New and quite confused! Any assistance would be appreciated!

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Hello! I'm new!

I'm currently in the process of researching diamonds for my boyfriend, who feels that I'd be the best person to pick out something I'd actually like. This is all new territory for me and now know more about diamonds than I ever thought I would.

In terms of what I want in a diamond, I think I prefer cut (sparkle, fire, brilliance) and size over clarity and color. Round. I am also looking at lab diamonds because I want to minimize cost. We're currently looking at a diamond budget of ideally less than $3000 ($3800 tops if it's a good find). In terms of setting, I'm undecided on halo or solitaire but would like white gold.

As of now, I've narrowed my search down to a few diamonds. I am somewhat confused because looking at the specs, there are several Ideal cut diamonds which do not meet Crown and Pavillion Angles for H&A and one Excellent cut that does. Furthermore, while these diamonds score below 2 on HCA, some only have "very good" ratings for the light return, fire, and scintillation.

Here are some of the diamonds I'm eyeing (all IGI certified):

Diamond #1
Measurements: 6.91-6.97 x 4.13
Carat: 1.21
Color: K
Clarity: VS 1
Cut: Excellent
Depth: 59.4%
Table: 61%
Crown: 34 degrees (H&A)
Pavilion: 40.8 degrees
Girdle: Medium, Faceted
Cutlet: None
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: None
HCA: 1.9 (VG Light Return, Fire, Scint; Ex Spread)

Diamond #2 ($400 more than Diamond #1)
Measurement: 6.85-6.89 x 4.16
Carat: 1.2
Color: K
Clarity: VVS2
Cut: Ideal
Depth: 60.6%
Table: 58.5%
Crown: 34 degrees (H&A)
Pavilion: 40.8 degrees
Girdle: Medium to slightly thick, faceted
Cutlet: None
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry Excellent
Fluorescence: None
HCA: 1.3 (EX Light Return, Fire, Scint; VG Spread)

Diamond #3 ($1000 more than Diamond #1)
Measurement: 6.79 - 6.83 x 4.04
Carat: 1.13
Color: J
Clarity: VVS2
Cut: Ideal
Depth: 59.3
Table: 58.5%
Crown: 33.5 degrees (borderline H&A)
Pavilion: 40.8 degrees
Girdle: Thin, faceted
Cutlet: None
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Very good
Fluorescence: None
HCA: 1 (excellent everything)

Diamond #4 ($1500 more than Diamond #1)
Measurement: 7.16-7.22 x 4.29
Carat: 1.35
Color: I
Clarity: SI 2
Cut: Ideal
Depth: 59.8%
Table: 59.5%
Crown: 33 degrees (NOT H&A)
Pavillion: 40.8 degrees
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted
Cutlet: None
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: None
HCA: 1.3 (VG light return, EX everything else)

Would it be better to downgrade to an Excellent cut diamond (and VG HCAs) with H&A proportions, or have an Ideal cut diamond (and EX HCAs) with no H&As? Is there a huge difference between J and K, making it worth it to upgrade to a I or J if I want a halo setting? To what extent does an Ideal cut help with color, especially if I get a halo setting (which I understand are usually H-I diamonds)?

Honestly, this is all a little confusing and overwhelming to me. I'd be so thankful for any help or advice so I can start making sense of all of this and narrowing things down even more!. Thank you again!

 

[kb1gra]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Is there a reason you're looking at IGI certs? I'm guessing it's so you can get a size over 1ct in your budget.

My main concern isn't actually the cut, but instead the color and clarity, which is going to be lower than what you're reading it as. A K/VS1 from IGI might be a L or M/SI1 from GIA, and that means if you're comparing price to a GIA or AGS K/VS1 that you're not actually comparing apples to apples on the price. In fact, I think your price relative to the size means there may actually be other things going on as that pricing (assuming you're looking at an IGI 1.21 K/VS1 and it's under $3000) doesn't agree even with a GIA graded M diamond of that size. Are you clear that these stones are not clarity enhanced?

Are you really willing to go down that low in color? have you seen a GIA L or M color in real life?

Can you elaborate on your thought process a little more?

