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I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please help

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susief

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
225
So my recent anniversary ring made my mother decide she wanted one of her own for a big birthday next week. She was going to buy it from our equivalent of a mall store :errrr: but I pleaded with her to let me find one for her instead.

She is fussier about clarity than me (wants VS1 minimum - I don't think she really knows much about what this means but she is from a culture that places a lot of importance on high clarity stones) but otherwise is happy to go with anything. She can't see any colour in my J stone and the diamond will be set in a yellow gold ring. She prefers bigger all things being equal but isn't that bothered about size.

The main thing is that it NEEDS to arrive by next week as this is very important to her, so it limits me to certain diamonds that can ship quickly. We are ordering from Blue Nile (she is wary of internet buying but is willing to go with BN as I've had experience with them). After a lot of time searching Blue Nile's inventory today, and a lot of discussion with them on the phone, we have narrowed it down to 2 possibilities that are within budget and meet her criteria:

OPTION 1

1.11 carat
GIA cert
J
VS1
6.64 x 6.62 x 4.12
Cut Excellent
Polish Excellent
Symmetry Excellent
Table 57%
Depth 62.2%
Crown angle 35.0 degrees
Pavilion angle 41.0 degrees
Crown height 15%
Pavilion depth 43.5%
Girdle medium-slightly thick, faceted
Strong blue fluorescence

HCA score 2.4
AGA cut grade 1B

4302 USD equivalent before tax

OPTION 2

1.00 carat
GIA cert
J
VS1
6.47 x 6.46 x 3.94
Cut Excellent
Polish Excellent
Symmetry Very Good
Table 57%
Depth 61.0%
Crown angle 32.5%
Pavilion angle 41.2%
Crown height 14%
Pavilion depth 43.5%
Girdle medium - slightly thick, faceted
Strong blue fluorescence

HCA score 1.8
AGA cut grade 1B

3770 USD equivalent before tax

BN has checked both diamonds and confirmed they have no negative effects from the strong fluorescence, and also that they are eye clean. They have sent me photos which I'll attach. The photo of Option 2 seems prettier but I don't know if it's just the angle at which it was taken? They do not have ASETs, IS etc. (We cannot order from anywhere else and have it delivered in time so it's this or a B&M store which are vastly overpriced here.)

I would be really, really grateful for any input as we are going to have to order tomorrow if the ring is to be delivered in time :)

_36798.jpg

option2.png
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Neither really look great to me. I know you're on a tight timelines, but I'd give IDJ a call and see what they could find but be sure to mention you want a great cut stone, PS quality within your budget. They do great things with limited budgets and can also provide IS/ASETs.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Thanks acano. Sorry, I should have mentioned that I am in the UK and ordering from the US is not an option for us.

What is it that doesn't look great about them?

ETA: I should have also made it clear that I know there will be better options out there given more time and flexibility, but what I really want to know is whether there is anything really terrible about these two options that I'd missed.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

If you need something quick, and your mom is a size 7, I'd say go to a Costco near you and get something. As long as you don't size it, it's returnable. Then take your time to find something better if you aren't 100% satisfied with the Costco diamond.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Thanks PintoBean but we don't have a Costco near us and she is a size 4.5 unfortunately.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

OK she is leaning towards Option 2 as she loves the way it looks in the photo.

I found this old thread about the 32.5 / 41.2 combination with a similar table - excerpt written by John Pollard:

"There is some give and take when it comes to complimentary proportions: The average crown angle can be slightly shallow as long as the table size permits proper crown height and the average pavilion angle is slightly deeper. 56/32.5/41.2 does work in that sense. It will have greater brightness and less visible fire in the balance of its performance qualities. It's predicted to receive AGS 1 in light performance, depending on cut consistency, precision and indexing."

Anyone disagree with this?
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Hi there!

I think what John Pollard wrote is probably a good generalization, but it won't apply to every diamond with those combinations of angles. I know my old diamond had a CA of around 33 and a PA of 41.4 I believe. It was spready and bright, bright. I got lots of compliments on it. Over time, I began to be dissatisfied with it but I didn't know why. This was before I discovered PS and I knew nothing about diamonds. Flash forward, the IS and ASET of it was terrible! Tons of light leakage under the table! I will always nit pick over my diamond. It's just the way I am. Like I said, I got compliments on it all the time. For me, it didn't suit me so it's been recut, but for someone who will not nit pick, it could be a nice choice!
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Thank you so much for pulling that out Snowdrop - it looks great and ticks all the boxes - I asked her and she said it's lovely but more than she wanted to spend :wall: I pointed out that the 1.11 was a similar price but she was apparently making an exception for that as it was so much bigger. She wants to keep to around £3150 post-VAT if it's around the 1 carat mark.

BUT progress has been made - after reading the responses and seeing reality she's decided she wouldn't mind a VS2 or even an eye clean SI1. We found this one which seems to be cut to more traditionally Pricescope-friendly proportions:

Option 3

1.03 carat
J
SI1
6.48 x 6.45 x 4.00
Ex Ex Ex
Table 57%
Depth 62%
Crown angle 35.0 degrees
Pavilion angle 40.6 degrees
Crown height 15%
Pavilion depth 43%
Medium blue fluorescence

It's the same price as Option 2 above.

