Newbie Needing Advice pls

[dana2008]

have discovered this site when I have been trying to gain some information about diamonds and found there to be some very usefull information.

I am in the process of buying a round diamond and I just wondered if anyone would be able to advise me on what they think of the proportions of this diamond as my knowledge is no where near good enough to jusdge the proportions.

As I am buying this on the internet I am a little worried that even though it is a good colour that the proportions will not reflect the light well to give it that sparkle everygirl wants!

Not sure if this is a bit of a shot in the dark with only providing this information though......

.............................................................................................................................................................................
WEIGHT 0.83 Cts. COLOR GRADE D
Shape and Cut Round
Measurements 5.92-5.93*3.82 mm.

PROPORTIONS
Total Depth 64.5 %
Table Width 54 %
Crown Height 16 %
Pavilion Depth 44 %
Girdle Thickness Medium

FINISH
Polish Very Good
Symmetry Very Good
Culet None

CLARITY GRADE SI1

Graining Nil Flouresence None
............................................................................................................................................................................

 

[elle_chris]

The stone is too deep. Will look smaller for it''s weight.
Who graded this? If it''s EGL I''d be concerned that it''s not a true D or an SI1.

 

[dana2008]

This is how it looks magnified by x30% under a microscope....

 

[gwendolyn]

Hi again! Am going to post your quote here so I can answer it in the right thread, since you reposted.

Hi Thanks for the advice, I will repost it in that section!

Would you mind if I asked how you worked it out to be a 4.7 on HCA and what that stands for? What type of diamond would you say this would be....would it have a good sparkle?

I would be quite flexible on the color as long as it was from D-F really. Due to the budget I would say that I would fall to an SI1 and the size that I am looking for would be 0.80 but am working to a tight budget.

How I figured out the HCA score is I just plugged in the numbers for depth, table, crown and pavilion (angles work better but percentages are usable) and put them in the Holloway Cut Adviser. It''s known as the HCA, and you can find it under the "Tools" section at the top of the forum. Ideally, you want a stone that scores somewhere between 0-2. That stone got average scores on everything but only "fair" on scintillation, which is how much the baby sparkles!

I think there have been discussions here about how you can''t tell the difference between a D and an F when set, and that most people can''t tell the difference between an F or a G, even (except for noting the difference in price

). Let us know what your budget is and we''ll help you search for stones! C''mon, don''t be shy, we are here to help you get the best for your money!

 

[dana2008]

Hi and thanks for the responce

When I have had a look on the cert it says that it is EGL that graded it...

With the diamond being to deep what sort of problem would that have on the look of the diamond? Would it effect the sparkle?

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 3/8/2008 1:54:19 PM
Author: dana2008
This is how it looks magnified by x30% under a microscope....

I think it''s going to be a pretty flat, lifeless stone. You want fire and scintillation, and this rock isn''t going to give it to you.

 

[Sparkalicious]

Date: 3/8/2008 1:47:08 PM
Author:dana2008


WEIGHT 0.83 Cts. COLOR GRADE D
Shape and Cut Round
Measurements 5.92-5.93*3.82 mm.

PROPORTIONS
Total Depth 64.5 %
Table Width 54 %
Crown Height 16 %
Pavilion Depth 44 %
Girdle Thickness Medium

FINISH
Polish Very Good
Symmetry Very Good
Culet None

CLARITY GRADE SI1

Graining Nil Flouresence None

Hi Dana! Welcome to PS!

As Elle Chris mentioned ... this stone is too deep and, for this reason, likely won't "perform" as well as a more well cut diamond would. A more "shallow" diamond will give you better "spread", which means that the diamond will face up more true to it's carat weight or basically "look" it's size instead of looking smaller.
Additionally, knowing the crown and pavilion angles measurements on a diamond helps to better assess the cut.

With regards to specs ... the following is a guideline if you are interested in staying within a specifically "Ideal" range.

Total depth% - 59 - 62%
Table % - 54 - 58%
Crown angle - 34 - 35
Pavillion angle - 40.8 - 41

These numbers are not necessarily "hard & fast", they can be used as a good reference point. I hope that helps!

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 3/8/2008 1:59:05 PM
Author: dana2008
Hi and thanks for the responce


When I have had a look on the cert it says that it is EGL that graded it...


With the diamond being to deep what sort of problem would that have on the look of the diamond? Would it effect the sparkle?

