Need Help Picking the stone urgently! 1 week until proposal!

[Puneater]

Hi everybody!

I'm super new to diamond purchasing and even newer to the forum and am seeking everyone's expert advice!
I'm looking to purchase a stone around 1carat to set into a Tacori ring I got in a liquidation. The tacori ring is the petite crescent style.
The details of the stones I am interested are F-G colour, VS1, 1.00-1.05 carats, GIA certs, triple Ex; not sure about fluoresence as I don't know if it'll really be worth it to go for a Medium over Strong. Budget is under $6600 USD ( $8500 CAD)

The stones I am currently debating between are these (GIA certs# given):
-2227109638 (http://www.gia.edu/otmm_wcs_int/proxy-pdf/?ReportNumber=2227109638&url=https://myapps.gia.edu/RptChkClient/reportClient.do?ReportNumber=273F126570D1F3AF27A1CD3C7C903035)
-7216754274 (http://www.gia.edu/otmm_wcs_int/proxy-pdf/?ReportNumber=7216754274&url=https://myapps.gia.edu/RptChkClient/reportClient.do?ReportNumber=199114AD1E15722F8C095BEA3F77D6F8)
-2165227374 (http://www.gia.edu/otmm_wcs_int/proxy-pdf/?ReportNumber=2165227374&url=https://myapps.gia.edu/RptChkClient/reportClient.do?ReportNumber=C59F306152E7D8EAF3BF589CB13A4BA5)

Assuming they are all around the same price, which one should I go for?

Thanks alot everyone!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Need Help Picking the stone urgently! 1 week until propo

Is the jeweler who sold you the Tacori going to set the diamond for you? I'm just asking because it is very hard to find someone to set a diamond in a setting when they didn't sell either the stone or the setting.

Also, for future reference, you need to give the links to the GIA reports, because most people aren't going to go to the trouble to look them up.

However, after looking them up, I am not going to link them because none of them have measurements that I would consider buying. All have problems such as too deep or the angles probably will result in leakage.

These are measurements to help you stay in ideal cut territory with a GIA excellent cut stone.

table: 54-58

depth: 60-62.3

crown angle: 34-35.0 (up to 35.5 crown angle can sometimes work with a 40.6 pav angle)

pavilion angle: 40.6-40.9 (sometimes 41.0 if the crown angle is close to 34)

Let us know if you want us to look for you. But stay within these parameters as you look, because GIA Ex cut is a wide range and some are much better than others.

 

[Puneater]

Re: Need Help Picking the stone urgently! 1 week until propo

Is the jeweler who sold you the Tacori going to set the diamond for you? I'm just asking because it is very hard to find someone to set a diamond in a setting when they didn't sell either the stone or the setting.

Also, for future reference, you need to give the links to the GIA reports, because most people aren't going to go to the trouble to look them up.

However, after looking them up, I am not going to link them because none of them have measurements that I would consider buying. All have problems such as too deep or the angles probably will result in leakage.

These are measurements to help you stay in ideal cut territory with a GIA excellent cut stone.

table: 54-58

depth: 60-62.3

crown angle: 34-35.0 (up to 35.5 crown angle can sometimes work with a 40.6 pav angle)

pavilion angle: 40.6-40.9 (sometimes 41.0 if the crown angle is close to 34)

Let us know if you want us to look for you. But stay within these parameters as you look, because GIA Ex cut is a wide range and some are much better than others.

thanks for the quick reply diamondseeker; can you elaborate a little more as to why they are not good due to their angles resulting in "leakage" or being too deep?

thanks,

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Re: Need Help Picking the stone urgently! 1 week until propo

Some were over 62.3% in depth. That's going to mean they may face up (diameter) smaller than they should. If the crown and pavilion angles are not complimentary, you can end up with leakage meaning poorer light return. I gave you the parameters where you want the angles to fall.

Another tool you can use is the HCA which gives a little more detail. You want a stone that gets Excellent for light return, fire, and scintillation, and very good for spread and a total score of 2.0 or less.

https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

I'll use the first stone as an example:

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pagename=GST%2FDispatcher&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FReportCheck&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=2227109638

It gets only good for light return, fire, and scintillation and very good for spread. It has a total score of 4.0 when 0-2.0 is the preferred range (usually 1.0-2.0). So this one is very easily ruled out.

 

[Gypsy]

Re: Need Help Picking the stone urgently! 1 week until propo

Round Diamonds 101:

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. With round diamonds even a GIA triple Excellent is not enough. And you must stick to GIA and AGS only (HPD in Europe is good as well). EGL is a bad option: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/[/URL]
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want?
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Well one method is to start with a GIA Ex, and then apply the HCA to it. YOU DO NOT USE HCA for AGS0 stones generally, though you can. In general, AGS0 trumps HCA though as one examines the actual stone and the other does not.
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/holloway-cut-advisor
The HCA is a rejection tool. Not a selection tool. It uses 4 data points to make a rudimentary call on how the diamond may perform.
If the diamond passes then you know that you are in the right zone in terms of angles for light performance. Under 2 is a pass. Under 2.5-2.1 is a maybe. 2.6 and over is a no. No score 2 and under is better than any other.
Is that enough? Not really.

So what you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return. That is why you won't see us recommending Blue Nile, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. BGD,BE, James Allen, GOG, HPD, ERD and WF do.

The Idealscope is the 'selection tool'. Not the HCA.
So yes, with a GIA stone you need the idealscope images. Or you can buy an idealscope yourself and take it in to the jeweler you are working with to check the stones yourself. Or if you have a good return policy (full refund minimum 7 days) then you can buy the idealscope, buy the stone, and do it at home.

Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium. Some AGS0's are better than others though, so pay attention to any ASET or IS provided.

In general with rounds, you will want a table 60% or less. A depth between 59 and 62.3. Crown angle 33.5-35. Pavilion Angle: 40.6-40.9 (there is a little give on this). And the crown and pavilion angles must be complimentary which is what the HCA checks for you.

ON COLOR:

It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. So... no. Not really. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H in a round. But MANY people have happily bought white I or even J diamonds when trying to eek out a little more size.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white.


I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.

ON CLARITY:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/SI/ and http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/VS/ Generally we say that eyeclean SI1 and VS2 are as high as you need to go with round brilliants, have your vendor check the diamond for this. VS1 will always be eyeclean, but they do cost more and an eyeclean SI1 and a VS1 will look the same to the unaided eye.