I need some help. Is this a good deal?

[Christina...]

here is the spec on the ring guys. he said there are no ASET/idealscope on them. What do you think?

nope, I wouldn't do it, first you can't tell anything by the numbers alone, and second I would never buy an EGL J unless if was hugely discounted because it's likely going to be a KL or even lower, with a square cut that equals lots and lots of color in the corners. I guess I don't understand why your so insistent on going with this particular jeweler and why you want to stay with an EGL cert?

 

[built240]

Farmer Gal the cut has to be princess and that does not appear to be a princess cut correct?

I see what you all are saying about EGL. I though only EGL-Israel was the one to avoid. I thought EGL-USA was just as good as GIA.

Also im not set on this jeweler. He is just located 30min from me and is a family friend. If I find a better deal on here then maybe I can just have him order it and do the setting. Im not even opposed to getting the setting and center stone from an approved vendor on this board. I would prefer to act within the next 2weeks though.

Basically I need the setting to be halo with the edges not looking very "squarey" and diamonds running down the side. Like this:
http://idjewelryonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=42_132&products_id=14697&cType=ER

Actually even more gaudy like this:
http://idjewelryonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=42_132&products_id=9472&cType=ER

And i basically want the biggest center stone princess cut I can get that looks very nice. I dont care about #'s as far as if its a vs2 v.s. a vvs1 or a color H v.s. color J,etc... it just has to be very clean looking and look very "bling"

So for example if there was a 1.6c vvs1 color H with an ideal cut v.s. a 2ct vs2 color I with a good cut, if they both 'appear' somewhat similar to the 'naked' eye then i'd much rather go with the bigger stone. So im basically saying what is seen under the scope is no concern of mine, just how the diamond appears. Hopefully that makes a little more sense? If anyone can find me what im looking for i'd appreciate it. Im going to call IDJ but I want to not only limit myself to them. Bluenile seems to be more expensive. James allen I believe i've seen some of the better deals but maybe im wrong. My budget is around $10-12k

 

[Christina...]

OK, just for clarity sake, the two settings that you posted are examples of what you don't want? or that you want?

You also mentioned that if you found a stone online that you would have your jeweler call it in, do you mean that you would purchase the stone online, or that you would have you jeweler bring the stone in to purchase from him? I just want to be clear, because I would be surprised if your jeweler could beat some of the online prices. If you meant that you would buy the stone online and then have your jeweler set it, then you should consider that it's likely that he won't insure the stone while it's being set, and insurance companies usually don't insure loose diamonds, although sometimes arrangements can be made if they know thats it is being purchased to be set into a ring, but you would have to discuss this with them before hand.

EGL Israel is indeed one of the worst, however EGL USA can also be off by a color or clarity grade. IMO is just best to stay clear of any EGL report, to me it doesn't matter if one lab is off by 3-5 grades or another is off by 2, I want to know what I'm buying, and for me to be comfortable doing that the report must be from GIA or AGS.

One last thing, you mentioned that you didn't care which cut grade the stone received as long as it appeared to look the same as well cut diamond would to your naked eye. You will notice the difference between an AGS0 and an AGS3 in terms of the stones light performance and probably in the size of the stone. Many stones that receive a 'good' cut grade are cut very deep and steep, meaning that much of the diamond is going to be hidden from the viewers eye, therefore you are paying for diamond weight that you can't appreciate and that negatively impacts the performance of the stone. It's best to stay with an excellently cut diamond, they will give you more bang for the buck because they will appear whiter, brighter and larger than a more poorly cut stone.

Look at these two examples from JA

This stone is a 1.5 ct good cut, it's diameter is 7.09x6.96

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Fair-Cut-Round-Diamond-1467508.asp

then look at this one JA excellent cut
this stone is a 1.31 6.95x7.02
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1423681.asp

I didn't run the numbers through the HCA because I'm just trying to give you idea of the spread of large poorly cut stone vs and smaller excellently cut stone. The second stone even at the same diameter is going to look much larger than the first stone because it is going to also be whiter and brighter. My point is, it's not always a good idea to go with the largest stone possible and why a thread has been started recently warning people not to buy stones based on ct weight but to buy them based on mm spread.

I'm sure that we can find you a beautiful stone, and you've gotten some excellent advice from these boards. many of the people here have spent years studying cut and light performance of diamonds. I'm sure someone with more experience than me will be along very shorty to give you some choices, but my advice would be to listen to them, they really really do have your best interest at heart, and I truly believe that if you follow their recommendations, you will never wish that you hadn't.

