Help Finding the Right Diamond, Need Trusted Advice

[Ashleemarie]

Hello,

This is my first post here so if I am doing it in the wrong place please let me know. I have scowled PS to better inform myself as I trek into the world of diamonds but I really need some help now.

My BF and I are starting to look, more just me because he wouldn't know the difference between a diamond and something that came out of a Cracker Jack box. Well he's learning so I have to give him credit for that. He is also Palestinian and has asked around back in Israel for stones with the specs I am looking for and it appears to be slightly more expensive there so we have ruled that out.

He originally said he wanted to spend $5-6k for a diamond until he realized I was more interested in size so I know he is willing to flex a little on the budget. I have spent countless hours online looking for stones and cannot commit as I cannot see them in person and I am not qualified to judge by specs alone. I stopped into a few local places that were sort of iffy to me and ended up at Beverlys Jewelers which is also local but not inside a mall with people who seemed to just tell me what I wanted to hear.

I sort of landed on a stone there that I was quite impressed with -Round GIA Cert J VS2 1.18cts (asking price $5900)
This stone looks great, beautiful, clean and compared to stones slightly bigger there was almost no difference.

I found the setting I want from Adiamore that I am completely sold on so my only problem is the diamond itself.

My dilemma is that as much as this seems like a great stone, I can't help but feel like I'll always wish it was a little bigger. I do not think realistically I will upgrade down the road because I don't want to put that financial obligation back on my BF. I offered to pay part of the cost of the ring for something a little bit bigger so that I wouldn't want to change it later on.

I am a size 4 finger and I was hoping for something around 1.5-1.75 cts (round) give or take. I also like stones in the I/J range as opposed to more white diamonds, I just have a preference for a little warmth. I have met with another jeweler who is searching stones for me that found an EGL J SI1 1.74ct stone (I looked at it yesterday and it's nice) for about $7100. She says its a hearts and arrows but I don't think that it is. It's cut well and I cannot see any inclusions unless I really look and even so it is just a feather that is very unnoticeable.
Unfortunely in this circumstance, I have incredible vision so I can spot inclusions immediately so clarity is important to me. I feel like this particular stone is closer to a K or perhaps just not as well cut as the 1.18 I found.

I have looked at blue Nile, Ritani, James Allen, white flash, good old gold, preowned, estate and the whole lot. Good old gold has beautiful stones that just take my breath away but for the size I want I know they are not in the budget. I know dimensions tell you a lot but unless I plug every stones specs into diamdb.com to compare I really don't know if the stone will actually look like its carat size.

If anyone can assist me or point me in the right direction or give a little guidance as to where to go, what to look for or even help me find some potential stones online it would be greatly appreciated!!! Sorry for the novel and thank you

 

[Dancing Fire]

A nice 1.75ct J SI1 graded by GIA or AGS will cost about $13K

 

[Gypsy]

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. And GIA Ex is not enough. And you must stick to GIA and AGS only. EGL is a bad option: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/[/URL]
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want?
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Well one method is to start with a GIA Ex, and then apply the HCA to it. YOU DO NOT USE HCA for AGS0 stones.
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/holloway-cut-advisor
The HCA is a rejection tool. Not a selection tool. It uses 4 data points to make a rudimentary call on how the diamond may perform.
If the diamond passes then you know that you are in the right zone in terms of angles for light performance. Under 2 is a pass. Under 2.5-2.1 is a maybe. 2.6 and over is a no. No score 2 and under is better than any other.
Is that enough? Not really.
So what you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return. That is why you won't see us recommending Blue Nile, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. BGD, James Allen, GOG, HPD, ERD and WF do.

The Idealscope is the 'selection tool'. Not the HCA.
So yes, with a GIA stone you need the idealscope images. Or you can buy an idealscope yourself and take it in to the jeweler you are working with to check the stones yourself. Or if you have a good return policy (full refund minimum 7 days) then you can buy the idealscope, buy the stone, and do it at home.


Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium.

 

[Ashleemarie]

Wow, looks like I have a lot more homework to do :-O
Thank you so much

 

[WinkHPD]

Start with what you can afford now, but go with a vendor who has a good lifetime trade up policy. Then, when and if you want to go bigger, you get all of what you paid applied to the new diamond with no loss of value.

Wink