Last Minute Advice -- 1.51 F SI1 Princess with Visible Feathers

[sam26]

Any last minute advice, comments, suggestions, anything on this Princess Diamond that I must decide to purchase (or not) tomorrow morning?? I need some help on this one, as always.

1.51 F (GIA)
SI1 (with eye visible white feather looking from the length side of stone)
6.36x6.33x4.63
VG/VG
No Culet
TN - MED Girdle
73.1% Depth
67% Table
11.4% Crown Height
No Fl.

I have seen the stone in person and really like it. It has alot of sparkle and fire, and the cut looks really nice.

However, it has a feather on the left length side that looks like a scratch on the side of the stone and is eye visible. Worse, it has a feather on the right length side which looks like a white flake. It is clearly visible without a loop. Furthermore, you can see it from the other sides of the diamond, and from those angles, the white flake looks as if it is in the middle of the stone.

Table down, the stone looks 100% eyeclean. It is only if you look through the sides you can see the "white flake" feather and the "scratch" feather. The stone is other perfect in my book except for those darn eye visible feathers. The custom setting I''m having done will not be able to hide the feathers -- they are both right in the middle of the length sides.

Thanks in advance for any help or comments.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Grading is always done face up - it is common to see inclusions from the side / back.

Since you will be able to see this in the mount - only you can make this decision.
Many people in the trade find inclusions interesting and they serve to identify the stone. But others hate visible or even non-mind cleanliness.

I do not like thin girdles near the points on princess.
they chip too easily

 

[researcher]

While the numbers on this stone are great, I think I would pass. In the size you''re looking at you''ll be able to find another stone with as good of a cut and a better clarity. My stone is an SI1 as well, but there are no, and I mean no, visible inclusions (unless the stone is upside down and you know EXACTLY where to look). Unless you''re getting an amazing deal on this stone, I would keep looking.

 

[sam26]

I agree that the numbers are really good. It also looks really good in person -- really sparkles. That''s why this visible feather is killing me. To be honest, I''m getting tired of looking and searching for diamonds. I need to pull the trigger pretty soon. That being said, I don''t want to settle for something this late in the game (i''ve been looking for 6 months or so).

The price looks pretty good. I''m not sure it is "amazing" though. It''s well behind Rap, but I know that doesn''t really mean much, or so I''ve read on threads. The price per carat is pretty low as well -- lower than almost every F SI1 with similar table/depth proportions listed on pricesope. Also, I''ve seen a large internet diamond company (not the one I''m dealing with) list the price for the same stone for $1200 bucks more.

What do you guys think? Is this a good buy or close to an amazing deal that would make you think twce about this stone? When is enough enough? When do you settle for a stone? When do you KNOW that the stone is the ONE? It seems I could wait forever, always looking for that better stone.

Thanks for your help and counsel. -- burning the midnight oil

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

As I am working on some AGS ideal princess #''s at present I have played with this stone and it could be within the AGS candidate range.

But the risk of chipping means I would definitely send it to an appraiser for an opinion.
Or at least insist the vendor sets it for you so they take the risk.

 

[sam26]

Gary, thanks for you help and advice. I will have my jeweler look at the girdle, especially at the corners to see how thin it is there. My jeweler also said there is a technique where you "burn" the edges of the princess before setting it. As he explainied it, you basically touch the edges of the stone on a diamond sander, which protects it from chipping.

Have you heard of this technique? Do you approve? I will see what my jeweler says and get back to you. I am also running another Sarin of this stone to double check everything that has been told to me. If you can, please check back in on this thread. Thanks.