Need help finding a great princess cut!

[Kelli]

Ok so this is not for me (unfortunately

). My fiance''s friend is looking for a 1 ct. princess cut diamond to propose to his girlfriend with. He said his budget is around $4000 to $6000 for the whole ring, but I don''t know how elaborate of a setting he is looking for. He originally said $4000 for the stone, but I''m waiting to hear back from him to be sure. They want H color and VS clarity. I am thrilled to be able to help since I love this stuff anyway, problem is I know absolutely nothing about princess cuts. Anyone care to find a few? I would also be open to looking myself if I knew what stats to be searching for so stats are more than welcome also.

 

[dbsdiamonds]

Very simple and straight forward advice...

Start GIA for honesty in grading.

1ct princess should be 5.5mm or larger in measurements. Anything smaller and you''ll have a 1ct diamond that looks like a .90 or .80ct. So for further specifications keep depth and table in the upper 60% to low 70% range. From there VG to Ex on polish and symmetry will suffice, your budget will dictate how much higher than H VS2, better than "good" or "very good" on polish or symmetry, or maybe bigger than 1ct range you can go.

There are a number of great opinions you''ll get on your question, this is a basic answer to start. From there it''ll be easy to sort through the vast availability to find the best diamond in your budget...if you know where to look!

Marty
CEO/Pres
www.diamondsatcost.com
www.dbsdiamonds.com

 

[Kelli]

Thanks! I''ll get looking and probably have more questions as I go.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hey Marty,

Since you have 19 posts in total now, of which about 17 end with the same ''if you know where to look'', I did have a look at your website.

Could you please explain the following, which I found under the 8 lines that you dedicated to diamond Cut: ''Quite frankly, most people cannot physically see the difference between a excellent and good cut. Actual ideal cut percentage statistics are still in dispute. Even GIA has refused to put grades on cut (to date).''

Your advise above seems simple and straightforward, but it in no way helps the OP to find a definitely nice princess-cut. Unless the tagline ''if you know where to look'' is actually the reason for the post, of course.

Live long,

 

[Kelli]

Ok I''ve started to look but between all the websites there are like a thousand and I don''t know how to narrow it down. I''m not even sure what all the ASET and idealscope images should look like for a princess! There are no easy tools like the HCA for princess cuts right? I know sticking with an ACA would be safe, but there aren''t many to choose from right now and I don''t know if expert selections would be ok or not. I am open to more than just Whiteflash too, I just knew they had ACA princesses. Where else can I look and be sure I''m picking a great one? There doesn''t seem to be cut and dry parameters like there are for rounds.

 

[jstarfireb]

Date: 8/4/2008 5:31:29 PM
Author: Kelli
Ok I've started to look but between all the websites there are like a thousand and I don't know how to narrow it down. I'm not even sure what all the ASET and idealscope images should look like for a princess! There are no easy tools like the HCA for princess cuts right? I know sticking with an ACA would be safe, but there aren't many to choose from right now and I don't know if expert selections would be ok or not. I am open to more than just Whiteflash too, I just knew they had ACA princesses. Where else can I look and be sure I'm picking a great one? There doesn't seem to be cut and dry parameters like there are for rounds.

Well, I'm not an expert, but my fiance and I did manage to pick out a beautiful ACA princess. I would stick with AGS 0 ideal cut princesses, which you can find at WF, GOG, and Excel Diamonds to name a few! AGS is the only lab that grades princess cuts for cut quality. You're bound to get a beautiful stone if you stick with the 0 cut grade. You can find very nice princesses that are graded by GIA or other labs, but you have to do more legwork. And AGS's grading for color/clarity is just as strict as GIA's (some say even more so). Stick with VG or Ex polish and symmetry either way. 5.5 is a good size for a 1ct princess as Marty mentioned...just keep in mind that some of the most beautiful princess cut stones are actually cut a tad on the deeper side, like the ACAs. My 1.016 ACA princess is 5.5 by 5.38, so it actually is a little smallish for the carat weight, but that's sometimes what it takes for ideal light performance. Finally, the ASET and IS can both be great tools. You want to see as much red as possible for both of them, as well as symmetry.

ETA: Also, your friend could consider looking at SI1 or SI2 clarity. As long as the stone is clean to the naked eye, there's no way to tell the difference between an SI1 and an IF just by looking without a loupe.

This 0.97 H SI1 looks beautiful and is priced very well! Make sure it's eye clean of course. Also, if he goes down in size just a bit, there's a nice looking 0.90 F SI1 available...or conversely, drop the color to I and check out this stone from WF. And here's one with the desired specs and a very nice spread. Finally, the WF X-factor cut is a princess with clipped corners, which makes the stone less prone to breakage and also increases size for carat weight a little. This one looks very promising!

