Need advice between 2 rocks

[deuzter]

Hi there,

I have narrowed down my choice to the following rocks:-
1) 0.51 carat AGS Triple Ideal diamond (Price: Singapore $4800 - inclusive of white gold setting)
2) 0.46 carat Lazare diamond (Price: Singapore $5400 - inclusive of white gold setting)

I am more inclined towards the AGS since its cheaper and bigger carat. Appreciate any kind souls to comment on the below AGS one. Is this worth buying?

Proportions as per AGS cert dated 22 June 2005:-

Shape & Style: Round Brilliant
Cut grade: AGS Ideal 0
Light performance: 0
Proportion factors: 0
Finish: 0
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Colour grade: AGS 0 (D)
Clarity grade: AGS 3 (VS1) (some cloud and needle inclusions)
Carat weight: 0.51
Comments: Fluorescence - Negligible

Total Depth: 63.3%
Table diameter: 57%
Crown height: 14.6%
Pavilion depth: 42.9%
Girdle thickness: 1 - 3.1%
Crown angle: 34.2 degrees
Pavilion angle: 40.7 degrees
Cutlet: Pointed

Qns: How do you tell that this AGS certification is based on the latest cut grading technology as annouced by AGS Labs? Read from AGS Labs websites that from 1st June 2005, they will still have both old and newer certifications. But only from Sept 2005, all cut grading will be based on the new technology.

Qns: What is cloud and needle inclusions mean? Are these inclusions visible by naked eye?

Qns: Total depth seems big here, does this really matter?

Qns: Is the Girdle thickness from the above % mean "thin to slightly thick"? What is recommend for the Girdle thickness?


Below is HCA online calculation results:-
Light return: Excellent
Fire: Excellent
Scintillation: Excellent
Spread: Good
Total visual performance: 1.2 - Excellent within TIC range

Qns: Spread is only "good", does spread really matter here?

Qns: Should I consider going for the smaller 0.46 carat Lazare rock instead since its claimed to be the ideal cut or the above AGS one?

Reason for asking so much qns is that I don''t have an Ideal scope/Firescope to verify by eye on light leakage etc. Neither does the shop I am buying from have one. Most of the shops in Singapore does not provide a scope that shows pink/red colours.

 

[Regular Guy]

Deuzter,

Though I am a sucker for Lazare, and so, think you would be fine with either, I believe I''d side with you, and do see:

- the AGS cert you have is the newer one, because one of the key and new "zero''s is light performance, only the new reports show them, and your report shows it.
- in this Pricescope environment, I feel like the experts tend to agree that new AGS zeros are pretty reliably winning stones
- so this is good

others may be able to help you with the other detail.

Regards,

 

[phoenixgirl]

What is the diameter of each stone? With that 63.3 depth on the larger stone, they are probably going to have very similar diameters . . . in others words, the larger stone may not actually look larger. So size wouldn''t be a deciding factor for me.

Is the Lazare stone also D VS1? Do you have its report details?

Of course I haven''t seen the stone, but I can''t imagine a correctly graded VS1 having a visible inclusion in a half carat stone. The notes are just describing what type of inclusions can be seen under magnification.

Thin to slightly thick for the girdle isn''t a concern in terms of chipping, but the slightly thick partially explains why the depth of the stone is so high.

I''d probably go for the AGS0 if everything else is equal. The Lazare diamond is 12.5% more but is under the half carat mark. However, I''d prefer a stone with a lower depth percentage so that it doesn''t look smaller than it is. 0.51 stones like this one with lower depth percentages have diameters (spreads) of about 5.2 to 5.25. Yours may be about 5.05 or something like that.