 

[gr8leo87]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Crown and Pavillion angles do not determine hearts and arrows as such. And 33 crown angle can also be a heart and arrow however it may not have fire commonly attributed to the branded cuts.

Pavillion angles can influence arrows in the face up view and consequently influence the scintillation effect (the on off sparkle when the object or the subject moves). PA above 41 start to leak light under the table and the arrows start reflecting light instead of being obstructed in the face up view.

 

[gr8leo87]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Also an IGI ideal is not same as an AGS ideal.

 

[kb1gra]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Also, all of these are 60/60s or near 60/60s which is not the same look as a superideal. They definitely appeal to some people, but I'd see both if you can before buying because they DO look different.

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Is there a reason you're looking at IGI certs? I'm guessing it's so you can get a size over 1ct in your budget.

My main concern isn't actually the cut, but instead the color and clarity, which is going to be lower than what you're reading it as. A K/VS1 from IGI might be a L or M/SI1 from GIA, and that means if you're comparing price to a GIA or AGS K/VS1 that you're not actually comparing apples to apples on the price. In fact, I think your price relative to the size means there may actually be other things going on as that pricing (assuming you're looking at an IGI 1.21 K/VS1 and it's under $3000) doesn't agree even with a GIA graded M diamond of that size. Are you clear that these stones are not clarity enhanced?

Are you really willing to go down that low in color? have you seen a GIA L or M color in real life?

Can you elaborate on your thought process a little more?

Hi!

I suppose the main reason I'm looking at IGI certs is because GIA doesn't grade lab diamonds. That probably explains why Diamonds #1 and #2 on my list are under $3000. The places I've been searching for diamonds are 1215, Brilliant Earth, and DNEA since they have the best pricing.

I got a chance to view I colored SI2 lab diamonds at Robbins Brothers last week (IGI graded), which looked fine under the bright lights. Also viewed a few Js and an M at the Jewelry Exchange. It's pretty hard to pick up color under the bright lights. I guess my concern is if the K actually looks more like an M, I won't be able to use a white gold setting or a halo one.

Hope this explains my thought processes a little! Thank you again!

 

[kb1gra]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Oh my. I didn't realize you were looking at lab created.

The color grades may not be fair relative to the GIA scale. It's hard to tell. That said, I really think you should see if you can buy a nicely cut K from somewhere like James Allen with a really solid return policy, and see it under natural lighting that you encounter daily vs jewelry store lighting. There's nothing inherently wrong with the color, but setting it in a halo may really change the appearance of the color.

Are you looking at lab created for ethical reasons?

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Crown and Pavillion angles do not determine hearts and arrows as such. And 33 crown angle can also be a heart and arrow however it may not have fire commonly attributed to the branded cuts.

Pavillion angles can influence arrows in the face up view and consequently influence the scintillation effect (the on off sparkle when the object or the subject moves). PA above 41 start to leak light under the table and the arrows start reflecting light instead of being obstructed in the face up view.

I've been using this chart to weed out diamonds from consideration: http://www.heartsandarrows.com/images/fig_ch-1_c.png along with the HCA. I know that in my search, I weeded out quite a few diamonds with a 33 crown angle. Are there other things I should be looking at instead of the chart?

Thank you again the help! This is all pretty confusing to me!

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Oh my. I didn't realize you were looking at lab created.
Are you looking at lab created for ethical reasons?

The reason I am looking at lab created is mostly for ethical reasons. Pricing is also a big appeal to me and by boyfriend, as I haven't found comparable pricing for diamonds of similar carat and clarity. While I also looked at other diamond alternatives (which won't be discussed here), I really prefer the look of diamonds.

With a purchase as big as this one, I certainly want to be as informed as possible. I don't want my boyfriend to overspend more than he already is!

 

[gr8leo87]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

On hearts and arrows :

It is NOT crown and Pavillion angles that determine hearts and arrows. It's a combination of Pavillion mains, Lower Girdle facets, Table facet, star facet etc. If you are selecting hearts and arrows using crown and pavilion angles you are going in the wrong direction.

You need pavilion view of the diamond through a hearts and arrows viewer and compare that image to branded hearts and arrows image.

