NEED HELP PLEASE!!

[jcrucetts]

I know the basics about diamonds and I am currently trying to choose between two round diamonds that have similar specs. They are both GIA certified diamonds but when I ran their cut specs. through cut advisor one diamond had a better visual rating. Here are the scpecs for both diamonds:


Carat Weight: 0.75.ct.
Cut: Excellent
Color: E
Clarity: VS1
Depth:62.3%
Table:56.0%
Crown Angle:35
Pavillion Angle:41
Polish:Excellent
Symmetry:Excellent
Girdle:Medium
Culetointed
Flourescence:None
Cut Advisor Rating: 2.3 Very Good

Second Diamond:

Carat Weight: 0.76.ct.
Cut: Excellent
Color: D
Clarity: VS1
Depth:60.5%
Table:57.0%
Crown Angle:34
Pavillion Angle:40.8
Polish:Excellent
Symmetry:Excellent
Girdle: Thin to Medium
Culetointed
Flourescence:None
Cut Advisor Rating: 1 Excellent

My question is wether anyone can give me their professional opinion and let me know if the diamond with the better cut advisor rating (D color) is the better diamond and if it is worth $400 more? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Ellen]

Hi jc,

Without Idealscope pics to say for sure, I''d go with the second diamond. Its numbers are "safer".

The first is at the point we call steep/deep (crown and pavillion angles), which means it has a greater chance of being a bit leaky.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:09:05 AM
Author: Ellen
Hi jc,

Without Idealscope pics to say for sure, I''d go with the second diamond. Its numbers are ''safer''.

The first is at the point we call steep/deep (crown and pavillion angles), which means it has a greater chance of being a bit leaky.

Welcome JC.

And ditto Ellen!!!

 

[jcrucetts]

Thank you so much Ellen and Lorelei. Your advise is very well taken and appreciated. Do you think that based on the characteristics that the second diamond would be worth a $400 difference (more)? Thank you so much.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:14:58 AM
Author: jcrucetts
Thank you so much Ellen and Lorelei. Your advise is very well taken and appreciated. Do you think that based on the characteristics that the second diamond would be worth a $400 difference (more)? Thank you so much.

Yep.

It''s a color grade higher, and has great numbers all around. Definitely worth 400.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:19:57 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 1/10/2008 11:14:58 AM
Author: jcrucetts
Thank you so much Ellen and Lorelei. Your advise is very well taken and appreciated. Do you think that based on the characteristics that the second diamond would be worth a $400 difference (more)? Thank you so much.

Yep.

It''s a color grade higher, and has great numbers all around. Definitely worth 400.

Ditto again! And you are welcome!

 

[jcrucetts]

Once again thank you Ellen and Lorelei for your prompt and very helpful advice. It''s so nice to be new on this site and get great professional advice from people that truly know diamonds.

 

[Ellen]

You''re welcome jc. Come back and post pics if you can, we love seeing new sparklies!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:32:54 AM
Author: jcrucetts
Once again thank you Ellen and Lorelei for your prompt and very helpful advice. It's so nice to be new on this site and get great professional advice from people that truly know diamonds.

Glad we could help!

One thing just to clarify though, Ellen and I aren't professional, just a couple of diamond nuts!!

And yes, we will be hoping for pics when you can!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:42:02 AM
Author: Lorelei

Glad we could help!

One thing just to clarify though, Ellen and I aren''t professional, just a couple of diamond nuts!!

And yes, we will be hoping for pics when you can!

True!

But we do know enough to honestly say you''ve got a great diamond there.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:50:52 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 1/10/2008 11:42:02 AM
Author: Lorelei

Glad we could help!

One thing just to clarify though, Ellen and I aren''t professional, just a couple of diamond nuts!!

And yes, we will be hoping for pics when you can!

True!

But we do know enough to honestly say you''ve got a great diamond there.

This is also true!!!

 

[jcrucetts]

Ellen and Lorelei, in my book your experience with diamonds is so much more extensive than mine. So I give you honorary titles of professionals and experts

This is only the second time I buy a diamond and believe me I still feel like a newbie at this. But this time around I feel as though I am making a much more informed decision. I will post pictures as soon as I get the diamond and have it set in the Tacori setting that is currently being made. Should be ready around the first week of February. Planning to pop the question on Valentine''s Day. Thank you so much.

 

[hearts-arrows_girl]

Before deciding on either one, I would consider going to a G or H, VS2 or SI1, and getting a 1c+. Tacori settings are beautiful, so I would want my center to be as outstanding as possible, since my setting is so fabulous. This would mean great specs and size. Look at a few Tacori settings with different size center stones, just to make sure .75 is the size you are set on. If so, I like the second one best. The first seemed deep.

 

[jcrucetts]

Thanks for your reply Junebug. I do agree with you Tacori settings in my opinion are very beautiful and unique. I had my girlfriend pick out the setting that she liked and she absolutely fell in love with Tacori designed rings. After she went online she narrowed it down to about 8 different Tacori settings but was leaning towards one setting in particular (which I also agreed with her looked the best in pictures). We went to several local Jewellers that carried Tacori and she tried most of them on and she felt that they were beautiful and stunning but none of the stores carried the "one" that we both thought would look best on her finger. Most of the settings looked very big on her hand. She has small hands and is a size 4.5. We finally got a store which was about an hour away to order the ring. When we went to check it out we both absolutely fell in love with it. It looked beautiful on her finger. It fit just right and did not look anywhere as big as the other settings did. When I talked to the jeweler he told me that most Tacori settings are made to handle a 1.0 carat stone but that they can be altered to fit a smaller stone. So I ordered the ring to fit a 3/4 carat stone. I think that it will look perfect on her small hand and finger. I understand that some women would prefer a larger stone with slightly less "ideal" specs since you can get just as beautiful stones, larger in size and you couldn''t visibly (other than size of course) tell the difference in color and clarity, but I know my girlfriend and she is a girl that likes simple looks and I think that she will be very happy with a 3/4 carot stone. Nothing against women who love larger stones, I believe it is all a matter of preference. By the way your ring is beautiful Junebug. Your advice is well taken. Thank you.

