Need a stone

[Needastone]

Hi all
I'm probably not the first to post something like this....
I need to buy Diamonds for an engagement ring...
Total of 51 diamonds...

The centre stone will be in the 0.7-0.8ct mark
and 4 smaller stones on the claw... +- 0.03ct
and 46 1pointers...

What my question is...
Would the actual scale of the diamond sizes look fine...i dont want to draw attention away fom the centre stone...
And then the next questions is...
I have received different quotes on the big stones...
Which one would be my best option?
Princess 0.81ct J VS1
Princess 0.72ct J VS1
Princess 0.71ct I VS1

And the specs on these stones...are they good enough quality for an average guy like me?
The smaller stones are brilliant rounds...TTLB...is that just a fancy spec that is out there to confuse me? Or is it actually good stuff?

i.o.w am I buying nonsense or are these ok?

Hope some experts out there can help me out...

Thanx
Needastone

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2009 10:22:06 AM
Author:Needastone
Hi all
I'm probably not the first to post something like this....
I need to buy Diamonds for an engagement ring...
Total of 51 diamonds...

The centre stone will be in the 0.7-0.8ct mark
and 4 smaller stones on the claw... +- 0.03ct
and 46 1pointers...

What my question is...
Would the actual scale of the diamond sizes look fine...i dont want to draw attention away fom the centre stone...
And then the next questions is...
I have received different quotes on the big stones...
Which one would be my best option?
Princess 0.81ct J VS1
Princess 0.72ct J VS1
Princess 0.71ct I VS1

And the specs on these stones...are they good enough quality for an average guy like me?
The smaller stones are brilliant rounds...TTLB...is that just a fancy spec that is out there to confuse me? Or is it actually good stuff?

i.o.w am I buying nonsense or are these ok?

Hope some experts out there can help me out...

Thanx
Needastone

Welcome!

Need much more info on the centre diamonds please. Can you post the following, it will be on the lab report.

type of lab report
depth %
table%
crown and pavilion angles
polish and symmetry grades
diameter measurement
girdle thickness
star and lower girdle facet percentages
fluorescence if applicable

And any images you have for each diamond such as ASET or Idealscope.

TTLB means top top light brown/ top tinted light brown or top light brown, these are diamonds which face up whitish but actually have a brown tinge to them especially from the side, I wouldn't want them in my ring. You often find these in ' bargain' tennis bracelets and suchlike as they are cheap stones.

 

[Needastone]

Sjo!
Thats a lot of info needed
I will ask the dealer if such information is available...
I have not seen the diamonds personally, just sticking my feelers out there...
I''m still in the very early stages of buying the diamonds and setting the ring. So my enquiries are still spread across the board!

Hopefully i can get the details needed to make a quality decision...and for some experts to help me choose the best possible stones.

Thanks for your reply...
Will get back to you soon...
Attached is the ring i want made...

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2009 10:45:59 AM
Author: Needastone

Sjo!
Thats a lot of info needed
I will ask the dealer if such information is available...
I have not seen the diamonds personally, just sticking my feelers out there...
I''m still in the very early stages of buying the diamonds and setting the ring. So my enquiries are still spread across the board!

Hopefully i can get the details needed to make a quality decision...and for some experts to help me choose the best possible stones.

Thanks for your reply...
Will get back to you soon...
Attached is the ring i want made...

You are welcome and yes there is a lot of info needed in order to help you find the best cut stone but we will help you and it will be worth it to have a gorgeous diamond.

Very pretty ring, it shouldn''t be too difficult to get a setting like that, also do you want a round or square Princess? If the latter then different info will be needed and definitely images such as photos and ASET if the diamonds are being sold online. This page explains ASET and Idealscope for you to read.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance

 

[Needastone]

Hi there
I managed to get more info on the stones…
Here they are…I need the best value for money…
I’ll try convert the prices into dollar from South African rand…please note the price in dollar is only an estimate with current exchange rate…That is what i can afford at the moment, prices are for stones only...
Here’s the info that i could gather:

