Help needed: Diamond for E-Ring

[Jayne]

Hello. I visit Pricescope regularly to admire so many pretty diamonds here. It is now the time I get to pick my own diamond for engagement ring. Living in Thailand, choice for ideal cut diamond is very very limited. My boyfriend will be traveling to the USA next month, so getting a diamond there could be an option.

I came across this one diamond locally and would like to hear your thoughts if I should go with it, or keep looking for a better cut diamond..

Here are the details of the diamond
Carat: 2.55 ct
Color: i
Clarity: VS1
Measure: 8.83x8.85x5.39
Depth: 60.9%
table width: 57%
crown height: 13.5% (32.4 degree)
Pavilion depth: 44% (41.3 degree)
Certificate: HRD
Tripple Excellent
Price for this diamond is approx. 20K USD.

The seller says she is keeping the diamond at this price for me for a week, and will adjust the price up if I do not make my decision.

Should I go with this diamond? Is it considered a good value? Or should I go a bit lower in color and visit other vendors like Whiteflash? Your comments and opinions are much appreciated.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Here are the details of the diamond

crown height: 13.5% (32.4 degree)
Pavilion depth: 44% (41.3 degree)
Certificate: HRD
Tripple Excellent
Price for this diamond is approx. 20K USD.

The seller says she is keeping the diamond at this price for me for a week, and will adjust the price up if I do not make my decision.

This is a flat top stone with a deep bottom half...
She will not adjust the price upward just a sales tactic...

 

[diamondsR4eVR]

This is a flat top stone with a deep bottom half...
She will not adjust the price upward just a sales tactic...

What makes a stone flat top?

 

[coda72]

I would get this stone from Whiteflash instead.

Diamond | 2.365 ct J VS2 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4113560

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 2.365 carat J color VS2 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4113560

www.whiteflash.com

 

[coda72]

This is smaller, but one I would also consider for $20k.

https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD10814

 

[coda72]

Brian Gavin’s stones seem a bit more expensive, but here’s one from them to round things out.

2.262 J VS1 Signature Round

Buy diamonds online - AGS graded 2.262 carat J VS1 Round super ideal cut Brian Gavin Hearts & Arrows Diamond. Lifetime Upgrade Policy!

www.briangavindiamonds.com

 

[bludiva]

i would not buy from someone who uses a pressure sales tactic like that.

 

[lovedogs]

I wouldn't buy that stone. Vendor is using an idiotic sales tactic. I would go with WF/HPD if you want an ideal cut

 

[Dancing Fire]

What makes a stone flat top?

IMO, MRB crown height should be closer to 15% with a crown angle near 34.5'

 

[Jayne]

Thank you every one for your suggestions

Will have my boyfriend to visit the recommended vendors while he is in the States. The 2.365 ACA is on the top of my list now. Thank you once again

 

[sledge]

Agree the proportions of this stone aren't the most promising. Throw in variation for rounding & averaging of actual values and I like it even less.

Running an HCA, you can see it receives a 2.2 score. Normally we recommend stones 0-2, with a preference of 1-2 for e-rings. Sometimes up to 2.5 is acceptable assuming the stone shows good hearts & arrow (H&A) patterning.

When you look beyond the score, you will see the light return, scintillation and fire are rated as "very good". When you get a stone with more favorable proportions, all 3 of these metrics will push into the "excellent" category, which is what you want.

Putting the HCA aside, as @Dancing Fire and others have indicated, this stone has a shallow crown and trying to compensate with an overly steep 41.3 pavilion. The problem being that at 41.2, you can start to develop leakage. Granted, the HRD report just shows us an average of the pavilion angles. You'd need to see the actual values of all 8 pavilion angles to know for sure, but it's very likely this stone will have leakage if you had an ASET or IS image to compare.

Short version -- keep shopping, you can do better!



If you are open to J color, here are a couple more options for you. One that gets you over the 2.5 carat mark.

With the dollars being so similar I actually prefer the slightly larger stone, mainly because the still photo of the stone looks whiter to me than the 2.44. Also, while both sets of proportions are amazing, I prefer the smaller 55 table of the 2.531 stone. FYI, both stones are listed as "eye clean" but if you get interested, definitely confirm this is good with you as I noticed you were originally looking at VS1 clarity.

Diamond | 2.442 ct J VS2 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4109836

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 2.442 carat J color VS2 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4109836

www.whiteflash.com

Diamond | 2.531 ct J SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4123850

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 2.531 carat J color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4123850

www.whiteflash.com