BlingDreamer
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2012
- Messages
- 22
Hi everyone,
Long time lurker here, first time posting and thought I'd share my absolutely amazing recent experience. I know many here on PS are die hard diamond connoisseurs, I'm not one of them, although I truly wish I had the budget to be one! I thought I'd post this as some people, like me, are looking for a great bang for their buck and can feel uneasy about an online purchase that doesn't meet all the "you should do" that we read (never buy a fancy cut unseen, don't buy an EGL Israel sight unseen, but really, stay away all together, buy H color or better, vendor's eye clean isn't your definition of eye clean, etc).
I'm sorry for the length of the post, but I wanted to put my buying experience out there for other lurkers out there! I lost many night's sleep over this purchase.
I'm in the process of designing a new ring and wanted a large marquise with the following criteria:
- dimensions of at least 12x6, preferably larger
- L/W ratio of 1.8-2 with a preference on the fatter side of things
- eye clean (could be the "perfect" value I1 for all I cared, but had to be eye clean)
- faces up white without drawing in much color, "warm white" is acceptable to me
- mild/light bow tie, nothing obvious, I really wanted a great cut.
I didn't care who certified the diamond, I was buying the diamond, not the certificate, and I ruled nothing out.
My personal feeling on EGL Israel, they're uncertified stones, someone has put a crap piece of paper on them to get them on the online market or into shady retailers who will insist it is a certain color/clarity because the certificate says so. Buyer beware. I know most would say run away as fast as you can. I had no illusions that any EGL Israel stone was going to be accurate, although I did expect the measurements and carat weight to be accurate. Any item where there could be judgment (color, clarity, fluorescence), I expected it to be inconsistent with GIA standards.
I kept searching and searching on PS and found the following with Solomon Brothers:
1.9 carat, marquise diamond, G/VS2, 12.42x6.69x3.89, slight blue fluorescence, EGL Israel, L/W 1.86, excellent symmetry, excellent polish, medium girdle, 62% table, 57.7% depth.
Hmmm...sounds interesting. I figured if EGL Israel held true (which is an oxymoron itself) this would be a J/SI2. I was hoping it would be eye clean (given the VS2) and would face up nicely (hence the G color rating). I popped off a note and was quickly replied to by Rami Hachamoff at Solomon Brothers. He told me the certificate would tell me nothing and immediately offered to get the stone on hand so he could assess it himself. Okay, what do I have to lose?
Stone is on hand with Rami in less than a week later and I get the following report from Rami:
Ratio is shape is near perfect MQ. Diamond is super bright and has a very nice luster. Inclusions are not visible (to the eye) diamond is 100% eye clean. As an EGL, its not a pure G - but the face up is very nice and in my opinion, a true "near colorless" gem. Bowtie is an effect from cutting longer gems, however, its not so prevalent.
We also spoke on the phone immediately after this message while he looked at the diamond some more and he figured GIA would call it an I/SI1, borderline J but it faces up without drawing in much color and the bow tie was not obvious. He said it was a great gem for the money.
He sent me oodles of pictures, laid it in a ring setting for me, close up shots on different backgrounds, whatever I wanted and was very patient through all the emails and phone calls. Some pictures were amazing, some, I have to be honest, the diamond did not look so hot.
I made the plunge and decided to purchase it. I was going to put my faith in Rami's hands and his professional judgetment. n There's a 25 day return policy, so I had nothing to lose. The only issue I have is that I'm in Canada with no way to get adequate insurance to return it if I wasn't in love with it. Rami arranged to have it sent (at my request) to the nearest FedEx location in the US that would hold for pickup. We headed out on the six hour drive.
We arrive the night before so I am at FedEx as they're unlocking the front door
I run out to my car and rip open the packaging. Rami has everything packaged so that if I wanted to return it, the return label, packaging, etc, is all ready for me (a very, very nice touch given he knew the circumstances).
I was completely prepared that this was going back, not on your life!
Right now it's in a temporary setting while I save for the new setting and decide for sure what I'm going to do. Here's the hand shot on my 4.5 finger!
Glow bug (if this is slight, I'd hate to see medium!):
A little blue tint in the sunlight:
This diamond is so clean! There are no feathers, just a few microscopic black carbon specs that I don't see. It changes color from icy white, to vanilla white, to blue white depending on the lighting. The bow tie is negligible and doesn't "black out". I haven't had a yellow moment with it yet.
Sorry for the length of the post, but it was a fabulous experience and I'm a happy woman!
Thanks for reading!
