I''m looking for a Princess in NYC and could use some help...

[PrincessinNYC]

Dear Folks,

I''ve learned a lot by reading through this site but could use some additional advice in my quest for a princess stone. I''m looking to buy my diamond in the next two weeks in the diamond district in NYC. I live locally and do not want to use the internet brokers. Also, even though I''m blown away from the goodoldgold site, I do not have the time to make it out to Long Island. As such, I am destined to battle with the merchants of 47th street.

After some initial scouting of the district, I''m down to three stores that seems like they are fairly reputable: David S. Diamonds, James and Co, and Shenoa and Co. First off, does anyone have anything to say about any of these stores? I have searched the archive posts for these stores and have only found a few postings about them. One of my good friends purchased from Shenoa and had great service from them.

Anyhow, up until last week I was fairly sure that I was going to go through James and Co. since I had two pretty good visits there. However, one pushy salesman ruined the whole thing for me during my last visit (with my girlfriend) when he insinuated that I was trying to learn too much about diamonds and that I should leave the specifics up to the professionals. So, I would like to see something at one of the other stores (I am open to suggestions of other stores, though) in the next week or so.

To give you an idea of what I was looking at at James and Co.:

1.02 H VS1 Depth 73.3% Table 79% 5.53x5.54x4.06mm Cost: $4325
.91 F VS1 5.38x5.33 Cost: $4175

I know that these are not the most complete specs - please bear with me.

My general parameters are: princess, Ideal cut, D-H, IF-VS2, .95-1.10 no flourescence, and at least very good polish and symmetry. I can spend around 4.5K. I know that the table should generally not exceed the depth of the stone in a princess and that the crown angle should be at least 10%. Also, does anyone know the specific geometric parameters for a princess cut to be "ideal cut". I had trouble finding this information on the goldoldgold site (but the site does rock

Are there any other major factors that I''m missing?

One reason that I''m considering Shenoa is that their GIA certificates have an AGS rating on them as well. David S. Diamonds does not have AGS ratings on their certificates. Would it be inappropriate to ask either of these places for brilliancescope or sarin ratings?

Thanks a bunch for reading this far. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Rank Amateur]

You might start with the tables at www.gemappraisers.com for a starting point on cut proportions (remembering that fancies are difficult predict from their proportions).

Then you might try barry at www.superbcert.com. I think he's close to the diamond district and has an internet presence as well. He also has princesses he is proud of. Tell him you were sent from PriceScope.

 

[Patty]

With Shenoa and Co., I would make sure that you get your stone appraised independently. They have great feedback about their customer service but I sometimes see comments on their website about the quality not being what was advertised. They apparently upgrade the quality once a customer complains. Also, they use the same picture over and over, so the actual diamond you receive will not be the one that was pictured on their eBay site.

But if you've shopped at their retail store and you've seen the GIA certificate you probably are safer than buying from their eBay site.

I second the recommendation for Barry at Superbcert. He is on 47th street and meets customers by appointment.

 

[Nicrez]

Shenoa really made a concerted effort to help us find our stone, but they mentioned an independant appraiser that can verify the stone for $50 or so, just a street away.

I used PhilMar Jewelers who was great!!! He's actually a seller of The Radiant Cut, but carries SO many different stones! He's GREAT! GOG is TOPS for stones!!!

If you want I have a whole list of people who were great and helpful if you need it!

 

[fuffi]

There are no established ideal cuts for fancy shapes like there are for rounds, only the guidelines which you already know about. I would suggest you really get out there and see lots of them. They need to be judged visually. There could be one well outside the parameters that will scream out too you.

 

[bisou]

I highly recommend superbcert.com. They're very nice people and are right on 47th street. Check out their website and ask for Barry if you call them. We had a very good experience with them when we bought our asscher diamond from them.

 

[rodentman]

>>I'm looking for a Princess in NYC and could use some help...<<

I'm almost tempted to ask Looie, but I don't think PS is ready for that...

And I'm trying to improve my image.