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RutaKS

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
6
I'm new here, with a predicament. I had a beautiful 1.24 ct, I, VVS 2 diamond from Tiffany & Co that I wore with a simple 18k knife edge band. Well, the rings are gone. They were insured, insurance has sent me a check. And almost exactly 18 years after getting engaged, I'm starting the diamond hunt from scratch with very little recollection of what I had learned the first time around.

I'm toying with buying a diamond online, since it seems to get me a larger stone with similar characteristics: ideal cut, no less than I color, willing to go to VS2 but not into the SI's or I's. I prefer 18k yellow gold, and love slim bands. I've checked out Blue Nile and Zoara, am open to looking elsewhere. Lifetime upgrade option has value to me b/c this is not an optimal time for us to be spending $$$ on a diamond. So I'm only spending what insurance gave me, not adding extra $$. Budget is $14k.

Thoughts?? Advice?? TIA!
 
 
If you can push the budget a wee little bit ($350) :
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.66-carat-i-color-vs2-clarity-sku-267385 HUGE and gorgeous!
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/18k-yellow-gold-six-prong-knife-edged-solitaire-engagement-ring-handmade-item-2538

And then you'd have to buy your plain band yourself. Which would probably mean 350 bucks. And you could do that locally. Or you could ask them to do this one in 18kt yellow: http://www.jamesallen.com/wedding-rings/womens-carved/14k-white-gold-2mm-knife-edge-women%27s-wedding-ring-item-22661

So for 350 bucks over budget ... you could get the 1.66!
 
ARGH -- I had a reply going and it just disappeared!! Gypsy, I love the James Allen 1.66 ct stone. Great idea!

My Q's, posting quickly and then will post the stone I was looking at on Zoara's site:

(1) Help me out on table/depth. I just plain don't remember much about it and have been "cheating" by looking for ideal-cut stones, which should get me to a good ratio without playing with too many numbers.

(2) GIA vs. EGL vs. someone else? I noticed on Zoara, almost all of their stones have EGL certificates.

(3) Thoughts on Zoara in general? I started on Blue Nile, but their 18k yellow settings are minimal, at best. And I have huge fingers so will need to resize. Am just starting to look on James Allen.
 
Those ones Gypsy pointed out are perfect!

Here is what WF has...
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3096366.htm

with
http://www.whiteflash.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/contemporary-tiffany-style-solitaire-engagement-ring-1417.htm

and
http://www.whiteflash.com/wedding-bands/comfort-fit-wedding-band-3350.htm

WF - trade-up policy
http://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/faq/can-i-exchange-or-tradein-a-diamond-i-buy-from-you-at-a-later-date-950.htm
----------------------
JA has this...
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.55-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-312201

with
http://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/18k-yellow-gold-six-prong-knife-edged-solitaire-engagement-ring-handmade-item-2538

I didnt really see a knife edge solid gold band at JA.

JA - upgrade policy is pretty tough when you start with an expensive stone
http://www.jamesallen.com/about-us/upgrade-policies.html

I see there have been some other post since I typed this one up...but I'm posting anyway :cheeky: .
 
James Allen upgrade: spend double
BGD upgrade: must upgrade at least two of three: (color, clarity, carat)
 
More thoughts: I am playing with redesigning the whole set from scratch. It's not going to be the original rings, so why not do something different. I love this setting: Wistful Half Bezel (ignore pre-set diamond, I would buy loose, also comes in 18k yellow):
http://www.zoara.com/engagement/rings/preset/p_wistful_half_bezel_preset_wedding_set#p=402858

Then I've been eyeing this diamond:

(1) 1.74 Ct, ideal-cut G/VS1.
http://www.zoara.com/diamonds/p_round_ideal_cut_g_vs1#p=2537095

(2) 2.05 ct, Excellent cut, G, VS2
http://www.zoara.com/diamonds/p_round_excellent_cut_g_vs2#p=2329251
 
Those are both EGL stones so in reality they are probably lower than G/VS1 or 2s compared to GIA/AGS graded stones.

The 1.74 doesnt have the correct grading report coming up.

Do you know which EGL graded them? USA hopefully?

Edit - have you seen that setting in person? Do you have a real life picture of it with the bands together? If you do, please post.
 
No, I haven't seen the setting in person. Am doing this all online, except for a few local excursions. I've been to one local shop (Dominion Jewelers, for the DC types) which makes custom rings. But their stone prices were much higher than what I'm seeing online so am hesitating and continuing research. I've been back to Tiffany & Co and had a heart attack as to what my same stone would cost today.
 