 

[Kelli]

jstarfireb--- Thank you so much for your detailed response!!! It was VERY halpful and is great to now have some actual recommended diamonds to look at. I''ll check them all out now. Thanks again

 

[Kelli]

These diamonds look very promising, but I should probably get the actual "proposer" to look at this thread. The ones at whiteflash that are not ACAs don''t have the light performance grading on them. Is there no way to find out if they''re AGS0 just because they''re not ACAs?

 

[jstarfireb]

No problem. With regard to the X-factor, AGS does not grade them for light performance because they''re not true princess cuts, just slightly modified ones. As for the slightly larger "expert selection" princess I mentioned...I''m not sure why there''s no light performance grading. Perhaps the cert is too old? I''m not sure when AGS started grading princesses for light performance. I would call WF and ask one of their gemologists how they think AGS would grade that particular stone. They might say that it fell just short of ACA status because of a parameter being very slightly off...who knows?

Oh, wait...now I see a problem. I overlooked the fact that the girdle on the 1.081 stone is "extremely thin." That could put the stone at risk for breakage. If your friend is interested, call WF and ask about it. It could be extremely thin in only one spot...but more likely it''s dangerously thin all around because the dimensions are larger than I expected (small girdle allows larger dimensions per carat weight). Unless he wanted to put it in a bezel setting, I''d pass on an extremely thin girdle because princesses are so prone to corner breakage to begin with.

 

[Kelli]

Again, thank you! I''m actually working with whiteflash on something else right now, so maybe I''ll ask them about a few of their stones and what they''d recommend. I would definitely trust them to pick me (my friend) a winner.

 

[Kelli]

OK new question. I''ve been looking at many different websites. Some I know are great, but don''t have much of a selection at this time. Others don''t carry AGS stones, which I know are graded for light performance, where the GIA ones are not. So if a company has a "signature ideal" princess cut, you''d assume they''d have great light performance right? I know WF has ACAs and I would totally trust that but what about other companies? Blue Nile''s prices seem really fair and they have a signature ideal cut. Exceldiamonds has AGS0 stones. Any of these based on cut alone should be winners right?

 

[John P]

Presume it at your own risk. There are some shocking labeling practices out there. In general, the most quality-focused online sellers will demonstrate the strength of their "top of the line" stock with reports from GIA or AGS (a report featuring AGS Ideal light performance is a strong pedigree) accompanied by Ideal-Scope photos - ASET for fancy shapes - and possibly gemadviser/webviewer files. Such proof of performance should be expected for goods being touted as "high performing" just as you should expect actual hearts & arrows images if you pursue a stone being sold as "H&A."

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/4/2008 6:34:44 PM
Author: jstarfireb
No problem. With regard to the X-factor, AGS does not grade them for light performance because they're not true princess cuts, just slightly modified ones. As for the slightly larger 'expert selection' princess I mentioned...I'm not sure why there's no light performance grading. Perhaps the cert is too old? I'm not sure when AGS started grading princesses for light performance. I would call WF and ask one of their gemologists how they think AGS would grade that particular stone. They might say that it fell just short of ACA status because of a parameter being very slightly off...who knows?

Oh, wait...now I see a problem. I overlooked the fact that the girdle on the 1.081 stone is 'extremely thin.' That could put the stone at risk for breakage. If your friend is interested, call WF and ask about it. It could be extremely thin in only one spot...but more likely it's dangerously thin all around because the dimensions are larger than I expected (small girdle allows larger dimensions per carat weight). Unless he wanted to put it in a bezel setting, I'd pass on an extremely thin girdle because princesses are so prone to corner breakage to begin with.

Only way to know is to check with WF- the ex thin part of the girdle might only be one tiny area and not a problem, the spread could also be due to the weight distribution and not an issue. BTW I often see X Factor diamonds with Ex Thin girdles, so take each diamond on a case by case basis.

 

[Kelli]

Thanks for your replies. I suppose assuming someone''s signature ideal without proof isn''t so smart huh... But the AGS0 report showing light performance-- I found a lot of those. For some reason I''m having a terrible time finding just what he wants but I know these searches take a while so I''ll keep at it. It''s a good distraction for me anyway

Today hopefully I''ll find out what kind of setting he''s looking for and really figure out what the stone budget is. And I will check into that expert selection when I talk to WF about MY stone (hopefully soon!!!). Thanks again!