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Help Picking a decent Diamond and Setting

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haneytv

Rough_Rock
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Mar 9, 2010
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Hello everyone I am very new to the whole Diamond thing, its time to pop the question to my girlfriend and I need some help. I really didnt know there was so much to look for until finding this site. I am looking for some help picking a diamond for a setting I found. I need some advice on some different ones i was thinking about. I plan on going through USAA they have a great 0% finaning and my budget between the diamond and setting is $4000.

I attached the a pic of the setting I am thinking about going with. Its a 1/2ctw whitegold setting.

Now for the diamonds I am looking at

1.Price $2,015
Shape:Round Table:58%
Carat Weight:0.78 Depth:62.2%
Color:J Polish:Excellent
Clarity:SI1 Symmetry:Excellent
Cut:Excellent Girdle:M
Report Type:GIA Fluarescence:None
Report#1102232793 Culet:None
Measurements:5.94 x 5.9 x 3.68

2.Price $2,248
Shape:Round Table:54%
Carat Weight:0.82 Depth:62.2%
Color:J Polish:Very Good
Clarity:VS2 Symmetry:Excellent
Cut:Excellent Girdle:Thin
Report Type:GIA Fluarescence:None
Report#2111380849 Culet:None
Measurements:6.06 x 6.03 x 3.76

3.Price $1,923
Shape:Round Table:58%
Carat Weight:0.63 Depth:60.6%
Color:G Polish:Very Good
Clarity:VS2 Symmetry:Very Good
Cut:Excellent Girdle:M
Report Type:GIA Fluarescence:None
Report#2111711167 Culet:None
Measurements:5.6 x 5.58 x 3.39


Please let me know your thoughts on these three and what i need to consider. Any help would help me out greatly!

settting.jpg
 
Thanks for posting the links on the reports.

Could you give me some pointers on what to look for? whats not good about these three?
 
Use the cut adviser.

https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp

If it score 2 and below, it is worth the effort to get an idealscope image, call it in for a look etc. Score higher than that usually will have light leakage under the table. Note that this is a rejection tool not a selection tool, so a stone scoring 1 is not necessary better than one scoring 1.8.
 
Date: 3/9/2010 11:29:30 AM
Author: Stone-cold11
1) http://www2.gia.edu/reportcheck/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showReportVerification&reportno=1102232793&weight=0.78

2) http://www2.gia.edu/reportcheck/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showReportVerification&reportno=2111380849&weight=0.82

3) http://www2.gia.edu/reportcheck/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showReportVerification&reportno=2111711167&weight=0.63

No to all 3, ask to see more stones.
Click to expand...




Date: 3/9/2010 11:37:09 AM
Author: haneytv
Thanks for posting the links on the reports.

Could you give me some pointers on what to look for? whats not good about these three?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the links Stonecold!

Hi Haney,


I also say these three aren't great choices.

1) Has a steep pavilion angle, undesirable in a J colour especially as this can make the stone retain colour. Also chances are the stone will show light leakage.

2) Is what we call a steep deep angled stone, risk of light leakage which you don't want.

3) Very steep pavilion angle, high chance of light leakage because of this.
 
Also here are some proportions some of us use as a guide to help find well cut round diamonds, bear in mind it is only a guide and some proportion sets beyond these ranges can work well especially if you have supporting images such as Idealscope.

depth - 60 - 62% - although my personal preference is to allow up to 62.4%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees
girdle - avoid extremes, look for thin to slightly thick, thin to medium etc
polish and symmetry - very good and above

note - with crown and pavilion angles at the shallower ends ( CA 34- PA 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35- PA 41) check to make sure these angles complement in that particular diamond - eyeballs, Idealscope, trusted vendor input - check as appropriate!



As the above implies, configurations depend on each other. A little give here can still work with a little take there.

From expert John Pollard.

With that said, here's a "Cliff's Notes" for staying near Tolkowsky/ideal angles with GIA reports (their numbers are rounded): A crown angle of 34.0, 34.5 or 35.0 is usually safe with a 40.8 pavilion angle. If pavilion angle = 40.6 lean toward a 34.5-35.0 crown. If pavilion angle = 41 lean toward a 34.0-34.5 crown.



GIA "EX" in cut is great at its heart, but it ranges a bit wider than some people prefer, particularly in deep combinations (pavilion > 41 with crown > 35).



 
Woo So i have more than I thought I needed to look at. Thank you so much for the advice and the tools to help. Not sure how big of a stone I should be looking for, for this type of setting. Also please let me know your opinion on the setting i picked?

Ok so i have looked at a couple different stones and used the tools to try and locate a better stone. This is what i came up with.

1.Price $2,383
Shape:Round Table:57%
Carat Weight:0.73 Depth:62.2%
Color:H Polish:Very Good
Clarity:SI1 Symmetry:Excellent
Cut:Excellent Girdle:M-stk
Report Type:GIA Fluarescence:None
Report#2111595345 Culet:None
Measurements:5.77 x 5.71 x 3.58

2.Price $2,134
Shape:Round Table:58%
Carat Weight:0.75 Depth:60.8%
Color:I Polish:Excellent
Clarity:SI1 Symmetry:Excellent
Cut:Excellent Girdle:Thin
Report Type:GIA Fluarescence:Faint
Report#2111365389 Culet:None
Measurements:5.89 x 5.86 x 3.57

So how do these compare to the first ones i posted?
 
sorry but i have to ask what a idealscope image is?
 
Date: 3/9/2010 8:03:50 PM
Author: haneytv
sorry but i have to ask what a idealscope image is?
Click to expand...
I linked it for you in my post with the little red Idealscope link at the top but you might not be familiar with my linking style!
 
Thanks for the info on the Idealscope, I understand how it works now. I am going to call USAA and find out if they have Idalscope images of the stones. Not really sure how there process works. I think they deal with a few different stone dealers and everythings just hosted on there site to purchase through them.

I may have to look at different settings and try to spend alittle extra on the diamond itself. I want to get something thats a decent size, but not crazy expensive. I was trying to stay around $2,500 for the diamond.
 
Well I called USAA and the first lady I talked with said she was a diamond specialist and then I asked about the Idealscope image and she said what’s that? I just told her I had to go and would call back at a later time. Well I called back again and got a different lady, she is checking on getting me the images, but said it may take awhile.

I was a little disappointed with USAA and kind of leaning away from buying my Diamond from them. I called up Whiteflash and talked with a very knowledgeable lady who answered a lot of other questions. So I am going to do some diamond hunting on their site.
 
here are the three new diamonds I am thinking about. Also trying to decide on a WF setting now.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2192364.htm
.614ct F VS2 ACA hearts & arrows diamond $2089


http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2231002.htm
.611ct H VS1 ACA hearts & arrows diamond $1901


http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2228592.htm
.713ct H VS2 ACA hearts & arrows diamond $2707
 
Date: 3/10/2010 10:31:40 PM
Author: haneytv
here are the three new diamonds I am thinking about. Also trying to decide on a WF setting now.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2192364.htm
.614ct F VS2 ACA hearts & arrows diamond $2089


http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2231002.htm
.611ct H VS1 ACA hearts & arrows diamond $1901


http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/whiteflash-aca-cut-diamond-2228592.htm
.713ct H VS2 ACA hearts & arrows diamond $2707
Click to expand...
clickable
 
That is quite a range in price. What are you more comfortable spending? Any of those diamonds would look great.
 
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