Help! IF grade diamond replacement?

[sunburn731]

Hi Guys,

My wife has lost her engagement ring a couple of weeks ago but luckily I had it fully insured and the insurance company is going to pay to have it replaced.

My jewelry designer is shopping around for new loose stones to have another ring made. She came across a diamond that is slighlty bigger but spec wise seems to be lower but still highly recommending as a "fair" trade off and make a good replacement.

The ring she is proposing is 2.26ct G/VS1, $27,515. The original ring I had was 2.15 carat H / IF clarity $25,000. (Both excellent cut) Can some one please give me there analysis on it being a fair replacement? It doesn't seem right. Based on my research, having a IF clarity ring should be exponentially more expensive..wondering why the new diamond is priced higher? It only seems to be slightly bigger and only 1 color grade up? Do you guys think this is a "fair" replacement?

Thanks!

 

[kenny]

www.bluenile.com has a huge database to search for comps.
That said, there can be many things affecting value that are not in the published specs.
At least blunile is something.

 

[rocks]

Your jeweler is giving you very good advice. Personally, I would select a gvs1 over an hif of similar size. And, the g she is recommending is larger (assuming they are equally well cut). Unless there is a cultural reason for the if grade, go with the vs1 with better color. As to price, the if clarity grade does not have a significant impact on value unless the stone is d or e color.

For what it's worth...my sweet spot is evs2 or fvs2.

 

[flyingpig]

Assessing a fair value of a IF stone is rather tricky. In some carat/color ranges (J or below), IF commands only 10% premium over VS/VVS, but when combined with, say, D color, the premium just gets ridiculously high because of the rarity.

I also suggest that you take a look at BN, JA, B2C databases and compare a well cut G VS1 and a well cut H IF in 2.0+ range.

 

[denverappraiser]

Clarity is not the only variable at play and you may or may not know he rest but if you've got the facts, the financial tradeoffs are actually fairly easy to follow. Play with the database here. Search for a set of specs and look at the results. Then change one spec, like clarity, and see what it does to the price. Repeat 30 times. It'll tell you how the variables relate. Don't get too hung up on exactly the price. Your jeweler probably has a different business model than the folks here and the prices on a particular stone may be higher but it doesn't really matter. It's the relationship between the variables that you're fishing for.

Most people with IF stones are there for symbolic reasons. That is to say, 'flawless' was one of the objectives in it's own right. If this is the case for you, don't let them talk you into a compromise simply because it's more difficult for them to find a replacement. If you had a flawless, and you want a flawless, stand your ground.