 

[Lorelei]

Glad to help and to accept my honorary title

, also you have done great and by knowing exactly what your GF wants!!!

 

[strmrdr]

35/41 is borderline steep/deep and can be excellent stones.
Actually cut right they can be some of the best according too some experts.
optical symmetry and what is in the averages can make a large difference.
An ideal-scope image will help answer both question.

 

[jcrucetts]

Thanks Strmdr for your advice. I read up on the ideal scope on this site and it sounds like an amazing tool to determine brilliance and optical symmetry, my question is how do I get ideal scope images on diamonds that I wont get to see? Can the company that I am buying from send me ideal scope images? I am sorry for sounding so ignorant on this topic. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/11/2008 7:28:34 AM
Author: jcrucetts
Thanks Strmdr for your advice. I read up on the ideal scope on this site and it sounds like an amazing tool to determine brilliance and optical symmetry, my question is how do I get ideal scope images on diamonds that I wont get to see? Can the company that I am buying from send me ideal scope images? I am sorry for sounding so ignorant on this topic. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

You can ask the vendor if he has an Idealscope image for the diamonds you are interested in, some do on in house diamonds, but for non in house, the diamonds may have to be called in and then the IS done if possible. With in house diamonds, often the cut analysis is available, but it pays to ask.

Also please don't worry about asking questions, for most posters diamonds are a completely new and alien topic, so feel free to ask anything you want!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/11/2008 6:10:55 AM
Author: strmrdr
35/41 is borderline steep/deep and can be excellent stones.
Actually cut right they can be some of the best according too some experts.
optical symmetry and what is in the averages can make a large difference.
An ideal-scope image will help answer both question.

I agree an IS would help, but in my opinion, there''s a lot "ifs" to get an execellent stone out of this combo. I''ve rarely seen IS''s on these that would cause me to pick it over the other stones angles...

And strm, I''m at a loss here at the moment (not enough coffee perhaps), but who all thinks this combo can make some of the best?

 

[jcrucetts]

Thanks for clarifying that Ellen. I don''t think that I will be able to get an ideal scope image on these stones fast enough from the company that I will be purchansing from. They are ordering the stones from an overseas supplier and they should get here in about 3-4 days. I hope that I can get to go to NYC (Angara''s Headquarters) personally to compare these stones side by side. But based on the two diamonds specs and the Cut advisor calculations I think that I am leaning toward the second diamond with the higher color and visual performance (on cut advisor). I really appreciate all your guys advise. You guys have been very helpful to me. Any thoughts on Angara? Thanks.

 

[Lorelei]

I think that having the second diamond as your front runner is a good decision. I haven''t personally had experience with Angara, there might be some threads in the archives with consumer experiences with them using the search tool.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 1/11/2008 8:49:26 AM
Author: jcrucetts
Thanks for clarifying that Ellen. I don''t think that I will be able to get an ideal scope image on these stones fast enough from the company that I will be purchansing from. They are ordering the stones from an overseas supplier and they should get here in about 3-4 days. I hope that I can get to go to NYC (Angara''s Headquarters) personally to compare these stones side by side. But based on the two diamonds specs and the Cut advisor calculations I think that I am leaning toward the second diamond with the higher color and visual performance (on cut advisor). I really appreciate all your guys advise. You guys have been very helpful to me. Any thoughts on Angara? Thanks.

Ideally, that would definitely be best!

And I too have had no personal experience with Angara. I would do as Lorelei suggested. And I also echo her on not hesitating to ask questions, that''s a good thing!


Please let us know what happens/which you pick, if you can!


p.s. I thank you very much for the honorary title too.

 

[ChattyCat]

I like the 2nd one better. Of course, I am biased to colorless stones. I''ll sacrifice clarity for color. We all have our preferences, so I can understand your gf not wanting to go up in size, if she has to sacrifice color and clarity a bit. Good luck!

 

[jcrucetts]

Thanks guys for all your replies. You make a newbie like me feel real at ease with your replies. By the way ChattyCat my girl friend has no preferences in terms of diamond characteristics. She couldn''t even tell the first things about diamonds. As a matter of fact, funny story we went into one store and we were seeing a bunch of settings with cubic zarcornias in them and of course I could tell and I knew that but she didn''t so she tells me: "all these diamonds look so shiny and beautiful how can you tell the difference" I told her they were cubic zarconias and she said why don''t you get me one of those instead, wouldn''t it be a lot less expensive. Of course I laughed my head off. LOL. I told her you just worry about the setting you like and let me worry about the diamond. I know that she will love anything I get her she is that kind of girl. But I love her too much too get her a CZ. LOL. (joke) I want to get her the best diamond I can get her within my budget and I think these two fall well within that and I am also considering her hand and finger size of course. Thanks again guys. I will let you know how I do.