Help me pick between these 2 ROUND BRILLIANT CUTS - Making decision tomorrow!!!

[niceguymr]

Which would you rather have and why? Stone (A) is larger with an excellent spread, but lacks in cut quality. Stone (B) is slightly smaller, has a superior cut quality (Excellent vs Very Good) and color (D vs F), but also has FAINT fluorescence. I've really been trying to stick to 'none' for fluorescence, but now I'm not sure since reading the GIA report on flurorescence. I'm thinking the 'faint' fluorescence should be unnoticeable under nearly all ordinary light conditions, but I'm not sure... The HCA scores are comparable, but doesn't take into account COLOR and FLUORESCENCE. Both stones cost the same (approx $10K), but stone A is from a local B&M and stone B is from the internet.

STONE A
GIA Certified
Round Brilliant Cut
1.52 Ct
F
SI1
Cut: Very Good
Culet: None
Flour: None
Pollish: Exellent
Sym: Very Good
Girdle: Thin - Medium
Meas: 7.55 x 7.61 x 4.42
Table: 61
Depth: 58.3
Crown Angle: 31.5%
Pavillion Angle: 41.2%
Under the Clarity Legend, the only 2 flaws listed are 'Crystal' and 'Needle'.
HCA INFO:
Light Return Very Good
Fire Very Good
Scintillation Good
Spread Excellent
Total Visual Performance 2.4 - Very Good - Worth buying if the price is right


STONE B
GIA Certified
Round Brilliant Cut
1.43 Ct
D
SI1
Cut: Excellent
Culet: None
Flour: Faint
Pollish: Very Good
Sym: Excellent
Girdle: Medium to Sligthly Thick
Meas: 7.19 - 7.21 X 4.43
Table: 59
Depth: 61.5
Crown Angle: 35.0
Pavillion Angle: 40.8
Under the Clarity Legend, the only flaw listed is 'Crystal'.
HCA INFO:
Light Return Very Good
Fire Very Good
Scintillation Very Good
Spread Very Good
Total Visual Performance 2.1 Very Good - Worth buying if the price is right

 

[Daveo]

Both look good, but I like B stone better. Cut to me is more important. I do not think faint is going to be visible from what I have read on the internet. Good luck with tomorrow!

 

[JulieN]

May I submit stone C:

Stone (A) is larger with an excellent spread, Stone (B) is slightly smaller
-Stone C is larger than B, but slightly smaller than A

stone A: VG GIA, 2.4 HCA polish: ex, sym vg
stone B: EX GIA, 2.1 HCA polish: vg, sym ex
Stone C: EX GIA, 1.9 HCA polish: ex, sym ex

Stone A: F color
Stone B: D
Stone C: E

A: no flour
B: faint flour
C: no flour

A/B: SI1
C: SI2...have to call to ask. but looks eyeclean to me.

what is this amazing stone? dun dun dun... I give you (!) http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-821291.htm

mention PS and get a discount!

 

[niceguymr]

Date: 5/4/2006 9:04:21 PM
Author: Daveo
Both look good, but I like B stone better. Cut to me is more important. I do not think faint is going to be visible from what I have read on the internet. Good luck with tomorrow!

That''s what I''m worried about. There''s a lot of info on the internet, but I haven''t really had the opportunity to compare too many stones of varying degrees of fluorescense side by side and in person. I wish I just knew more certainly what the effect of a ''faint'' fluorescense would be on a ''D'' colored diamond

 

[niceguymr]

Date: 5/4/2006 9:18:36 PM
Author: JulieN
May I submit stone C:

Stone (A) is larger with an excellent spread, Stone (B) is slightly smaller
-Stone C is larger than B, but slightly smaller than A

stone A: VG GIA, 2.4 HCA polish: ex, sym vg
stone B: EX GIA, 2.1 HCA polish: vg, sym ex
Stone C: EX GIA, 1.9 HCA polish: ex, sym ex

Stone A: F color
Stone B: D
Stone C: E

A: no flour
B: faint flour
C: no flour

A/B: SI1
C: SI2...have to call to ask. but looks eyeclean to me.

what is this amazing stone? dun dun dun... I give you (!) http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-821291.htm

mention PS and get a discount!

I don''t know about eyeclean. That''s got a whole bunch of ''flaws'' just underneath the table (feather, needle, cloud, crystal). The feathers and clouds are what bother me the most. I''ve looked at several SI2 in person and gernerally they look pretty ''dirty'' under a 10x loupe.

Curious though... what kinda discount do we get off their ''advertised'' price for mentioning PS?

