I think I found my diamond! Thoughts? Mostly on the I color.

[makewayhomer]

For my engagement ring search, I have decided to focus on factors that are mostly easily visible to the naked eye. For me this meant focusing on Cut and Carats, and skimping on Clarity and Color. Inclusions are fine as they are not visible to the naked eye, and Color, as long as it looks colorless in real world settings (ie mounted and under normal light) I am happy with that. if it takes being unmounted and against a white backdrop to tell the difference between 2 colors, well, I am ok with that. But, I really want this thing to sparkle and get the most size for my buck.

All that being said, I found the following diamond:

1.52 Carats
Ideal Cut (GIA certified)
SI1 (Blue Nile has told me it is eye clean)
I Color
Ideal Cut
Returns Excellent, Excellent, Excellent, and Very Good on the HCA (1.4 total score I think)
$8,300
GIA cert # 2115542007
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Excellent
Florescence: None

how does that sound? The "I" part is the only thing that is potentially concerning - so I would love opinions on that. When I want to a store and viewed loose diamonds in the jewelers hand, I could not tell a difference between a J and an F, unmounted. is that normal? under "living room" conditions with an ideal cut, is I ok?

note that if I want to go up to H, given the current Blue Nile selection, it will cost me another $2k. this stone seems like a winner?

 

[soontomarry2]

Can you post the cut values or a link to the stone/certification?

 

[Bella_mezzo]

please post the cut info.

Just a quick note to say, I agree, cut and carats will get you the most bang for your buck!

 

[makewayhomer]

Proportions:
Depth: 61.6%
Table: 57%
Crown Angle: 35.5°
Crown Height: 15.0%
Pavilion Angle: 40.6°
Pavilion Depth: 43.0%
Star length: 50%
Lower Half: 80%
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted
Culet: None

Measurements: 7.33 - 7.37 x 4.53 mm

 

[soontomarry2]

The Crown Angle seems fairly high and the pavilion might be a touch low.

I''m sure one of the many experts here can tell you the effects these two particular values seperately or together will have on visual performance.

 

[slg47]

here is a thread on I colored diamonds with lots of pictures...

I color

 

[makewayhomer]

great link. all those I''s look good to me

 

[makewayhomer]

thanks. does the HCA not judge the crown angle and pavilion? it seems to check out fine on that.

 

[cutes814]

i''ve had my 1.64 I, VS1 for the past 5 years and love it. i do have to add that i can see some warmth from the profile view. face up, i can''t tell the difference between my I and my husband''s F, but i can tell a slight difference with my friend''s D and E.

I color diamonds are lovely, but you have to understand they are not super white like D and E, but by no means is it "yellow" at all. it is slightly warm(compared to D & E) at certain angles. i love the slight warmth of my I stone. i think it adds some dimension to it.

i think if you go into it thinking the I will be face up like a D, you might be a little disappointed. the great thing about I color is you can get a much bigger stone for the money and still have a lovely white stone.

the stone you chose looks good to me. good luck with the proposal!

 

[yssie]

Numbers look fine, IS to confirm no issues. Pavilion is fine b/c crown is deeper, esp with the 80LGF- if it was a 33 crown I'd be saying something different.


Ditto Milly. I had a 2ct I and I could definitely see the colour, even more so as I got used to looking at diamonds - the eyes adjust, and soon even small tints become visible. I didn't have a problem with it (and have since moved onto a J) but if you find tint offensive you should definitely spend quality time with another I of about the same size. Your I will not look like an F in all lights for very long, but you may or may not care

cut and carat, like Bella said!

 

[Dreamer_D]

The longer lgf% may help out with the steeper crown, but I'm gonna be totally honest with you: I would not buy a diamond with those numbers without images or an ideal scope or seeing it with my well-trained eyes. There is simply a possibility of leakage. The HCA simply tells you it is worth further consideration, it does not guarantee a good cut. Now it is a GIA Ex, but all GIA Ex are not created equal. And my beef with BN is that they cannot provide images or other assessment tools. If you like the diamond you can buy it and then see what you think it person, because they do have a good 30 day refund policy.

As to color, ditto Milly. I have a 1.66ct J VS1 that is a higher J, closer to I, and it looks plenty white and I do not see mich tint. But what you need to know about lower colored diamond is that they are real chameleons and change appearance a lot as a function of light. Call it "personality" if you will

If you want a diamond that will always look whit white white in every lighitng condition then an I may not be for you. And Yssie hit the nail on the head -- an I will not look like an F for long once you are out and about

 

[soontomarry2]

yssie - can you explain what you mean by 80LGF? Does this have to do with the lower half percentage number?

 

[yssie]

Date: 5/18/2010 5:42:48 PM
Author: soontomarry2
yssie - can you explain what you mean by 80LGF? Does this have to do with the lower half percentage number?

lower girdle facet = lower half

http://www.goodoldgold.com/Articles/MinorFacets/

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 5/18/2010 5:42:48 PM
Author: soontomarry2
yssie - can you explain what you mean by 80LGF? Does this have to do with the lower half percentage number?

Yes, it is the lower girdle facets number, called lower half. Longer lgf can help account for some leakage in diamonds with steeper crowns. And also creates thinner arrows and some other optical nuances, like more pin fire and a slight emphasis on brilliance over contrast and bold fire.

And I am not Yssie, clearly

but thought I would chime in.

 

[yssie]

You want the IS because the numbers only tell you so much. The eight sarin outputs are averaged, then rounded, and GIA calculates a proportions-based cut grade from these rounded numbers. Crown is rounded to the nearest 0.5, pavilion to the nearest 0.1 but always up - and, remember, the numbers being rounded are already averaged around the diamond, and depending on how tightly the stone is cut there can be quite a bit of angle variation contributing to that 35.5 or 40.6.


Assuming a tightly cut stone 35.5 and 40.6 is a nice combo (I had one, it was a lovely stone) and the 80lgf is added insurance. Trouble is, even with ex. symmetry (physical facet meets) a uniformly cut stone is not a given. IS will tell you more.