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Help with Diamond Thought Process

Winkin

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
20
Hi All,

I've been lurking for a while now and first want to start off by saying thank you to everyone who has posted information and helped me learn more than I thought I could about diamonds. This is my first diamond purchase and it will be for an engagement ring. Needless to say, I'm more than nervous about picking the 'right' diamond.

Some background: I am looking for a diamond in the 8-10k range. Some characteristics I would like: Ideal / H&A Cut, Color between F-H, and a clarity of SI1. I prefer to go with SI1 and an eye clean look so that I can get a slightly bigger diamond (ie: instead of a VS2 1 carat, a SI1 1.15 - 1.2 carat). Additionally, I have about 6 months before I plan to propose, so have some time to work with.

I have found a BGD that I like but was wondering if anyone could offer their opinion on the diamond, or any of my thoughts throughout this process. I would love critiques of my thought process and any suggestions you all may have. The link to the diamond is below:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/diamond-detail/?product_id=AGS-104047809047

Additionally, I have 2 questions I was hoping someone could clarify:

1) Is there a noticeable 'eye' difference between F and H? I realize holding them up next to each other would probably produce a noticeable difference, but does the H color by itself look colorless?

2) Do most ideal cut diamonds fall in the range of the 'best' angels for a diamond? Specifically, I found this posted on a thread here:

depth - 60 - 62%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees

What I'm asking is, if a diamond is deemed to have an 'ideal' cut, do the angels etc most likely fall into the range above or could they be anything?

Thanks for the help!
 

slg47

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
9,667
Re: Help me pick the RIGHT diamond

that diamond looks great. Most ideal cut diamonds will fit into those specs but those ranges can be too narrow-it is probably better and more useful to use HCA to find good candidates and confirm with IS.

of course if you are shopping at vendors who provide IS images and images then no need for that either :)

as far as color, maybe go look in person? some people can see differences more clearly than others, and some people are more 'bothered' by the differences than others.
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,242
Re: Help me pick the RIGHT diamond

slg47|1303419978|2902145 said:
that diamond looks great. Most ideal cut diamonds will fit into those specs but those ranges can be too narrow-it is probably better and more useful to use HCA to find good candidates and confirm with IS.

of course if you are shopping at vendors who provide IS images and images then no need for that either :)

as far as color, maybe go look in person? some people can see differences more clearly than others, and some people are more 'bothered' by the differences than others.


Yeah. Forget the cheat sheet, it'll pin you into an unnecessarily tight corner of someone else's very specific preferences, and you won't have the chance to find out if you actually do share them.

And everything else she said.
 

Winkin

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
20
Thank you to both of you for your help, it's much appreciated. I'll go ahead and drop the angle cheat sheet. Also, I like your idea of going in person prior and seeing if the difference in the color is something I can live with.

Hypothetical question to each of you if you don't mind:

2 diamonds: both Ideal cut / SI1 (eye clean).

Would you rather have an F - 1.15 carat, or a H - 1.22 carat. I've been struggling with choosing a slight color difference vs. a slight carat difference. I know, outside of a few people, no one will get close enough to the ring and that an increase in size (albeit a small one) may be better. I realize everyone's opinion is different (including mine!) but would love to hear your thoughts / opinion on this.

Thanks!
 

rubybeth

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
2,568
I'd go with size! :naughty: But, this is from someone who has an I color diamond, and I am not 'color sensitive' in the least so my diamond looks very white to me.
 

slg47

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 4, 2010
Messages
9,667
I would pick the F. the size difference between 1.15 and 1.2 is negligible.
 

wildcat03

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
904
I am pretty color-sensitive, so I would notice the difference between an F and an H if I were wearing it daily, and thus would prefer to sacrifice a little bit of carat weight. That's pretty much the theme in my life, though - I'd rather higher quality than bigger/"keeping up with the Joneses." What you know of your significant other's personality may help guide you here, but the difference between those two carat weights are pretty negligible - you probably won't really notice.
 

Winkin

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
20
Thanks for the replies everyone! When I go check out the difference in color, maybe I can also check out a .07 carat difference as well. :lol:
 
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