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Need immediate help with 1.71ct H/VVS2 Round diamond

CarbonAge

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 22, 2015
Messages
16
Hi,
I've been shopping for a e-ring and am quite close to buying this stone from an online retailer. I have obviously not seen it in person and can only go with the specs and the images they shared. I have put those images below. Being a novice, your opinions would help a great deal here.

The price for the stone is just under 12.7K (setting cost would be additional). Do you think I'm getting a good deal here or should I keep looking?

Specs: Round, 1.71, H, VVS2, Ideal Cut
POLISH: Excellent
SYMMETRY: Excellent
FLUORESCENCE: None
L/W/D (MM): 7.72 x 7.78 x 4.69
DEPTH %: 60.60
TABLE %: 56.00
CULET: Pointed
CROWN ∠: 33.80 deg
PAVILION ∠: 40.70 deg
CERTIFICATE: IGI

Does IGI vs AGA certification matter much?

I'll very much appreciate any comments you can provide. THANKS!

_38955.jpg

_38957.jpg
 
Looks like a really nice idealscope for light return.

Bearing in mind it's IGI I don't think you'll have any clarity issues with it being VVS2,even if they are slightly softer. Its H may or may not be equivalent to a GIA/AGS H.

The image is an Idealscope or not an ASET so it's a bit harder to comment but I believe theres quite bit of digging happening in the diamond.Whether this would have pushed the stone into GIA very good I'm not sure. I would wait for another more experienced poster to comment on this. Some of the contrast points (near the girdle) look very washed out, more than they should. I believe those areas would be green on an ASET and show up more easily. This would be enough to make me keep looking..

While painting is sometimes a positive, digging never is.

Have a look here:

https://www.pricescope.com/journal/visible_effects_painting_digging_superideal_diamonds
 
Also which IGI lab is it? They differ in their reliability and consistency.
 
gm89uk said:
I believe theres quite bit of digging happening in the diamond.Whether this would have pushed the stone into GIA very good I'm not sure. I would wait for another more experienced poster to comment on this.

I should have mentioned that feeding the specs into HCA calculator yields a score of 0.7 . Doesn't that score imply ideal cut by all measures - be it GIA, AGS or IGI ?
 
gm89uk|1485727941|4121590 said:
Also which IGI lab is it? They differ in their reliability and consistency.

Certificate says - Mumbai, Sep 29 2016
 
HCA assumes no painting and digging. These processes would not be available to read on your diamond certificate and as such there is no way to get input on them from HCA.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/painting-digging-intro

It's probably not so bad but I would wait until someone with more knowledge on this comments. IGI Mumbai is as far as I've seen, the better IGI certificate.

The diamond is very cheap for its clarity and colour. It would sell at much higher value if it was a GIA. This makes me suspicious.
 
Thanks for pointing me to a couple of links about Painting & Digging. I am afraid this is first I heard of those in context of diamonds. I will try to educate myself on it.

Is there any additional details/questions I can ask from Jeweler's gemologist to address concern about Painting & Digging or anything else I should be wary of while buying this stone?

All Experts - please advise.
 
Ask them to do an ASET scope for you. Then post that here.
 
The seller doesn't do ASET on round brilliants.

As for digging & painting, I don't know if it matters but according to the certificate, the girdle thickness is medium (faceted). I've seen that mentioned as a range e.g. medium to slightly thick, medium to thick, slightly thick to thick previously on some stones. Does it mean we can rule out digging on this stone?

Experts, pls check images and specs and share your opinion.
 
LAST DAY of HOLD- Help with 1.71ct H/VVS2 Round diamond

Bumping up. Is there more help available? Today is the last day of the hold. So, any timely thoughts would be much appreciated.
 
What is the seller's return policy? The price range is very very low for that diamond, which also makes me suspicious.

What are the priorities for you? Size, color, clarity? How are you set for budget?
 
The retailer is JA with 30 day return policy. The stone is located in India and that's why I couldn't get a good comparison and gemologists to inspect it in NY.

The budget is 12-15K for ~1.75ctw RB excluding the cost of the setting for the E-Ring.
I have spent enough time of this forum to make the Cut as the priority, followed by Color, Clarity and Size. I'd obviously like to get the biggest stone I can get in that budget but not at the expense of Cut and Color. VVS'es would be great but Eye Clean SI1 would work too. I could at most go down to Color H, not any further below that.
 
I like some of those but all of these are pricier for the specs similar to what I inquired about (from JA). I can stretch the budget for something like the larger BN that you found - which I really like except for the strong blue fluorescence part.

My question on the original diamond still stands. Yes, the low price does raise some flags but the stone is not in US, graded by IGI. Perhaps those factors contribute to the price difference relative to other RBs of similar specs. Would you take a pass and keep looking because of this?

I haven't had anyone here who has found any flaws with it although the possibility of Painting & Digging on that was brought up. I did a whole lot of reading about Painting & Digging and compared IS images of other RBs that have painting and digging with the IS I included in my original post and am not positive that it's present in there. But, I am also a novice and won't bet on it.

Please help.
 
It boils down to the fact that IGI isn't as strict as GIA or AGS in their grading. So are you getting a good deal? I don't think...because if you were to submit this stone to GIA, it will likely come back with lower specs than IGI gave it - at least one or two grades off in color and clarity. At that point, you're not comparing apples to apples.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.73-carat-i-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2182385
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.72-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-ideal-cut-sku-2224357
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.96-carat-j-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2385725
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3186655.htm?source=pricescope
 
I can't go below color H. All those links are for lower color grades.

BTW, looking up other relevant posts in PS, general sentiment seems to be that IGI (particularly IGI-NY) is bad but IGI-Mumbai, not bad and they are as stringent as GIA/AGS.
 
CarbonAge|1485900338|4122498 said:
I can't go below color H. All those links are for lower color grades.

BTW, looking up other relevant posts in PS, general sentiment seems to be that IGI (particularly IGI-NY) is bad but IGI-Mumbai, not bad and they are as stringent as GIA/AGS.

Some trade members here at PS say IGI's color and clarity grading on par with GIA and AGS.
 
As others have said you normally get what you pay for.

If as you have said you cannot go below a GIA graded H than you should probably look for a GIA graded H or above.

The uncertainty of the IGI grading is reflected in the prices.

If there was enough confidence in the grading to be sure when buying an IGI graded diamond that it would come out the same as the GIA then there wouldn't be a discount.
 
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