Cut is most important to getting a stone that sparkles. EGL is not as stringent as labs like AGS or GIA, so their grades for colour, clarity, cut, etc. may be soft (ie: not what you think you''re paying for).

 

[dana2008]

Thanks so much again for your advice.

When its stated as a "fair" shine wht sort of sparkle would it have?

The budget I am looking at is $2500 max really...........

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 3/8/2008 2:07:26 PM
Author: dana2008
Thanks so much again for your advice.


When its stated as a ''fair'' shine wht sort of sparkle would it have?


The budget I am looking at is $2500 max really...........

I think ''fair'' is the 4th ranking out of 5... Doesn''t it go Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor?

 

[Sparkalicious]

Date: 3/8/2008 2:07:26 PM
Author: dana2008
When its stated as a ''fair'' shine wht sort of sparkle would it have?

The budget I am looking at is $2500 max really...........

The perceived beauty of a diamond has a lot to do with light performance/return. In a poorly cut diamond, there will be light leakage meaning that instead of reflecting back and creating beautiful fire and scintillation for you while you are admiring your ring, for example, the light may be lost so to speak by leaking out of the pavilion area etc ...
Are you willing to compromise in that regard? Likely not, right as you probably want the most beautiful and sparkly diamond you can get... which is why CUT is the "C" on which many PS''ers place priority.

If you use the PS Diamond Cut Quality Search Tool above ... Click here you should be able to search by cut to find a gorgeous diamond within your price range.

Something you may wish to consider is going down in color ... maybe searching with the D - G range instead of sticking just to D as this may enable you to get more bang or greater carat size for you buck. Additionally, sticking to SI1 or SI2 range and ensuring that the diamond is "eyeclean", will accomplish the same.

 

[gwendolyn]

Ok, so with your price range, if you want to get well-cut stone (not necessarily ideal, but good), you are going to have to either go down in colour or in carat size, or possibly both, since you''re already down in clarity. A stone I found that is close to your in price and has a good cut is an 0.7ct I VS2: http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2805/

But this is just a stab in the dark, since I don''t know what your preferences are. Would you rather stay higher in colour and get a smaller stone, or drop lower in colour (with an ideal cut, you can go down to an I or a J and still have it look really white) to keep some size?

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Dana,

To make this easier for you, you could use the search tool above and search for AGS0 and GIA Excellent cut grade diamonds, using the in house option also - to bring up actual in house diamonds which are owned by the vendors. This way you will be looking through the best cut stones and this will take a lot of the guesswork out of finding a pretty diamond. The vendors can then advise you as to further suitability according to ' eyecleanliness', especially in an SI clarity. Also I would go by the numbers to something similar to these below. Also in some cases, numbers outside these ranges can work well together, so an Idealscope and experienced vendor can help you there. As Gwen noted, you can get a fine make of diamond ( well cut) which isn't a superideal cut, which may be just fine for you and your GF, it depends on what you want. Nice pick Gwen and H&A!

depth - 60- 62.6
table - 54 - 57
crown angle - 34- 35
pavillion angle - 40.6 - 41

Please also note, that with crown and pavillion combos near the shallow ends ( 34 / 40.5) and steeper ( 35/ 41) that further evaluation may be needed to check these combos work well with that particular diamond. An Idealscope is ideal for this, along with an experienced vendor again.

For colour, and size with your budget, you may have to drop a bit, you can use the search tool as I suggested and play around with different sizes and colours to see exactly how far the budget will stretch perhaps. I would also try to see some colour grades in person to see what your tolerances are, as you may find you could comfortably drop to a J colour if the cut is good, which would really be helpful to the budget.

I would recommend you check out these vendors.

www.goodoldgold.com

www.whiteflash.com

www.winkjones.com

www.jamesallen.com

www.engagementringsdirect.com

www.pearlmansjewelers.com

These guys can help you every step of the way if you work with one of them, in fact you could make this really easy, tell them what you want and your budget, and they can suggest diamonds for you!

Hope this helps.

 

[monarch64]

It never ceases to amaze me what great advice is given here...hope you are taking notes still, dana2008.

 

[honey22]

I second the above advice! You are going to end up with a MUCH better looking (ie.sparklier and whiter looking) stone if you drop several colour grades and get the best cut you can. A well cut J, I, or even some K''s are going to look much better than the above stone.