I Need Advice on the Shine

[lcd52]

I am thinking of buying a 2.37, H, VVS2. I believe the price (about $16,000) is a good deal. However, the diamond reflects almost a grey/silver reflection along with the brilliance and fire. What is this silver shine? Is it normal? Is it because of the H color? Please advise me. Thanks.

 

[DiamondOptics]

Hi icd52,

Unless you are refering to something else?

The silver shine of a diamond is an inherent quality which is the result of the adamantine lustre which diamonds are reknowned for...


kirk

 

[oldminer]

Be sure the stone is not strongly UV fluorescent. That may create what you are seeing.

 

[Hest88]

If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, then yes it's normal. Although we think of diamonds as "white" a nice diamond is actually silvery-gray--akin the way the beveled edge of a mirror looks. The only realy "white" diamonds are the ones that are so clouded that they look like ice cubes!

 

[lcd52]

According to the certificate, the diamond does not have any fluorescence. The silver/grey almost reminds me of tin/aluminium foil. Thanks.

 

[niceice]

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On 3/2/2003 1:48:26 PM lcd52 wrote:

I am thinking of buying a 2.37, H, VVS2. I believe the price (about $16,000) is a good deal. However, the diamond reflects almost a grey/silver reflection along with the brilliance and fire. What is this silver shine? Is it normal? Is it because of the H color? Please advise me. Thanks.

----------------

The "silver shine" aside... There is no way to help you determine whether the diamond is "a good deal" or not without knowing the measurements, proportions, and details of the stone... If we're talking about a round brilliant cut diamond, the price seems extremely low (about 33% in back of Rap) which leads us to wonder about the proportions of the diamond... Here's what the contributors of the forum need to tell you more:

Graded by:
Shape:
Measurements:
Total depth:
Table diameter:
Crown angle:
Pavilion angle:
Girdle:
Culet:
Polish:
Symmetry:
Fluorescence: none (as indicated in the thread)
Comments:

 

[lcd52]

Here's the information on the diamond: H, VVS2, 2.37 CT, 8.71 - 8.59 x 5.21 mm, 60.20% depth, 60% table, 14.8% crown angle; 43.40% pavilion, very thin to thin girdle, no culet, poish good, symmetry good, no fluorescence , EGL - USA certified. Any advice?

 

[lcd52]

Here's the information on the diamond: H, VVS2, 2.37 CT, 8.71 - 8.59 x 5.21 mm, 60.20% depth, 60% table, 14.8% crown angle; 43.40% pavilion, very thin to thin girdle, no culet, poish good, symmetry good, no fluorescence , EGL - USA certified. Any advice?

 

[RockDoc]

Did you not mention that with the dimension of 8 x 5 that the stone is OTHER than a round shape?

If it is a fancy shape, numbers and relying on them don't mean much.

In fact, it could have lousy number and be a great stone.

NOTICE I SAID COULD. You're talking about an investment of YOUR money of over $ 16,000.00

Do you really want to roll the dice based on advice that could be quite incorrect? Diamonds must be seen, especially fancy shapes.

Nice Ice made a good point when he pointed out that the diamond is priced lower than "normal". This would lead me to believe there's a problem, particularly with its EGL cert.

GET IT CHECKED! The few hundred you'll spend for competent testing and verification is nothing next to what you'd lose if the stone does have a deficiency.

Rockdoc

 

[lcd52]

I think you did not understand me. It is a round brilliant. I believe the 8.71 and 8.59 numbers are the first two measurements and the 5.21 is the depth. Thanks.

 

[Mara]

Unfortunately I can't comment on the odd aluminum tin foil look (but doesn't that clue you in a bit?) but I did run your #'s through the HCA using the Cut Advisor link above and this charmer got a 5.1 which means--Only purchase if price is very very right. It got Good, Good, Fair, Excellent. The diamond probably looks slightly larger than it is due to the larger table and spread of excellent. However, I would not consider a stone that had a 'Fair' in the HCA score...as the HCA is not a foolproof tool by any means, but it does help you weed out the duds. I would have to say PASS on this stone unless your priority is just a big honkin stone for cheap money. If that is the case, you can still get a well cut stone for around $16k, except it will probably be more around 2c than the 2.40c you are looking at here. This stone you are considering will not return light in an excellent or even a very good way, the light is probably leaking out the sides or bottom and not returning to your eye. $16k is alot of $$, so I would suggest being sure that you spend it wisely on a well-cut stone. One that does not have an aluminum or tinfoil look to it and scores at least under 3.0 on the HCA.

Another concerning factors are the 'very thin to thin' girdle...that stone may have a higher risk of chipping the girdle with that very thin girdle. You normally want to stay away from 'very' anything in a girdle, be it very thin, very thick, etc. Thin to Medium or Thin to Slightly Thick is more of the norm accepted range.

If you consider continuing to look, would also suggest not wasting precious $$ on a VVS2 stone. You can get a gorgeous 2+c G/H VS2/SI stone for around your budget (maybe a little more), and get an excellent cut as well. Also note that a well cut H stone will face up whiter than a poor cut H stone. With H you should still be able to set it in platinum and have it face up white.

Here are a few stones for you to look at...all around your price range (except for the ACA stone which is $18k...had to throw that in because its IdealScope image is amazing)...even just for fun. I don't know about you but I'd much rather throw my $16k into a well-cut stone that returns 99% of the light as opposed to 50%.

2.09c H VS2 A Cut Above H&A SuperIdeal: $18673 (pscope price..be sure to mention it)
http://www.whiteflash.com/acut/diamond_details.asp?ItemCode=365073

2.03c G SI1 H&A: $16466
http://www.virtcert.com/cgi/u/1012/v.cgi?stock=1287072&_s=1012&_p=sdf348gd743&_c=&_fs=1&prestock=

2.09 G SI1 H&A: $16952
http://www.virtcert.com/cgi/u/1012/v.cgi?stock=948864&_s=1012&_p=sdf348gd743&_c=&_fs=1&prestock=

There are a few more stones out there...those are just a few I found. Would also suggest that with an SI1 stone of a 2c size, you be *sure* that it is eye-clean. Asking the vendor will usually take care of this, or ask to see an enlarged picture of the stone, etc.

Good luck!!

 

[Giangi]

You've selected a few very nice diamonds, Mara

.
The stone is EGL graded, and this could explain the very low price. Often EGL is a bit generous in its grading. And a VVS 2 graded by EGL makes me a bit suspicious...
A possible explanation for the 'aluminium foil' could be a faint grey overtone. Usually diamonds have a yellow overtone, but it can be brown or grey as well. Grey it's pretty unusual, though. I don't know if this is the right explanation... Did you ask the jeweler?
The cut isn't that beautiful either... Very honestly, I would pass in this one...

Good luck and be sure to check the beautiful diamonds that Mara found!

 

[lcd52]

The grey color turned out to be the fact that I was wearing a black coat. As a turned the ring towards myself, it appeared darker. (Almost like it reflects the shade in front of it). When I held a white piece of paper in front of myself, the rings color appeared lighter/white.