Long time lurker here, first time posting and thought I'd share my absolutely amazing recent experience. I know many here on PS are die hard diamond connoisseurs, I'm not one of them, although I truly wish I had the budget to be one! I thought I'd post this as some people, like me, are looking for a great bang for their buck and can feel uneasy about an online purchase that doesn't meet all the "you should do" that we read (never buy a fancy cut unseen, don't buy an EGL Israel sight unseen, but really, stay away all together, buy H color or better, vendor's eye clean isn't your definition of eye clean, etc).
I'm sorry for the length of the post, but I wanted to put my buying experience out there for other lurkers out there! I lost many night's sleep over this purchase.
I'm in the process of designing a new ring and wanted a large marquise with the following criteria:
- dimensions of at least 12x6, preferably larger
- L/W ratio of 1.8-2 with a preference on the fatter side of things
- eye clean (could be the "perfect" value I1 for all I cared, but had to be eye clean)
- faces up white without drawing in much color, "warm white" is acceptable to me
- mild/light bow tie, nothing obvious, I really wanted a great cut.
I didn't care who certified the diamond, I was buying the diamond, not the certificate, and I ruled nothing out.
My personal feeling on EGL Israel, they're uncertified stones, someone has put a crap piece of paper on them to get them on the online market or into shady retailers who will insist it is a certain color/clarity because the certificate says so. Buyer beware. I know most would say run away as fast as you can. I had no illusions that any EGL Israel stone was going to be accurate, although I did expect the measurements and carat weight to be accurate. Any item where there could be judgment (color, clarity, fluorescence), I expected it to be inconsistent with GIA standards.
I kept searching and searching on PS and found the following with Solomon Brothers:
1.9 carat, marquise diamond, G/VS2, 12.42x6.69x3.89, slight blue fluorescence, EGL Israel, L/W 1.86, excellent symmetry, excellent polish, medium girdle, 62% table, 57.7% depth.
Hmmm...sounds interesting. I figured if EGL Israel held true (which is an oxymoron itself) this would be a J/SI2. I was hoping it would be eye clean (given the VS2) and would face up nicely (hence the G color rating). I popped off a note and was quickly replied to by Rami Hachamoff at Solomon Brothers. He told me the certificate would tell me nothing and immediately offered to get the stone on hand so he could assess it himself. Okay, what do I have to lose?
Stone is on hand with Rami in less than a week later and I get the following report from Rami:
Ratio is shape is near perfect MQ. Diamond is super bright and has a very nice luster. Inclusions are not visible (to the eye) diamond is 100% eye clean. As an EGL, its not a pure G - but the face up is very nice and in my opinion, a true "near colorless" gem. Bowtie is an effect from cutting longer gems, however, its not so prevalent.
We also spoke on the phone immediately after this message while he looked at the diamond some more and he figured GIA would call it an I/SI1, borderline J but it faces up without drawing in much color and the bow tie was not obvious. He said it was a great gem for the money.
He sent me oodles of pictures, laid it in a ring setting for me, close up shots on different backgrounds, whatever I wanted and was very patient through all the emails and phone calls. Some pictures were amazing, some, I have to be honest, the diamond did not look so hot.
I made the plunge and decided to purchase it. I was going to put my faith in Rami's hands and his professional judgetment. n There's a 25 day return policy, so I had nothing to lose. The only issue I have is that I'm in Canada with no way to get adequate insurance to return it if I wasn't in love with it. Rami arranged to have it sent (at my request) to the nearest FedEx location in the US that would hold for pickup. We headed out on the six hour drive.
We arrive the night before so I am at FedEx as they're unlocking the front door
I run out to my car and rip open the packaging. Rami has everything packaged so that if I wanted to return it, the return label, packaging, etc, is all ready for me (a very, very nice touch given he knew the circumstances).I was completely prepared that this was going back, not on your life!
Right now it's in a temporary setting while I save for the new setting and decide for sure what I'm going to do. Here's the hand shot on my 4.5 finger!
Glow bug (if this is slight, I'd hate to see medium!):
A little blue tint in the sunlight:
This diamond is so clean! There are no feathers, just a few microscopic black carbon specs that I don't see. It changes color from icy white, to vanilla white, to blue white depending on the lighting. The bow tie is negligible and doesn't "black out". I haven't had a yellow moment with it yet.
Sorry for the length of the post, but it was a fabulous experience and I'm a happy woman!
Thanks for reading!
Canadian too?? We are having it rough this year huh? I am stuck home on maternity leave but hubby keeps telling me it is one rough winter in Montreal this year! I totally understand the dry hands things.... and the dry elbows, feet, etc.... 
It looks huge and beautifully cut, you hit the jackpot girlfriend! I love your setting choice too. I'm a huge fan of ew set mq's. Promise you'll come back with more pics when you reset please. Very nice choices!!!
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