Input needed on loose diamond!

[diamondnoob101]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking on these forums for the past 5 months and have done alot of research in the meantime. After visiting many, many, local jewellers, I've decided that Blue Nile is where I will purchase as the equivalent diamond is thousands cheaper through there. Also, for some reason I found it very difficult to find a GIA certified diamond, all were Gemscan or EGL, rated much higher than even through my own noob-eyes would rate them.

Anyway, so my budget before taxes is roughly $8000ish MAX(lower is better if similar in quality) for the diamond alone. I plan to get the setting made by a local jeweller as the size and specific style is not available on BN. I've listed the GIA certificate numbers, but if you'd rather me post the specifics here, I can do so.

Diamond 1:
GIA Cert #:1142943287
Price: $8006
Carat: 1.0
Color: G
Clarity: VS2
Cut: Excellent
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick
Concerns - According to the GIA plotting, there are some green "Natural" markings, are these bad?

Diamond 2:
GIA Cert #:6152726852
Price: $7263
Carat: 1.0
Color: G
Clarity: VS2
Cut: Excellent
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick
Concerns - From what I've read, the crown angles and pavillion are not that great? what are your opinions? This one, otherwise, is nearly $800 cheaper than diamond 1 and the plot is pretty clean.

Diamond 3:
GIA Cert #:2136438386
Price: $7542
Carat: 1.0
Color: G
Clarity VS2
Cut: Excellent
Girdle: Thin to Medium
Concerns - The plotting look worse than Diamond 2

Diamond 4:
GIA Cert #:2156218101
Price: $7564
Carat: 1.01
Color: F
Clarity: VS2
Cut: Excellent
Girdle: Slightly Thick
Concerns - None really.

To be honest, aside from the 4 Cs, polish/symmetry being VG-Excellent, my main thing was looking at how the inclusion plots looked on the GIA certificates. Also, I'm looking at 1.0, nothing less (yes, I do know it can be much cheaper, however without seeing a plot, I feel that I'd be going in completely blind, this may be stupid, but the plots at least give some idea of where the inclusions are).

Thanks for any inputs!

 

[Gypsy]

Run through HCA, toss out anything with a score over three. And since blue nile doesn't offer an ASET, put a strong preference for anything with a score under 2. https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

 

[diamondnoob101]

hey thanks alot, I checked it out...Diamond 1(also the most expensive of the 4 above) was the only one under 2 (1.2), the rest were 4+ lol

 

[Gypsy]

hey thanks alot, I checked it out...Diamond 1(also the most expensive of the 4 above) was the only one under 2 (1.2), the rest were 4+ lol

That's because you pay more for a better cut stone.

https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Cut is king. Cut determines if the stone is bright, white, and how big it looks.

So the answer to your question is that Diamond 1 is the one that is recommended.

A "Natural" is a type of inclusion. Ask BN to pull the stone and tell you if it is eyeclean.

 

[Gypsy]

I know you prefer BN, but they don't provide idealscope images.

So here's another option for you:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11282/ You don't need the HCA because of all the other information provided. Bank wire is 7,500.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.04-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-154793 It scores a 2.6 but that's okay because the idealscope image (something BN doesn't provide) confirms that it has good performance.

You can ask JA if they have a pricescope discount which might save you some money.

 

[JulieN]

The first one is a VG/VG polish/symmetry, so that is a little bit riskier without pictures.
Just under the budget: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2762638.htm?source=pricescope

 

[thediamondshopper]

Hi diamondnoob101,

In respects to clarity issues like "naturals" which are parts of the diamond left unpolished or "natural" I would worry to much. Actually at VS2 you dont have much to worry about inclusion wise especially if you are only concerned with what you can see without a loupe. Even with a loupe you will likely have a hard time spotting VS2 inclusions. Also I wouldn't rely on the grading plots on the reports, these are more there to tell you where the inclusions are than anything else. 2 points on this, first they look messier than the actual diamond because they are 2D unlike the diamond with is 3D. Second they are marked in color to make them very obvious on paper, provided the inclusions are of "light color or white" they will not be anywhere near as obvious as they are on the plots.

I noticed you have chosen all GIA diamonds, while the selection is much thinner AGS provides considerably more information by which you can analyze a diamond on paper if you cant see them in person. For example you get an ASET image in many instances, as well as a more refined cut grade (AGS 000 is more exclusive than GIA excellent), as well proportion figures that arent rounded as much.

Eliminating stones with HCA above 2 will make your task considerably easier, from there many differences will be a matter of personal taste, ie balancing brilliance, fire and scintillation, budget and your ability to differentiate color.

 

[diamondnoob101]

The first one is a VG/VG polish/symmetry, so that is a little bit riskier without pictures.
Just under the budget: http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2762638.htm?source=pricescope

Hi Julie,

I took a look at the whiteflash one you posted and it got a 1.1 HCA rating. I'm researching on how to read the idealscope to see what to look out for. From what I'm reading on here, I shouldn't be too concerned with the inclusion plot in the report...I guess it just bothers me since if I look hard enough I can find a pretty "clean" one at that, but then usually there is a trade off such as symmetry/polish. But from what I've read, it seems VG and EX symmetry/polish are very hard to distinguish.

Anyway, any other thoughts on the whiteflash diamond in the link above? specifically the idealscope? I do like how the website certifies that it is eye clean.

 

[diamondnoob101]

I know you prefer BN, but they don't provide idealscope images.

So here's another option for you:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11282/ You don't need the HCA because of all the other information provided. Bank wire is 7,500.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.04-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-154793 It scores a 2.6 but that's okay because the idealscope image (something BN doesn't provide) confirms that it has good performance.

You can ask JA if they have a pricescope discount which might save you some money.

Hey Gypsy,

Both look good, the GOG one scored 1.5 on HCA. I couldn't find shipping information on their website to Canada, but I'll contact them and see. I've been so used to the BN website, I need to get used to searching on these other sites haha

 

[JulieN]

The IS on the WF one is top notch. It got a 1 for polish.

 

[Gypsy]

I know they do ship overseas. Best thing to do is wait till they are open and talk it through with them.


Just so you know though, the HCA is a basic test. Kinda of a minimum standard. Any time you an AGS 0 stone you trump the HCA. And then when you have an idealscope image of a stone, that's more important than the HCA score or the AGS 0 score.

Once you have a good idealscope image or an AGS 0 lab report, the HCA is irrelevant.

 

[diamondnoob101]

The IS on the WF one is top notch. It got a 1 for polish.

Hi Julie,

Yes I love this one. I placed an order on BN But got an email today saying that the supplier is closed on holiday until sep 30. So I've sent notice to cancel my order. I ordered diamond 1 in my original post. Once I get confirmation it's been cancelled, I will be contacting WF tomorrow.