Hi PS''ers,
I''ve been a PS lurker and need your help, please! I''ve learned all I can from thousands of posts (many thanks) and am now frustrated on what''s a great diamond for me, personally. My fiance and I have been diamond shopping for a few months now and found a diamond that we both really liked because of the color (F), clarity (VS2), diameter (1.68 carat with a 7.73-7.75 diameter), price and sparkle we saw.
When the sun was setting and I took it to the store window to catch the sun''s rays, the diamond popped, for lack of a better word, like crazy and loved it. I forgot to view it in dim lighting though
so I can''t tell if it sparkled in shades either. I checked the table %, 55, and dept %, 61.1 and cut grade was GIA Ex. As my fiance put it, "we''re getting a bit of everything we want in this stone" - colorless, we can see sparkles, eye-clean, distinct hearts in idealscope, arrows were good, but I''ve seen better, looks big and is under our max price.
Everything seemed great until I got home and researched the crown/pavilion angles. The angles, 33 and 41.6, respectively, is what''s making me really worried on the quality of the light return on the diamond.
Please let me know what yall think of this rock. I don''t have any images, sorry! I wish I could get opinions from yall on those too.
GIA 9/19/2008
Round Brilliant
Report ID - 17491598
Carat - 1.68
Measurements - 7.73-7.75 x 4.73
Color - F
Clarity - VS2
Cut - Excellent
Polish/Symmetry - Excellent/Excellent
Fluorescence - none
Comments : Pinpoints not shown
Table - 55%
Depth - 61.1
Crown height (I think?) - 14.5%
Crown angle - 33
Pavilion - 41.6
Culet - none
Estimated price 19K (we''re getting a wax made for a custom setting from the vendor, so not set on final price yet).
Here''s some background on us:
Our max price for stone - $20K
Our ideal price for stone with great specs - as low as possible, 16-17K would be great
Our thinking of a reasonable price for a stone we''ll both love (will discuss this below) - around 18K-low 19K.
I plugged these numbers into the HCA and HCA says "4.1 - Good - Only if price is your main criterion" :*(*. It was G/G/G/VG.
Question1 - How hung up should I be on these numbers knowing that I want as big as a diamond I can get with awesome sparkles/light return in an F color within our price range?
Question2 - How big of a difference is good vs. very good vs. excellent for the light return in HCA? I mean, is it so much more obvious if I see another rock with the same color or a G, but slightly smaller (~1.4 carat) with high HCA to the point where I wish I had the smaller rock instead?
Question3 - The GIA report says pinpoints not shown. Does this mean the diamond has pinpoints and they won''t mark it on the cert? If yes, why not? I thought I saw pinpoints under the table, but when I kept looking at it with a loupe and in ideal scope, I couldn''t find them. Is there a reason why my eye would think there are pinpoints from looking at it from 12 inches, but with magnification I can''t see it? Could it be something called a refractor? I asked about that and the guy said he didn''t see an inclusion that would cause a refractor.
Ideally, I want something that looks close to what most 2 carats look like in diameter (or even a 2 carat!), but I also want it to have awesome light return and sparkle/brilliance/fire. Given our price range, I don''t see it possible to find a great sparkling 2 carat stone in F or maybe G color for under 20K (at least not without major visible inclusions). I''ve also come to learn that I love colorless diamonds, and that F should be the lowest I go (I kept picking out D, E and F''s out of random lineups), but I''m not ruling out G''s for price reasons.
I''ll sacrifice on size for sparkle, but I prefer not to go below ~7.70 in diameter. If the stone is a very eye clean SI1, I''d be up for going lower in clarity as well. Also, I''ve seen some of the hearts & arrows seen on PS and LOVE them! However, I can''t seem to reproduce and see the same H&A when I look at stones in person
even though the cert may say "Hearts & Arrows".
My fiance is more about bad ass quality for the price - smaller stone, like 1.5 or 1.4 (1.4 because of the price cut), with excellent eye quality and great specs, i.e. vs1, D, E or F, Ex cut. He likes eye clean stones where you cannot see any inclusion with the naked eye, and won''t mind seeing minor inclusions with magnification.
This is driving me nuts - it''s such a big purchase and I want to make sure we''re getting what we''re looking for at a reasonable price (I understand businesses need to make profits, but don''t want to feel ripped off). I don''t want or plan to upgrade later, but at the same time I want to make sure the diamond has great value too. Should we be more concerned with great numbers for re-sale value? Are we getting a good deal or not? Reasonable price or Overpaying? Ack. Please help.
