Help with 2-2.5ct. pear shaped diamond choices!!

[abbylia]

Hello all! I am a new member, but I have been lurking around pricescope for a long long time and researching diamonds forever. I''ve always been in love with the pear shape and FINALLY the DH is coming around and has given me the go ahead to make my dream ring! I went to three different jewelry stores in my area, but I knew more than the sales clerk, so I was discouraged and have concentrated my searching to online. The only issue is that I am rather particular and very indecisive; not to mention that the inventory of pear shapes out there leaves a lot to be desired. I want something with a L/w ratio of around 1.50. Anyway enough blabbering and onto the specs....tell me what you think. ...and if I am crazy for wanting to make such a big purchase sight unseen.

(all from Blue Nile)

2.60 carat E VS2
Depth: 60.7%
Table: 54%
Pol: EX Sym: VG
Girdle: slightly to very thick
Flor: Faint
Cutlet: none
11.73 x 7.67 x 4.93
L/W ratio: 1.53


2.33 carat D VVS1
Depth: 60.3
Table: 63
Pol: EX Sym: VG
Girdle: Medium to thick, faceted
Flor: none
Cutlet: none
11.73 x 7.49 x 4.52
L/W ratio: 1.57


2.22 carat D VVS2
Depth: 57.8
Table: 61
Pol: EX Sym: G
Girdle: Medium to slightly thick, faceted
Flor: faint
Cutlet: none
11.30 x 7.56 x 4.37
L/W ratio: 1.49


I tend to like stone number two, but I am held back by the l/w ratio (it''s also ~3K more expensive than the other two...poor hubby haha). I also like stone number three, but I''m worried about the symmetry only being Good as I''ve heard that Symmetry is important in sparkle. Help please!!

Also setting...I''m between the pear shaped side stones and baguettes. opinions??

Thanks in advance! I hope I get some responses!!

 

[Lorelei]

Hi abby

With BN they don't suppy images which are so essential for buying a pear, particularly ASET and detailed photos so it is really buying blind, you can't tell much by the numbers as all they give you are a chalk outline of the stone at best, so no way to tell how beautiful or well cut these are. Symmetry and polish are not as important as the critical angles and the rest of the physical proportions of a diamond, good and above usually looks the same to the naked untrained eye. The only diamond I would be interested in out of the three listed is the first, the second have larger tables than depth, the reverse is normally preferred.

If you are unfamiliar with ASET, this page explains

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance

What I would suggest is to work with a vendor who call call pears in from the virtual listing or has in house pears. Check out these vendors.

www.goodoldgold.com

www.whiteflash.com

www.jamesallen.com

www.niceice.com

Also if you don't mind me asking, whereabouts are you located? Some of the vendors have brick and mortar stores as well as online inventory.

 

[Ellen]

Ditto Lorelei.

 

[abbylia]

I have checked out the other sites...I've really been at this forever...Most of those sites don't carry any better diamonds than bluenile with the specs I want...D,E, or F. and no less than VS2 and min. 2+carats.

I've also done some looking into the supposed ideals for pear cut diamonds in terms of table, depth, pavillion angle etc. I do know of course that cut is most important, but I read another post where a member made a car analogy that said G symmetry was like a mustang, where VG was like a porsche...so that influenced my opinion on the symmetry issue.

I've looked at all the sites, and seen photos of diamonds on jamesallen.com and samples of diamonds in the stores (all of which had less than my standards) and the markup was huge. So I began to feel like online was the best way to go..and I've talked to BlueNile and felt the most confident about making this big of a purchase from them.

goodoldgold: no diamonds that match my search criteria
jamesallen: there is one diamond, 2.38 D VS2...but it is 10k below what DH has allowed me to spend, so it feels like I could get a better stone for the money
whiteflash: only diamond I like has same specs as diamond 1 at bluenile
niceice: I had not looked at this site...but I just did and apparently I need to send a request for them to look for one.
I've also looked at adiamor, abaizas, tiffanys...

Am I being unrealistic and searching for the holy grail of pear diamonds?? Do you guys think I need to enlist the help of an actual diamond seeker? or a miracle worker? hahaa

Oh, I'm in Miami, FL.

So you both think that number one is best? It's funny I thought that one was the worst since it was the most carat weight for the money. Also, how beneficial is it for the girdle to be faceted?

