Newbie Diamond Advice

[pcmodem]

Hello all, I''ve been lurking here for a couple of weeks now, and running all over the internet to try and educate myself on the topic of diamonds, and I hope you guys can give me some help out.

I''m currently shopping for a loose stone for an engagement ring. I have a budget of $3200 max spent (3500 total hopefully once set in a ring). I''ve been told that anything around 1 carot would be acceptable to my SO. She has stated to me in the past that she''s more into size than quality, but I dont think she quite understands that. I personally am into quality, I find a beautiful sparkling diamond a lot more impressive than a large chunk that looks vaguely like glass.

That being said, when I plunk my price range down onto sites like jamesallen and blue nile and the like, I seem to come up with a range of options that goes .90 to 1.0, with a color around I and SI1 or SI2. Not having seen these stones (thats what this weekends galavant around central NJ is going to be about) and reading a lot of info from you guys on here, I''m honestly concerned that I''m going to be able to tell the difference between a good stone and a not good stone. I know to keep to GIA and AGS certs, but it seems impossible to me from looking at stock online to tell the difference between a $3200 .90 stone and a $2800 .90 stone.

So, my questions:

1) Can you guys give me some other helpful advice on what to look for in my price range, understanding that SHE wants size and I want quality, so I have to find a nice balance

2) Should I totally stay away from these EGL certs? I mean, if I look at a GIA stone and a EGL stone side by side and the EGL stone looks nicer to me for cheaper, is there something I''m totally missing?

3) Honestly, in my price range, it seems like pricescope doesn''t find much in the way of online options, and i''m worried over the sparkle and quality of the stone online. Is there any way to correlate what I will see in the stores this weekend to data online?

Thanks for any help you can give

Phil

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome to PS!

You can certainly have a gorgeous diamond of lower colour and clarity if the cut is great, as it is that which gives a diamond it's beauty, so you could definitely reach a compromise which can make both you and your GF happy!! It is lack of cut quality which makes a diamond look like a dull chunk of glass!

You say you are in NJ, I would recommend you make an appointment with Jon at www.goodoldgold.com he is in Long Island and he has an excellent rep here, he has a brick and mortar store as well as an online inventory. Generally GIA and AGS reports are preferred around here anyway, but you can find some EGL graded diamonds which can be worth consideration, but you need to know what to look for. Also you can try Mark at www.engagementringsdirect.com , he is on 47th St in the DD, so it shouldn't be too difficult for you hopefully.

As to your diamond, maybe consider an excellently cut G to J colour and SI1 TO SI2 clarity to get the most size for the budget.

 

[pcmodem]

Lorelai, thanks for your response.

I spent about 5 hours on saturday going between about 4-5 different jewelers to try to see what I could find in my 3.5k price range. After seeing so many different diamonds and with my own eye seeing two nearly the same cut/quality/clarity side by side and one looking great while the other seemed horrible, I''m more inclined to go for a B&M since when I look up these cuts on jamesallen they are only a couple hundred lower and a couple hundred higher on blue nile, and they can size the ring for me there, which I''ve been told dealing with sending it back to an internet site may make my fiance-to-be a little unhappy.

Anyway, on to my search

Imagine my surprise to find that .90 diamonds seem to be a stocked rarity, at least ones of decent quality - everything I saw around .90 in my price range were as low as K in color and that just isn''t going to cut it, I can see the yellow in even a GIA I rated diamond in some cases

Some of the best diamonds I saw during my trip were:

$2.7k for just the stone:
.82 5.99-6.03x3.70 "Excellent" cut, G color, SI2 Clarity (was eye clean to me) VG/EX 58% Table 61.6Depth GIA

$3.9k for just the stone:
.96 6.08-6.14 x 4.04mm I color, SI1 Clarity (Again eye clean) 56% table 66.1% Depth GIA - This one seemed to "pop" and sparkled and threw rainbow colors much better than the one above, even though it would seem by the dimensions the cut would be better on the smaller stone? I saw these two first and I wish I''d seen them last, they were both clearly the best I saw all day in my range.

$3.2k for just the stone, this stone was an EGL, they showed me other "GIA" but never an actual report which worries me a bit
.98 H Color that seemed a little too yellow for H, SI1 Clarity (Eye clean) 52% Table 67% Depth


Understanding that I''d REALLY like to stay in this 3.5k band with the ring and everything, am I really doomed to have to go down to .82 over my original "want" of .90 in order to not be looking at diamonds that are all way too yellow tinged? It seemed like everything I saw that I could afford over .85 or so was a lower color number and no matter how much it sparkled and popped faced up with a yellow tinge to me.

Help! I''ve got to figure something out and have it in hand within 10 days maximum

 

[Lorelei]

I know it is difficult, but could you make time to get an appointment with Jon at GOG and Mark at ERD? This might be your best bet, both guys are experts and have a superb rep here, as they have brick and mortar locations which you prefer, they would be able to show you diamonds which might be suitable. Either of these guys could also get your diamond set very quickly so you might be able to keep to your timeframe.

