I want to upgrade diamond size but have questions on how!

[shortee78]

Hello, I am a former lurker and decided to lurk no more! I''m still a total newbie though, but quickly learning by reading lots of tutorials and threads.

I am interested in upgrading my e-ring diamond to a larger size, and since I am on a budget, wanted to ask your advice. I am willing to sacrifice some color and clarity to get a larger size.

My current diamond is GIA ex/ex/ex F VS2 1.01 carat, and I purchased it from a local shop two years ago. I went to the jewelry district today and basically "shopped" my ring around to various vendors, seeing what they would offer as a trade-in value. The vendors were all pretty consistent and offered $X as a trade-in value.

Here is my dilemma. I have two options.

Option (1) The vendors I went to today didn''t have much diamond selection, and their prices weren''t the best (I''ve seen better quality and prices online, plus I can save on sales tax if I order from another state). However, the prices weren''t too outrageous (maybe 10% higher than online?) and I like how convenient it would be for me to just trade-in my old diamond and get a new one. The negative is that I need to pay sales tax (ok, I guess that''s not so horrible), price is higher, and quality is lower. Positive is that I can see the diamond in person first before I buy and it''s convenient.

Option (2) Another thought that I had was to try to sell my diamond via Ebay/Craigslist/Consignment/Other Methods and then purchase my new diamond in a separate transaction through one of the trusted online vendors. However, this is more work for me to sell the diamond and it would also take longer to sell. I also have no idea how much I can make off the diamond. Positives are a better quality diamond and lower prices.

If you were me, which route would you take? I am not in a hurry to buy my diamond, so at least that''s not a problem for me

BTW - I am trying to upgrade to a 1.50-ish diamond. Do you think that a G SI1 with a fabulous cut is doable for about $10,000-ish or am I smoking crack? Please be honest, I can take it! Since being on this forum, I realized that cut is the most important.

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome!

Is getting a new diamond dependant on you selling the original one? If not, then maybe you could consider putting the old diamond in a pendant perhaps? If you have to sell it, then if you prefer to buy from a brick and mortar, then ask your preferred jeweller to show you some AGS0 and GIA Excellent cut grade diamonds, if you see one you like, then do your best to negotiate a deal which includes using your old diamond as a trade. Selling a diamond, you may only recoup 30 - 50% of what you paid unfortunately. If you are not in a rush, you could try consigment perhaps. more info in this thread.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/reselling-gems-jewelry-what-can-you-expect.17952/

If buying online you could get something like this, PS discount it appears to be $600 over budget, but it will give you some idea. You would have to confirm whether it is eyeclean or not.

http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/A-Cut-Above-H-A-cut-diamond-906729.htm

 

[shortee78]

Hi Lorelei,

Thanks for your warm welcome! Since I am on a budget, buying the larger diamond would be dependent on selling the original one. The vendors today said they can (on average) get me about 82% of what I originally paid two years ago (which I thought was very fair). If I don''t trade or sell my original diamond, I won''t be able to afford the new diamond

Can you tell me how the Whiteflash.com discount works? I went on their website, and the list price for that diamond you recommended is $11730 and I couldn''t figure out how it came out to about $600 over my budget. Thanks!!!

PS: One of the local shops today offered me a 90% trade-in value for my diamond and had in stock a 1.45 carat H VS2 GIA with VG cut and Ex/VG for Symmetry and Polish. I did write down that the min diameter was 7.18 mm and the max diameter was 7.29 mm. Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to copy down or memorize any of the other numbers from the GIA report. Does $9300 for this diamond sound fair? It would mean that I would only have to pay about $2500 out the door for the new diamond.. (not counting tax and stuff)

 

[Lorelei]

How the WF discount works ( to the best of my knowledge!) you can get a discount by mentioning PS and by paying for the diamond with a bank wire transfer. I found the PS discounted price on this diamond by using the search by cut feature above, there is normally an asterisk and S which means special price for PSers which includes any discount, again I believe you need to pay with a bank wire to get it. That made the price I found about $10654.

With the diamond you are considering, if you could get this info - lab grade such as GIA , AGS.

depth %
table %
crown angle
pavilion angle
polish and symmetry grades
girdle thickness
fluorescence if applicable
diameter measurement

Then report back and we can help you from there! The diamond you mention has a bit more of a variance with the diameter than we normally see here, it would be preferable to have it a bit tighter rather than 7.18 - 7.29. Post the rest of the measurements so we can tell more, are there any others you have seen that you like? Would your jeweller be willing to call in some AGS0 and GIA Excellent cut grade for you to see?

Here are a couple more to throw into the mix, I dropped the colour to an I, I don't know if this would be an option?

