Lurky McLurks
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2008
- Messages
- 5
OK, here is my story, probably similar to what many people have gone through, but not to fret, I have a happy ending!
So, after listening to my gf comment on various rings, I had expertly deducted that a princess cut or round brilliant set in a band with channel-set diamonds would suit her taste perfectly. As a young buyer I new the internet was the way to go, especially b/c my gf and I take pride in our right to be frugal (a distinction between frugality by necessity).
After doing very little research I soon found the mathematical perfection a round brilliant can approach in terms of light return to be very appealing (princess cuts now thrown out the window). I then came up with my first driving requirement - an excellent/ideal rated cut.
Having seen only a handful of stones in a B&M store, I was scared into thinking I needed no less than an F and a VVS. However, after some additional research and being appalled at the prices, I quickly lowered those requirements down to G and VS2.
Fast forward 2 weeks of internet searching and I finally purchased a stone on Blue Nile (I know, I know, I probably could have gotten it cheaper at WF or GOG, but the 30 day policy was a must for me...).
Here are the specs on my stone:
GIA - Cert - Excellent Cut, 1.02 Carat, 6.51 x 6.53 x 3.94, girdle thin to medium, non flourc., excellent cut and polish, 60.6% depth, 57% table, 34.5% crown, 40.6% pavillion, no culet, G, VS2. (Phew, and to think I now have those specs memorized!)
OK, after I purchased my stone I found Pricescope (Blast!!!!!). Granted, I wish I had found PS earlier, but here is where the luck begins to set in.
After browsing PS for hours, I came upon the HCA. Before entering in the number I got a sinking feeling in my stomach (I wish I had found this earlier I once again thought). But luckily, my stone received a 0.7 rating - amazing. More importantly, the stone specs fell within the AGSL Ideal 0 range (as well as the GIA obviously). I couldn''t be happier, now I had a stone that was screened as a great performer by HCA, was rated as excellent by the GIA, and had the geometric *potential* to be an AGSL 0 (without having to pay the slight premium on AGSL 0''s).
So everything is great in my diamond world, until, after 1 week of obsessively looking I find an inclusion in my stone that I can see with my own eyes - however - the stone has to be tiled at just the perfect angle and I have to look directly through the side of the pavilion. CRAP!!!!!! Why meeeeeee!!!!
Not to fret, after more hours on PS I soon found that this is can be quite common among VS2''s, as the clarity is graded from the face-up position only. Needless to say I was till worried, so I went on PS and found Patrick Davis as my appraiser. Here is what he said...
Patrick was an *amazing* appraiser. He walked me through absolutely everything, and didn''t treat me like an idiot after learning I was now PS veteran. He nailed everything on the GIA cert without even seeing it (and the stone is set no less). When he got to the clarity he said, "I would put this as between a VS2 and an SI1, but would say it def. closer to a VS2." My heart sank again, great, I paid VS2 prices but it has hints of SI1, but Patrick assured me that the value of the diamond is in the GIA cert., and that the subjectivity of clarity grading is to be expected. He said he would officially grade the clarity as a VS2+. BUT, then he got to the color and said it was extremely close to an F, closer to F than to G. Patrick mentioned that in his *opinion* if you had to pick a grading flaw he would prefer to have a diamond be closer to colorless and be slightly lower in clarity than the other way around. Sweet!
Finally, Patrick commented on the excellent light return of the stone, and even though it was set I was able to clearly see an amazing arrow pattern.
Finally, Patrick pulled out all his cost analysis documentation and showed me the slight premium AGS 0 graded diamonds have over GIA Excellent, and came up with a range of internet based prices he expected my purchase to fall within. I came in at the very low end of that range (a 1.1 mark-up compared to whole-sale prices, where the typical internet range is 1.1-1.3). [The mark-up goes all the way up to 1.9, with Costco / Diamond Districts comming in at 1.4-1.5, B&M stores at 1.6-1.7, Tiffanies / Beverly Hills etc. 1.8-1.9]. Anyways, we then agreed that an appraisal around the 1.5 range would be perfect, as the stone would still be insured past it''s paid amount (insurance companies just replace stones based on the GIA cert and similar diamonds btw), but the premium wouldn''t be jacked up based on the 1.9 mark-up that could potentially be used.
Overall I think I really lucked out for having found PS after I purchased my diamond. I would recomend getting an appraisal done no matter what, as it really set my mind at ease that I got an excellent stone for an excellent price. I lucked out on this one, and can''t wait for the proposal.
(If you made it this far, thank you, please leave a comment so I know my venting was not all in vain. I haven''t told anyone about this proposal, it''s driving me nutz keeping it a secret, so you guys are my only venting option!).
