How much are you willing to compromise for a bargain?

[yennyfire]

I am not reading the other replies until I reply so I am not influenced in any way. It depends on the specific stone we are talking about because old cuts are different than modern cuts or newly cut stones made to look like old cuts. Old cuts are their own genre IMO and I do not consider it a sacrifice in any way not to have an ideally cut (as measured by today's cut stones) true old cut stone. I adore their special wonkiness and everything about them. My personal preference is very different than someone else's personal preference and with old cuts there simply (IMO) is no right or wrong. You love and adore what you love and adore.

The perfect marriage of old cut beauty is chunky facets with even light play and a bright beautiful (however one defines it) stone. The color play, the light play and the symmetrical facets all are important and to me one thing I learned is J (and K and L) with VS clarity is my general sweet spot for old cuts (though there are definitely some exceptions!) and the numbers don't matter to me with old cuts. It is what my eye sees over all else. Over the ASET, over the cert, etc. How the stone performs in all different environments indoors and out. This is what matters to me. And at J the tint all but disappears to my eye and that works for me. And the bigger OECs allow me to see those delicious facets up close without the need for glasses. And that makes me happy too.

And part of this decision is a journey as we get to know what we love and adore as it is fluid and changing as we learn more. At each stage I got what I loved at the time (and could afford) and it brought me to what I know is my final diamond for my ER.

With modern cut stones CUT is king and queen and all in between and color is high on the list right after that. G is my sweet spot for MRB (and VS clarity). Higher color in MRBs work for me too though but nothing lower than G for me for MRB.

One of my favorite sayings is "A deal is only a deal if you are getting exactly what you want"



and also:



Off to read the replies now.

As always, the sage Missy hits the nail on the head. This, 1000%. Luckily for me, I prefer old cuts to modern cut stones, so I don't need a CBI or ACA (not that I'd kick one out of bed if it were gifted to me! ). That gives me the room to give a little on the C's because I do think that old cuts tend to carry color differently than modern cut stones and there is no one "ideal" proportion set for old cuts. There are guidelines, but at the end of the day, it's what your own eye loves.

So my #1 is facet pattern, then size, then color, then clarity, though it has to be eye clean (by my personal standards, which seem to get less stringent as I age and my eyes get worse! ).

 

[ohsomethingshiny]

Interesting. I might be slightly sensitive.....scored an 8.

Apparently 0 is perfect, and 378079 is blind as a bat.

Screen cap of results:


Screen cap as early as I thought to capture a "starting point":


Screen cap when I was done:

I did this one too and scored a zero. Made me think that maybe I could be decent at color grading stones. That was something I was nervous about prior to taking the test.

 

[ohsomethingshiny]

Interesting. I might be slightly sensitive.....scored an 8.

Apparently 0 is perfect, and 378079 is blind as a bat.

I had my husband, the marketing/photography/graphics guy, take the test. He scored a 23. No wonder he often asks me to tell him what color his pants are and which pieces match with what shoes. LOL!

 

[ccuheartnurse]

I mainly sacrifice colour. I love G (centre stone of my 3 stone pendant) actually have 4 H's currently (studs & side stones in my 3 stone pendant). But those are smaller sizes but for my ring stones, yes, I compromised on colour & while I do see tint in a J, I live with it. Mind you, I live with it happily because the J will allow me to get a larger rock which is my motivation. I will go as low as a K max for vintage stones as I like the softer look of them as opposed to stark white. I don't, however, compromise on cut. My paremeters are pretty tight & the stone has to be within those tolerances in order for me to buy them. I do compromise on clarity, as I've been lucky to have 3 SI-1 larger stones be completely eye clean. I did have 1 J that was a VVS1 but thats only because nothing was available on any inventory when I was trying to buy my stone. You know, it was nice knowing it was so clean, but it looked as eye clean as my SI-1's which I also enjoyed. So, bottom line, for me, I compromise somewhat on clarity & usually compromise on colour to get the biggest rock I can afford at the time.

 

[Diamond Girl 21]

Over the years I've learned that I always regret it when I compromise on quality factors, and in a very short time I want to upgrade. Unfortunately my budget is not unlimited, so I choose to get a smaller stone.

 

[Shijitake]

I'm a newb and I haven't yet bought a diamond asides the small ones in jewelry, so I don't know if I matter in this thread. But my plan is that I would buy just one and compromise on nothing :O Super ideal cut, ideal clarity, and D color. And it doesn't have to be that big, .25 carats to 1 (more would be ok but I feel like 1c's are already pretty large). One perfect diamond and I'm set.

Edit: I'd also like to get chocolate, champagne, and yellow diamonds and other colors, and I'll compromise anything as long as the stone is decently cut and clear. I'd focus on color on these. And maybe a black one depending on how pretty the setting and design is.

 

[Shijitake]

I'm a newb and I haven't yet bought a diamond asides the small ones in jewelry, so I don't know if I matter in this thread. But my plan is that I would buy just one and compromise on nothing :O Super ideal cut, ideal clarity, and D color. And it doesn't have to be that big, .25 carats to 1 (more would be ok but I feel like 1c's are already pretty large). One perfect diamond and I'm set.

Edit: I'd also like to get chocolate, champagne, and yellow diamonds and other colors, and I'll compromise anything as long as the stone is decently cut and clear. I'd focus on color on these. And maybe a black one depending on how pretty the setting and design is.

Also I guess this counts, but I MIGHT compromise shape for the perfect diamond. My preference is round, oval, princess, or cushion.

Just wanted to add in, that one perfect diamond is good, but I have no problems with having more not-quite-as-perfect white diamonds. Here I would compromise anything as long as the setting is pretty. Definitely a station necklace at some point.

 

[Lookinagain]

The first time I did that color sensitivity test I got a 36! I did it again the other day after changing the tilt of my monitor a bit and got a 4. How does that happen? Could the tilt of the monitor make that much difference?
Anyway, I am in the camp of compromising on color in OEC's. I have a K color OEC and looking down at the stone it looks very white to me although I do see tint from the side. In MRB's for a ring, I don't think I would go below an H, but I have I colored ACA's studs, each about .85 and they look white to me, so I guess it also depends on what piece of jewelry the stones will be set in. The thing that bothers me the most is something not being eye clean so I wouldn't compromise on that. And I wouldn't compromise on cut in an MRB. Size is strictly determined by budget and meeting the other criteria.

 

[MrsKBP]

I had a 2.36, Round, G, SI2 with medium fluorescence at one time. Never again.

I’m asking myself the very question you’ve posted since I’ve lost my ring and am now replacing it.

I would never own another stone with any fluorescence or SI.

Because the size of the new stone is six carats I also would not choose a round shape. For some reason when I see really big rounds they look “off” to me. Almost fake.

So I’m now looking at a six carat EC, I, VVVS1 with no FLO. Excellent polish and symmetry. The cut falls within excellent proportions.

Will the I color bother me? That I don’t know. We should receive the stone in less than two weeks so I’ll let ya know! For now that seems to be what I sacrificed on for size.