Looking for validation

[RaymondW]

I think I bought a great little diamond but I wonder if I''m missing anything. It''s a .73 carat G VS1. GIA cut is Excellent and it seems to meet the specifications of an AGS Ideal.

Measurements: 5.81 x 5.84 x 3.55
Depth %: 60.9
Average Table Diameter %: 56.0
Average Crown Angle °: 34.5
Average Crown Depth %: 15.0
Average Pavilion Angle °: 40.8
Average Pavilion Depth %: 43.0
Average Star Length %: 50.0
Average Lower Half Length %: 75.0
Girdle: Thin - Medium, Faceted
Culet: None
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: None

Holloway Cut Advisor
Light Return: Excellent
Fire: Excellent
Scintillation: Excellent
Spread: Very Good
Total Visual Performance: 1.2

Isee2 Reading: 9.3

Gemex Light Performance Analysis
White Light/Brilliance: High - Very High
Color Light/Fire: Very High
Scintillation/Sparkle: High - Very High

I know I could have gotten a slightly larger diamond by giving up some on the color and clarity, but I like the fact that it''s still very close to colorless and pretty clean. I''ve done a PS diamond search and can''t find many G VS1''s with these proportions. Is there anything I''m missing about this being a really good diamond for under $3,000?

I have some pictures at the links below:

http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/d910cJjp9wYWa8oyYf3wy5BQP-F6nQzZrwgov4xQp5Fd3Ig=_l.jpg
http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/d910cJjp9wYWa8oyYf3wy5BQP42RiqdtZABiv4xQp5Fd3Ig=_l.jpg
http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/d910cJjp9wYWa8oyYf3wy5BQPxJWB801jDZUv4xQp5Fd3Ig=_l.jpg
http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/d910cJjp9wYWa8oyYf3wy5BQP6UKhZT5BcAsv4xQp5Fd3Ig=_l.jpg
http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/d910cJjp9wYWa8oyYf3wy5BQP5MWT8LdeVdLv4xQp5Fd3Ig=_l.jpg
http://links.pictures.aol.com/pic/d910cJjp9wYWa8oyYf3wy5BQP5di*b-3WZd5v4xQp5Fd3Ig=_l.jpg

 

[strmrdr]

congrates!
You did good.

 

[monarch64]

Consider yourself validated, hee hee. Great stone!

 

[RaymondW]

Thank you, thank you!

I bought one stone before I knew what to look for. It was nice but not great. This one cost $200 more but it''s a lot closer to what I was hoping for. Still, I was afraid someone would see something I didn''t and I''d wish I''d have looked even further. It''s reassuring to know when you got a good product for a good price.

I think it might be easier to spot a good deal on a high end car than it is to find the right match of price and parameters on a good diamond.

 

[Ellen]

Pretty diamond! Validation granted.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/25/2008 7:02:24 AM
Author: Ellen
Pretty diamond! Validation granted.

Ditto!

 

[tubbles527]

Hi Raymond. I am a new member and I saw your post. I am looking for a diamond with similar specs as what you posted (size, $$, etc). Based on the good feedback you received on this purchase, I was wondering if you could help me out a bit in my search. Would you mind telling me where you found this?

THANKS!

 

[RaymondW]

Hi Tubbles. I'll be glad to help as much as I can. Just be aware that I'm no expert. This was my process. YMMV.

I started my search by reading a lot about diamonds and what others had to say about them. Among the "bullet" points I came away with were that cut was of most importance. GIA and AGS lab certifications were also important. D, E and F colors and VVS and higher clarity grades would not get me the most bang for my money. Still, I didn't want to compromise too much so I settled on G and VS1 as my target grades. Part of that had to do with my original plan to buy a titanium tension mount and two makers cautioned against anything less than SI1 clarity for those rings. I added a little extra margin just to be safe. Then I went hunting on web sites of vendors who were frequently mentioned as well as here on Pricescope. Price had a big influence on the size of diamond I could afford. With so many diamonds to choose from, I further narrowed the field by focusing on excellent polish and symmetry.

I had been talking with an online dealer and actually bought one diamond from her before I knew enough to be dangerous. It was nice, but I thought I could do better. Turns out the cut was a little too deep (height to width ratio). My jeweler had already made me a great offer on a band I liked and we talked about upgrading the diamond to something with more "spark". I found the second diamond at another online web site and asked my jeweler if she could find something comparable. By then, I had a much better idea of what made one diamond better than the next and the diamond I'd found had all the right parameters although the cost was a little more. She acquired the very diamond I pointed out and met the other site's price. She provided the light analyses and other pictures and pointed out the Hearts and Arrows pattern that wasn't mentioned previously. I also ran the numbers through the Holloway Cut Advisor before deciding to spend the extra money for that diamond.

Being the analytical sort, the numbers (measurements and proportions) meant a lot to me. I knew that numbers alone don't make the diamond, but they sure help narrow the field. I found a site that listed the parameters of the AGS cut grades and I concentrated on AGS0 grade diamonds. The diamond I bought had been certified by the GIA but it had the proportions that fell within AGS0. Like I said, the light analysis and pictures confirmed that it was a really nice stone.

While looking for stones, I sometimes relaxed my requirements to include H color and VS2 clarity. The cost savings wasn't that much and I couldn't find anything that would have given me a much larger diamond for the same money. I didn't feel like I was gaining much by compromising. I ended up with a list of about 20 diamonds. Some sites didn't give enough information to fully evaluate the stones. Some stones had one or more parameters that made them less than AGS0. All in all, I narrowed it down to only a couple.

That's what worked for me. Others probably have other ways of sorting this all out.

My advice is to decide what you want first, then go find it. But do be careful about price. Right now, there's a certain diamond on my list at one jeweler selling for $400 more than at another jeweler. They both have the same GIA certificate number.

The bottom line is that I paid $2,840 for the diamond above. I also bought a Gelin Abaci 14K white gold tension mount ring for $920.

Could I have shaved off another $50 by looking elsewhere? Perhaps. But I feel good about what I got, especially after the positive comments in this thread.

Good luck in your search.

 

[cinnamon013]

Go with it! Sounds like a beauty.