My head's spinning.... what to do?

[JP13]

Been lurking for a while, and am about ready to pull the trigger on a diamond for an engagement ring. But honestly, the more I read the more confused and unsure I am.

I preferred to pick out the stone/ring myself, but she is pretty particular about these sorts of things. So we've looked together and she's set on a round diamond probably in the 1.1+ carat range, in a very simple setting. Keep in mind her ring size is about a 3.75. I think the size of a 1.25 carat stone looks really nice on her, but I'm not sure if my budget of $9K allows for a diamond of that size while maintaining high quality.

So I've been looking online, thinking I could maximize things by buying a diamond online and have it mounted locally. I'm thinking

GIA excellent cut, 1.25, H VS2, VG/EX symmetry and polish. I haven't been paying much attention to fluorescence.

It seems like that gets me to a pretty nice quality diamond at the top of my budget. But right when I think I've decided, I get buried in the percentages, proportions, AGS ideal vs. GIA excellent, etc. My standards are lower than the avg hard-core diamond collector/buyer, but I want to make sure that I'm still buying a very nice diamond that we'll be happy with for many years.

I find GIA Excellent diamonds and then notice the crown or pavilion angle is a little outside the range someone thinks is ideal. Should I just simply trust that a diamond certified by GIA as an Excellent cut will be great? My hunch is that I couldn't distinguish differences in less than a degree on way or the other. Am I worrying about things that I likely will never notice?

Thanks for any thoughts/advice you might have!

 

[Lane03]

So I've been looking online, thinking I could maximize things by buying a diamond online and have it mounted locally. I'm thinking

I would recommend buying the setting from the same retailer you buy the diamond from. Odds are the price of the setting would be less than you would find locally and they would set it for free versus you having to pay an additional fee to have it set. Plus it's just less to worry about as far as the stone being damaged during the setting process (unlikely). I think you would need to up your budget a few thousand to meet your requirements, even a basic solitaire setting will be ~ $200 and I think a 1.25 H VS2 would be closer to $11,000 in price. On that small of a finger, even a 1ct would look VERY nice!

 

[distracts]

So I've been looking online, thinking I could maximize things by buying a diamond online and have it mounted locally. I'm thinking

I would recommend buying the setting from the same retailer you buy the diamond from. Odds are the price of the setting would be less than you would find locally and they would set it for free versus you having to pay an additional fee to have it set. Plus it's just less to worry about as far as the stone being damaged during the setting process (unlikely).

Ditto.

 

[Lane03]

So I've been looking online, thinking I could maximize things by buying a diamond online and have it mounted locally. I'm thinking

I would recommend buying the setting from the same retailer you buy the diamond from. Odds are the price of the setting would be less than you would find locally and they would set it for free versus you having to pay an additional fee to have it set. Plus it's just less to worry about as far as the stone being damaged during the setting process (unlikely). I think you would need to up your budget a few thousand to meet your requirements, even a basic solitaire setting will be ~ $200 and I think a 1.25 H VS2 would be closer to $11,000 in price. On that small of a finger, even a 1ct would look VERY nice!

Just to follow up, I did a quick search and there were a few diamonds on jamesallen.com that fit your requirements and budget. Ones I found on WF were more expensive.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1514091.asp

 

[JP13]

So I've been looking online, thinking I could maximize things by buying a diamond online and have it mounted locally. I'm thinking

I would recommend buying the setting from the same retailer you buy the diamond from. Odds are the price of the setting would be less than you would find locally and they would set it for free versus you having to pay an additional fee to have it set. Plus it's just less to worry about as far as the stone being damaged during the setting process (unlikely). I think you would need to up your budget a few thousand to meet your requirements, even a basic solitaire setting will be ~ $200 and I think a 1.25 H VS2 would be closer to $11,000 in price. On that small of a finger, even a 1ct would look VERY nice!

Just to follow up, I did a quick search and there were a few diamonds on jamesallen.com that fit your requirements and budget. Ones I found on WF were more expensive.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1514091.asp

OK, that's probably good advice on the setting. She's concerned that she hasn't tried it on, seen it in person, etc. But I may do it anyway.

As far as the stone is concerned, is sticking to GIA "excellent" very safe? It seems like there are stones that are graded excellent but have a percentage that's outside one of these ranges. For example I thought total depth should top out around 62.0 or 62.3, while the one you posted is 62.9. Is this a really really minor difference here that I would never notice?

 

[Lane03]

I am guessing you wouldn't notice, but I will let others who are more knowledgeable answer that question.

 

[Gypsy]

It's not ONE number, it's how they all work together. In some areas you may be able to give a little, if you get someplace else. The HCA is the 'for dummies' version of this (and thank god cause I'm a dummy!) stick to scores under 2 to be super safe. Under 3 is you are willing to walk on the wild side AND can get an idealscope image (no under 3 without an idealscope image).


Here are some bad and worse GIA Ex, just so you can see how even in the range of EX there are some really doozies to avoid:


Who needs the HCA, images of the diamonds, and idealscopes! All I need is a GIA Excellent cut, and nothing else: http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1491758.asp ... http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1384909.asp ... http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1414633.asp ... http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1407485.asp ... http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1334538.asp

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/D-IF-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1429061.asp It's a D IF GIA Ex! IT MUST BE GORGEOUS. http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/D-IF-Excellent-Cut-Round-Diamond-1451142.asp

 

[MissGotRocks]

GIA triple x has a broader range than an AGS0. As Gypsy said, it is sort of on a case by case basis. GIA triple X stones are nice but they're not all winners. The HCA is a great tool for weeding out less than desireable stones.

If you find one that you are seriously considering, post the specs here. Folks will be happy to help!

 

[JP13]

GIA triple x has a broader range than an AGS0. As Gypsy said, it is sort of on a case by case basis. GIA triple X stones are nice but they're not all winners. The HCA is a great tool for weeding out less than desireable stones.

If you find one that you are seriously considering, post the specs here. Folks will be happy to help!

OK, now my head's spinning even faster but I'm catching on. I'm plugging #'s from the GIA certificate of the JA example above into this site to calculate a score:

http://www.diamond-cut.com.au/holloway_cut_adviser.htm

Depth 62.9%
Table 55%
Crown Angle 35.5
Pavilion Angle 40.8
Culet ?

This gives a 2.7, and "Very Good" for all 4 factors. Sounds like this would be an example that looks pretty good, but maybe I should look for something under 2.0, or at least a lot closer to it?