Hello all. I’ve been educating myself on PS for a few weeks now, and feel that I’ve gotten just enough knowledge to be dangerous. I know that I’ve already seen some responses to the individual questions that I want to ask, but I’m curious to get some advice from my overall standpoint.
Ultimately I’m willing to pay what I need to in order to get exactly what I’m looking for. That being said, obviously I want to pay ‘fair’ price, and don’t want to pay significant more than required for ‘quality’ that I can’ see. However, I’m wrestling with some ‘mind-clean’ issues, and therefore would like a diverse set of opinions.
In general, I want the ABSOLUTE BEST diamond in terms of brilliance, fire, and sparkle that I can get. I want the stone to be as absolutely BLINDING as possible, by anyone’s description. I’ve come to understand that this means CUT first and foremost. (I’m looking at round brilliants.) I’m also partial to H&A, as is my girlfriend, (we’ve seen some HOF at a B&M store and she fell in love), and thus that’s really where I’m focused. (I think it’s also the engineer in me that likes the thought of cut ‘preciseness’ and craftsmanship that H&A implies. It also helps me to believe that the stone is absolute best cut possible.)
Most people on the forum see to have high opinions of the WF ACAs, but I was curious what people think about the H&A stones offered by GOG and James Allen compared to WF ACA. (Are there other brands or on-line retailers that I should be considering as well?)
Also, I’m under the impression that AGS is the best, and want an AGS 000 super-ideal. (Excellent symmetry and polish ONLY.) Therefore I’ve been ruling out GIA because I feel they are less strict, especially in terms of cut. I think this is also because of the tighter AGS cut area (white outline) on the HCA that represents a AGS ideal cut. Am I incorrect here? Additionally, I’m really trying to stick to an HCA score of < 2, but I’d also like to limit the individual HCA grades to EX-EX-EX-VG. Am I limiting myself too much? (Again, I think it’s the engineer in me that wants the stone to pass all these objective quality tests.)
Color is another area that I also need some suggestions. My girlfriend and I both love the icy-white cold look of a colorless stone. Therefore, I’ve been looking in the D-F color range. However, a part of me even wants to limit myself to the D-E range, so I’m not even on the border of colorless / near-colorless. Would anyone really pick up color in an F stone mounted in platinum? Also, would it matter if we went with a tension setting or similar that would expose a significant profile (side) view of the stone?
In terms of clarity, it absolutely has to be eye-clean, and therefore I’m set on in the VS range or better. I’ve been told that a VS2 will always be eye-clean, but I’m still leaning toward a VS1. Again, because of a tension setting or similar profile view, I want to make sure that it is eye-clean by the most scrutinizing viewer from even the profile view, at any distance. (My problem here is that after I’ve had an hour to examine the stone, after studying the certification maps/plots, if I even think that I can make something out, that’s all that I’ll be able to see every time I look at the ring from that point on.) This is where my mind-clean games really kick-in and I where I could probably use the most advice.
So I currently think I’m looking for a 1.25 – 1.33 AGS 000 certified round-brilliant H&A, D-E, VS1 that scores < 2 and EX-EX-EX-VG on the HCA. However, the other problem is that I’ve been told this is a particularly rare combination and not necessarily easy to find. I’m somewhat willing to wait awhile to get EXACTLY what I want, as I’m not on a particular timeline, but then again, I don’t want to wait more than 6 months, ideally less than 3. (I also don’t want to deal with a trade-up, because I believe both my girlfriend and I will be too sentimental to the actual first / only stone.)
Can someone please give opinions and/or talk some practical sense into me?
Thanks,
Summit
Ultimately I’m willing to pay what I need to in order to get exactly what I’m looking for. That being said, obviously I want to pay ‘fair’ price, and don’t want to pay significant more than required for ‘quality’ that I can’ see. However, I’m wrestling with some ‘mind-clean’ issues, and therefore would like a diverse set of opinions.
In general, I want the ABSOLUTE BEST diamond in terms of brilliance, fire, and sparkle that I can get. I want the stone to be as absolutely BLINDING as possible, by anyone’s description. I’ve come to understand that this means CUT first and foremost. (I’m looking at round brilliants.) I’m also partial to H&A, as is my girlfriend, (we’ve seen some HOF at a B&M store and she fell in love), and thus that’s really where I’m focused. (I think it’s also the engineer in me that likes the thought of cut ‘preciseness’ and craftsmanship that H&A implies. It also helps me to believe that the stone is absolute best cut possible.)
Most people on the forum see to have high opinions of the WF ACAs, but I was curious what people think about the H&A stones offered by GOG and James Allen compared to WF ACA. (Are there other brands or on-line retailers that I should be considering as well?)
Also, I’m under the impression that AGS is the best, and want an AGS 000 super-ideal. (Excellent symmetry and polish ONLY.) Therefore I’ve been ruling out GIA because I feel they are less strict, especially in terms of cut. I think this is also because of the tighter AGS cut area (white outline) on the HCA that represents a AGS ideal cut. Am I incorrect here? Additionally, I’m really trying to stick to an HCA score of < 2, but I’d also like to limit the individual HCA grades to EX-EX-EX-VG. Am I limiting myself too much? (Again, I think it’s the engineer in me that wants the stone to pass all these objective quality tests.)
Color is another area that I also need some suggestions. My girlfriend and I both love the icy-white cold look of a colorless stone. Therefore, I’ve been looking in the D-F color range. However, a part of me even wants to limit myself to the D-E range, so I’m not even on the border of colorless / near-colorless. Would anyone really pick up color in an F stone mounted in platinum? Also, would it matter if we went with a tension setting or similar that would expose a significant profile (side) view of the stone?
In terms of clarity, it absolutely has to be eye-clean, and therefore I’m set on in the VS range or better. I’ve been told that a VS2 will always be eye-clean, but I’m still leaning toward a VS1. Again, because of a tension setting or similar profile view, I want to make sure that it is eye-clean by the most scrutinizing viewer from even the profile view, at any distance. (My problem here is that after I’ve had an hour to examine the stone, after studying the certification maps/plots, if I even think that I can make something out, that’s all that I’ll be able to see every time I look at the ring from that point on.) This is where my mind-clean games really kick-in and I where I could probably use the most advice.
So I currently think I’m looking for a 1.25 – 1.33 AGS 000 certified round-brilliant H&A, D-E, VS1 that scores < 2 and EX-EX-EX-VG on the HCA. However, the other problem is that I’ve been told this is a particularly rare combination and not necessarily easy to find. I’m somewhat willing to wait awhile to get EXACTLY what I want, as I’m not on a particular timeline, but then again, I don’t want to wait more than 6 months, ideally less than 3. (I also don’t want to deal with a trade-up, because I believe both my girlfriend and I will be too sentimental to the actual first / only stone.)
Can someone please give opinions and/or talk some practical sense into me?
Thanks,
Summit
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