Need some help please!

[nyguy06]

Hi all,

I recently found this forum and it's been such a great resource! This will be my first post and I'm really hoping the PS community can help me. I'm really struggling to make a decision narrowing down the stones I'm considering. I've researched and educated myself on the fundamentals enough to be dangerous and I've decided to go with lab grown vs mined from Brilliant Earth.

I did a first pass using HCA analysis and was able to whittle the choices from 7 down to 4... almost half the battle over lol. Can you all please opine on just how much more legitimate a GCAL cert is vs IGI? I'm only considering stones with at least some type of grading. Only 1 of the 4 stones is GCAL, but looking at the 360 Real View I'm finding it hard to believe their report is accurate, mainly the mapping of inclusions. It definitely doesn't fitting of a VS2 rating. Also, the grading reports say nothing about florescence, but I filtered only for stones with none to medium florescence so I'm assuming it's accurate? Is it so bad if it fluoresces? Googling it I get answers all over the place and it's difficult to tell what agendas the different websites might have. But I'd trust you guys!

Otherwise, I would love to get some opinions. I'll refrain on telling you which I'm partial to so that I don't bias the responses! Also, thanks so much in advance!!

Stone 1
SHAPE: ROUND
CARAT: 2.31
COLOR: F
CLARITY: VS2
CUT: SUPER IDEAL
REPORT: IGI
ORIGIN: LAB CREATED
PRICE: 12680
HCA: 1.2
Light Return: Excellent
Fire: Excellent
Scintillation: Excellent
Spread or diameter for weight: Excellent
Overall HCA: Total Visual Performance 1.2 - Excellent within TIC range
Website: https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/5072166/

Stone 2
SHAPE: ROUND
CARAT: 2.31
COLOR: F
CLARITY: VS2
CUT: SUPER IDEAL
REPORT: IGI
ORIGIN: LAB CREATED
PRICE: 12680
HCA: 1.2
Light Return: Excellent
Fire: Excellent
Scintillation: Excellent
Spread or diameter for weight: Excellent
Overall HCA: Total Visual Performance 1.2 - Excellent within TIC range
Website: https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/5072166/

Stone 3
SHAPE: ROUND
CARAT: 2.18
COLOR: D
CLARITY: VS2
CUT: SUPER IDEAL
REPORT: IGI
ORIGIN: LAB CREATED
PRICE: 12410
HCA: 1.3
Light Return: Excellent
Fire: Excellent
Scintillation: Very Good
Spread or diameter for weight: Very Good
Overall HCA: Total Visual Performance 1.3 - Excellent within TIC range
Website: https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/5223187/

Stone 4
SHAPE: ROUND
CARAT: 2.08
COLOR: D
CLARITY: VS2
CUT: SUPER IDEAL
REPORT: GCAL
ORIGIN: LAB CREATED
PRICE: 12160
HCA: 1
Light Return: Excellent
Fire: Excellent
Scintillation: Excellent
Spread or diameter for weight: Very Good
Overall HCA: Total Visual Performance 1 - Excellent within TIC range
Website: https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/5117294/

 

[denverappraiser]

I rather like GCAL, although BE doesn't seem to use them much. Your link above shows the stone as unavailable and therefore they won't show any of the data on it. I can't speak for that particular stone but, as a rule, I've seen their clarity grading to be quite consistent and well in line with GIA. They have several different formats and I probably haven't seen them all but every report I've remember from them includes fluorescence. Lack of this is a bit of a red flag. They routinely do list some slightly unusual things that don't appear on their competitor's reports, but 'light return', 'scintillation', and 'fire' aren't among them and, as far as I know, they don't use a 'Super Ideal' cut grade. Here's kind of a typical GCAL report. Is this what it looks like?

 

[ChristineRose]

I like GCAL also but I think the main problem is that they use more machinery and less eyeball. GCAL is more consistent, but they're not always comparable. That is, GIA might consistently call stone A F-S1I and stone B G-VS2 but GCAL consistently says the opposite. So not bad but hard to compare with a GIA.

 

[amadeus wolf]

Have a look at CleanOrigin.com. They are relatively new, but exclusively lab grown.