So, after listening to my gf comment on various rings, I had expertly deducted that a princess cut or round brilliant set in a band with channel-set diamonds would suit her taste perfectly. As a young buyer I new the internet was the way to go, especially b/c my gf and I take pride in our right to be frugal (a distinction between frugality by necessity).
After doing very little research I soon found the mathematical perfection a round brilliant can approach in terms of light return to be very appealing (princess cuts now thrown out the window). I then came up with my first driving requirement - an excellent/ideal rated cut.
Having seen only a handful of stones in a B&M store, I was scared into thinking I needed no less than an F and a VVS. However, after some additional research and being appalled at the prices, I quickly lowered those requirements down to G and VS2.
Fast forward 2 weeks of internet searching and I finally purchased a stone on Blue Nile (I know, I know, I probably could have gotten it cheaper at WF or GOG, but the 30 day policy was a must for me...).
Here are the specs on my stone:
GIA - Cert - Excellent Cut, 1.02 Carat, 6.51 x 6.53 x 3.94, girdle thin to medium, non flourc., excellent cut and polish, 60.6% depth, 57% table, 34.5% crown, 40.6% pavillion, no culet, G, VS2. (Phew, and to think I now have those specs memorized!)
OK, after I purchased my stone I found Pricescope (Blast!!!!!). Granted, I wish I had found PS earlier, but here is where the luck begins to set in.
After browsing PS for hours, I came upon the HCA. Before entering in the number I got a sinking feeling in my stomach (I wish I had found this earlier I once again thought). But luckily, my stone received a 0.7 rating - amazing. More importantly, the stone specs fell within the AGSL Ideal 0 range (as well as the GIA obviously). I couldn''t be happier, now I had a stone that was screened as a great performer by HCA, was rated as excellent by the GIA, and had the geometric *potential* to be an AGSL 0 (without having to pay the slight premium on AGSL 0''s).
So everything is great in my diamond world, until, after 1 week of obsessively looking I find an inclusion in my stone that I can see with my own eyes - however - the stone has to be tiled at just the perfect angle and I have to look directly through the side of the pavilion. CRAP!!!!!! Why meeeeeee!!!!
Not to fret, after more hours on PS I soon found that this is can be quite common among VS2''s, as the clarity is graded from the face-up position only. Needless to say I was till worried, so I went on PS and found Patrick Davis as my appraiser. Here is what he said...
Patrick was an *amazing* appraiser. He walked me through absolutely everything, and didn''t treat me like an idiot after learning I was now PS veteran. He nailed everything on the GIA cert without even seeing it (and the stone is set no less). When he got to the clarity he said, "I would put this as between a VS2 and an SI1, but would say it def. closer to a VS2." My heart sank again, great, I paid VS2 prices but it has hints of SI1, but Patrick assured me that the value of the diamond is in the GIA cert., and that the subjectivity of clarity grading is to be expected. He said he would officially grade the clarity as a VS2+. BUT, then he got to the color and said it was extremely close to an F, closer to F than to G. Patrick mentioned that in his *opinion* if you had to pick a grading flaw he would prefer to have a diamond be closer to colorless and be slightly lower in clarity than the other way around. Sweet!
Finally, Patrick commented on the excellent light return of the stone, and even though it was set I was able to clearly see an amazing arrow pattern.
Finally, Patrick pulled out all his cost analysis documentation and showed me the slight premium AGS 0 graded diamonds have over GIA Excellent, and came up with a range of internet based prices he expected my purchase to fall within. I came in at the very low end of that range (a 1.1 mark-up compared to whole-sale prices, where the typical internet range is 1.1-1.3). [The mark-up goes all the way up to 1.9, with Costco / Diamond Districts comming in at 1.4-1.5, B&M stores at 1.6-1.7, Tiffanies / Beverly Hills etc. 1.8-1.9]. Anyways, we then agreed that an appraisal around the 1.5 range would be perfect, as the stone would still be insured past it''s paid amount (insurance companies just replace stones based on the GIA cert and similar diamonds btw), but the premium wouldn''t be jacked up based on the 1.9 mark-up that could potentially be used.
Overall I think I really lucked out for having found PS after I purchased my diamond. I would recomend getting an appraisal done no matter what, as it really set my mind at ease that I got an excellent stone for an excellent price. I lucked out on this one, and can''t wait for the proposal.
(If you made it this far, thank you, please leave a comment so I know my venting was not all in vain. I haven''t told anyone about this proposal, it''s driving me nutz keeping it a secret, so you guys are my only venting option!).
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