Ideal cut and hearts and arrows are two different things. And these both are not interdependent. All hearts and arrows are not ideal cut and not all ideal cut are hearts and arrows.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Oh my. I didn't realize you were looking at lab created.
Are you looking at lab created for ethical reasons?

The reason I am looking at lab created is mostly for ethical reasons. Pricing is also a big appeal to me and by boyfriend, as I haven't found comparable pricing for diamonds of similar carat and clarity. While I also looked at other diamond alternatives (which won't be discussed here), I really prefer the look of diamonds.

With a purchase as big as this one, I certainly want to be as informed as possible. I don't want my boyfriend to overspend more than he already is!

Hi,

While I respect your ethical reasons, may I please give you my take on lab-created diamonds. Did you know, by the way, that the term lab-created is deemed illegal by ISO, as the product should be referred to as 'synthetic diamond', 'laboratory-grown diamond' or 'laboratory-created diamond', with no abbreviation whatsoever allowed?

The main point I think you need to consider is that no real pricing of synthetic diamonds exists without reference to natural diamonds. In other words, the value (cheaper cost) of a synthetic diamond is defended on it being the same as a natural diamond, only cheaper.

You see, the cost of mining natural diamonds at best will remain the same, most probably will rise. Regardless of there being worldwide demand for natural diamonds, the production-cost lays a floor on the cost of natural diamonds.

In synthetic diamonds however, we can expect that technology will gradually reduce the production-cost. You are looking at a substitute for a natural diamond, of which the price relative to that of natural diamonds will only decrease. By definition thus, one cannot even call a synthetic diamond a gemstone, it is a substitute for a gemstone.

By the way, HPD had an interesting blog-article about the subject a few weeks ago.

Live long,

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Oh my. I didn't realize you were looking at lab created.
Are you looking at lab created for ethical reasons?

The reason I am looking at lab created is mostly for ethical reasons. Pricing is also a big appeal to me and by boyfriend, as I haven't found comparable pricing for diamonds of similar carat and clarity. While I also looked at other diamond alternatives (which won't be discussed here), I really prefer the look of diamonds.

With a purchase as big as this one, I certainly want to be as informed as possible. I don't want my boyfriend to overspend more than he already is!

Hi,

While I respect your ethical reasons, may I please give you my take on lab-created diamonds. Did you know, by the way, that the term lab-created is deemed illegal by ISO, as the product should be referred to as 'synthetic diamond', 'laboratory-grown diamond' or 'laboratory-created diamond', with no abbreviation whatsoever allowed?

The main point I think you need to consider is that no real pricing of synthetic diamonds exists without reference to natural diamonds. In other words, the value (cheaper cost) of a synthetic diamond is defended on it being the same as a natural diamond, only cheaper.

You see, the cost of mining natural diamonds at best will remain the same, most probably will rise. Regardless of there being worldwide demand for natural diamonds, the production-cost lays a floor on the cost of natural diamonds.

In synthetic diamonds however, we can expect that technology will gradually reduce the production-cost. You are looking at a substitute for a natural diamond, of which the price relative to that of natural diamonds will only decrease. By definition thus, one cannot even call a synthetic diamond a gemstone, it is a substitute for a gemstone.

By the way, HPD had an interesting blog-article about the subject a few weeks ago.

Live long,

Thank you for your reply. I think these discussions are important because it'll help me make a more informed decision on what to get.

Is this the article? http://highperformancediamonds.com/are-lab-grown-diamonds-just-a-pipe-ddiamonds
It seems that the two main arguments she makes against lab grown diamonds are that 1) the companies that made them never took off and 2) they're not romantic.

As someone who had tofu for dinner last night and considered alternatives which are not chemically identical to mined diamonds, I suppose I don't really care if a lab grown diamond is not as romantic. In terms of the value of a diamond, I'm aware of the deflated mined diamonds suppy and am really not looking for this as an investment. To put it plainly, I like shiny things.

In the end, though, the fact that the Kimberly Process isn't perfect worries me. I'd rather not take my chances. Hope this explains my thought processes better!