I did a search and found a couple of diamonds of G colour and SI clarity which might work for you, but they were more in the .75 weight. If the numbers for the $3900 diamond are correct, you might want to pass on that one if the depth is 66%

 

[pcmodem]

Thanks for the response lorelei, I will try to see if I can make an appointment with mark at ERD, I don't think i'd be able to get out to long island - its a looooong trip from where I live.

I was wondering about the $3900 diamond, as much as I knew the depth was too much I couldn't see anything wrong with the stone based on all the info I have here, which includes how to look at it and try to find a nailhead, etc. In general 3900 seemed a bit too much for me anyway.


Edit: How do you feel about that .82 I mentioned above? I'm starting to lean in that direction slightly, since it seems to be pretty competitive compared to online prices and was a nice gem, it just suffered from being the first seen.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/18/2008 10:26:45 AM
Author: pcmodem
Thanks for the response lorelei, I will try to see if I can make an appointment with mark at ERD, I don't think i'd be able to get out to long island - its a looooong trip from where I live.

I was wondering about the $3900 diamond, as much as I knew the depth was too much I couldn't see anything wrong with the stone based on all the info I have here, which includes how to look at it and try to find a nailhead, etc. In general 3900 seemed a bit too much for me anyway.

Sometimes diamonds can look ok until you compare them with a well cut stone, then the difference is readily apparent, best to look for depths around 62- 62.4%, you want the diamond you buy to look the right size for it's weight, too much depth can make a diamond look smaller than it should.

And you are welcome, I am sure you will get on well with Mark and he will be able to help you! I would call him rather than email to set up an appt for the near future to save time.

 

[pcmodem]

Waiting to hear back about an appointment for tommorow - they''re also sort of talking in the .80 range for the type of clarity i''m looking for

How do you feel about that .82 I mentioned above? I''m starting to lean in that direction slightly, since it seems to be pretty competitive compared to online prices and was a nice gem, it just suffered from being the first seen.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/18/2008 12:31:14 PM
Author: pcmodem
Waiting to hear back about an appointment for tommorow - they're also sort of talking in the .80 range for the type of clarity i'm looking for

How do you feel about that .82 I mentioned above? I'm starting to lean in that direction slightly, since it seems to be pretty competitive compared to online prices and was a nice gem, it just suffered from being the first seen.

The .82 might be ok, but we would need the crown and pavilion angles to know, plus the polish and symmetry grades, girdle thickness and diameter measurements. But I am sure Mark will find you some great contenders, let him know size is a priority and see what he can come up with. Also see if you can look at some GIA or AGS graded H I and J colour diamonds, if you want size then that would help the budget, these colour grades can look white if well cut, but have a look just to see, an H might be a good middleground.

 

[pcmodem]

Well, back from ERD - and you were right lorelei, it was a great experience and he had 3 stones that put anything else I''d seen in the price range that was GIA certified completely to shame.

I ended up purchasing a .82 F SI1 that has a small cloud on the table thats completely eye-clean, heck even after seeing it with the loupe and the scope I had a hard time finding it again with the same instruments, let alone with the naked eye, because of how well cut it was.

I''m still working a little bit with him on the ring, he didn''t have any plane-jane white gold settings to show me at his office, which I can understand, just waiting for him to get back to me with particulars on which one he''ll be using. Kind of nervous about getting a ring sight-unseen, but I have faith it will be beautiful - what I am looking for is very basic, anyway, just a nice clean 6-prong white gold setting to show off the diamond.

the particulars, hope you agree this is a great stone:
.82 F Color, SI1 Clarity, Very Good Cut, Polish Excellent, Symmetry Very good, no fluorescence. 6.01-6.08 x 3.71
56% Table size, 61.4% total depth, 35'' crown angle 15% crown height, 41'' pavilion angle 43% pavillion depth, girdle VTN to MED, no cutlet.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/20/2008 1:34:30 PM
Author: pcmodem
Well, back from ERD - and you were right lorelei, it was a great experience and he had 3 stones that put anything else I''d seen in the price range that was GIA certified completely to shame.

I ended up purchasing a .82 F SI1 that has a small cloud on the table thats completely eye-clean, heck even after seeing it with the loupe and the scope I had a hard time finding it again with the same instruments, let alone with the naked eye, because of how well cut it was.

I''m still working a little bit with him on the ring, he didn''t have any plane-jane white gold settings to show me at his office, which I can understand, just waiting for him to get back to me with particulars on which one he''ll be using. Kind of nervous about getting a ring sight-unseen, but I have faith it will be beautiful - what I am looking for is very basic, anyway, just a nice clean 6-prong white gold setting to show off the diamond.

the particulars, hope you agree this is a great stone:
.82 F Color, SI1 Clarity, Very Good Cut, Polish Excellent, Symmetry Very good, no fluorescence. 6.01-6.08 x 3.71
56% Table size, 61.4% total depth, 35'' crown angle 15% crown height, 41'' pavilion angle 43% pavillion depth, girdle VTN to MED, no cutlet.

Congrats!!! It sounds like a great stone and I am so glad you had such a great experience with Mark, I knew you would! I am sure the ring won''t be a problem and Mark will make sure it is beautiful, once you get it please post some pics of the finished ring!