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Help! Indecision at its best

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Roqsteady

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Feb 5, 2014
Messages
194
Hi all,

This is the stone I bought for just under 11000 because I thought it was a great price for the cut, size, color, and clarity.
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-d-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-263833

After comparing with a BG blue diamond it definitely performs well but I'd like to squeeze out more size/sparkle at the cost of color if I can.

Ideally I'm looking for around a 1.5 ct (more the better, but I don't mind just below to avoid the price increase) F-G (maaaybe would dip into H if the price/size is right) eye clean from all angles for $12000 or less. And I love fluorescence.

What do you guys think of these two stones? Can you point out any pros/cons you see?

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-f-color-si2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-289401

Is the feather in the pavillion enough to worry about it since it was the grade-making inclusion? Is there durability risk?

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...-d-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-289265

This is really similar to the diamond I already bought but with strong blue instead of medium blue flour.

I also used my 3 IS with the last purchase. Do they give you more for a new purchase, if you don't say you're going to return the old one?

In my ideal world I'd get a 1.49 ct. BG Blue F-G SI1 for $11,000, but since those don't exist, should I just settle for what I have? Do you see anything else out there? Time's a ticking til the question in May... plus VC requires 5-6 weeks I hear, so I'm on a time crunch!

Help!
 
Can anybody with Si2's comment on the eye cleanliness of their stone?

I ordered the 1.55 f Si2 to see it for myself, just worried that feather will be super visible from the side.

Do you guys have any suggestions from other vendors?
 
If you like the BG Blue, then why aren't you shopping at BG???
 
Because I'd have to either go down in size (1.295 g Si1), which I've considered, or increase my budget to 15k from 12k to get an f/g bg blue 1.5 carat-ish stone. Is my ideal stone just nonexistent? Part of it is while I really don't want to compromise on getting a top of the line cut, now that I've seen it, it definitely narrows the options of what's out there for my desired size and color range. Am I just being too picky?
 
A) you can easily go own to G and should. H is fine too.
B) the F SI2 you posted has a great deal of potential. Get an Idealscope image. The inclusion (feather it) 12 o'clock might be prongable if it is not eyeclean.
 
How do you like the D SI1 in real life? It looks good and sparkly! I think you found a pretty stone with med blue.

The most important C is Cut. Based on my experience with my own smaller diamonds and my sisters' and my mom's and aunt's real life many many stones, I was extremely hesitant about anything less than a H. But, as research and fate would have it, I found the best bang for our buck by going down to a J that is cut more than well. It is true what all PSers and experts say, about a diamond's cut and light reflection making them bright and lively (as opposed to dull and lifeless).

So, if you're okay with staying in the "near colorless" range, maybe consider I or J in your search parameter?

Do not settle for a low performance stone.

As for me, to buy a round brilliant with 11k, I'd go down to J (still in the near colorless bracket!) and hunt down the biggest sparkles your 11k can buy. Some of my friends swear that Carat is the most important C!
 
The D SI1 is actually really pretty - it's a pretty darn sparkly fireball and may very well be as good as it gets for a GIA diamond not CBI/BG H&A/ACA. However understandably when put next to a BG blue it loses slightly in the sparkle battle, but you have to keep looking long and hard to tell. Unfortunately the BG diamond is a J, and obviously when comparing the 2 diamonds side by side the color difference is very noticeable and makes me wish for something higher than a J since I have the budget for it. Unfortunately at the moment I can't find anything in a higher color with comparable size on BG's website and emailing with their sales reps. Totally random, but her ex's first initial is a J and mine is a D, which futher makes me not want a J (I wish I hadn't thought of that, but now that I have it's stuck and become even more of a mind-clean issue, aah!!!)

I definitely don't have a problem going down to G or even an H if I can find a great stone out there. I'm holding out hope for this F SI2 to be a beauty (unfortunately I can't ask for an IS on it since I used 3 IS images already on the last purchase for the 1.41 D SI1).

I'll definitely consider that G SI2 Gypsy, it looks like a super clean SI2 and has the potential for superideal sparkle :love:

The last thing I would say which kind of goes against what I'm aiming to do is that my gf is pretty color deficient, haha. However I know it applies mostly to red/green, not sure about her ability to discern yellows vs clears in a diamond.
 
About the initial thing, gosh how I wish vendors would use a brand name! Too many first names engraved on a ring or worse, inscribed on diamonds' girdles, I'm sure, has made it awkward for some of us girls! But then again, when we are really over someone, the word to use is "indifference", yes? Shame you had to let J bother you but totally understand the mind clean issue ;)

Do you already have a setting of choice? If this helps, my sister owns a 1.5 G VS1 triple excellent faint fluor, and set in solitaire ring, it looks totally colorless. I made a guess that it was an E or F when she first showed it to me. Hope your F SI2 lives up to your expectations! Good luck and do post pictures when you have found "the stone" for "the ring"!
 
So, i got the 1.55 F si2 and wow is it a sparkler! It has a beautiful hearts and arrows pattern under the viewer and honestly it goes seemingly toe to toe with the BG Blue 1.48 J SI1 in the sparkle battle, which surprises me. I can now safely return the D because while sparkly, it just didn't have the same bang as the other two. The only problem is my fear came true that the feather on the pavillion on the GIA cert is indeed very visible and quite large, so while it's eye clean from the top, from the side she would definitely see it =( It's such a shame because it's such a pretty diamond and for the cut quality, carat, and color it would have been a tremendous value - but I guess as they say, you get what you pay for.

So, I'm back to square 2 I guess. I could stick with the J until something better comes along, but like some similar recent posts - finding superbly cut diamonds just under 1.5 cts is no easy task, especially in the color and clarity you want.
 
Does a feather that is only visible from the bottom really matter? Perhaps you can place a prong there to obscure the view. Honestly in SI2 you should expect either to have some sort of visible inclusions or some kind of haziness/sleepiness.

And if you're comfortable with a J, why not go to G/H/I? It will open up a lot more options and you don't have to get an SI2 since you seem to have mind-clean issues.
 
For an engagement ring (and she's the type who doesn't want to upgrade), I want as few mind/eye clean issues as possible. Not to mention the feather looks like it almost reaches the girdle, which seems to me like a durability risk. It just stinks because I couldn't see the feather from the angle that JA shot their video. I would absolutely love a g/h/i if it were available, but there just aren't that many great looking ones that I can find out there without jumping 5k+ in price due to the 1.5 ct price jump. A 1.5 G SI1 Brian Gavin Blue is around 15k, over 6k more than the 1.483 J SI1. I have 3k more in budget to up the color to an H or G, but I definitely can't justify 6k more.
 
Have you reached out to BG to see if they might be getting more Blue stones in soon?

They are cut specifically for BG, so if you ask, they'll be able to tell you when they will be able to provide more selection in the category!
 
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