddess]

Thank you thbmok that really helps, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be to pick out a good stone!