 

[bunnycat]

OK, just for clarity sake, the two settings that you posted are examples of what you don't want? or that you want?

You also mentioned that if you found a stone online that you would have your jeweler call it in, do you mean that you would purchase the stone online, or that you would have you jeweler bring the stone in to purchase from him? I just want to be clear, because I would be surprised if your jeweler could beat some of the online prices. If you meant that you would buy the stone online and then have your jeweler set it, then you should consider that it's likely that he won't insure the stone while it's being set, and insurance companies usually don't insure loose diamonds, although sometimes arrangements can be made if they know thats it is being purchased to be set into a ring, but you would have to discuss this with them before hand.

EGL Israel is indeed one of the worst, however EGL USA can also be off by a color or clarity grade. IMO is just best to stay clear of any EGL report, to me it doesn't matter if one lab is off by 3-5 grades or another is off by 2, I want to know what I'm buying, and for me to be comfortable doing that the report must be from GIA or AGS.

One last thing, you mentioned that you didn't care which cut grade the stone received as long as it appeared to look the same as well cut diamond would to your naked eye. You will notice the difference between an AGS0 and an AGS3 in terms of the stones light performance and probably in the size of the stone. Many stones that receive a 'good' cut grade are cut very deep and steep, meaning that much of the diamond is going to be hidden from the viewers eye, therefore you are paying for diamond weight that you can't appreciate and that negatively impacts the performance of the stone. It's best to stay with an excellently cut diamond, they will give you more bang for the buck because they will appear whiter, brighter and larger than a more poorly cut stone.

Look at these two examples from JA

This stone is a 1.5 ct good cut, it's diameter is 7.09x6.96

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Fair-Cut-Round-Diamond-1467508.asp

then look at this one JA excellent cut
this stone is a 1.31 6.95x7.02
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1423681.asp

I didn't run the numbers through the HCA because I'm just trying to give you idea of the spread of large poorly cut stone vs and smaller excellently cut stone. The second stone even at the same diameter is going to look much larger than the first stone because it is going to also be whiter and brighter. My point is, it's not always a good idea to go with the largest stone possible and why a thread has been started recently warning people not to buy stones based on ct weight but to buy them based on mm spread.

I'm sure that we can find you a beautiful stone, and you've gotten some excellent advice from these boards. many of the people here have spent years studying cut and light performance of diamonds. I'm sure someone with more experience than me will be along very shorty to give you some choices, but my advice would be to listen to them, they really really do have your best interest at heart, and I truly believe that if you follow their recommendations, you will never wish that you hadn't.

Well said Christina. I think the main problem when it comes to trying to convince people how the quality of cut affects a stone (from reading basically the same type of thread questions and responses over and over) is that even with these pictures, the effects aren't readily obvious, especially if you aren't sure what you are looking for to begin with and warning signals don't twig. But I bet if the OP could have 2 stones sitting next to each other where one was less well cut, it would be pretty obvious. I like to think instinct would kick in for the shinier one, but who knows....I saw a ring on a lady the other day (princess cut) and it was huge, but it look like it was just a painted white blob with absolutely no flash to it at all. I couldn't figure out if it was so dirty it was matte, or just a really bad cut, or both.

 

[OCmom3xboys]

Built240, I just read a little bit of your posts. I don't think you will get a well cut 2 carat stone with a halo setting for $12K (which is a generous budget, btw). From my experience, you do want to get a much better cut stone that the size, especially in square stones, you do want it to sparkle. I wish I would have discovered pscope before we bought my e-ring but it is what it is, I do love my ring which I just recently re-set to a halo setting.

If you don't mind me asking, what size ring does your gf wear? For reference, here is my 2 carat princess cut in a halo setting, ring size is 5 1/2.

Goodluck, I can't wait to see what you'll get.

 

[built240]

Ok guys I think I found the ring. I spoke with Yeuketial from IDJ and he is very helpful. Very nice guy. I described to him what i wanted. Ideal cut but also as much flash for the cash He informed me with a princess cut you must go with a better grade color and whats also important is the dimensions b/c a 1.5c could appear much bigger than a poor 2c princess cut. This is what he suggested for the setting I want. Tell me what you guys think

http://idjewelryonline.com/diamond_details1.php?id=D00440

and it would be in this setting

http://idjewelryonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=42_132&products_id=9472&cType=ER

 

[farmer gal]

I think it will be beautiful