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

On hearts and arrows :

It is NOT crown and Pavillion angles that determine hearts and arrows. It's a combination of Pavillion mains, Lower Girdle facets, Table facet, star facet etc. If you are selecting hearts and arrows using crown and pavilion angles you are going in the wrong direction.

You need pavilion view of the diamond through a hearts and arrows viewer and compare that image to branded hearts and arrows image.

Ideal cut and hearts and arrows are two different things. And these both are not interdependent. All hearts and arrows are not ideal cut and not all ideal cut are hearts and arrows.

Oh no! I guess I have to start over!

I suppose what I'm really looking for is something sparkly and firey, hence my focus on finding the best cut possible. Around 1 carat would be good too. I guess I have a lot more learning to do!

 

[rubybeth]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Hi PumpkinsAreAwesome--unfortunately, I think your post is going to be removed, because this is a diamond forum and discussion of simulants is prohibited by PS forum policy: https://www.pricescope.com/content/forum-policies I hope you find what you are looking for!

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Ack! I should have read the policy better! Anyway to just have his thread moved to the lab diamond section?

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

I suppose this makes it complicated because my main question was about diamond specs for H&As and optimal sparkle/fire. I could edit my posts to take out all references to the fact that I happen to be looking at labs.

 

[kb1gra]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

If you're open to going natural, I found a really gorgeous 0.90 K on JA the other day that was like $10 over your max budget of $3000 and excellent everything. Really fabulous stone.

I think you're fighting an uphill battle - with the newness of the availability laboratory stones as well as many top cutters not doing much with them - you may be hard pressed to find an H&A stone with ideal proportions. You note that a lot of the stones you find are 60/60s. I think this particular combination of size, price, ethics, and cut may not exist. Of course, I could be proven wrong, but that is my suspicion.

 

[WinkHPD]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Is there a reason you're looking at IGI certs? I'm guessing it's so you can get a size over 1ct in your budget.

My main concern isn't actually the cut, but instead the color and clarity, which is going to be lower than what you're reading it as. A K/VS1 from IGI might be a L or M/SI1 from GIA, and that means if you're comparing price to a GIA or AGS K/VS1 that you're not actually comparing apples to apples on the price. In fact, I think your price relative to the size means there may actually be other things going on as that pricing (assuming you're looking at an IGI 1.21 K/VS1 and it's under $3000) doesn't agree even with a GIA graded M diamond of that size. Are you clear that these stones are not clarity enhanced?

Are you really willing to go down that low in color? have you seen a GIA L or M color in real life?

Can you elaborate on your thought process a little more?

Hi!

I suppose the main reason I'm looking at IGI certs is because GIA doesn't grade lab diamonds. That probably explains why Diamonds #1 and #2 on my list are under $3000. The places I've been searching for diamonds are 1215, Brilliant Earth, and DNEA since they have the best pricing.

I got a chance to view I colored SI2 lab diamonds at Robbins Brothers last week (IGI graded), which looked fine under the bright lights. Also viewed a few Js and an M at the Jewelry Exchange. It's pretty hard to pick up color under the bright lights. I guess my concern is if the K actually looks more like an M, I won't be able to use a white gold setting or a halo one.

Hope this explains my thought processes a little! Thank you again!

There is a store here in Boise that puts three stones on a tray under bright lights in a jewelry store and points to one and says, "Here is a Hearts on Fire diamond next to a GIA excellent diamond next to one of our "good enough" diamonds. Can you see any difference? "

"No, then why pay for it?"

I "trained' one of their "victims" to cup his hand above the three diamonds to take them out of the bright lights. He then returned to tell me that the difference was incredible. The "Good enough" diamond lost nearly a third of its visual size out of the klieg lights and the GIA Excellent paled next to the Hearts on Fire, which of course was much more expensive than the GIA Excellent.

The visual flavor of a diamond is going to be incredibly influenced by the cut of that diamond. You will need to inspect the diamonds you are considering under many different lighting situations to know if it is a good performer under all, or just under the klieg lights. Since few of us live in a klieg light environment, they are really a poor light to be making our final decisions in.

Wink

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

If you're open to going natural, I found a really gorgeous 0.90 K on JA the other day that was like $10 over your max budget of $3000 and excellent everything. Really fabulous stone.

