Need help picking a diamond

[jni]

Hi everyone,

I can't decide between these 4 diamonds.

Out of these 4. Which one would you pick?

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07911836
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07803696
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07521624
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07788438

My budget is about $13,000 CAD (diamond only).
Specs I'm looking for :
- Best cut
- G or lower
- VS2 or lower
- 1.10c or bigger
I'm only looking at bluenile because of the setting that she really like.

Thanks everyone!

 

[rockysalamander]

Welcome to PS! #1 and #2 has a fairly concentrated inclusion. That would be a no for me. #3 and #4 both look good, #4 is better than 3 on the clarity front. All of these will have a balance of brilliance and fire.

All of these, however, have a dark color inclusion on the table and that would be bothersome to me. Since your budget opens a lot of options, I would prefer the below to avoid any pesky inclusions in the table. Hopefully, I've converted CAD to USD correctly!).

I like these better (you may need to hit CTL+click):
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD09100792 {top of budget, but lovely stone that is bigger and cleaner than above choices. Still need to ask for IS or ASET, as not provided, 1.21 F VS1}
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD05707797 {some assymetry shown in the heart view, but clarity and other detail good; good balance of all factors; 1.12 VS1 G)
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07245163 (1.09 E VS2)
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD06197099 (1.09 G VVS1)

 

[jni]

Hi Rocky,

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention I prefer the stone that have no Fluorescence in them as well as signature ideal cut.

You mentioned that the stones that I pick have a dark color inclusion on the table. How can you tell? is it from the ASET image?

Thanks!

 

[rockysalamander]

You can see the inclusions in the 360 video, which is about 20x bigger than you will see with bare eye. At a VS1 or even VS2, it may just look like a speck of dust or a hair...or she may never notice or see it. It really depends on your GF. For me, dark inclusions are as much a mind-clean thing, I just can't 'un-see' them. But, that is not an issue for all. I look for more crystalline and dispersed inclusions and try to avoid the center of the table. Also, I misspoke above. 1 and 3 are the most potentially apparent. 2 and 4 less so. Since you had lots of choices in your budget, I looked to avoid darker inclusions.

If you don't want any florescence, the bottom-two below still meet your brief, and below budget, although I'm curious why no flour? As long as it does not make the stone milky - at "faint" its almost undetectable.
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD05707797 {C$12040, 1.12 VS1 G; perfectly clean) - FAINT
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07245163 (C$11282. 1.09 E VS2; inclusion noted below) - NO FLOUR
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD06197099 (C$12721, 1.09 G VVS1; perfectly clean) - NO FLOUR
Your #2, this is more dispersed and off the direct center


Your #3 Very high on the table and a concentrated dot


Your #4


For comparison, here is the inclusion on the third one I listed. Central, but white/clear - the most visible of the one's I posted above, but less visible to me than if dark/black.
https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07245163 (1.09 E VS2)

 

[jni]

Wow Rocky thank you very much for the detailed explanation. That really helps me a lot.

Those three diamonds that you pick seems very good.

In term of color, would you be able to tell an E & G? I know that F & G are very hard to tell apart.

If you were to pick, which one would you pick?

This is a tough choice

Thanks again!

 

[rockysalamander]

Wow Rocky thank you very much for the detailed explanation. That really helps me a lot.

Those three diamonds that you pick seems very good.

In term of color, would you be able to tell an E & G? I know that F & G are very hard to tell apart.

If you were to pick, which one would you pick?

This is a tough choice

Thanks again!

Color in diamonds is graded with them looked at from the bottom/upside down (the faceting would otherwise make it hard to see). From the top, the two stones will look identical in color to most (there are some that are very color sensitive). You see color better from the side in a setting, but it is a rare person that would describe a GIA G as having visible color. The inclusion, however, is really a function of how eagle-eyed you are. Performance on these is very similar. So, since they would look so similar in color, so you just need to decide about the central inclusion. Me...I like the perfectly clean table...but it comes at the incremental difference in price.

Not to complicate things, but if you are open to other vendors, I'd look at the following two over both BN options. For a similar price, you can keep the size, grading, and clarity + get even better performance (especially fire). These are AGS0000 (more strict grading than GIAXXX) and cut for superior performance. The trade-in policy is also a bit more generous than BN.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3801989.htm (well within, The white inclusion here are really just pinpricks and dispersed, making them harder to see than the E VS above.)

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3738886.htm (top of budget, but really lovely)

 

[jni]

Thanks for the help Rocky much appreciated it. Those two that you picked from whiteflash does indeed looks very nice.

