I/J color princess diamond looks like my E color! What?

[Charmed]

Hello,

My husband and I decided to upgrade my .75 ct princess cut E color diamond solitaire to a 1 ct for our anniversary in November. So, I have been looking around and saving our pennies!

I went into a local jewelry store and wanted to see the size difference btw a .75 and a 1 ct. The jeweler had a .98 ct princess cut I/J color S1 diamond mounted on a ring. I put it on above my E color and couldn''t notice a diffence. He told me to take it outside and see if there was a difference, and low and behold, NO! What is up with that? I didn''t look through a loupe but there were no visible inclusions. He said he got a great deal on this diamond and was selling it for only 3000 but high 2''s for me because I was referred by a friend. I did notice it was only slightly bigger than my 3/4 diamond. Can someone please give me some feedback, it seems very fishy. Would other conditions make the diamond look more YELLOW tint? I would never purchase a diamond without further research but is this a good deal or buyer beware. I didn''t ask about the cert etc, I just had the above specs on the diamond and it was beautiful.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! By the way, my husband wants to stay in the colorless D-F range, is it really worth it if you can''t tell????

Thank you!

 

[Rank Amateur]

Mounted and face up it is often difficult or impossible to see color differences, even jumping E to I. If they were unmounted I'll bet you would easily see the difference, assuming the grades reported to you were accurate. I'm a bit surprised that a dealer would give you a split I/J grade on a stone that large. Maybe he was guessing because it is mounted.

Some people see no reason to spend the $$ on attributes that are not visible to the nekkid eye, and some will pay the big premium. Others choose something in the middle ranges as a compromise. Some stones, such as D/SI2, seem like an odd mix of high color/low clarity, but people buy those too!

Vive la difference!

R/A

 

[pqcollectibles]

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On 1/31/2004 12:04:51 PM Charmed wrote:

Hello,

My husband and I decided to upgrade my .75 ct princess cut E color diamond solitaire to a 1 ct for our anniversary in November. So, I have been looking around and saving our pennies!

I went into a local jewelry store and wanted to see the size difference btw a .75 and a 1 ct. The jeweler had a .98 ct princess cut I/J color S1 diamond mounted on a ring.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! By the way, my husband wants to stay in the colorless D-F range, is it really worth it if you can't tell????

Thank you!----------------

When a jeweler says, "I/J" or something similar, To Me,.... that says it is the jeweler's guestimate of the color grade. Evidently, this is an UnCerted diamond??

Diamonds tend to look "whiter" than the actual color grade when mounted. Lower color grades, most especially when set in yellow gold.

Square cut diamonds tend to hold and show more body color than round brilliants. While your husband may "feel" the colorless range is desirable, a well cut, lower rated color diamond may be fine. You might see an E that is a dud, while an H looks very white and is a real sparkler.

Ultimately, diamond selection is what pleases you. If the stats on paper are part of what's important to you, then choose a diamond that pleases both the eye and the mind. You need to be satisfied with all aspects of the purchase.