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4076/

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/4044/

 

[shortee78]

I can''t seem to sleep since I keep thinking about diamonds! It''s 2 am here and I''m still awake!

Lorelei, I''ll need to call the store on Tuesday to find more info, but here are some other diamonds I saw today.

Diamond 1
Carat - 1.51
Color - D
Clarity - SI2
Cut Grade - VG
depth % - 61.4
table % - 56
crown angle - 32.5
pavilion angle - 40.8
polish and symmetry grades - Polish = EX, Sym = VG
girdle thickness - Slightly thick to thick (Is this bad?)
fluorescence if applicable - None
diameter measurement- 7.29 - 7.37 x 4.5 mm
When I chugged it into the Holloway Cut Advisor, it gave me EX/EX/EX/VG with 0.9

Diamond 2
Carat - 1.60
Color - H
Clarity - SI2
Cut Grade - EX
depth % - 62.0
table % - 58
crown angle - 35
pavilion angle - 41.4
polish and symmetry grades - Polish = EX, Sym = EX
girdle thickness - Med to Slightly Thick
fluorescence if applicable - None
diameter measurement- 7.49 - 7.54 x 4.66 mm
Price was about $10,250 even.
When I chugged it into the Holloway Cut Advisor, it gave me Good/Fair/Fair/VG with 4.9.

Diamond 3
Carat - 1.51
Color - I
Clarity - SI1
Cut Grade - EX
depth % - 60.8
table % - 59
crown angle - 35
pavilion angle - 40.8
polish and symmetry grades - Polish = VG, Sym = VG
girdle thickness - Unknown
fluorescence if applicable - Unknown
diameter measurement- 7.37 - 7.39 x Unknown mm
Price was about $8450 even.
When I chugged it into the Holloway Cut Advisor, it gave me VG/VG/VG/VG with 2.0.

So my thinking is that Diamond 1 is a D and a really clean SI2 (no flaws on the table, just a few on the sides). Diamond 2 has a poor HCA rating but it''s rated as EX. Diamond 3 is an I color (Is this a big issue? I currently have a F so the lowest I was considering was an H color, but maybe I isn''t so bad?). What do you guys think?

 

[shortee78]

Oops, forgot to respond about the new diamonds you found for me on GOG! Both look great and pricing is good, but I guess I need to get over my fear of the "I" color. Mentally, "I" seems so bad (but really, it''s right next to H, which is right next to G, lol).

 

[Lorelei]

LOL!!! You are not alone, as I am in the UK, many is the time I have kept a sleepless Stateside PSer company!! Here are some numbers you can use to find a well cut stone.

depth - 60 - 62.4% ( my preferred max depth)
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 deg
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 deg
polish and symmetry - at least very good and above
girdle thickness - thin to slightly thick, thin to med - avoid extremes such as thin to very thick etc.

Note - with the crown and pavilion angles on the shallower ends ( CA 35 - PA - 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35 - PA 41) make sure to evaluate carefully that the angles work in harmony for that particular diamond, Idealscope is good for this.

With the diamonds you listed...


The first might be ok, the crown angle is shallower, so an Idealscope would be useful, but it could be a good looking diamond. Slightly thick to thick may waste weight, thin to slightly thick would be preferable etc.

The second - looks to be what we call a steep deep with the crown and pavilion angles. This means the diamond could leak light and not perform as well as it could - I would pass on that one, especially without an IS image. GIA Excellent cut grade can encompass what we call steep deeps at times, so you need to look carefully to find the best of the GIA Excellents and take each on it''s own merits and proportions.

An I colour is where the industry believe that the average person may begin to detect a hint of warmth especially from the side in a diamond. However there are many happy I owners here and even J, cut can help these colour grades face up beautifully. If you can, see if you can check out some I colour in person, they can be a good choice!

The third diamond - might be ok, the table is a bit bigger than some prefer.

 

[arjunajane]

Hi, just a lil more info on the discounts applicable at GOG - the wire discount that is shown applies, there is no additional PS discount applicable. Of course you are entitled to enquire about further discount if you are so inclined

And, lol , I can Completely relate to not being able to sleep due to thinking/dreaming/fretting/fantasizing about diamonds (...and rings, and necklaces, and...well, you get the point

)

Please don''t think me a weirdo!!

 

[shortee78]

Lorelei, I finally ended up falling asleep around 3:30 am last night (or morning ^_^).

Thanks for all your help. Now I''m wondering if I should lower my expectations and do a 1.33-ish carat instead....I have a pretty small finger (3.5 size e-ring but as you can see from my new avatar, it''s a chubby 3.5, I just have tiny bone structure). I tried on a size 4 ring yesterday and it fit ok, so I might want to size up in ring size as well. Plus, if I upgrade to a 1.33-ish carat, I have room to upgrade one more time (maybe in another five years?) before the diamond starts to look a little overwhelming on me.

