Help me choose between these 2 please!!

[Crazy_4_my_baby]

Hi. I''m new to this thing and have been lurking for a while. I recently went to my local B&M to look at some diamonds and they had some really nice ones there, but I wanted to come on here and get an opinion or two. Here are the specs of the 2 diamonds I''m looking at:

Diamond 1:

GIA Certified
Round Brilliant
0.81 Carat
5.84-5.91 x 3.74mm
Color: G
Clarity: SI1 (eye clean)
Cut: VG
Polish: VG
Symmetry: VG
Fluoro: none
Table: 59%
Depth: 63.7%
Crown: 36 deg
Pav: 41.6 deg
cutlet: none
HCA score: 5.6

or Diamond 2:

GIA Certified
Round Brilliant
0.81 Carat
5.98-6.04 x 3.67mm
Color: D
Clarity: SI2 (eye clean)
Cut: Ex
Polish: VG
Symmetry: VG
Fluoro: none
Table: 60%
Depth: 61.1%
Crown: 33 deg
Pav: 41.2 deg
cutlet: none
HCA score: 2.7

These two are being offered to me at the same price. They also have light reports with them which I''m going to attach as replies to this one (assuming I can figure out how to do pics!) From lurking around here for a while, I know they aren''t the best stones ever, but they fit very nicely in my budget and are a good trade off on all the things I''m looking for. Thanks so much for your input!

 

[Crazy_4_my_baby]

Here the report for diamond number 1

 

[Crazy_4_my_baby]

And diamond number 2

 

[JulieN]

Cut is the most important thing!!!

You have a lot of wiggle room to find a well-cut stone in your budget.

 

[mercoledi]

If these are the only options, stone 2 wins hands down. Higher color, better performer across the board. It does appear to be a deep/steep and thus will look smaller than an ideal cut stone of the same weight. Would you be willing to share your budget? We may be able to find you much better cut stone.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/17/2008 3:18:48 PM
Author: mercoledi
Would you be willing to share your budget? We may be able to find you much better cut stone.

Ditto Merc, we would be pleased to help you! And welcome to Pricescope!

 

[Crazy_4_my_baby]

Thanks for the quick replies! These are the two that I picked out of the 10 that they showed me side by side. Number 2 really showed well even when sitting next to a couple of AGS000''s. So basically, I''ve seen a few AGS000''s in person and actually the HCA says that number 2 falls within the AGS 0 box, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that. I have some ties to this jeweler and I''ve used him before and trust him, so I don''t think I''m going to buy online, but I did want to get some opinions on these before I bought one and I couldn''t think of a better place to get honest opinions! Thank you very much for the offers, though, and maybe I''ll ask him to show me just a couple more.

 

[mercoledi]

Gottcha. Relationships are important and he''s giving you plenty of data to make a decision. Why not look a few more? Maybe you''ll find a diamond in the rough

.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/17/2008 3:28:02 PM
Author: Crazy_4_my_baby
Thanks for the quick replies! These are the two that I picked out of the 10 that they showed me side by side. Number 2 really showed well even when sitting next to a couple of AGS000's. So basically, I've seen a few AGS000's in person and actually the HCA says that number 2 falls within the AGS 0 box, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that. I have some ties to this jeweler and I've used him before and trust him, so I don't think I'm going to buy online, but I did want to get some opinions on these before I bought one and I couldn't think of a better place to get honest opinions! Thank you very much for the offers, though, and maybe I'll ask him to show me just a couple more.

No worries! I would lean more towards the second one if you prefer to go with these ones, the first is what we call a steep deep, this basically means the crown and pavilion angles are steep and deep, and this can make a diamond look dark and leak light, so I wouldn't consider that one unless you really like it. But if you do decide you prefer this one, then make sure you check it out in as many different lights as you can prior to purchase, to make sure you are happy with it's appearance away from the store lights. But ask your jeweller if he can source some AGS0 and GIA Excellents for you to view, so you can see what you prefer.

Here is a cheat sheet you can use for some numbers we like to use here -

depth - 60 - 62.4% ( my cutoff for depth)
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34 - 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6 - 41 degrees
* make sure to evaluate carefully with crown and pavilion angles on the shallower and steeper ends of these figures, to make sure they work in harmony for that particular diamond. Shallower ( CA 34 - PA 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35 - PA 41)

polish and symmetry - very good and above
girdle - avoid extremes and look for thin to medium, thin to slightly thick etc.

Also in some cases, numbers outside of the ones given above can work well, so use as a guide.

 

[kcoursolle]

Number 2 wins for sure and should be a generally pretty stone, but personally I would pass on both of them. I prefer stones with a depth of 60-62, table of 54-57, and crown/pavillion angles compatible and an HCA score under 2. You can definitely do better with your budget and find a great stone.

 

[mercoledi]

This stone, for instance is nicely cut. It scores a 1.1 on the HCA and is right smack in the middle of the GIA, AGS and Tolkowsy ideal zones. It''s higher clarity than you''ve been looking at, but it faces up at a diameter of 6.05 mm with just 2.5 more points than your stones.