Need some expert opinions

[texasdoc]

Thanks to everyone on Pricescope for a really high quality diamond education thus far!

I''m looking for the best quality 2.0 ct round brilliant diamond I can find for somewhere in the $13,000 to $14,000 range. I think I may have found one!

Here are the specs:

2.01 ct round I, SI1
GIA cut grade Excellent
Symmetry Excellent
Polish Excellent
Faint fluorescence.

depth 62.3%
table 54%
crown angle 34
pavilion angle 41
girdle medium to slightly thick

HCA score 1.5

I''m attaching a photo and an Idealscope image I was able to obtain.

It looks pretty good (excellent even) to me.

I should be able to purchase this for slightly over $13,000. Good deal?

Also, I''m told this is very eye clean, whatever that means exactly. The inclusions do seem to be very peripheral and hopefully unobtrusive.

Many thanks!

 

[texasdoc]

Here''s the idealscope.

 

[JulieN]

sweet!

 

[Dancing Fire]

looks like a nice SI1

 

[Lorelei]

Lovely image, if eyeclean its a winner!

 

[jet2ks]

Looks great!

Eye-clean refers to being able to see the inclusions with the naked eye (as opposed to under magnification). People have different definitions of eye-clean, so make sure the vendor knows yours. Clarity is graded face up only, so if the setting is going to allow the diamond to be very visible from the side, and you don''t want to see inclusions from any angle, tell them.

 

[Ellen]

Ditto jet. That looks like one sweet stone!

 

[texasdoc]

Thanks to everyone for their opinions which certainly sound positive! What do you guys think about the price? Is roughly $13K what you would expect? Would you feel comfortable ordering this based on what you''ve seen, which is basically everything I know, or would you ask to speak to a gemologist who is holding the stone? Based on the photo and the GIA report the inclusions are very peripheral and likely can be hidden by the setting, to the extent they would even be visible. I have a feeling I''m overanalyzing this, though. Looks like I found a winner.

 

[Lorelei]

I think I know which vendor has the diamond and they are competitively priced.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 5/9/2009 11:27:49 AM
Author: texasdoc
Thanks to everyone for their opinions which certainly sound positive! What do you guys think about the price? Is roughly $13K what you would expect? Would you feel comfortable ordering this based on what you''ve seen, which is basically everything I know, or would you ask to speak to a gemologist who is holding the stone? Based on the photo and the GIA report the inclusions are very peripheral and likely can be hidden by the setting, to the extent they would even be visible. I have a feeling I''m overanalyzing this, though. Looks like I found a winner.

I would ask that the inclusions be looked at in person by someone and an opinion be passed on.
The pricescope search engine will tell you if the price is good but it sounds ballpark to me.

 

[texasdoc]

Just an update: I asked to have a gemologist view the stone and give me her opinion. She says there''s slight feathering at the girdle visible only under a loupe or microscope. "I''ve viewed literally hundreds of thousands of stones, without exaggeration, and I can tell you I would never be able to see this feathering just with my eyes. It''s a very unusual SI1." I asked whether placing a prong there would hide the inclusions and she said "you don''t even need to worry about that. There''s no way you''d ever be able to see the feathering whether viewed face up or in profile. And it''s really sparkly!"

So, I think I''ve made up my mind!

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[Lorelei]

Congrats!!!

 

[stone-cold11]

Good Luck.

 

[texasdoc]

Another update.... I received the stone from James Allen on Wednesday, very attractively packaged. It looks amazing in person. I took it today for grading and appraisal by Kirk Root here in Austin, who is an ASA Master Gemologist Appraiser. He used a Sarin machine and did some manual measurements and assessment as well. He felt my diamond is really an H color rather than an I, and officially graded it as an H, but otherwise agreed to the letter with the GIA appraisal. The stone is a GIA "triple excellent," and Kirk graded it as an AGS 0 as well. He feels current retail value is $20,000, and was quite impressed when I told him at the end what I actually paid (nearly $7,000 less). Thanks to Pricescope and online buying in general, I feel I got a really beautiful diamond, totally eye clean, perfectly cut, for probably closer to $10,000 less than I would have paid at a brick and mortar store.

 

[strmrdr]

congrates!!!

 

[jet2ks]

Awesome! We love to hear sucess stories. The only thing we like better than that is pictures of the final product

, so in order to keep us all happy and drooling, please come back and post pics when the ring is done.

 

[Ellen]

Yay!

And yes, we need pics of the final product. Don''t make us hunt you down.