Ok. You aren't making educated choices. What is the point of posting on here for advice if you are going to ignore it.

Zoara is not a vendor you should be dealing with if you want the best for your money. Why?

They are not a vendor that is focused on quality stones. Frankly, if they were they wouldn't be stocking EGL stones.

Please read this: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/[/URL]


EGL stones are a bad value. And frankly quality vendors do not stock them. Period.
 
The other reason why Zoara is not a good vendor is because they do not provide you sufficient information to buy securely online:

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. And GIA Ex is not enough. And do not consider anything except GIA Ex or AGS 0 or 1 stones. EGL is a bad value and should not even be considered.
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want?
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Well one method is to start with a GIA Ex get the angles and table and depth from the certificate (you can just get the lab report number and look up the angles on the GIA website with report check), and then apply the HCA to it. YOU DO NOT USE HCA for AGS0 stones.
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/holloway-cut-advisor
The HCA is a rejection tool. Not a selection tool. It uses 4 data points to make a rudimentary call on how the diamond may perform.
If the diamond passes then you know that you are in the right zone in terms of angles for light performance. 2 and under is a pass. Under 2.5-2.1 is a maybe. 2.6 and over is a no. No score under 2 is better than any other.
Is that enough? Not really.
So what you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return. That is why you won't see us recommending Blue Nile or Zoara, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. Brian Gavin, White Flash, High Performance Diamonds, James Allen, Good Old Gold and Engagement Rings Direct.

The Idealscope is the 'selection tool'. Not the HCA.
So yes, with a GIA stone you need the idealscope images. Or you can buy an idealscope yourself and take it in to the jeweler you are working with to check the stones yourself. Or if you have a good return policy (full refund minimum 7 days) then you can buy the idealscope, buy the stone, and do it at home.


Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium.
 
The stones and vendors I posted for you are ones who have their customer's best interests at heart. Who provide quality information for their customer. And who care about the quality of the settings and products they provide.



That James Allen set I provided for you above is a fabulous value for you. Ideal light return AGS0, confirmed with an idealscope image.

And it gets you a much larger stone for your budget. And reliably graded.
 
RutaKS|1400108404|3672974 said:
Sticking with Zoara for now, would one of these be better? They carry AGL certification instead of EGL.

(1) 1.52 ct, ideal cut, I, VS1
http://www.zoara.com/diamonds/p_round_ideal_cut_i_vs1#p=3284279

(2) 1.58 ct, ideal cut, I color, VS1
http://www.zoara.com/diamonds/p_round_ideal_cut_i_vs1#p=2339099
Click to expand...


Yes, these AGS000 stones are much better!

My concern with that setting is that if you are just going by what you see (the same thing I see), they dont even have an
image of what the setting looks like all together (like it would look on a finger). I would need to see some other images
of it before I could go with it.
 
ARGH, second time I've lost an entire typed reply in this conversation.

Thank you, Gypsy. I am most certainly not ignoring your advice. I'm researching and learning my way through this. OK, so Zoara is not an option. Looks like I've got a few more to dig through. That James Allen diamond is excellent, though I want to poke through a few more sites to see other options before committing. One of the things I am trying to figure out is who are the reputable online sellers. I've got a list now to dig through.

And yeah, I know cut is the most important issue above all. That's why I've stuck to ideal-cut stones. Last time around, we circumvented much of this by just sticking to Tiffany & Co. This time, with 3 kids and a mortgage in play, I'm trying to save some $$.
 
Can I advise that while you research you ask that the JA stone is put on hold for you? It's a really nice stone, and there aren't that many of them at all in that sweet spot and I'd hate to see you lose it.
 
tyty333|1400110041|3672994 said:
RutaKS|1400108404|3672974 said:
Sticking with Zoara for now, would one of these be better? They carry AGL certification instead of EGL.

(1) 1.52 ct, ideal cut, I, VS1
http://www.zoara.com/diamonds/p_round_ideal_cut_i_vs1#p=3284279

(2) 1.58 ct, ideal cut, I color, VS1
http://www.zoara.com/diamonds/p_round_ideal_cut_i_vs1#p=2339099
Click to expand...


Yes, these AGS000 stones are much better!

My concern with that setting is that if you are just going by what you see (the same thing I see), they dont even have an
image of what the setting looks like all together (like it would look on a finger). I would need to see some other images
of it before I could go with it.
Click to expand...

Those are nice. I missed those before.
I agree with tyty.
 
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