I think you're fighting an uphill battle - with the newness of the availability laboratory stones as well as many top cutters not doing much with them - you may be hard pressed to find an H&A stone with ideal proportions. You note that a lot of the stones you find are 60/60s. I think this particular combination of size, price, ethics, and cut may not exist. Of course, I could be proven wrong, but that is my suspicion.

Here is another newbie question: I'm confused as to why a 60/60 diamond is bad. I've been trying to find pictures of one but have had no luck. Do they not sparkle as much? What would be a better alternative.

Non-related question: I've been looking at Brilliant Earth's (natural) ideal and Super Ideal diamonds and was going to schedule an appointment to view diamonds in their SF office tomorrow. Is their super ideal classification another marketing ploy to watch out for?

 

[kb1gra]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

If you're open to going natural, I found a really gorgeous 0.90 K on JA the other day that was like $10 over your max budget of $3000 and excellent everything. Really fabulous stone.

I think you're fighting an uphill battle - with the newness of the availability laboratory stones as well as many top cutters not doing much with them - you may be hard pressed to find an H&A stone with ideal proportions. You note that a lot of the stones you find are 60/60s. I think this particular combination of size, price, ethics, and cut may not exist. Of course, I could be proven wrong, but that is my suspicion.

Here is another newbie question: I'm confused as to why a 60/60 diamond is bad. I've been trying to find pictures of one but have had no luck. Do they not sparkle as much? What would be a better alternative.

Non-related question: I've been looking at Brilliant Earth's (natural) ideal and Super Ideal diamonds and was going to schedule an appointment to view diamonds in their SF office tomorrow. Is their super ideal classification another marketing ploy to watch out for?

a 60/60 isn't bad, but it is a different appearance than a tolkowsky ideal diamond. Many people prefer the smaller table of a tolk diamond. My point being that if you're looking for the best cut, you'd be best off comparing both so you can understand which features in the cut are important to you. There are fewer angle combinations in a 60/60 that achieve AGS ideal (a very many more which achieve GIA excellent).

 

[gr8leo87]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

If you're open to going natural, I found a really gorgeous 0.90 K on JA the other day that was like $10 over your max budget of $3000 and excellent everything. Really fabulous stone.

I think you're fighting an uphill battle - with the newness of the availability laboratory stones as well as many top cutters not doing much with them - you may be hard pressed to find an H&A stone with ideal proportions. You note that a lot of the stones you find are 60/60s. I think this particular combination of size, price, ethics, and cut may not exist. Of course, I could be proven wrong, but that is my suspicion.

Here is another newbie question: I'm confused as to why a 60/60 diamond is bad. I've been trying to find pictures of one but have had no luck. Do they not sparkle as much? What would be a better alternative.

Non-related question: I've been looking at Brilliant Earth's (natural) ideal and Super Ideal diamonds and was going to schedule an appointment to view diamonds in their SF office tomorrow. Is their super ideal classification another marketing ploy to watch out for?

It is not bad at all. Infact in some parts of the world it is preferred over other flavours of cut. Because of its larger table these diamonds appear larger. However many 60/60 stones tend to have shallower crowns (lesser than 13.5%). That tends to decrease the dispersion of white light into rainbow colors (what is known as fire) and increase white light return.

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Another question! I think I'm starting to grasp the idea that a 60/60 diamond has more brilliance at the expense of fire, while a TIC is a nice balance of both.

My question is that for these 60/60 diamonds I posted, HCA said that they fall into the TIC range. Why is that the case and not BIC? Is the HCA another tool I should take with a grain of salt as well?

Thank you again for your patience with me!

 

[gr8leo87]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Another question! I think I'm starting to grasp the idea that a 60/60 diamond has more brilliance at the expense of fire, while a TIC is a nice balance of both.

My question is that for these 60/60 diamonds I posted, HCA said that they fall into the TIC range. Why is that the case and not BIC? Is the HCA another tool I should take with a grain of salt as well?

Thank you again for your patience with me!

For a stone to be considered BIC the crown angles will have to much more shallower. Try 32 degrees for crown angle while keeping everything else the same and see the stone labelled as BIC.

