Need expert opinion to choose one stone from three

[flyingangelet]

Hi,

Finally I received the Ideal Scopes of the three stones. I need to place order Today.

Which one should I choose?

(1)0.9/D/VS1/excellent cut/excellent polish/very good symmertry/crown:34.5% pavilion:40.6% table:57% depth:61.3%/measurements:6.16-6.20x3.79/HCA score:0.8[exellent light return, excellent fire, excellent scintillation, very good spread]/price: ~$5100
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/D-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1247493.asp

(2)0.94/F/VS1/excellent cut/excellent polish/excellent symmertry/crown:34.5% pavilion:40.8% table:55% depth:62.3%/measurements:6.24-6.28x3.90/HCA score:1.4[exellent light return, excellent fire, excellent scintillation, very good spread]/price:~$4800
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1259783.asp
(3)0.91/E/VS2/excellent cut/excellent polish/very good symmertry/crown:35.0% pavilion:40.8% table:54% depth:62.6%/measurements:6.16-6.21x3.88/HCA score:1.7[exellent light return, excellent fire, excellent scintillation, very good spread]/price:~$4400
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1192485.asp

Thanks.

 

[flyingangelet]

1st - 0.90/D/VS1

It seems the pink is not saturated and the image looks dark. ?

 

[flyingangelet]

2nd: 0.94/F/VS1

Some shadows at 5 and 9 o'clock. ?

 

[flyingangelet]

3rd: 0.91/E/VS2

Some shadows at 12-1 o'clock. ?

 

[Stephan]

I like nr 1!

 

[Lorelei]

1 or 3 for me, the second image is showing a little leakage in the image.

 

[stone-cold11]

ya, 1 or 3. 3 is ok, the stone is slightly tilted when the image is taken. 2 has slight leakage.

 

[flyingangelet]

Thanks for all comments.

Why the pink color of 1st one looks dark than 2nd and 3rd? (or the pink color of 2nd and 3rd are much more brighter than the 1st) What does this mean? Is this fine for the 1st stone?

I also put the HCA scores. Can you guys also take a look?

The depth of 2nd and 3rd are > 62.0%. Is this fine?

Finally, which one is worthy to buy? [The prices are attached.] Or none of them is good?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2009 9:02:11 AM
Author: flyingangelet
Thanks for all comments.

Why the pink color of 1st one looks dark than 2nd and 3rd? (or the pink color of 2nd and 3rd are much more brighter than the 1st) What does this mean? Is this fine for the 1st stone?

I also put the HCA scores. Can you guys also take a look?

The depth of 2nd and 3rd are > 62.0%. Is this fine?

Finally, which one is worthy to buy? [The prices are attached.] Or none of them is good?

The darker colour is just due to lighting, nothing to worry about.

HCA scores don''t apply when you have images, the HCA is used for elimination only, images always trump any HCA result.

Depth is fine, as before 1 and 3 are the ones I prefer.

 

[flyingangelet]

Thank you, Lorelei.

Now I don''t need to worry about the DARK pink color of 1st stone.

Yeah, I use the HCA score as a criteria when I searching stones. The HCAs of all three stones are < 2.

I found the 4th shaft (assuming 12 o''clock is the 1st shaft) has a shadow. What does this mean?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2009 9:24:49 AM
Author: flyingangelet
Thank you, Lorelei.

Now I don''t need to worry about the DARK pink color of 1st stone.

Yeah, I use the HCA score as a criteria when I searching stones. The HCAs of all three stones are < 2.

I found the 4th shaft (assuming 12 o''clock is the 1st shaft) has a shadow. What does this mean?

Most welcome!

The shadow could just be where the stone moved slightly when the image was taken or exposure, I would think it is just a result of the image and not something to do with the diamond itself.

 

[flyingangelet]

Thank you again, Lorelei.

My another concern is girdle thickness and table area.

the 1st stone has larger table than 3rd (57% vs 54%) but has silghtly thick girdle (vs thin to medium of 3rd). I want the stone to looks bigger but the slightly thick girdle may affect the stone performance. ?

The price difference is $700. Which one has better performance/cost ? Or both of them are good deals ?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2009 10:15:52 AM
Author: flyingangelet
Thank you again, Lorelei.

My another concern is girdle thickness and table area.

the 1st stone has larger table than 3rd (57% vs 54%) but has silghtly thick girdle (vs thin to medium of 3rd). I want the stone to looks bigger but the slightly thick girdle may affect the stone performance. ?

The price difference is $700. Which one has better performance/cost ? Or both of them are good deals ?

