It's my turn to ask for advice

[3_stone_shopping]

I've been lurking for about 6 months, but now I'm ready to take the plunge on buying a 3 stone ring for my wife. I'm leery of putting too much identifying information out on these two potential center stones and having someone beat me to the purchase, but I'd like advice on if one stands out over the other. They're at 2 different vendors so I can't ask for their advice.

They're very similiar in size and price, and identical in clarity/color. One is AGS Ideal and the other is GIA Excellent.

#1

#1 scores 1.3 on HCA with excellent Light Return, Fire, Scintillation and very good spread.

#2
#2 score 1.8 on HCA with excellent Light Return and very good Fire, Scintillation, and spread.

Thank you

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am sure either of these would be excellent! I suppose my decision might be influenced by the availability of the other two stones, unless you are using a setting with pre-set sidestones. If the clarity is VS2 or better, then that would not be an issue, but if they are SI stones, I'd want to know a lot more about the inclusions.

 

[stone-cold11]

Just put the stones on hold for you then you can place the link. No need to be secretive about it. If you do not put them on hold they could still be bought out from under your nose.

 

[Todd Gray]

Why not ask the vendors to send each diamond to a Gemologist on your behalf where you can view the diamonds side-by-side? You'll pay a little money for the Gemologist's time and perhaps a little shipping, but you can't beat a side-by-side comparison

 

[3_stone_shopping]

I have them both on hold so I should be safe until tomorrow.

diamond #1 is at goodoldgold
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/8258/

and #2 is at Whiteflash
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2632516.htm

I'm looking at .35 cttw for the sidestones and Whiteflash has them in stock. Goodokdgold can get sidestones but they quoted a higher price and they were .30 cttw each.

The thing that has me 2nd guessing the Whiteflash diamond is the HCA result and the "Very Good" Fire and Scintillation as opposed to them being Excellent on the Goodoldgold diamond.

Thanks for your help.

 

[stone-cold11]

Both look good. Once you have the images, HCA scores do not really matter much, it is a rejection tool not a selection tool.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Probably just comes down to which vendor you would choose to work with - both stones look great.

Is there any price difference between the two?

 

[minmin001]

what setting are you looking for? I'd probably end up going with whichever site has the setting you like and just do it all at once

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I wasn't even going to express an opinion because I have worked with both and have had great experiences, but in this case, the winner is the larger stone. One is 5.7mm and the other is 5.8mm, so that is the tie-breaker.

 

[3_stone_shopping]

The larger diamond is $125 more, but the cheaper (and larger) side diamonds from Whiteflash more than make up the difference. Apparently I'm not missing something obvious in the Ideal scope and Aset images, and as long as no one points out a problem with them I'm going to go with the Whiteflash diamonds. Now I just need to decide between the traditional and trellis settings.

Thanks for your help

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes, for me the tie breaker would be the setting and side stone prices and availability.

I vote for the trellis setting