Princess 0.814 Cts 1860 USD
Color J
Clarity VS1
Width 4.91mm length 5.26 L/W 1.07 G
Depth 3.82mm 77.8% G
Crown 43.2” 11.4% EX
Pavil 40.8” 63.5% VG
Table 3.51mm 71.5% EX
Culet 0.1% off 1.6% EX
Girdle 2.9% (2.7-3.4)% EX

Princess 0.724 Cts 1550 USD
Color J
Clarity VS1
Width 4.81mm Length 4.94 L/W 1.03 EX
Depth 3.49mm 72.6% VG
Crown 45.7” 12.2% EX
Pavil 38.0” 57.2% EX
Table 3.53mm 73.3% VG
Culet 0.1% off 0.0% EX
Girdle 3.2% (2.8-3.5)% EX

Princess 0.713 Cts 1875 USD
Color I
Clarity VS1
Width/Length 4.74-5.15mm 1.09%
T.Depth 3.59mm 75.7%
Crown 42.2” 12.0%
Pavil 44.5” 60.8%
Table 3.26mm 68.7%
Culet 1.0% Small off 0.3%
Girdle 2.9% (2.5-3.3)% SI.Thick - Thick (The scan of the certificate cut it off on that line...so i dont know if that is right wording on certificate)

Hope the info is sufficient

I''m sure these are square... I hope so at least
They are not being sold online...it is a dealer here in South Africa...
Don''t have ASET or pics of the stones itself...

Thanks in advance for the help to the experts out there...Lorelei
Needastone

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/16/2009 1:54:19 AM
Author: Needastone
Hi there
I managed to get more info on the stones…
Here they are…I need the best value for money…
I’ll try convert the prices into dollar from South African rand…please note the price in dollar is only an estimate with current exchange rate…That is what i can afford at the moment, prices are for stones only...
Here’s the info that i could gather:

Princess 0.814 Cts 1860 USD
Color J
Clarity VS1
Width 4.91mm length 5.26 L/W 1.07 G
Depth 3.82mm 77.8% G
Crown 43.2” 11.4% EX
Pavil 40.8” 63.5% VG
Table 3.51mm 71.5% EX
Culet 0.1% off 1.6% EX
Girdle 2.9% (2.7-3.4)% EX

Princess 0.724 Cts 1550 USD
Color J
Clarity VS1
Width 4.81mm Length 4.94 L/W 1.03 EX
Depth 3.49mm 72.6% VG
Crown 45.7” 12.2% EX
Pavil 38.0” 57.2% EX
Table 3.53mm 73.3% VG
Culet 0.1% off 0.0% EX
Girdle 3.2% (2.8-3.5)% EX

Princess 0.713 Cts 1875 USD
Color I
Clarity VS1
Width/Length 4.74-5.15mm 1.09%
T.Depth 3.59mm 75.7%
Crown 42.2” 12.0%
Pavil 44.5” 60.8%
Table 3.26mm 68.7%
Culet 1.0% Small off 0.3%
Girdle 2.9% (2.5-3.3)% SI.Thick - Thick (The scan of the certificate cut it off on that line...so i dont know if that is right wording on certificate)

Hope the info is sufficient

I''m sure these are square... I hope so at least
They are not being sold online...it is a dealer here in South Africa...
Don''t have ASET or pics of the stones itself...

Thanks in advance for the help to the experts out there...Lorelei
Needastone

Its difficult without images, have you seen the diamonds or do you have any images NAS? The second looks to be the '' squarest'', the proportions of the last one look the best to me but really all the numbers give are a chalk outline of the stone.

What lab graded these, GIA?

 

[Needastone]

Hey
I havent seen them as yet...trying to gather as much info as possible before going to see her personally
No images either.
I''ll see if i can get images from the lady...
The Lab grades are from South african labs
DIA - International Diamond certification Lab
and IDL - Independant Diamond grading Lab
Dont know if you''ve heard of them?