Arjunajane - Thanks for the info about GOG discounts! I still can''t believe I thought about diamonds all day and all night yesterday!

 

[Ice Princess Cristy]

Hi there! I just wanted to say that you definately came to the right place to get advice on both the diamond itself and the process. One thing I was just thinking of though is to find out if any of the vendors you saw in person have a trade in policy and what that is. This way in the future when you want to upgrade again you can do it much easier. I know my jeweler I have used for years has a trade in policy of 100% what you paid for it towards another. Others have 100% towards the upgrade but you have to double the value. Just worth asking about. I know that the vendors here have great upgrade policies.
Good luck and I can''t wait to hear what you decide!

 

[shortee78]

Thanks Ice Princess Christy! I only started reading this forum since Monday and I''m so hooked. I learned so much that when I visited the diamond stores yesterday, I actually knew what I was talking about!

I''m definitely asking about trade-up policies, because one thing I also learned from this forum is the "diamond shrinkage" syndrome

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/25/2008 12:16:41 PM
Author: shortee78
Lorelei, I finally ended up falling asleep around 3:30 am last night (or morning ^_^).

Thanks for all your help. Now I''m wondering if I should lower my expectations and do a 1.33-ish carat instead....I have a pretty small finger (3.5 size e-ring but as you can see from my new avatar, it''s a chubby 3.5, I just have tiny bone structure). I tried on a size 4 ring yesterday and it fit ok, so I might want to size up in ring size as well. Plus, if I upgrade to a 1.33-ish carat, I have room to upgrade one more time (maybe in another five years?) before the diamond starts to look a little overwhelming on me.

Arjunajane - Thanks for the info about GOG discounts! I still can''t believe I thought about diamonds all day and all night yesterday!

You are welcome! You could consider a 1.33 ct, just bear in mind that one''s perception can change regarding the size! This is known on PS as DSS ( diamond shrinkage syndrome) and it has happened to many of us! So if you went with an online vendor which had a good lifetime trade up policy, that might be your best bet. Maybe if you can, try on a 1.5 ct and see what you think to get a good idea of what might suit you best.

We will gladly help you through the process whether you want to buy online, or prefer to shop with a jeweller, just ask any questions you want, and post the proportions of any diamond you are considering, that way we can offer advice on the cut of each diamond.

 

[marcy]

I don''t think you''d see color in an I once it is mounted. Since you''ll be selling your diamond I would work with someone who will take it on trade as long as they can bring in the diamonds you are intresting in buying. Good luck.

 

[shortee78]

My husband and I went to Tiffany''s yesterday just to try on some of their solitaire settings, to see the visual difference between a 1 carat (what I currently have), a 1.28, 1.5, and a 1.78 (the salesman made me try on the 1.78! I have no interest or budget for a 1.78 at the moment, LOL).

Seeing the 1 ct in a solitaire setting made me realize how much larger my current diamond appears (also a 1 ct), just because of the setting that it''s in. In fact, my 1 ct in my Tacori setting looked larger than the 1.28 solitaire! Of course, it''s the appearance of being larger - I know it''s not the same size, LOL. The 1.5 solitaire was gorgeous, so I think that if I were to pursue an upgrade, it would be to the 1.4-1.5 level (7.4-ish-7.5ish diameter).

I''m taking my time now with the diamond search. I posted my diamond for sale on another forum, but I wouldn''t mind if it took forever to sell. I just did a thorough cleaning of my ring today, and I fell in love with it all over again! I have to admit that I have myself a really nice diamond.

The upgrade is supposed to be a combo gift to celebrate my 4th year wedding anniversary, a belated Mother''s Day gift, and the celebration of a new baby (my first!), but I like searching for the perfect diamond at the perfect price, so I wouldn''t mind if it took me many months to achieve this Plus, sometimes it''s all about the "thrill of the hunt" rather than the end result!

It''s still new to me, but I started jotting down my list of "must haves" and so far it''s a diameter of about 7.4-7.5, G or H color, and SI1 or a superclean SI2. Wish me luck!

Thanks for all your help so far ladies!

 

[marcy]

Good idea to jot how a list of "must haves". Congratulations on your wedding anniversary and new baby! I agree shopping is half the fun. Good luck!

 

[Lorelei]

You are most welcome Shortee, stick around as we would love to have you, or just let us know if you find anything you like, we would be pleased to help!

Congrats on everything!

 

[honey22]

Good luck with the search for your perfect stone. You never do know when it will pop into your life and make you fall in love with it! Don''t forget us when you get it though - we will need pics, and lots of them