The table sizes are fine as are the girdle thicknesses, slightly thick is a highly desirable girdle thickness! As to which to choose, both are almost the same size face up, unless you want a D colour then you could choose the E and save the money - both should be great looking diamonds and I would wager if you were comparing them side by side you would not notice any difference between them. James Allen are competitively priced so no concerns there.

 

[stone-cold11]

yap, both are the same size, so the girdle is not affecting the spread of the stone.

 

[flyingangelet]

Yeah. The 3rd stone is much cheaper. It seems I should get this one.

Hmm .......... I researched the stones using price scope search engine and found that $5100 is almost the lowest price for 0.9/D/VS1 stones. And $4400 is in the low-medium price range for 0.9/e/vs2 stones. Maybe this comparison is meaningless.

JA does not provide ASET images. Can I make a decision just according to the GIA report and IS?

What else should I do before placeing order? Thanks.

 

[stone-cold11]

For rounds, IS/GIA report is enough, at least for me.

Find a setting? :p

 

[flyingangelet]

Stone, thank you.

Hehe. I asked some questions about setting here. Previouly I like the 6 prong setting with side stones - which makes the stone very BLING BLING.

After seeing some pictures I don''t like this style any more. Now I want one similar to classical Tiffany 6 prong setting. I think maybe the plain is the best. I can get a diamond weddinb band later if I want more BLING. hehe. Probably I will buy the setting in local store.

Do I need to request some comments from the gemmologists of JA since I can not see the REALLY stones now ?

 

[stone-cold11]

You can ask for them. Some VS2 might not be eye-clean so maybe you can request that to be check out? But will increase your waiting time for the stone. You are not in a hurry timewise right?

 

[flyingangelet]

Actually I want to place order ASAP because I will be very busy in the next few weeks. My IS request was delayed several days.

Otherwise I can get IS earlier.

I found there is a cloud (dangerous inclusion, right?) on the table of the 3rd stone. It is safe to check the real stone before taking it.

The 1st stone is VS1. Maybe it''s not necessary to check the real stone if I take this one ?

Usually what issues do the gemmologists of the vendor evaluate? Only inclusions? Will they say "this one is more beautiful than another one" ?

 

[stone-cold11]

Yap, comparing which stones is more beautiful to their eyes is also part of their work. Usually ask them to check if eye-clean and if the inclusion/ very thin girdle might cause structural problems to the stone.

EDT:
A VS2 clould on the table should not be a problem.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2009 11:35:06 AM
Author: flyingangelet
Actually I want to place order ASAP because I will be very busy in the next few weeks. My IS request was delayed several days.

Otherwise I can get IS earlier.

I found there is a cloud (dangerous inclusion, right?) on the table of the 3rd stone. It is safe to check the real stone before taking it.

The 1st stone is VS1. Maybe it's not necessary to check the real stone if I take this one ?

Usually what issues do the gemmologists of the vendor evaluate? Only inclusions? Will they say 'this one is more beautiful than another one' ?

The gemologists name is Julianna at James Allen so you could request her opinion on these 2. She can certainly give you an opinion on the cut quality and beauty of each diamond if you ask for this also. A cloud inclusion with VS clarity should not be an issue - nor are they dangerous or any kind of durability issue, just check the diamonds are eyeclean from all angles and distances, Julianna can check this for you.

 

[flyingangelet]

Very appreciate all suggestions!!

I called JA for the evaluation from their gemmologist. The gemmologist''s name is not Julianna. ? And probably I need wait till next Tuesday.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2009 12:12:31 PM
Author: flyingangelet
Very appreciate all suggestions!!

I called JA for the evaluation from their gemmologist. The gemmologist's name is not Julianna. ? And probably I need wait till next Tuesday.

Unless they have a new gemologist their name always was Julianna. I know Jim Schultz reads here, I am sure he will clarify if this is no longer the case.

 

[YoungPapa]

flyingangelet,

We actually have two gemologists on staff and a third starting Monday. Julianna is the person most often referenced on the Pricescope forums. She''s on vacation this week, however, so we''re trying to get the diamonds inspected by Tammy. Tonight is Rosh Hashanah (so the NYC office is closing early) and Monday''s are *crazy* busy, so worse case scenario the information will be available by Tuesday.

Hope this clarifies a bit!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/18/2009 1:05:44 PM
Author: James Allen Schultz
flyingangelet,

We actually have two gemologists on staff and a third starting Monday. Julianna is the person most often referenced on the Pricescope forums. She''s on vacation this week, however, so we''re trying to get the diamonds inspected by Tammy. Tonight is Rosh Hashanah (so the NYC office is closing early) and Monday''s are *crazy* busy, so worse case scenario the information will be available by Tuesday.

Hope this clarifies a bit!

It does, thanks Jim!