I found a different dealer who can give me better grade on the 1 pointers...so the TTLB''s are out the window.
The small ones i can get are H-I VS-SI They should be fine considering they are so small...? What you think?
The price difference between the TTLB''s and the new ones differ with about 50 USD for the total of 46 stones...
So thats not too bad hey?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/16/2009 9:16:53 AM
Author: Needastone
Hey
I havent seen them as yet...trying to gather as much info as possible before going to see her personally
No images either.
I''ll see if i can get images from the lady...
The Lab grades are from South african labs
DIA - International Diamond certification Lab
and IDL - Independant Diamond grading Lab
Dont know if you''ve heard of them?

I found a different dealer who can give me better grade on the 1 pointers...so the TTLB''s are out the window.
The small ones i can get are H-I VS-SI They should be fine considering they are so small...? What you think?
The price difference between the TTLB''s and the new ones differ with about 50 USD for the total of 46 stones...
So thats not too bad hey?

I haven''t heard of IDL no, DIA yes and here is a thread with some expert opinions, be cautious here.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/dia-grading-scale.49917/

Can you find any GIA or AGS graded diamonds?

 

[Needastone]

I read the link posted.
But i dont think it''s the same one.
Here is a link to the site of the DIA lab

http://www.dia-labs.com

Cant seem to find a link for IDL...


I''ll have to see if I can get AGS or GIA graded stones
It''s funny South Africa is like a huge diamond exporting country...and it is as if the standard is so much lower...
Sucks hey!

I''m searching my backside off for quality stones and get quote upon quote...but the people just tell you the stuff you want to hear...stuff that sounds all candy coated just to make a sale...hence...me joining this forum to find the best quality...

I''ll see what I can do about AGS and GIA diamonds...
I am however waiting on another quote that i have quite a good feeling about...lets wait and see...
I''ll keep you posted, and appreciate the input so far...very informative...
Thank you very much...
Will keep in touch as I get the quotes and specs etc...
Ciao ciao!

 

[Needastone]

Hi
I received another quote on the small stones.
4 x 0.03 H - I princess cuts
46 x 0.46 (total) H - I vs - si
Much better than the TTLB''s??
I''m not too worried bout the small stones, they are not that expensive...it''s the big stone i want to be sure on.
I''m seeing the designer on Tuesday to discuss the setting etc.
She''s also drawing up the design for me, so we''ll be able to see how everything will fit with the diamond sizes i chose.
We are going to try it with all 3 bigger stones. Different dimensions etc.
Ciao

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/17/2009 4:20:16 AM
Author: Needastone
Hi
I received another quote on the small stones.
4 x 0.03 H - I princess cuts
46 x 0.46 (total) H - I vs - si
Much better than the TTLB''s??
I''m not too worried bout the small stones, they are not that expensive...it''s the big stone i want to be sure on.
I''m seeing the designer on Tuesday to discuss the setting etc.
She''s also drawing up the design for me, so we''ll be able to see how everything will fit with the diamond sizes i chose.
We are going to try it with all 3 bigger stones. Different dimensions etc.
Ciao

I would not want TTLB''s so these sound better but hard to say without seeing them. But as you say the big stone is the most important thing, keep us posted!

 

[Needastone]

Hi there

I bought the main stone yesterday afternoon.
All the stones I was interested in was sold...but i managed to find a 0.7 J VS1 Princess...
Its a beautifull stone! And i''m happy! I inspected the stone under an eyeglass for about and hour to find the inclusion on the bottom of the stone...(certificate says its on the bottom) but with no luck...i tried all angles...different light conditions...different backgrounds...i just couldnt find it!
So for me as an average one time buyer...its perfect for me and surely for my future fiance as well...

Here is the pic of the stone i took with the best camera i have...
I''ll post a better pic later on coz my brother has a good camera that can take super closeup macro pics.

I also found a better jeweler to set the stone...they are doing a printed wax model for me EVERYTHING! And their prices are very reasonable! Also buying the small stones from them...putting in a total of 40 x 1 pointers...I-J VS-SI, rounds.

Thanx for all the input so far! I really learnt a lot!
Rudi - aka Needastone...guess i should change my username to Foundastone! LOL

 

[Needastone]

sorry...never cropped the pic...

 

[Lorelei]

It looks very nice, congratulations!

 

[Needastone]

Thanx
Heres another one...cropped...LOL