Help me find a 2.4-3 carat stone!

[leeenie]

I am looking for a stone and I need help. One issue is that I would prefer a cushion to a round, but given the wide variance in appearance of cushions and thus less likelihood that I will find something to my taste, I''m also looking at rounds. (GIA or AGS only for both)

Cushion: I''d like a "cushion brilliant" with larger facets, rather than "cushion modified brilliant" that looks like a radiant. Don''t want visible inclusions, and am hesitant to go too low on color since it shows more in cushions. Prefer a ratio of 1-1 to 1-1.15, and weight of 2.5+ carats (otherwise the face-up size difference from a similarly priced round is too much for me to accept! haha). I''ve found several at WF and a couple at ERD, but can''t tell what type of cut they are and am not sure about the calling-in process yet. ERD has fewer cushions than I expected (at least in the size I''m looking for).

Round: Color H-J, SI1-SI2 with no visible inclusions. For a round, my budget would likely accomodate up to a 2.55. Found 2 contenders at WF, but both are not in-house, and one may have too large of a feather. It seems like they don''t have many larger stones in-house (saw the 5+ carat - not quite that large!).

Proportions:
55-57% table
60.5-61.2% depth
34.4-34.9 crown angle
40.6-40.9 pav angle
thin-medium girdle
(modified from Mara''s post in another thread)

I''m worried that it will take too long to find something since prices seem to be going up significantly. But I don''t want to settle for something not quite "right." I''ve also never purchased online before, so I''m concerned about the calling-in process - the balance between calling in enough to find the best one, and not too many that it costs too much.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Mara]

teagreen, as you already know, that size with those specs is scarce!!

you may have to wait a little bit to find what you really want. the chances of you finding a great cushion around that size is about as good as you finding a great round in that size in the same timeframe i would think.

anyway i searched PS and found ONE stone that i thought was really promising....there were other ones that had 90% of the criteria but not all. i looked for 2.4-3.2c H-J VS2-SI1 with AGS0 specs and the table depth range what you listed. there was also another in-house option in the WF ACA but it was an 2.53c H SI2 and it looked a little inclusiony at the 40x mag but maybe it's worth asking about as it is a true H&A.

this one is a 3.05 J SI1 virtual stone carried by a bunch of vendors, it's AGS EX EX with a nice table and depth, spread, thin-med girdle etc. you'd have to have a sarin run to get more specs. but it seemed the best of the virtual lot, others only had VG/EX symm polish or a thick girdle or 62+% depth etc.

http://www.pricescope.com/origin.asp?id=143109&sh=8&prc=23656

anyway hope that helps....but i would advise calling the PS vendors, telling them what you want and having them keep an eye out. WF also can tell you when they are getting shipments in and what they think they have coming in...so i'd ask them about that as well if you are open to using them. good luck!!

 

[leeenie]

Mara, thanks for the email! How long did you have to wait for your stone, or how long had you had your eye out before this one came?

If you don''t mind, what do you think about these with the info given?

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-2401018.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/round/Round-cut-diamond-1485013.htm (large feather may be a concern, also only good symmetry)


Also, is anything lower than excellent polish & symmetry really a big difference?

 

[Mara]

it took about 6-8 months of looking for me to find this stone i have now. WF had another stone, a 2.225 J SI2 that was not eye clean when i saw it last year...and i wasn't really ready then anyway. but i am so glad i got this stone, it has 99.9% of what i wanted (i would have preferred and SI2 to eke out every last bit of smart spending!) and i haven't seen another one like it on WF since then. so if this one stone hadn't come along, i'd probably still be waiting. and the way the larger stones are scarce to begin with AND are being snapped up right away when they become available, i am really glad and feel lucky. so hopefully you won't have to wait too long to find the right round or cushion, but be prepared to be patient!

the first stone you posted looks more promising to me than the 2nd...i personally would not settle for GD or VG for polish or symm because you CAN get something amazing if you wait or just keep looking. also the girdle is v.thin-s.thick which is totally not what i would be looking for. also even though it's almost the same ct weight as the first one you posted, it's almost .20mm smaller. i wouldn't settle!

 

[leeenie]

6-8 months, oh man! That''s a long time.

I might have them call in the first stone, but if you don''t buy it, you have to pay for that, right? Or is it negotiated on a case-by-case basis? I''ve been in contact with Jamie but I can''t really talk on the phone to them at work, and after work is too late, so I have to wait for emails.

Generally, can you visually tell the difference between different polish and symmetry grades? Unfortunately I haven''t seen enough diamonds side by side in person to really know, and I don''t think any local stores would be able to help with that.

Thanks!