Any thoughts/advice would be great and additional education for future visits on what to look for will be much appreciated, too. Also, recommendations on other stones from like WF or GOG are very welcomed. I worked with Sarah from GOG over emails and their service is great! It''s just so hard to make a decision without being able to see and compare in person
Thanks! Hope to hear from yall.
.roo
I''ve been a PS lurker and need your help, please! I''ve learned all I can from thousands of posts (many thanks) and am now frustrated on what''s a great diamond for me, personally. My fiance and I have been diamond shopping for a few months now and found a diamond that we both really liked because of the color (F), clarity (VS2), diameter (1.68 carat with a 7.73-7.75 diameter), price and sparkle we saw.
When the sun was setting and I took it to the store window to catch the sun''s rays, the diamond popped, for lack of a better word, like crazy and loved it. I forgot to view it in dim lighting though
Everything seemed great until I got home and researched the crown/pavilion angles. The angles, 33 and 41.6, respectively, is what''s making me really worried on the quality of the light return on the diamond.
Please let me know what yall think of this rock. I don''t have any images, sorry! I wish I could get opinions from yall on those too.
GIA 9/19/2008
Round Brilliant
Report ID - 17491598
Carat - 1.68
Measurements - 7.73-7.75 x 4.73
Color - F
Clarity - VS2
Cut - Excellent
Polish/Symmetry - Excellent/Excellent
Fluorescence - none
Comments : Pinpoints not shown
Table - 55%
Depth - 61.1
Crown height (I think?) - 14.5%
Crown angle - 33
Pavilion - 41.6
Culet - none
Estimated price 19K (we''re getting a wax made for a custom setting from the vendor, so not set on final price yet).
Here''s some background on us:
Our max price for stone - $20K
Our ideal price for stone with great specs - as low as possible, 16-17K would be great
Our thinking of a reasonable price for a stone we''ll both love (will discuss this below) - around 18K-low 19K.
I plugged these numbers into the HCA and HCA says "4.1 - Good - Only if price is your main criterion" :*(*. It was G/G/G/VG.
Question1 - How hung up should I be on these numbers knowing that I want as big as a diamond I can get with awesome sparkles/light return in an F color within our price range?
Question2 - How big of a difference is good vs. very good vs. excellent for the light return in HCA? I mean, is it so much more obvious if I see another rock with the same color or a G, but slightly smaller (~1.4 carat) with high HCA to the point where I wish I had the smaller rock instead?
Question3 - The GIA report says pinpoints not shown. Does this mean the diamond has pinpoints and they won''t mark it on the cert? If yes, why not? I thought I saw pinpoints under the table, but when I kept looking at it with a loupe and in ideal scope, I couldn''t find them. Is there a reason why my eye would think there are pinpoints from looking at it from 12 inches, but with magnification I can''t see it? Could it be something called a refractor? I asked about that and the guy said he didn''t see an inclusion that would cause a refractor.
Ideally, I want something that looks close to what most 2 carats look like in diameter (or even a 2 carat!), but I also want it to have awesome light return and sparkle/brilliance/fire. Given our price range, I don''t see it possible to find a great sparkling 2 carat stone in F or maybe G color for under 20K (at least not without major visible inclusions). I''ve also come to learn that I love colorless diamonds, and that F should be the lowest I go (I kept picking out D, E and F''s out of random lineups), but I''m not ruling out G''s for price reasons.
I''ll sacrifice on size for sparkle, but I prefer not to go below ~7.70 in diameter. If the stone is a very eye clean SI1, I''d be up for going lower in clarity as well. Also, I''ve seen some of the hearts & arrows seen on PS and LOVE them! However, I can''t seem to reproduce and see the same H&A when I look at stones in person
My fiance is more about bad ass quality for the price - smaller stone, like 1.5 or 1.4 (1.4 because of the price cut), with excellent eye quality and great specs, i.e. vs1, D, E or F, Ex cut. He likes eye clean stones where you cannot see any inclusion with the naked eye, and won''t mind seeing minor inclusions with magnification.
This is driving me nuts - it''s such a big purchase and I want to make sure we''re getting what we''re looking for at a reasonable price (I understand businesses need to make profits, but don''t want to feel ripped off). I don''t want or plan to upgrade later, but at the same time I want to make sure the diamond has great value too. Should we be more concerned with great numbers for re-sale value? Are we getting a good deal or not? Reasonable price or Overpaying? Ack. Please help.
Any thoughts/advice would be great and additional education for future visits on what to look for will be much appreciated, too. Also, recommendations on other stones from like WF or GOG are very welcomed. I worked with Sarah from GOG over emails and their service is great! It''s just so hard to make a decision without being able to see and compare in person
Thanks! Hope to hear from yall.
.roo
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