Need help with finding a diamond

[Jon_Wu]

I been looking online for a loose diamond for an engagement ring and wanted to get advice on finding the best quality stone for my budget.

I saw this online but wasn't sure if it's a good buy.

loose diamonds, round cut, 2.01 carat h color vs2 clarity excellent cut sku 7648732

7648732 - This 2.01 Carat Round diamond H Color VS2 Clarity has Excellent proportions and a diamond grading report from IGI

www.jamesallen.com

Hoping to find a round diamond that is:
Excellent or Ideal Cut
Around 2 Carets
H Color or Above
Eye Clean Clarity

I don't want to spend more than around 16K for the stone.

I am not even sure if the specs I listed are the right ones to have so any help will be appreciated.

 

[OoohShiny]

I been looking online for a loose diamond for an engagement ring and wanted to get advice on finding the best quality stone for my budget.

I saw this online but wasn't sure if it's a good buy.

loose diamonds, round cut, 2.01 carat h color vs2 clarity excellent cut sku 7648732

7648732 - This 2.01 Carat Round diamond H Color VS2 Clarity has Excellent proportions and a diamond grading report from IGI

www.jamesallen.com

Hoping to find a round diamond that is:
Excellent or Ideal Cut
Around 2 Carets
H Color or Above
Eye Clean Clarity

I don't want to spend more than around 16K for the stone.

I am not even sure if the specs I listed are the right ones to have so any help will be appreciated.

James Allen recently removed the grading reports from their website, in order to create more customer interaction and (apparently) increase sales, but it makes it a total hassle to search for stones on there now

I don't have time right now to check but have a look at Whiteflash, Brian Gavin Diamonds and High Performance Diamonds to see if there are any 'SuperIdeals' that might suit your requirements!

You can also use the diamond search bar at the top of the forum - put in your basic requirements, then when the results pop up, open the Filters section and select GIA XXX and AGS 000, then select HCA scores of 'Excellent' only, and that will pull out stones that are most likely to perform well out of the vast numbers of stones on the database

 

[Dancing Fire]

This is a IGI graded stone, so most likely it'll not equal to a GIA nor a AGS graded stone in color/clarity.

 

[Jon_Wu]

@ Dancing Fire Should I be only looking for the ones with GIA or AGS grading?

@OoohShiny I'll take a look at those websites. Any thoughts on what criteria I can lower is the searches are above my budget?

 

[tyty333]

You can go with eye-clean SI1. If you were willing to do an IGI H you could probably do a GIA "I" but you really need to go look at
well-cut stones to see how your eye interprets color.

Edit...I checked JA and BN and it looks like you'll have to go down to an "I" to get 2 carats. Unfortunately, nothing jumped out at me from BN and
since JA doesnt have their lab reports posted its too difficult to recommend.

If you want to go Super Ideal Branded this says its eye-clean

Diamond | 1.801 ct H SI1 Expert Selection Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4164590

This fabulous 1.801 carat Round Ideal cut diamond has a clarity grade of SI1 and color grade of H.It is an excellent choice for engagement rings. | 4164590

www.whiteflash.com

I check BGD but looks like they dont have any in your size range (looked for 1.8+).

 

[Jon_Wu]

@tyty333 Is it worth it to go down on color to get the A cut above stones?

Diamond | 1.926 ct I SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4018645

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 1.926 carat I color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4018645

www.whiteflash.com

 

[tyty333]

@tyty333 Is it worth it to go down on color to get the A cut above stones?

Diamond | 1.926 ct I SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4018645

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 1.926 carat I color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4018645

www.whiteflash.com

In my opinion, yes. ACAs are AGS000 graded stones with Ideal Light Performance, Symmetry and Polish. However, I wish you could
see some well cut "I" stones so you can decide for yourself. I own two J colored Super Ideal Branded stones. I cant really see any color
in the small one (.46) but can see color in the bigger one (1.14) but like I said, its a J. I have a friend that has a large "I" ACA and
it looks very white to me*.

The stone you linked is also an H&A.

The other nice thing about ACAs is if you decide in the future you want to upgrade (size, color, or whatever) you can trade up by just spending
more than what your original stone cost (some places want you to spend 2X your original stone cost).

 

[Jon_Wu]

I probably wouldn't be able to figure out if someone is showing me a well cut stone or not if I just walk into a store...

 

[Victor Canera]

I probably wouldn't be able to figure out if someone is showing me a well cut stone or not if I just walk into a store...

Hi Jon_Wu,

That may or may not be true… The best way to figure it out would be to compare them side by side. I’ve found that as diamond sizes scale larger, the difference in cut quality becomes more apparent. It might be difficult to tell on a 0.3ct diamond but I think it would be pretty easy to tell with larger stones. The size and quantity of “visual events” or flashes also become bigger and are more easily picked up with the naked eye. The areas of brightness and contrast also scales larger.

Jewelry stores have special lighting to make all their products look bright and fiery so if at all possible, try to compare stones in outdoor light, preferably diffused lighting (think a cloudy day).

Good luck!

 

[TODiamonds]

I don't know how much you care about color but for what it's worth that's a very poor H...

 

[Dancing Fire]

@ Dancing Fire Should I be only looking for the ones with GIA or AGS grading?

Yes, forget the rest!.

 

[Jon_Wu]

I am curious to know between these three diamonds, which would be your top pick?

Diamond | 1.841 ct I VS2 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 3751766

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 1.841 carat I color VS2 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 3751766

www.whiteflash.com

Diamond | 1.926 ct I SI1 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4018645

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 1.926 carat I color SI1 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4018645

www.whiteflash.com

Diamond | 1.850 ct I VS2 A CUT ABOVE® Hearts and Arrows Super Ideal Round Cut Loose Diamond AGS Certified | 4092510

This Whiteflash A CUT ABOVE® super ideal cut hearts and arrows 1.850 carat I color VS2 clarity loose diamond is graded by the American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories. | 4092510

www.whiteflash.com

 

[OoohShiny]

My priorities and sensitivity to colour and clarity are not your priorities and sensitivity to colour and clarity so it will ultimately be up to you!

Being an ACA, the SI1 should not have any issues re: being eye-clean at normal viewing distances, but you can ask WF to confirm from what distance the inclusions are visible.

If you are happy with what they report back, you will have to decide whether size or slightly more eye-clean (mind-clean?) is more important to you

 

[Jon_Wu]

Thanks. I think I am good with the color and I did review the video they sent me of the three stones. For each stone there's one inclusion that can be seen at around 6 inches knowing where to look. I guess just nervous about making a major purchase especially knowing about the defects which others will probably not notice.

 

[ringo865]

Put a ruler on your nose. See how clearly you can read the numbers at 6 inches. Now, Imagine something the size of a pencil eraser at the 6” mark. Place a period (.) somewhere on the imaginary eraser at the 6” mark.