Blue Nile are getting it checked for eye cleanliness and effects of fluorescence, and getting a photo too. If these turn out OK, does it seem like a better option?
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Option 3 looks like it could be a winner!!
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Thank you JDDN! I forgot to mention, it scored 1.0 on the HCA and 1A on the AGA cut class screen. So, fingers crossed for eye cleanliness...

I'll post the photo when I get it. Out of interest, how accurate are photos in showing the patterning of a diamond? The Option 2 photo is really appealing to my eyes, a much nicer pattern than I've seen before in any diamond in real life... but is this just because it was lined up nicely or something? Basically, should I go by numbers rather than photos?
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

#3 appears the best on paper. #1 just is not very good and the picture shows that. #2 is very risky, not great, and I'm a person who must have excellent symmetry. I'd check out #3 or keep looking.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

susief said:
Thank you JDDN! I forgot to mention, it scored 1.0 on the HCA and 1A on the AGA cut class screen. So, fingers crossed for eye cleanliness...

I'll post the photo when I get it. Out of interest, how accurate are photos in showing the patterning of a diamond? The Option 2 photo is really appealing to my eyes, a much nicer pattern than I've seen before in any diamond in real life... but is this just because it was lined up nicely or something? Basically, should I go by numbers rather than photos?
Click to expand...

Well it depends :)) . It looks like either diamond #1 was taken at a slight angle and/or the precision of the cut isn't out of this world. I think you are liking that the arrows look very aligned and crisp in diamond #2 and it looks uniformly bright. You can't go solely by numbers or a single photo. The best way to choose would be to use all the information you have available to make your decision. So the numbers on the GIA or AGS report, light performance (IS/ASET), combined with videos and photos in different lighting would be your best bet. As you know BN doesn't provide performance images, so you just have to choose based on the report and the photos they provide.

Let us know how #3 looks!
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Thanks RockBrat and JDDN!

JDDN, yes that's exactly what we like about it. I guess I sort of assumed that an excellent cut with excellent symmetry would automatically have a precise patterning but it seems not?
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Susie, I'm very glad that you have found another stone to suit! I'm also interested to see that BN can at least send photos of the stones- I'm going to be in the market for a pendant stone soon and had been thinking about using them.

Did you say your own stone is a J? How do you find it, colour wise? Was yours from BN too?
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Hi Snowdrop, yes my diamond is from BN too - I can't link on my phone but if you look up my topics there is a SMTB thread on it with photos. I can't see any colour in the J but perhaps I am just not colour sensitive. BN will have the diamonds checked for eye cleanliness, colour tones, effect of fluor etc and they seem pretty honest - they steered me away from a couple that apparently were not eye clean to my specifications. They rely on the stone's vendor for this as most except for Signature Ideals are not in house. I have been really happy with their service, they are a great option if you are in the UK.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Thank you, I will look that up! I hope the stone turns out to be a good one for you :angel:
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Since you commented that you like the pic of #2, I just wanted to point out that the arrows are not well-aligned. The arrowheads aren't in the same position with the arrow body as they should be, and the arrows are not consistent. If you look at them closely you should see what I mean. That's probably a large reason the stone only gets very good symmetry. If the arrows are not perfectly aligned, it will affect performance but no one can tell how much unless viewing it in person.

After looking again, I prefer #1 over #2. I usually like diamonds of those proportions. But #3 will most likely be the best.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

The 1.03ct was confirmed eye clean :appl: We are going to go with that one.

HCA 1.0 (ex/ex/ex/vg), AGA 1A.

Thank you so much for your help everyone! Will post photos when we get it.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Awesome, excited for you and your mom!! :appl:
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

Well. My mother got an enlarged picture of the 1.03 and had a wobble about the SI1 clarity. She decided to throw money at the problem and, after I showed her all the comments here and a few other threads including Gypsy's RB cut guide for newbies, has now ordered the following:

RB
1.23 carat
J
VS1
GIA Ex/Ex/Ex
6.88 x 6.86 x 4.23
Depth 61.7%
Table 57%
Crown angle 35.0 degrees
Pavilion angle 40.8 degrees
Crown height 15.0%
Pavilion depth 43.0%
Strong blue fluorescence (confirmed no negative effects)

HCA 1.6
AGA cut grade 1A

It's quite a lot bigger than she originally planned but she believes in numerology and 23 is a special number for her. She will let me borrow it so I wasn't going to argue with her logic :devil:

It will be here the day before her birthday next Friday. Fingers crossed it's a good one!!

Thanks for all your help everyone, really appreciated.
 
Re: I have 24 hours to pick a diamond for my mother! Please

susief|1458587891|4009029 said:
So my recent anniversary ring made my mother decide she wanted one of her own for a big birthday next week.
Click to expand...

If I were you I'd tell her, "I'd be happy to get you one but researching such an important purchase will take more time. How about I give you the diamond on date/holiday/event X?"
 
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