 

[JulieN]

eye-clean means shoot the loupe!

on WF, you get a PS discount.
other places, JA, GOG you get a wire transfer discount, somewhere 1.5-2%. WF has a wire transfer discount, too. They will give you whichever one is more (usually the PS discount.)

 

[Kaleigh]

Don't shoot the loupe. It's a great tool in your search. Everyone has their own definition of what eye clean is. Mine is if I can see the inclusions with my eye, it's a no go. There are threads on this and you can look them up. Some say mind clean, etc.. Not all SI's are created equal. Many are eye clean, many are not. I love a stone that is an SI and eye clean because it get's you more for the money. HTH, good luck!!

ETA: the loupe allows you to see the nature of the inclusions. It's good to use it in getting to know your stone. That's why I say don't shoot the loupe. Any diamond you buy you should know all it's beauty marks and the like!!

 

[niceguymr]

Market value dictates that Stone A is the better deal. This is based on searching for comporable stones and comparing prices. Stone A is clearly the better value. The closes stone on PS to stone A will cost me about $700 more than buying it from my local B&M.

Where as with Stone B, I'm paying PS market value. There doesn't seem to be a great gain, other than I know I'm getting a better 'cut' and 'color' stone. But, it's also 'smaller' and 'fluoresces' more. It's a trade off.

Gee...

 

[sunkist]

Date: 5/4/2006 11:20:43 PM
Author: JulieN
eye-clean means shoot the loupe!


on WF, you get a PS discount.

other places, JA, GOG you get a wire transfer discount, somewhere 1.5-2%. WF has a wire transfer discount, too. They will give you whichever one is more (usually the PS discount.)

However the PS discount does not apply to credit card purchases. It has to be by wire, check, etc. to get the discount.

 

[ladykemma]

my vote is for the fluorescent one. fluorescence is cool! ehhhh-uhhhh.... ala beevis and butthead....

 

[Dandi]

I''d go for B too. Cut is so important, and some fluorescence is a small price to pay for a much better looking stone.

 

[atroop711]

I would go with cut any day. I have strong flour and a SI2 which is eye clean and amazing. GL with whatever you do.

As for the "C" stone, (I didn''t have time to run the numbers) but you can call WF and have them tell you if it is eye clean. I worked with them, gave them about 6 stones that I thought were interesting. The liked 2 of them. I found them to be honest.

GL

 

[niceguymr]

Bump for the morning / day crew.

I''m seriously getting ready to make a decision today. I appreciate everyone''s input!

 

[Kaleigh]

Another vote here for stone B. It''s all about cut for moi.

 

[indecisive]

Go with the better cut one!! There is a reason the poorly cut one is cheaper.

 

[fire&ice]

Hands down I would go with A. You''ve seen it in person. You seem to like it. It''s a spready stone - it''s 30mm visually bigger plus stone B has a med to slightly thick girdle - giving it even less mm. The difference between HCA 2.4 & 2.1 is a margin of error. You may not see as much fire but you will see bright light return. Plus, you said it was eye clean - the other may not be. I would make sure to view the stone in several different lighting situations.

Good luck.

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 5/4/2006 9:53:16 PM
Author: niceguymr

I wish I just knew more certainly what the effect of a ''faint'' fluorescense would be on a ''D'' colored diamond

Absolutely no discernable effect will be visible to your eye unless you are in a room with ultraviolet lighting, and maybe not even then. You will not see any effect in out of doors lighting either. There is no pricing change for faint either. (There might be 0-3% discount for IF-VVS and 0-2% for VS, but no pricing effect for SI)

Wink

 

[niceguymr]

Well, I just made an offer for Stone A along with a ring setting that is identical to the $1900 James Allen Platinum Round Brilliant Eternity Micropave' Diamond Engagement Ring (http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/settings-with-sidestones.asp?module=setting&cid=58&item=267). The deal will also include an insurance appraisal for the ring as well as for a couple of wristwatches that I own and one free pollish (or Rhodium dip) for the ring to be done just prior to the wedding. I left the store and am waiting for a phone call to let me know if it's a deal. If the deal goes through, I'll be getting all this out the door for $10,800 on my AMEX (I want the points plus the added protection of my purchase). Considering the cost/value of the ring itself, I think I'm getting a GREAT deal on the stone (if they accept the offer). Please cross your fingers for me.

 

[Houseparty]

Stone "A" may be a "good value" (I do not wish to dispute that), but a 31.5 degree CA with a 61 table is too shallow of a crown for my tastes. I like to see a little somthing upstairs, you know what I mean...