newbie help for princess cut

[prince]

Hi everyone, first time poster here! I am gonna propose next month and don''t know much about diamonds. I know I want to spend around $20K on a 2 carat princess cut, color D-F, VS1 or VS2 (I''ve read that VVS2 or higher really isn''t worth it). Any ideas on these that I''ve found? What is the most important thing for princess cut? What are ideal depth and table percentages? I''ve read a couple posts on princess cuts but not really sure....any input would be GREATLY appreciated as I really don''t know much about this stuff. Thanks in advance to the gurus out there!

Item Number: 165776 772983 425775 860442
Shape: Princess Princess Princess Princess
Carat weight:2.01 2.09 2.04 2.01
Cut: Premium Premium Premium Premium
Color: E E E E
Clarity: VS1 VS1 VS1 VS1
Certificate: GIA GIA GIA GIA
Depth: 73.5 72.4 73.6 72.9
Table: 73 71 75 75
Polish: Very Good Very Good Good Good
Symmetry: Good Good Good Good
Girdle: THN-STK M-TK VTN-VTK Thin to thick
Culet: None None None None
Fluorescence:None Faint None None
Measurements:7.18*7.01*5.15 7.22*6.92*5.01 7.06*6.59*4.85 7.35*6.67*4.86
Price: $ 21,660 $ 21,990 $ 22,700 $ 21,250

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&module=diamond&item=165776
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&module=diamond&item=772983
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&module=diamond&item=425775
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamond.asp?cid=131&module=diamond&item=860442

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Welcome to PS!

I''m a semi-noobie myself. My FI and I were e-ring shopping/researching last fall, and we got engaged just before the Holidays. I have a beautiful 1.4 princess cut solitare from WF.

This site is a wealth of knowledge, and it can get a bit overwhelming. What I suggest you do, is read the tutorial on Good Old Gold''s website (as well as read up on fancy info here on PS). You''ll quickly learn that CUT is king, and that there are several parameters to help you find a winning stone (although it''s a bit trickier for fancies).

Here''s a few tidbits from the research I did here on PS:
• DEPTH- between 64-75%- stay below 73% depth to get maximum brilliancy
• TABLE- between 62-68%- no greater than 68% is best, should be 3-5% smaller than depth & should NOT be larger than depth or too high in relation to depth!
• Don’t totally rule out stones w/ table equal to depth
• CROWN- between 10-15%
• REPORTS- get Sarin & IdealScope reports and check light leakage

Note that AGS now has a grading system that identifies "ideal" princesses. It certainly helps in the process!

I''m not savvy enough to comment on the stones you posted. I personally would pass on them as I would prefer SI1 clarity and anywhere from G-I color. Why pay for what you can''t see (clarity), and the best cut stones will face up white, so why not go down in color? (check out the I & J threads and you''ll see what I''m talking about)

GOOD LUCK!

 

[Regular Guy]

Prince,

Charger gave good advice, when mentioning the reference to AGS. (Do a search here to read about it). At least consider checking out an AGS make, and you might check this particular diamond out....E, VS2, AGS0...and only a little short of the size you were seeking, at 1.85 carats. I had to call. It''s $20K on the nose.

Best of wishes...

 

[JulieN]

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-766418.htm see about ideal scope and the girdle profile.

but I would personally go down a bit in color and clarity.

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2371015.htm

if looking for something a little bigger, http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/1586/

 

[nobly]

Hey prince,

I''m a pretty new person too. i just got my ring for my girl last week (a .8 carat).

I''d agree w/ chargergrrl and request the idealscope imagery and whatever other scope imagery you can get. I''d trust the idealscope more than just pure statistics to see how the diamond really performs.
pricescope has cut charts as well for the #''s part - hopefully it''ll get you an idea of where those diamonds lie
http://diamonds.pricescope.com/fnc1.asp

Others have mentioned the AGS cut grading and I''ve researched the pros and cons and the bottom line of it all is that the AGS grade gives you the confidence that its a nicely cut diamond. BUT that shouldn''t stop you from researching that diamond yourself (via idealscope, brillancescope, etc reports).

I agree w/ the rest of the repliers that you should save $ (for wedding/honeymoon) and go down to VS2 or SI1 and definitely lower the color. I can''t tell the difference between a G and a D. Probably 5% of the people who see the ring will even ask about it, nevertheless be able to tell w/o a master stone set.

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 7/11/2006 6:23:34 PM
Author: JulieN
http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-766418.htm see about ideal scope and the girdle profile.

but I would personally go down a bit in color and clarity.

http://www.whiteflash.com/princess/princess-cut-diamond-2371015.htm

if looking for something a little bigger, http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/1586/

The second one JulieN mentions has potential, too. Also, consider checking out exceldiamonds.com, for what seems like a big selection to route around through. I would be interested in seeing a comparison of an AGS0 and one of his "specially cut" princesses, with GIA docs.

P.S. and one more from WF...

 

[prince]

I just want to say thanks to everyone for their input, it will definitely help me get in the right direction. I should be checking out a couple more places in person to get an idea what to look for and what looks nice....

Thanks again!

prince

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Basically, all the above is good or almost good (well-meant) advice, but the basic point is forgotten.

Princess-cuts are not traditionally cut for light performance. Therefore, if you are looking for light performance, you have two options. Option 1 is to search for a stone with an AGS-grading report, since you know that these stones are cut with the intention of high light performance. Option 2 is to try to weed through the extreme high number of princess-cuts with other grading reports, and try to find the exceptional one which has good light performance, basically by accident.

After you made this decision, you can go to the next step.

Do you want a square princess or a non-square? Since symmetry is part of the foundation of light performance, you must know that non-squareness reduces the predictability of light performance while cutting, and the squarer the stone, the higher the possibility of building great light performance.

Then, next step, into more detail:

In how far are the average proportions a representation of the true proportions. You could have an average pavilion angle of 59°, with three of them being 60° and the fourth 56°. Therefore, if you are checking symmetry of cutting more into detail, you need the 3D-measurement of the stone. Pay more attention to the pavilion, please, since it is more important, and since the measurement-devices have a lot of trouble measuring the crown exactly.

Finally, you can go into checking ASET-scope, Idealscope. I even think that the image in the H&A-viewer is interesting, since it will show you how symmetrical the build-up is of the stone.

Hope this helps,