 

[Ella]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

We'll leave this in RT since it seems to have veered back into diamond angles territory, but please post further questions on lab grown diamonds in that forum.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

[quote="gr8leo87|
It is not bad at all. Infact in some parts of the world it is preferred over other flavours of cut. Because of its larger table these diamonds appear larger. However many 60/60 stones tend to have shallower crowns (lesser than 13.5%). That tends to decrease the dispersion of white light into rainbow colors (what is known as fire) and increase white light return.[/quote]



That is not correct...The table size has nothing to do with its diameter.

 

[UrsTx]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Hi Pumpkins!

My prior diamond was in that 60/60 category. (I sold it when I decided i wanted a cushion instead of a round.) It's the only 60/60 I have experience with but I can tell you that it did have more white brilliance than fire - I'm not sure I ever saw fire reflected but that didn't bother me, and the center under the table had challenges reflecting light sometimes, but I personally thought it was pretty. It looked much better in a halo setting though than as a soliatiaire - I think the halo helped the sparkle go up a notch.

So I echo not to totally take 60/60 diamonds off the options list but I agree you need to see it in person to make sure you like it.

 

[gr8leo87]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

[quote="gr8leo87|
It is not bad at all. Infact in some parts of the world it is preferred over other flavours of cut. Because of its larger table these diamonds appear larger. However many 60/60 stones tend to have shallower crowns (lesser than 13.5%). That tends to decrease the dispersion of white light into rainbow colors (what is known as fire) and increase white light return.

That is not correct...The table size has nothing to do with its diameter.[/quote]
Never said it was supposed to do anything with its diameter. However the table facet influences the appearance of diamond while set especially if it's a well cut 60/60.

Depth however is directly related to diameter and these stones have almost perfect diameter in well cut stones.

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Update!

I went to Shane Co after work today with the intention of checking out J and K diamonds and see if I prefer a diamond with more brilliance and less fire. Here's a rundown of my experience:

-The staff at Shane Co was very friendly. I suppose it helped that I made it clear that I was doing "research" for my boyfriend and had no intention to buy.

-I ended up looking at a round I1 J diamond and an oval I1 K. Both were noticeably creamy colored on the side, but not on top. I could not tell the color difference between the two. Maybe I just have bad eyes.

-When the J diamond was dropped into a solitaire setting, I was blown away by the sparkle and warm rainbows that appeared. That's what I want in my diamond, so I guess the 60/60 probably won't work for me?

-Shane tries to mimic "natural light", but they also have several fluorescent lamps for those wanting to see "jewelry store lighting". When I put the diamonds under the fluorescent light, I was blinded similar to when I went to another store to look at certain disco ball stone that won't be named (starts with an M). Ouch!

-I ended up trying on settings while I was there, too! I noticed that the diamonds seemed to look bigger in a solitaire setting than the halo pavé (which seems to "swallow" the diamond). Now I'm leaning towards solitaire settings again. Decisions, decisions.


tl;dr: People at Shane Co are nice. Can't tell difference between J and K. I like sparkle and big, warm rainbows. Diamonds seem bigger in solitaire settings than halo pavé ones. Also, warm diamonds seem more yellow on a plain silver ring than one with pavé.

I guess now it's time to start my search again, this time with different parameters. Would trying to find a diamond that fits the specs in the Excellent column (along with an HCA score of under 2) be a good starting point: http://www.lumeradiamonds.com/diamond-education/round-diamonds ?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Update!


-I ended up looking at a round I1 J diamond and an oval I1 K. Both were noticeably creamy colored on the side, but not on top. I could not tell the color difference between the two. Maybe I just have bad eyes.

GIA graded stones?

 

[PumpkinsAreAwesome]

Re: New and quite confused! Any assistance would be apprecia

Update!


-I ended up looking at a round I1 J diamond and an oval I1 K. Both were noticeably creamy colored on the side, but not on top. I could not tell the color difference between the two. Maybe I just have bad eyes.

GIA graded stones?

Nope. They label their GIA graded ones. I didn't see a GIA notation on the boxes of these two.