Looking for opinions on my shopping excursion

[Shawn]

Looking for any opinions someone may want to offer.

This is my story...
bare with me I am new at this.


I looked at a few stones today. one at .89 ct H/Vs1 Mastercut(arbitrary name, nonetheless it was Ideal ags had "000" (Shreve Crump & Low) in a Platinum Setting $7250. He had GIA AGS digital images Sarin reports to go along with that or any diamond I may want.

I also Looked at a range of stones at another dealerin the Jewlery Building downtown ( Deprisco). They ranged from 1.ct to 1.29 (I think I looked at 6 or 7 stones within that range -although it is starting to become a blur

) ) The stones, as the Gemologist said, were all of Class 1a cut Quality with colors e f g and I think there was an H. They were all either vs1 or 2 except the E that was a SI1. They all seemed like beatiful stones, clear white sparkly, I was allowed to handle thenm and use the loupe.. He had stones with and without GIA grading reports. He qoted me 6500 for a 1ct g/vs2 in the platinum lucida type setting.

Here is the kicker. As nice as the Larger stones were. The smaller one, at Shreves, Jumped out at me It was screaming and dancing under any light in the house(The sales guy even let me walk around to dark areas and we put it in the shade of a plant, I think if it were not so damn cold out he would have went outside if I wanted.) He said I could inspect loose stones(especially before making the purchase) but this was shown to me in a setting(that is their practice).
Shreves also offers 90 day money back no questions. Lifetime full purchase price upgrade. if you loose the diamond or if something happens to it they will replace it for free(there may have been a timeline with that one but I can''y remember) All this peace of mind comes with a price though, I guess.


Both people I spoke with were very knowledgeable and great to speak with, I felt no pressure.

I know there are no angles or %''s but please offer your opinions or what ever. I am looking for as much feedback as I can get.

 

[optimized]

Hi Shawn,

It's apparent from your post that you've been lurking around the forum for a while and are well aware of the massive amount of emphasis that proportions and angles get around here. But, as you're also learning, in the end it all comes down to how the diamond looks. All of the emphasis on Sarin/Megascope reports, the HCA, BrillianceScope, etc. should really be secondary to the personal visual impact each individual diamond has on you. I'm a firm believer in buying a diamond based on your personal tastes, so if you see a diamond that calls out to you, what's the point of knowing the geometry? If a diamond "speaks to you," that is probably the diamond you should buy!

The emphasis on geometry and numbers around here has a lot to do with the fact that these forums are heavily populated with people who are researching diamonds for purchase online (and dealers selling online), and with folks in these situations there is an understandable hearty thirst for any and all information that can be gleaned without actually seeing the diamond (I know I sucked up all the information I could get). In your case, you have the ability to look at diamonds in person, and may have far less use for some of these tools. The voluminous information is nice to have, but except for a grading report from a reliable lab like GIA or AGS (to help determine what a fair value for the diamond is), I think in the end you are best served by choosing a diamond that looks good to you and that you would be happy giving to your sweetie.

The policies of Shreves seem to be quite generous on the surface (especially compared to many online dealers), so as long as you are comfortable with the price premium and the diamond speaks to your soul, you may already know what you really want to do. If a diamond is beautiful, it's fulfilled the only real responsibility it has, so the numbers no longer matter. I'd caution you to check the fine print on the guarantees they offer, but it sounds to me like you may have already found your "dream diamond."

My $0.02...

-Tim