Need advice on realistic size for budget

[bigds]

My wife wants an oval diamond. I am looking to spend 25k for of course the shiniest, biggest one. I am going with one of the vendors that was recommended to me yesterday, but here is where I need your help. For those that have exposure to the wholesale side, what should I be expecting to see? My only request to the jeweler was as little bow tie as possible. Any guidance is appreciated.

 

[diamondloveaffair]

keep a lookout on the shape and outline of the diamond. for fancy cut diamonds, this is a very important factor that varies with personal preferences.

The bow tie is entirely subjective and again, depends on your preferences. Some hollywood stars wear rings with significant bow ties.

In my experience, diamonds with no bowties fair poorly in terms of brilliance and scintillation. From my personal opinion, i would advice you to look into stones with slight bow ties and compare the amount of sparkles coming out under the table facet. this should be a good estimation of selecting a well cut oval.

 

[04diamond<3]

Here are some different options:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/2.20-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-154018
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/2.19-carat-d-color-si1-clarity-sku-176573
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/2.13-carat-i-color-si1-clarity-sku-182066
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/2.09-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-178121
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/2.04-carat-f-color-si1-clarity-sku-182648

JA offers PS members discounts on their diamonds so I'd check with them, but also ask them for aset images after putting the one's you like on hold.

 

[madelise]

My wife wants an oval diamond. I am looking to spend 25k for of course the shiniest, biggest one. I am going with one of the vendors that was recommended to me yesterday, but here is where I need your help. For those that have exposure to the wholesale side, what should I be expecting to see? My only request to the jeweler was as little bow tie as possible. Any guidance is appreciated.

"Shiniest" will be due to light return. Make sure you get ASET images for whichever stones you consider.

Also: there's no such thing as "wholesale". Anyone claiming to be "wholesale" is BS-ing you. Anyone willing to sell to you is a retailer, not a wholesaler. And not all jewelers know what you mean by saying bow tie.

I suggest you contact PS vendors that offer ASET images.

 

[madelise]

keep a lookout on the shape and outline of the diamond. for fancy cut diamonds, this is a very important factor that varies with personal preferences.

The bow tie is entirely subjective and again, depends on your preferences. Some hollywood stars wear rings with significant bow ties.

In my experience, diamonds with no bowties fair poorly in terms of brilliance and scintillation. From my personal opinion, i would advice you to look into stones with slight bow ties and compare the amount of sparkles coming out under the table facet. this should be a good estimation of selecting a well cut oval.

I'm sorry, but a bow tie isn't subjective. Color might be somewhat subjective as it can appear white to someone, and tinted to another. But a bow tie? Everyone can see it. It's existence is either there or not there. Fact does not equal subjective.

Also, I have no idea what your experience is, but how can no bow tie = poor brilliance and scintillation? The bow tie = LEAKAGE of light return. It is the definition of poor brilliance.

 

[bigds]

The vendor we are going to will give the ASET image, they are one of the highly regarded ones on the site. Problem is, I don't want to confuse highly regarded with best pricing.

I know I will look at a bunch of stones, however, is it ok to get something in the range of Domestic Cut or do I need to go for ideal?

 

[fige]

I just bought an oval and adore it! By all means look at all options, but I think you'll soon realize that ideal cut is the way to go. Especially with ovals, so many are lifeless and dull.

If you're after an ideal cut SI G+, I would think your budget would potentially get you 10.5mm length or a tiny but more depending on the length to width ratio. I think dimensions are more meaningful than weight, however this may translate to 2.3 carats or so.

 

[fige]

keep a lookout on the shape and outline of the diamond. for fancy cut diamonds, this is a very important factor that varies with personal preferences.

The bow tie is entirely subjective and again, depends on your preferences. Some hollywood stars wear rings with significant bow ties.

In my experience, diamonds with no bowties fair poorly in terms of brilliance and scintillation. From my personal opinion, i would advice you to look into stones with slight bow ties and compare the amount of sparkles coming out under the table facet. this should be a good estimation of selecting a well cut oval.

I'm sorry, but a bow tie isn't subjective. Color might be somewhat subjective as it can appear white to someone, and tinted to another. But a bow tie? Everyone can see it. It's existence is either there or not there. Fact does not equal subjective.

Also, I have no idea what your experience is, but how can no bow tie = poor brilliance and scintillation? The bow tie = LEAKAGE of light return. It is the definition of poor brilliance.

I think a bowtie is subjective! Yes, everyone can see it, but the terminoligy used to describe them differ. There are no standardized terms to describe a bowtie. What may be considered minimal/faint to one, may not be to another. It's not a measured thing.

Would a darker but thinner bowtie be regarded as more desirable than a wider but fainter one both within the 'minimal' range? I think that's very subjective.

Watch this video to see why no bowtie can be less desirable. A lot of the time, the bigger broader reflections come from the belly of the diamond, where the bowtie is.

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDwQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXclnwiIXNGc&ei=X-9OUfacG43VigKliIHgDg&usg=AFQjCNFIfl4S0v44oXGoBatY0ANSE78Ijg&sig2=LdjVSML3RrWTnRlBA-qIrA

 

[JulieN]

The bow tie = LEAKAGE of light return. It is the definition of poor brilliance.

Bow tie is obstruction. Usually ovals have leakage everywhere except the belly.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

The vendor we are going to will give the ASET image, they are one of the highly regarded ones on the site. Problem is, I don't want to confuse highly regarded with best pricing.

I know I will look at a bunch of stones, however, is it ok to get something in the range of Domestic Cut or do I need to go for ideal?

If I had to pay a little more to get a superior oval, I certainly would! I didn't consider another vendor when I looked for my asscher because I knew I could trust GOG to thoroughly check out the stone for me and ultimately find me one with the best cut. $25k is just too much to spend and gamble on the cut, in my opinion.

 

[Christina...]

Just to clarify....currently AGS is the only lab grading cut and/or light performance for fancy shape diamonds. When a vendor claims a fancy shape is a 'ideal' cut and it isn't graded by AGSL then it's only that specific vendors opinion, based typically on only it's table and depth percentages. Fancy shapes are impossible to judge on these numbers alone and an ASET is required to determine it's performance and any leakage present. Since you already determined that you are looking for a stone with optimal light performance, I would focus my search more on the vendor that can offer me the most assurance of quality instead of the vendor that can offer me the best price.

 

[heididdl]

the 2.09 has my vote.

 

[two_little_birds]

the 2.09 has my vote.

+1

But you may be dealing with a different vendor than JA. If I were looking for an oval I would probably go with John at GoG to source me one. Just my 2 cents.