Just bought an I1 diamond! Concerned

[phantom]

I just bought an I1 diamond and I am concerned about the low clarity grade. I paid about $2900 for it. I know that I1 is low, but I can''t see any inclusions in it. The diamond looks really nice. Did I make a mistake? Should I return it? Here are the specs.

EGL Cert. - new york
.95 ct
round brilliant
6.23 - 6.14 x3.83 mm

Depth 61.90%
Table 64.00%
Crown 12.80%
Pavillion 43.00%
Girdle Thick to very thick faceted
culet - none

Polish - good
symmetry - good
Clarity - I1
Color - G

flouresence - strong blue

 

[Giangi]

Hi Phantom! Welcome!

Don't worry too much about the I 1...

The price sounds a big high to me... A fast internet search shows prices betweeen 1800 and 2500(2500 for GIA graded stones). And all this assuming the stone is graded properly.
The cut is good -- about average. My only concern is the tk-vtk girdle... It makes the stone look smaller, especially considering this stone, having a 64% table, could be a shallower one, thus, if it had a medium to thin girdle, would look 1ct+++.

How does the strong fluorescence to you? It SHOULDN'T be a problem.

To sum up, if I were you, I would return it not for the grade, but for the specs I've just analized.

 

[phantom]

Thanks Giangi,

I'm new to this. I wasn't exactly looking at the girdle. I appreciate your insight. I paid $2,900 what do you think a fair price would have been for this stone?

 

[Mara]

HCA wouldn't even let me run this stone through the calculator, said the girdle was overly thick. So I couldn't even get an HCA analysis on this stone...

As Giangi noted, stones like this can go between 1800-2500, with 2500 being the high end for GIA graded stones. EGL certed stones are usually discounted more, so maybe around 1800-2000 would have been a fair price for this stone. There are alot of red flags on this stone though, the extra large table, the very thick girdle, the I1 clarity rating..the good/good symmetry and polish, strong blue fluor.

If you have a hard stop on the $2900 budget, I'd say return this stone, and get something like an H SI1 .80c excellently cut stone for $3000. It will have a diameter of around 6.05mm and look a little smaller than the .95c you purchased, but should shine MUCH brighter and appear much more beautiful.

Here's a quick example:
http://www.whiteflash.com/acut/diamond_details.asp?ItemCode=462037
.81 H SI1 ACA H&A $2990

Anyway, whatever you decide, be educated! Good luck.

 

[phantom]

Mara, thank you for your response. Just curious, What is HCA?

 

[Mara]

Here is a link to the Holloway Cut Advisor (HCA) which lets you input the depth, table, crown and pavilion information along with culet (which is usually none or almost none) to get an idea of how your stone will perform in regards to brilliance, fire, scintillation and spread.

https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp

Brilliance is best described IMO as the white sparkles you see in the stone. Fire is along the lines of fire and/or colored sparkles inside the stone itself. Scint is a hard to describe one but has been described as the 'black' flashes that offer contrast against the white and colored flashes of fire and brilliance. Spread is how big the diamond faces up, meaning that if its EX, it looks at least how it should look if not bigger, and Poor would mean that the stone looks smaller than it should for its ctw.

But I couldn't even get the data from the HCA because it thinks your girdle is too thick. From what I know about the HCA and how it runs, for it not to let you input those #s and get a score, that's a huge warning sign.

Good luck!!

 

[Giangi]

Mara, once again, GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE.

BTW, That A Cut Above is absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Bayou]

I am no expert, but I was a stickler for the clarity in the eary run. But if this is an engagement ring or even a gift, I doubt she or her friends will EVER run up to it at a party with a 10x loop.

 

[phantom]

No, her friends might not look at it through a 10x loupe but I will always know in the back of my mind that I got jipped on my wifes engagement diamond. That doesn't sit that well with me. This is just a poorly cut stone, and that's a fact. I don't even care about the clarity so much. What really bothers me is that I got this stone from my coworkers father, so I thought he was someone that I could trust. But, I guess I learned my lesson. Don't trust anyone! Thank god for the internet and you guys. Now, I just hope that he will let me return it. Is there anyone or any agency I can complain to if he doesn't let me return it? I just bought this diamond yesterday.