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New Stone advice please

rockydave

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
25
Hi,

Im in the UK and looking at stones for an upcoming proposal.

Happy to buy online and looking at setting in a white gold or platinum band.

Budget circa $10/11k for the diamond.

I have not looked at any in the flesh as yet as wanted to get some help first.

Diamond needs to be princess cut.

Just wondered if its was necessary to go to a D or would an F be just the same to naked eye?

I have found a nice looking D, 1.2, Sig ideal - VS1 at around top end of budget - but if i can keep increase size within budget without compromising on cut (naked eye) then I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance.
 

tyty333

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
27,200
rockydave|1467047349|4048834 said:
http://www.bluenile.com/uk/diamond-search?stockno=LD05809978

Found this on blue Nile - thoughts??

An F will be very white. Generally we think of G being a mid point color/price value wise. Princess cuts do have
pointy ends which will tend to show color but certainly not in a D//E/F/.

The stone you posted has no photos/images. You really need images of fancy cut stones like Princess cuts. Ask BlueNile
if they can send you some pictures. You also could look for AGS000 graded stones. These have already been evaluated
for Ideal light return. Still need pictures though.
 

rockydave

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
25
Thanks both,

Good to know re: the d/e/f differences to the naked eye.

Those 2 stones do look good also.....

Perhaps naive here but I'm assuming US pricing is cheaper? Also assuming there is a thread re: shipping from the US and k should prob do some more research?
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
40,225
On color:


It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

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Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H if you DO NOT KNOW YOUR LADY'S COLOR PREFERENCES.

If you are talking fancy shapes without ideal light return (because there is no 'ideal' for EC's Radiant, etc) it's a bit different.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them side by side. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white, you only see the contrast because of the proximity. But it's very slight, you could set an F center with G sides and never tell the difference. And even H sides depending on the setting and the size of the sidestones... especially with round brilliants.


I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.
 

rockydave

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
25
Thanks Gypsy - I certainly will keep cut at the top of my list then. I'm looking for ideal/signature ideal I guess so will see within budget what is the highest quality of colour and clarity and size after this.

With online companies ie Bluenile - will they send you pictures of the actual diamond?

I'm looking for princess cut so may go and look in a few jewellers first to get an idea on what I'm up against.

Assuming online cost saving is pretty big?
 
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