I guess I will need to check first with the gf to see if she's open with other settings

I guess there will be conversion fee to CAD, & shipping, duty, etc if I go with whiteflash? The pricing on the website doesn't say much other than USD

 

[rockysalamander]

I think WF has customer service folks on chat, so you can inquire about the Canadian buying part (sorry, I'm in the US). If it does no suit you, stick with BN. If it does, than post the setting and we'll find one that is comparable.

WF stones will have more fire than the BN ones, but it is always hard to know if your eyes will see it. I do and many do, others don't. Also, I did one last check and realized a few of the ones I suggested failed a HCA tool check. So, here are revised recommendations.

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07788438
very complimentary angles. The inclusion should be invisible, but it is dark. Bothers some and not others.

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD05707797 very complimentary angles. No clarity issues. Faint flour really

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD07211779
very complimentary angles. No clarity issues. No flour. I think this one balances all your needs well.

A few more possible, but I need to run my kid to the doctor

 

[jni]

The setting that she like is this one https://www.bluenile.com/ca/build-y...llier-cathedral-solitaire-ring-platinum_41263

She likes it because it's tapered, cathedral, comes in platinum, and it's a thin band at only 1.5mm. So I guess any setting that have similar features to that will do

 

[farrahlyn]

whiteflash settings:
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...-solitaire-engagement-ring-by-vatche-1648.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...tche-venus-solitaire-engagement-ring-2377.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...-solitaire-engagement-ring-by-vatche-1614.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/engageme...-sleek-line-solitaire-engagement-ring-729.htm classic ring and tapers to 1.5mm closer to the stone.

 

[rockysalamander]

Did you decide which vendor to go with, BN or WF?

If WF, I really like the Legato Sleek posted by @farrahlyn shank very pretty and an excellent match.

With ~ 1 carat

The pink diamond inserted under the main diamond is very pretty, but will make cleaning the diamond all that much harder. I'd suggest you have in inserted in the shank leaving the cleaning access hole as intended.

 

[jni]

So I'm leaning more on WF diamonds however it seems that my gf doesn't really like any of their settings.

I did however talk to their customer service and surprisingly they told me they're able to create the same setting as bluenile one.

Now I'm wondering if anyone ever gone through a custom ring through them? Do you recommend it? Or against it perhaps? I'm not really sure how their build quality or craftsmanship is like.

 

[jni]

@rockysalamander I was looking at those two diamonds that you picked, and I noticed that the 1.19 one have an HCA score of 0.8 . I was reading on the site and it mention that "Scores of 0-1 are often good for earrings and pendants, but usually not as good for rings." Is this true?

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3801989.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3738886.htm

Also I'm still trying to justify if the $2000USD price different is really worth going to 1.19. Do you think it's a big difference in performance? Tough decision

 

[rockysalamander]

HCA tool is an exclusion tool to quickly weed out stone that have uncomplimentary angles. Once you have a stone within the recommended ranges, don't infer too much. Also, once you are looking within super-ideal, you are looking at stones that can demonstrate their high performance through the IS and ASET.

Both of the WF stones will perform the same. Their IS and ASET are near identical, as well they should be given the narrow parameters of what is accepted to be within super-ideal. The difference between the two are driven mostly by the clarity difference (VS2 vs VS1) and the size difference. You won't be able to see the difference in size (2% surface area, see below). So, you are paying for the clarity. If the WF gemologist says the 1.14 is eye-clean at 6", that would be my personal choice. The performance is not impacted by the little pinpricks, can be seen in the images.

WF has a good bench and I'm glad they can replicate the setting your GF likes. You might ask if you buy the 1.14 and end up preferring the 1.19, can the setting accommodate that size change? That would give you some flexibility. Also, ask for pointy claw prongs, the ones on the BN site are too blobby to my taste.

With WF is that you can always upgrade the stone later if you decide you want higher clarity, size, color, etc. You may need to buy a new setting if the size of the trade is very different insize.

 

[jni]

Hi Rocky, just one last question on the 1.19 diamond that you picked.

I went to https://www.diamdb.com and entered the measurement and I'm getting
Face-up size: Inadequate

The bottom line: Spread cuts generally lack the brilliance and perfection that is expected of a beautiful diamond. Don't be fooled into thinking that you're getting a larger diamond for the money. This could be a rather flat, boring stone.

Does this mean anything? Is this a deal breaker?

 

[gm89uk]

Change the carat from 1 to 1.19 and do the measurements again and it'll be ok.

 

[jni]

Oh duh... thanks gm89uk!

I think I'm set. will post the ring once I get it.

Thanks all