need help finding the perfect princess

[sundevil]

Hi!
I have been reading through hundreds of posts but this is my first.
I am looking for a princess cut diamond that reflects the maximum amount of light possible. With a shiny diamond being my first priority, I am willing to compromise on color/clarity but not less than G/H color or less than SI "eye clean" clarity. I am looking for a stone preferably ~ 1.5 Ct + with a budget of $7000-8500 for the stone (as I plan to spend ~$1500 on the setting)
Also, I want a max L/W ratio of 1.04 or so.
I plan to propose at the end of Feb.

I have looked on pricescope, GOG, DBOF, WFlash, Abazias and many more.
I am having a very difficult time weeding out the unwanted and finding the keepers. I have been using the AGA chart as suggested(assuming I can get the sarin report for the particular diamond) and looking for cut grades of 2A and better (pref. 1A or 1B) figuring that this would help ensure the light return of the diamond Am I on the right track?
It is very difficult to separate these diamonds and it seems as though each of the vendors are selling a lot of the same diamonds.
I love the info that GOG presents for each diamond, but the selection on their site was not within my constraints. I would like this kind of detailed info before purchasing.

I would appreciate any suggestions, especially specific diamond recommendations

Thank you so much! This is a huge first purchase for me

 

[fuffi]

Hi sundevil-

I bet if you called any one of the vendors you named above and and discussed your desired criteria and price range with them, they'd be able to locate something for you. Just remember that there may be a great looking princess out there for you that doesn't fall into 1A/1B cut parameters so keep an open mind. Personally, I would give more credence to a respected vendor's expert opinion on how the stone looks than to stats which don't guarantee anything.

A word of caution, princess cuts show a lot of their color so you may be happier with a G.

 

[sundevil]

Thanks for the response fuffi! I wondered if anyone would.

I have been talking to a few vendors, but it seems a little difficult for them to find what I am looking for since many of the stones are just being brokered.
I do agree, however, that I need an expert's help and I will continue to call around.
As far as the 1A/1B/2A goes, I was just using those critera to weed out diamonds that were being brokered before I request that a diamond be sent to the vendor for them to visually check it out and give me an oppinion. It seemed to be the only way to sort through the pages and pages of stones listed and ensure that I was focusing on the well cut stones. I still have not found one to have sent to a vendor though.
Thanks again, and I am still anxiously waiting any oppinions!

 

[valeria101]

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On 1/14/2004 5:41:39 PM sundevil wrote:

I have been using the AGA chart as suggested(assuming I can get the sarin report for the particular diamond) and looking for cut grades of 2A and better (pref. 1A or 1B) figuring that this would help ensure the light return of the diamond

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Not sure that AGA has much to do with light return in this case. If sparkle is what you want, than choosing among diamonds already tested for this blessing seems like the way to go for me. Why not place orders with one or two of the sellers you have mentioned? Of course there should be some common sense about the proportions of the stone, but since princesses with good (and known) light return seem to be the smaller group, why not get a few offered and select the best of what you know is already acceptable from the optics point of view?

Just curious here: where is that 1.04 LxW comming from? It sounds quite strict to me...

How bad is this, for example, aside that +5%cost: 1.51 G-VS2 at GOG

 

[sundevil]

Thanks for the advice. The L/W ratio of 1.04-1.05 max has come from my experience after seeing a few diamonds. I am trying to keep them pretty close to square, so this seemed to be about the limit that my eye though was right. Nothing too technical.
As I said, the AGA specs were just a tool I was using to weed out diamonds that neither I nor the vendors brokering them have personally seen. I was under the impression that the diamonds that were the most well cut would sparkle the most, but I am only a rookie.

When you say "place orders" with one or two of the sellers, what do you mean? Have them order a few diamonds to be sent to their store to examine? I am not sure how many diamonds I can request at a time, but I am curious to know.

 

[valeria101]

These are three nice guesses... there are a handful of sellers listing each (theimage would have been to big with all in), but another search cna reveal all. These were the lowest prices listed for these three, but there were other offers with the "price match" option. Hope this helps.

 

[TooMuchInformation]

sundevil,

Yeah, the AGA ratings aren't so much indicative of performance as much as the "perfecness" of the cut.

