rotarybeast
Rough_Rock
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2009
- Messages
- 2
I thought I would post a few observations I had in finally selecting a diamond for an engagement ring. After looking at quite a few loose diamonds locally, I ended up learning about Whiteflash here on Pricescope and visiting their office (luckily, I''m in the Houston area) to look at some of their inventory. I had selected several ACA diamonds and a few of their expert selection diamonds for viewing. I knew I wanted to see what an optically symmetrical superideal with perfect hearts looked like, but I also wanted to look at some less than perfect cuts for comparison purposes. I selected this 1.57 SI2:
http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Diamond_Details.aspx?idno=2110699
as a diamond I expected to not like. Of course this is the one I ended up purchasing!!! More on that in a minute. I had looked at lots of SI diamonds at other local diamond vendors and in every case of SI2 I could see the inclusions with the naked eye without a lot of effort. In a couple of cases I was able to spot the inclusions in GIA cert VS2 diamonds with the naked eye. So I had pretty much decided that I would only want an SI1 or better in terms of clarity.
At Whiteflash I looked at a VS1 ACA first. It was view beautiful to the eye and looked incredible under the idealscope. After all the garbage cuts I had looked at with the idealscope, I was beginning to wonder if the images posted on the web could look that good when looking through my idealscope. The diffence in light return and symmetry looking at the ACA was dramatic. After looking at a couple of the ACA diamonds, I looked at the 1.57 SI2 expert selection to see how it compared. To my suprise, it looked very beautiful to the eye also. Try as I might I couldn''t see any inclusions looking at the stone in any direction with the naked eye. Looking at it with the loupe the inclusions are numerous and very noticable (small white crystals), but you just can''t see them without magnification. Next I looked at it with the idealscope and it looked great - much better than anything I had seen prior to visiting WF. It wasn''t quite as perfect an image as the ACA, but still had great light return and symmetry. Looking at it under a hearts and arrow viewer the hearts were very well formed, almost as good as the ACA. I hadn''t expected that either as WF doesn''t post hearts and arrows images for their expert selection diamonds on their website.
Interestingly this 1.57 SI2 is graded as very good on the cut by GIA, but it looks much better than all the GIA EX I had seen prior to visiting WF. Playing around with Facetware, I noticed changing the pavilion angle from 40.4 to 40.6 changes the grade from VG to EX. Given that the Sarin scan shows the average pavilion angle as 40.5, this diamond is a good case for how rounding or small measurement errors can affect the cut grade given to a diamond in the GIA system.
In the end comparing the SI2 ES side by side with the VS1 ACA, I couldn''t distinguish any difference with the naked eye. So I ended up buying the diamond I didn''t think I would like, that I had including in the viewing just for comparison purposes....
I can''t say if all of WF SI2 expert selection diamonds will look this good, as this was the only SI2 that I viewed, but I can say that you shouldn''t necessarily eliminate the lower clarity and cut grades when dealing with diamonds that have been hand selected for inventory at the premier dealers that are frequently recommended here on Pricescope. You might just might find something that will surprise you and save some money in the process. Again, I must say thanks to everyone on Pricescope, as I never could''ve made this purchase without all the knowledge everyone has shared.
http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/Diamond_Details.aspx?idno=2110699
as a diamond I expected to not like. Of course this is the one I ended up purchasing!!! More on that in a minute. I had looked at lots of SI diamonds at other local diamond vendors and in every case of SI2 I could see the inclusions with the naked eye without a lot of effort. In a couple of cases I was able to spot the inclusions in GIA cert VS2 diamonds with the naked eye. So I had pretty much decided that I would only want an SI1 or better in terms of clarity.
At Whiteflash I looked at a VS1 ACA first. It was view beautiful to the eye and looked incredible under the idealscope. After all the garbage cuts I had looked at with the idealscope, I was beginning to wonder if the images posted on the web could look that good when looking through my idealscope. The diffence in light return and symmetry looking at the ACA was dramatic. After looking at a couple of the ACA diamonds, I looked at the 1.57 SI2 expert selection to see how it compared. To my suprise, it looked very beautiful to the eye also. Try as I might I couldn''t see any inclusions looking at the stone in any direction with the naked eye. Looking at it with the loupe the inclusions are numerous and very noticable (small white crystals), but you just can''t see them without magnification. Next I looked at it with the idealscope and it looked great - much better than anything I had seen prior to visiting WF. It wasn''t quite as perfect an image as the ACA, but still had great light return and symmetry. Looking at it under a hearts and arrow viewer the hearts were very well formed, almost as good as the ACA. I hadn''t expected that either as WF doesn''t post hearts and arrows images for their expert selection diamonds on their website.
Interestingly this 1.57 SI2 is graded as very good on the cut by GIA, but it looks much better than all the GIA EX I had seen prior to visiting WF. Playing around with Facetware, I noticed changing the pavilion angle from 40.4 to 40.6 changes the grade from VG to EX. Given that the Sarin scan shows the average pavilion angle as 40.5, this diamond is a good case for how rounding or small measurement errors can affect the cut grade given to a diamond in the GIA system.
In the end comparing the SI2 ES side by side with the VS1 ACA, I couldn''t distinguish any difference with the naked eye. So I ended up buying the diamond I didn''t think I would like, that I had including in the viewing just for comparison purposes....
I can''t say if all of WF SI2 expert selection diamonds will look this good, as this was the only SI2 that I viewed, but I can say that you shouldn''t necessarily eliminate the lower clarity and cut grades when dealing with diamonds that have been hand selected for inventory at the premier dealers that are frequently recommended here on Pricescope. You might just might find something that will surprise you and save some money in the process. Again, I must say thanks to everyone on Pricescope, as I never could''ve made this purchase without all the knowledge everyone has shared.
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