Help with this stone - limited time to decide!

[Brassai]

I''m hoping I might be able to get some help with a diamond I have just purchased off the web.
I have a limited time to decide if I want to return it or not and would love any opinions.
I haven''t looked at the stone long as yet, and without knowing a lot about diamonds I''m concerned that this stone may actually be a bit bland looking - not sure if it is dull, or lacking fire, or if its just my imagination.
This has got me a bit freaked out!

These are the stone characteristics:
Round Brilliant
Carat: 0.905
Dimensions: 6.32-6.29 x 3.77mm
Color: F
Clarity: VS1
Total Depth: 59.8%
Table: 58.4%
Crown height: 13.3%
Crown angle: 33.1
Pavilion height: 43.7%
Pavilion angle: 41.1
Girdle: Medium
Culet: Pointed
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Very Good

The attached images aren''t very good, but I''ve tried to take a picture of the stone as well as include the Ideal Scope and Ray Trace the vendor provided. (first time attaching files, I apologize if I mess this up)
Thanks for any help/opinions!

 

[Brassai]

here is the ray trace

 

[Brassai]

this is the stone

 

[JulieN]

Here's what I think. They should send you a REAL IS, not a model of what it MIGHT look like. And in the picture it looks...not too great. Maybe it's the lighting.

 

[Brassai]

Thanks for advice - I agree on the picture.

Unless I''m reading these papers wrong though, I think this is the actual IS picture - I''ve scanned the 1 page document they gave me and cropped everything but that picture.
Sadly, the documentation with this stone is pretty limited. I haven''t had it appraised elsewhere to get something more complete as my initial concern was that it may not be worth the trouble.

The stone actually looks not bad in incandescent light, but the picture I took was in overcast daylight through my apartment window - I thought the stone looked crap and was really disappointed.
Wanted to ask everyone''s opinion though as maybe I''m not judging this objectively.

Here is another photo I took - not sure it is any better quality though.
Any further thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[JulieN]

Never looks good under cloudy skies... check out Garry's "conservatory video" (homepage)

Looks much beter in second picture. (amazing?)

Errrr...Don't think that's the actual IS image. Too symmetrical, the whites are VERY white... Can you make it bigger?

 

[Brassai]

I guess cloudy skies aren''t too fair .
I''ll have to try this out tomorrow under a variety of lighting conditions, but so far it seems that the stone only looks good under incandescant light.
The photo I took with a flash looked great (surprise!).
My apartment doesn''t give me too many other options though; but I did see it under flourescent light and again it didn''t excite. Is that typical though?
I''ll try to attach an enlarged picture (hope it posts correctly).
By the way, this 1 page report says it''s generated by OctoNus Diamond Calculator - anyone heard of this?
Thanks!

 

[JulieN]

Yup, that's not an IS PHOTO. It is an IS model either generated by OctoNus DiamCalc using numbers from Sarin scan or by plugging in numbers. Curious, who is the vendor?

 

[Brassai]

It''s the Diamond Exchange (Toronto).
is that bad?

 

[JulieN]

You know, in the second picture, it looks great. Too bad it isn''t mounted... you could take it out to some stores and see if it is as nice, nicer or not as nice.

 

[Brassai]

That figures, maybe I''ll have to find myself a reputable appraiser and proceed to get a more complete report if indeed the stone does look better when I have more opportunity to see it in different light.
Anyone able to recommend a decent appraiser in Toronto?

Also, I am ultimately planning on having a setting made for the stone at a b&m store that does decent work (I''ve seen some of the custom settings and they looked great IMO). The owner perportedly imports in a lot of diamonds direct from Europe which he personally selects (true, or a sales pitch I''m not sure). Would it be bad form to bring in the stone and get his opinion and/or compare shop it to loose stones that he might have for sale?

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Well, he for sure will tell you he has some that are better! You''d be better off taking it to an independent appraiser. What kind of certificate does it have? Does it have a cut rating? I know it does not fall into the cut parameters of a WhiteFlash ACA diamond, for example, but I don''t know how far off those numbers would be considered to be. We need one of the cut experts to come over here!

 

[Brassai]

Heh heh - you''re right; wishful thinking on my part that I could just compare the stone there!

This stone is graded ICE Excellent, which as far as I can tell is an in-house term for the vendor.
I was surprised to see though that the grading report went a little further than what I was told online.
It actually says:
"Cutting/Proportions Grade: ICE Excellent (Excellent 1) according to AGS appraising system"
The appraisal card accompanying the stone (which resembles a credit card) is done by IGI.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Gosh, you''d have to get an independent appraisal on a stone that is not GIA or AGS certified. I would expect that the color and clarity might be lower than the cert says.

 

[JulieN]

Using HCA, it does fall into parameters for AGS 0 candidates.

 

[Brassai]

Thanks for the responses.
I''m still not sure what to make of this stone though.

Can anyone give me their thoughts on the stone characteristics?
I''m not well versed in this, but from what I have read is the crown angle too shallow in this stone (and similarly the crown height too small)?
Would a stone with a steeper crown angle (all else the same) likely have a more brilliant appearance, or is the pavillion what really makes the difference here?

Thanks again