 

[Marjan12]

Hi Abbylia -

I think that the above vendors are so recommended not just b/c they have the right stones in house but b/c they can call almost any stone in. Once you have the stones with one of these trusted vendors, they will tell you everything there is to know, and provide all the needed scans, pics, etc.

I would call one of them if I saw any stones at any other site that I liked, and ask them to call the stones in and review them. Or, you could ask them to do their own search w/in your parameters and they''ll find the stones.

Good luck!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/17/2009 9:58:06 AM
Author: abbylia
I have checked out the other sites...I've really been at this forever...Most of those sites don't carry any better diamonds than bluenile with the specs I want...D,E, or F. and no less than VS2 and min. 2+carats.

I've also done some looking into the supposed ideals for pear cut diamonds in terms of table, depth, pavillion angle etc. I do know of course that cut is most important, but I read another post where a member made a car analogy that said G symmetry was like a mustang, where VG was like a porsche...so that influenced my opinion on the symmetry issue.

I've looked at all the sites, and seen photos of diamonds on jamesallen.com and samples of diamonds in the stores (all of which had less than my standards) and the markup was huge. So I began to feel like online was the best way to go..and I've talked to BlueNile and felt the most confident about making this big of a purchase from them.

goodoldgold: no diamonds that match my search criteria
jamesallen: there is one diamond, 2.38 D VS2...but it is 10k below what DH has allowed me to spend, so it feels like I could get a better stone for the money
whiteflash: only diamond I like has same specs as diamond 1 at bluenile
niceice: I had not looked at this site...but I just did and apparently I need to send a request for them to look for one.
I've also looked at adiamor, abaizas, tiffanys...

Am I being unrealistic and searching for the holy grail of pear diamonds?? Do you guys think I need to enlist the help of an actual diamond seeker? or a miracle worker? hahaa

Oh, I'm in Miami, FL.

So you both think that number one is best? It's funny I thought that one was the worst since it was the most carat weight for the money. Also, how beneficial is it for the girdle to be faceted?

I would recommend you keep an open mind with the symmetry issue, honestly you see a lot of good in fancy shapes and it isn't an issue, top symmetry is looked for more in top cut round diamonds rather than fancy shapes. Read more here
http://diamonds.pricescope.com/symm.asp

What I would do is this as Marjan suggested, some of the virtual diamonds are listed with multiple vendors, many of these also appear on BN as they are actually held by the suppliers. If you find one you like, ask one of the vendors who supply images if they can call it in such as GOG, Whiteflash etc. There is often a charge for this but it is worth it as this is a huge purchase and the vendor can then supply images for you such as ASET and photos.

If you prefer to stick with BN they do have a good return policy so if you are prepared to buy blind and hope you like what you see when you open the box, if not you can always return it. The other vendors also have good return policies by the way.

 

[abbylia]

Thanks everyone so much for your help!!! I''ve def. been way too focused on only what is listed on the diamond search sites; without taking that next step to actually call and make the different sites work for me to find my "perfect pear".

Thank you Lorelei for the info about having a smaller table than depth. It seem so obvious now looking at the ideal ranges...but I had no clue!

Any other tips for pears? They seem so much more difficult than, say RBs.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/17/2009 6:26:39 PM
Author: abbylia
Thanks everyone so much for your help!!! I've def. been way too focused on only what is listed on the diamond search sites; without taking that next step to actually call and make the different sites work for me to find my 'perfect pear'.

Thank you Lorelei for the info about having a smaller table than depth. It seem so obvious now looking at the ideal ranges...but I had no clue!

Any other tips for pears? They seem so much more difficult than, say RBs.

Most welcome!

Here is a chart you can use as a guide, don't be too concerned if you find a diamond you like that doesn't quite match up as the chart is to be used as a guide only.

http://diamonds.pricescope.com/fnc3.asp

Also I had a thought, as you are in Fl, you could contact www.abazias.com and ask if you could make an appointment to see some large pears, give them a call and tell them what you are looking for.

Also pears often show an effect called a bow tie, this literally looks like a bow tie across the middle of the diamond. You can see examples and read more in this page.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/ShapeTutorials/ShapeTips1/

Always inspect each pear carefully to see to what extent a bow tie shows, some pears may show this more than others but if you are ok with a distinct bow tie this is not a problem. Also pears can show a bit more warmth than rounds so I would look at H or better for colour initially.