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regularsfguy

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
10
Hi everybody,

It seems like a rite of passage for a newbie to begin their post with a comment on how awesome a resource PS is and how much they've learned reading all of it... I'm no different. Thank you all for everything so far, and I'm hoping you can help me even more. :D

Ok, here's my situation. The fiancee wants a Round Brilliant, around 1 carat. Thankfully, she and I are both pretty bad when it comes to telling any difference in color, so I'm looking at a 1.07 ct I/SI1 on Blue Nile. Here's the link to the GIA report:

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-search?filter_id=0&track=head#certViewer_cert_pid=LD01687984|cert_num=1

I punched the details into the HCA, and it spit out 0.8, which seems to be pretty good. I plan on getting an independent appraisal before my 30 days is up to return the diamond, but I'd rather make sure ahead of time that I'm getting an amazing diamond.

What do you guys think? 0.8 seems really good, but then I saw the comments below the HCA calcs where it said that some people might prefer higher numbers like 1.5 to 0.5, and it confused me. I feel like maybe I am missing something. Am I?

Thanks in advance for any insight!!

P.S. I know people on here don't typically seem to use Blue Nile, but I'm not suite sure why. It seems pretty user friendly to me, and I have multiple friends who've used BN and had very positive experiences. I know some people on PS worry when BN doesn't give the full specs on a diamond, but since I can access all of that through the GIA report, am I OK going through BN? I really feel more comfortable doing that, but I also don't want to make some kind of a rookie blunder. :D
 
Whoops! Looks like the link to the GIA report didn't work. The GIA Report # is 1122720279.

Thanks everybody!
 
nothing wrong with using Blue Nile, but some of the other vendors have stones in house so can provide additional services such as images, ASET images, IS images, evaluation if stone is eye-clean.
 
I'm still learning about diamond proportions so I will leave the comments on that to those who know more. But it's an SI-1 so I think you're very wise to make sure an independent appraiser takes a look at it, if having an eye-clean stone is important to you.
 
regularsfguy, I think the only issue with BN is that most of their stones are not in-house, so you can't ask if the inclusions are white or black, and how easily they are seen. They have been noted to have an excellent return policy, however, so in that regard you should be fine.
 
They do not, however, have a trade in policy. If this stone will be the forever one, no worries. If she decides in ten years she'd like an upgrade, BN won't do it. You would have to start from scratch. You could call some of the vendors, tell them what you're looking at, and see what they have that's comparable.

Good luck - let us know how it works out for you!
 
What exactly is your budget? Maybe we can help you find a similiar stone from a vendor with an upgrade policy and the ability to provide aset and IS images....
 
Looks very nice from the numbers, but numbers don't always tell the whole story so that appraisal is a good idea :))

Nothing wrong w/ BN, I have purchased stones from them and been very happy, but if you are looking for certain services - IS/ASET w/o needing to go to an independent appraiser, in-house evaluation, trade-in/upgrade policies - other vendors provide these options while BN does not, as MGR says


HCA - don't worry about it. Use the HCA to see if "over or under 2", and don't read anything more into it. HCA is not designed to be a selection tool, and trying to misuse it as such will yield only misinformation.
 
AmysBling and Yssie,

Thank you for responding! I'm very grateful to everyone for their help.

I don't think trade-in is as big a deal for us, as my fiancee *insists* that she will keep the stone/ER we get forever. I know things like that can change, but I really don't think that it is a key driver for us. Never hurts, though...

That said, our budget is around $5500, give or take, for the stone. We're comfortable with SI1 or even SI2 stones, and we're not overly color-sensitive either. We've been looking at I/SI1 stones which seem great to her. As I do more research, I've decided to put more money towards size and get a 1.15 ct stone or larger, as long as it grades out well on cut, etc. We've picked a setting that she likes, so that part is done. :-D

I have looked at a ton of diamonds at a local, Pricescope-friendly B&M, but I've rejected all of them since they fail the HCA. They tell me they'll get more and continue to work with us, but I'm concerned that it's just going to take forever, and it's a hassle to go to this B&M all the time.

Meanwhile, the recommended appraiser I was going to use is booked solid for the next few months, so I am trying to decide if I really need an independent appraiser or not. Oddly, the appraiser I reached out to told me it wasn't necessary as long as I went with a GIA-certified diamond, but that I should use someone else (they referred) who can confirm that the stone I get is the stone I bought. I have an Idealscope, so I can also use that to evaluate the cut of the stone.

I'd truly appreciate any help/advice people have. I'm learning so much, but it still feels like there's so much more to learn. Meanwhile, my fiancee is starting to ask how long it's going to take to get her ring... :-( I tend to get really analytical on big purchases, so maybe I am just overthinking things...

What do people think? Should I stick with the B&M and keep looking at diamonds there? They tell me they'll be competitive on price, and this way I can guarantee that any stone I pick looks great under the Idealscope before I buy. Or should I buy on BN after screening through HCA, use my Idealscope to judge the diamond, and send it back if it's no good? The BN prices seem to be significantly better than other online retailers, with more options as well. Last, I could go with one of the other PS-recommended online retailers, but I have many fewer options to choose from than BN, and the prices don't seem to be as good either...

Thanks for any help!
 
Yikes! I just re-read my post and realized it might seem like I was only thanking AmysBling and Yssie and found only their posts helpful...and nothing would be farther from the truth!

So thank you to slg47, blueiris, Anne:-), and MissGotRocks as well!! I appreciate everyone's help so far and am looking forward to any feedback anyone has! :-)
 
My opinion on blue nile is that if you know what you're doing and you're willing to evaluate it yourself and pay to return it if it doesn't meet your expectations - there's NOTHING wrong with blue nile. But that's a lot of personal legwork to commit to when there are vendors here who will do that for you. Plus, many people who come here are not interested in learning all of the ins and outs of stone evaluation and would rather trust someone whose experience can be vouched for.
 
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