Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & ring

[rasc170]

[The world of diamonds is something I had no knowledge on, but have been lurking here about 2 months and gained a lot of valuable knowledge. Im finally ready to pick out my first engagement ring and want some opinions on it. My dad has a great friend living in dubai who is a jeweler and ive been corresponding with him on customizing the perfect ring. Below is HRD certs and i'll post a pic of the diamond as well. And lastly pics of the setting/ring. The diamond is going to cost me $10,700 us dollers and the ring will be around $1500. So for a total of $12,200. What do you guys think?

Diamond Certification:






Pic of diamond:




finally the ring is going to look like this from the sides on 18k white gold



this is what the top would look like. Its a double halo with a round centerstone

 

[Niel]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

I wouldnt buy that stone id it were GIA cert because of it 5.6 score on the hca calc
I would get it in general because I have never heard of the cert before.

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

this is what the top would look like. Its a double halo with a round centerstone

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

HRD is out of belgium i believe. They handle mostly european diamonds

 

[Niel]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

HRD is out of belgium i believe. They handle mostly european diamonds

Ok. well still it does not score well on the hca
https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

i tried using that hca tool, but what do I put for the cutlet percentage?

 

[Niel]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

I calculated it with a 0, assuming the ring had no culet, based off the cert saying pointed

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

Did you get a score of 5.6 as well?

 

[Niel]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

That i did. And you are looking for one under 2. Im hoping someone else will chime in here. Are you committed to working with this man or would you be willing to explore other options.

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

im somewhat commited because he's already got the ring being made and we were just waiting for me to pick a centerstone.

anyone else?

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

Does a hca rating of 5.6 mean this diamond wont perform well? Anyone have anything comparing a 5 hca diamond vs. say a 2?

I did the #s on GIA cut estimator and it came out to excellent. These are two opposing results. Im so confused!!

 

[04diamond<3]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

Unless you're into old european diamonds (I'd then suggest www.oldworlddiamonds.com) I found a few better options:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1499672.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1535710.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1547260.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1532162.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1483129.asp

 

[rasc170]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

Unless you're into old european diamonds (I'd then suggest www.oldworlddiamonds.com) I found a few better options:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1499672.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1535710.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1547260.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1532162.asp
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1483129.asp

so is this diamond no good? It has all the characteristics that are desirable... near colorless, very slight inclusions, excellent cut, etc. How are you guys able to judge the quality of the diamond? And what are old euorpean diamonds? I googled it and not much came up

 

[04diamond<3]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

old world diamonds is a company that carries old cut diamonds. There's OEC (Old European Cut) OMC (Old Miner Cut) and the antique cushion cuts. If your stone is not an older cut (which I thought it might be due to the certificate and the specs, then it's not a well performing stone. If it's supposed to be a "well cut" round brilliant, then I'd skip it due to the fact that it has a very very low score on the HCA.

 

[Lula]

Re: Long timer lurker, needing opinion on center diamond & r

HRD is out of belgium i believe. They handle mostly european diamonds

Yes, they are a Belgium lab. Which is located in Europe. And you are correct, the lab location has nothing to do with "Old European Cut (OEC)" diamonds ,which is a cutting style.

My guess is that HCA is penalizing the diamond because of its large table and steep pavilion angle. The HCA cannot "see" the diamond, obviously, and is simply one tool for analyzing how well the diamond's proportions work together. The diamond you chose falls outside of the Tolkowsky ideal proportions, which is what is most typically recommended around here.

None of us can see the diamond in person either, and the one photo you supplied does not provide enough information about how the diamond will look from different angles and in different lighting conditions. The HCA does not provide an analysis of every aspect of a diamond's proportions, so the diamond you chose *could* be a nice diamond, but most here would pass it up in favor of a diamond with proportions that score under 2 on the HCA.

The setting you chose is beautiful, and if you still have time to change the center stone, you may want to ask the jeweler if he is able to get a few GIA Excellent cut or AGS Ideal cut stones for you to compare. If so, we can give you some suggestions on stones that would be good candidates.

ETA: I just checked the first two stones linked by 04diamond above. The first scored 2.8 on the HCA and the second scored 5.1 (I didn't check the others) so the important thing to note here is that GIA Excellent cut grade stones fall within a very wide range, with some scoring below 2 on the HCA and some scoring much above 2. Again, HCA is penalizing stones that fall outside the Tolkowsky ideal cut parameters. Tolkowsky ideal cut parameters are preferred here; your eye may not be able to tell the difference between a stone with Tolkowsky proportions and a stone with proportions that fall outside Tolkowsky's range.