I recently purchased a 0.98ct F Princess VS2 from GOG, and although it scores a 3A on the AGA rating system, that rating doesn't do it's light return, brilliance, and scintillation any justice at all. It's a deep cut, and as such, the table and face of the stone might be a little smaller than if it was cut "perfectly" (were talking <.5mm from what I understand).

Just remember, AGA itself doesn't refer to performance at all, it's only a guideline!

Good luck in your search!

 

[valeria101]

Not sure this is the right way to spell the request out "please ge 10 diamonds with all the specs analyzed for me to choose from" - this would work if you hire someone as a diamond broker. But you can ask for a set of specs and ask wether there is any or some stones close to what you want. I would expect that your question gets a coupe of answers, so, between 2 -3 sellers, one would hopefully be spot on. I would expect that any seller would be able to present you with at least one choice he considers reasonable. talking to sellers is somewhat better than lookng at numbers to begin with, unless you know for sure that 1% deviation from those specs is not going to please you. This is mostly common sense... no special expertise here. After all, sellers charge for selecting worthy diamonds: I would suspect that askig for a certain color-clarity combination clearly within the limits of their top group of princess cuts (where cut is wotth most, that is) should not be a bad question to ask.

THIS buying story does strongly resemble your case. Hope I am righ, 'cause if so, you have a couple of people to ask specifics already (the respective buyer and seller

).

 

[sundevil]

Thanks again for the great info.

I do agree that the cut grade can not be substituted for performance. How do you reccommend that I judge performance? I know that dealers such as GOG have nice equipment such as a lightscope and a brilliancescope to show the performance of a diamond, but I don't see them advertising the same diamonds as many of the other vendors.
What can I expect to receive from every vendor to show me how a diamond performs? Most of them seem to just have a certificate, some pics and maybe a sarin report.
I want to comparatively shop for diamonds with their light reflection performance in mind, but I guess I don't know what kind of information I can expect from vendor other the few like GOG in this respect.

 

[sundevil]

valeria101,

I am not 100% sure, but I think you might have attached the wrong post for me to view about a similar story. The one you attached was about a setting.
Let me know if I'm wrong

Thanks a bunch

 

[valeria101]

? I just tried the link posted earlier and found what I intended... Here is the fragment of text which caught my eye in the first post on the thread (Gramata's):

"First off, Tom not only spent 3 days searching for the perfect princess cut for my new bride to be, but they were actually able to get the setting that I saw at a Robins Brothers for almost 20% less, not to mention they had a great selection of Princess cuts (what I was looking for) at great prices!!! [...] If anyone has any specific questions about the service, or anything else. Email me at [email protected] - I would be happy to share my experience.."

Does it look familiar?

 

[Griffin]

I have a stone that matches your request, in the price range you seek, but it has an L/W of 1.05 if that is acceptable;

1.53 carat F SI2 6.48 x 6.15 x 4.64
GIA Certification
Depth:75.4%
Table:68%
Girdle:M
Culet:N
Polish:VG
Symmetry:VG
Flourescence:Blue

What form of mounting are you planing to put your stone into? That could control a lot of what the color and dimension of the stone need to be.

 

[sundevil]

I am planning on setting the stone in a platinum setting with channel set princess cut diamonds similar to the one attached. I am not sure how the dimensions of the diamond will affect this setting. I know that Blue Nile offers this type setting, but says it is for a 1.5 ct diamond max. I have talked to other jewelers, however, who said they could set a bigger diamond in this type of setting.

 

[sundevil]

valeria101,

Thanks for pointing out the part of the post that you were speaking of. It sounds like he got great service, and I will follow up to see if I can be simalarly helped.
I can't wait to find the right stone!

 

[Griffin]

If you are looking to put a stone, particularly a princess, into platinum, I would be concerned about color far more than clarity.
Plat can be unforgiving even with a G stone that looks dead white against the slight warm tone of white gold.
Unfortunately, I don't have any D or E color princess in your size range - a 1.28 D VS1 is the biggest.

As for the style you picked, similar designs are available from many different designers, in just about any head size, so if you cannot fit your desired stone in the brand ring you first chose, don't be afraid to shop around. Besides, I see you budgeted $1500 for the mounting, and the mounting you show shouldn't run even near that, so I'd shop around brands anyway.