Help! - GIA 1.78ct, E, SI1, Excellent Cut $11,600

[celery911]

BACKGROUND:
Hello all, I really need some help here. I've spent the past several months deciding between price and value of the different factors of diamonds. My budget is $15,000 or less (recently unemployed) and I was aiming to get the best: very good+ cut, 1.70-1.90ct, G color, VS1-VS2 diamond with VG+ polish and symmetry. But I stumbled onto what seems a good deal online, $11600 for the following:

Round brilliant
1.78 ct (7.71mm)
Color E
Clarity SI1
Cut Excellent
Symmetry Excellent
Polish Excellent
Fluorescence Strong Blue (I've looked at the diamond in many different lighting conditions, including direct sunlight and it does seem to afffect the diamond's appearance)

I bought the diamond and it looks amazing. I'm not sure if it's the color, cut or both, but this diamond is first excellent, E I've looked at and I think I'm hooked.


PROBLEM:
As you could expect, SI1 isn't very clean. Face up, at 6" i can definately see a tiny black carbon crystal off on the side of the table in any lighting. From 12" I can find the crystal in natural light but a very very hard time seeing it in artificial lighting. There is also a fairly easy to see black crystal right along the girdle.


QUESTIONS:
1. Is this diamond too good of a deal to return?
2. Is my diamond appearance pretty much to be expected for the given clarity? Am I expecting too much by expecting to buy an SI1 diamond will no eye visible inclusions from 6"? How about from any distance?
3. I've fallen in love with the brilliance and color of excellent/color E, but unfortauntely I have a budget. If I do return the above mentioned diamond and shop for a new one, where should i skimp? Assuming the carat is not negotiable at 1.70-1.90ct range, would you skimp on cut from Excellent to VG, Color from E to G, or Clarity stay at SI1 to make things fit my budget?

Any help, comments would be GREATLY appreciated. I'm starting to suffer from analysis paralysis after having looked at some many diamonds and so many prices.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

The inclusion would bug me terribly, so I wouldn''t keep it if it was me.

Stay with excellent cut for sure...no compromising.

G or H color in a GIA stone is fine. You may be able to find a cleaner SI1. But if it were for me, I''d rather go to 1.5 and get VS2, but I may be in the minority!

 

[ImpatientOne]

I have an SI1 that is totally eye clean from ALL angles. There are white crystals that can only be seen by a loupe. I would return it and keep looking.

 

[MissGotRocks]

There are many eyeclean SI1 stones - I have one. I just saw two the other day that are SI2''s and they were eyeclean as well. That''s not to say that every one of them is - but they are out there.

A black carbon inclusion that I could see would definitely work on me. It''s a difficult choice to make when you have to bend on either size, color or clarity. Only you can decide which are most important and which could take a downgrade. In a well cut stone, you could definitely drop the color a bit and still have a very white stone.

 

[gryffindor]

I saw several eye-clean SI1s during my search and ended up choosing one for myself. I looked at many SI2s as well but didn''t come across one totally eye clean, although I''m sure they are out there. I did come across SI2s that had non-carbon inclusions I could live with, although I rejected any stones with carbon inclusions because I didn''t really like those at all. If you could find an acceptable stone in the SI range, then you may find you don''t need to skimp on color or cut since the SI stones are priced lower than the VS stones.

 

[swingirl]

Is your stone certified and if so, by what lab? If it's not GIA or AGS it's possible it is lower that an E SI1.

There are eye-clean SI1's with inclusions that aren't easily visible or could be covered by a prong. It all depends on what bothers you. If it will bother you to see it then you might want to return the stone. But if you love everything else about your stone you should keep it because it could be hard to find an E in that size for $11K.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 1/23/2009 2:46:32 AM
Author: swingirl
Is your stone certified and if so, by what lab? If it''s not GIA or AGS it''s possible it is lower that an E SI1.


There are eye-clean SI1''s with inclusions that aren''t easily visible or could be covered by a prong. It all depends on what bothers you. If it will bother you to see it then you might want to return the stone. But if you love everything else about your stone you should keep it because it could be hard to find an E in that size for $11K.

If the inclusion could be hidden under a prong then I would possibly consider it, however like others have said there are eyeclean SI1''s out there .

 

[celery911]

I''m so disappointed, but I plan on returning the diamond tomorrow. Last thing I want is for my girlfriend to be self conscious about wearing the diamond. Talk about penny wise, pound foolish.

I''ll keep you guys updated. Thanks for the input. I''m most likely going to stick with excellent cut and skimp on the color while also getting a little extra value by looking for diamonds with blue flourescence.

Think it''s too much to look for a diamond with my specs selling for 30% back of rap? If so, where''s the best place to look?

 

[Imdanny]

I''d bring the color down and the clarity up. If it were me.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/23/2009 7:36:32 AM
Author: Imdanny
I''d bring the color down and the clarity up. If it were me.

Ditto, as a suggestion perhaps G or H colour ( GIA or AGS graded) and still consider SI1 but make sure the diamond is eyeclean to your standards, and include VS2 in your search.

 

[Kelli]

I''d return it too. It wouldn''t bother me for a pendant or earring, but I wouldn''t want to be able to see inclusions in my engagement ring. Also, sticking with excellent/ideal cut is really important if you want the most sparkly diamond. And be careful with GIA excellent cuts, they are not all created equal. Going with AGS 0 is safer if you don''t want to do a lot of numbers research, but good GIA''s can be found with the right amount of searching. Good luck!