On a budget, is this a good buy.

[usn001]

Hi All,

After doing a lot of reading on the 4Cs and girdle, polish, symmetry and fluoresence, the diamond listed below is not very ideal. Since I am a young guy with limited budget, is this diamond a good deal at $1600? It is GIA certified.

Thanks!! Truly appreciate your input.

Round Brilliant
Measurements: 6.07 - 6.11 x 3.72 mm
Carat Weight: 0.90 carat
Color Grade: I
Clarity Grade: SI1
Proportions:
Depth: 61.1%
Table: 64%
Girdle: Medium to Very Thick, Faceted
Culet: Small
Finish:
Polish: Good
Symmetry: Fair
Fluorescence: Strong Blue

 

[JulieN]

"There is no such thing as a free lunch." "You get what you pay for."

There are some places where you can cut corners without much detriment, but the table is too large. You really don't want to go past 62%.

What is your budget? You can get very nice stones in the 3/4 ct range.

 

[usn001]

Julie,

Thank you for the reply.

The $1,600 price include a Tiffany style 4 prong platinum setting, it is a great deal.

My budget is not to exceed $2,000 when it is all said and done and I hope to have at least 3/4 of a carat.

Thank you very much!

 

[JulieN]

As you know, you can go to Denny's and get a steak $8, or you can go to Luger's/Morton's and get a steak for $40. Like steaks, diamonds are not always directly comparable based on price alone.

I find that once you want to cross the .75 ct threshold on your budget, the quantity of stones drops off dramatically, and I'm looking at either I clarity or K color. Going down to .70 makes life a little bit easier.

 

[slg47]

the diamond listed below is not very ideal

so I would keep looking!

http://goodoldgold.com/diamond/5122/ I wonder how this looks in real life?

How important is size? I think you can get a really nice ~0.65 ct (which is a nice size) with a great upgrade policy-would that be an option?

 

[yssie]

Hi All,

After doing a lot of reading on the 4Cs and girdle, polish, symmetry and fluoresence, the diamond listed below is not very ideal. Since I am a young guy with limited budget, is this diamond a good deal at $1600? It is GIA certified.

Thanks!! Truly appreciate your input.

Round Brilliant
Measurements: 6.07 - 6.11 x 3.72 mm
Carat Weight: 0.90 carat
Color Grade: I
Clarity Grade: SI1
Proportions:
Depth: 61.1%
Table: 64%
Girdle: Medium to Very Thick, Faceted
Culet: Small
Finish:
Polish: Good
Symmetry: Fair
Fluorescence: Strong Blue

OOC, will you post the GIA number?

I too would keep looking. The vth part of the girdle and the table and the too-low spread are too much for me to swallow.

 

[Dancing Fire]

don't look good...

 

[Siamese Kitty]

usn001,

I agree with the other posters regarding the original stone-the cut is truly not good.

You mention a platinum setting-is that a non-negotiable or would 18K white gold work?

If you went with this basic setting: http://www.jamesallen.com/engagemen...Knife-Edge-18k-White-Gold-Solitaire-Ring.html ($360 in white gold, $550 in platinum)

With one of these stones:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1320379.asp $1660 .72 J SI1

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1334034.asp $1730 .71 I SI2

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/G-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1306891.asp $1810 .71 G SI2 AGS 0

You would be pretty close to budget. There may also be a Pricescope discount, so don't forget to ask. You would also want to ask the vendor if the stones are eye-clean and if they could provide an idealscope (a tool for assessing light return).

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[usn001]

Thank you for all the advice and input, special thanks to Siamese Kitty for posting links!

The GIA report was done in late 2002. Does the report # matter?

Although I am not set on this diamond, I am just curious on why the diamond is so bad? Is the brilliance or "fire" greatly reduced because of the cut? Does anyone has a sample picture? Also, is the strong fluorescencea good or bad thing? I have googled about fluorescenceand some people like it and some don't.

I will start looking at more diamonds and hopefully I can get something nice in the 0.70 to 0.75 carat range.

Thanks again!

-

 

[stone-cold11]

GIA start grading the cut performance of round 2005, before that, no cut grade, no crown and pavilion angles available to give a rough idea of the cut performance of the stone.

https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca/

Yap, fluorescence is a personal preference thing, some like it some don't. A small percentage of these stones will exhibit what is known as over blue where the stone becomes oily/hazy in the sun.

Some reading.
https://www.pricescope.com/journal/blue_fluorescence_diamonds

EDT:

Under the present GIA cut grading, this stone will get at best a Good in the cut grade due to the very thick girdle and fair symm.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Hi usn,
The stone above is poorly cut- although not in the exact same way the one you first suggested is- this one is too shallow- and the table is too large so there's a "ring of death" which can be seen in the table.

The stone you first posted is too deep, and too large of table- so it might have the ring- and it looks small for it's weight.
Also likely not to be very brilliant.
Keep looking.....

 

[amc80]

Julie,

Thank you for the reply.

The $1,600 price include a Tiffany style 4 prong platinum setting, it is a great deal.

My budget is not to exceed $2,000 when it is all said and done and I hope to have at least 3/4 of a carat.

Thank you very much!

Have you seen it in person? If so, did you like it?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Hi usn,
The stone above is poorly cut- although not in the exact same way the one you first suggested is- this one is too shallow- and the table is too large so there's a "ring of death" which can be seen in the table.

The stone you first posted is too deep, and too large of table- so it might have the ring- and it looks small for it's weight.
Also likely not to be very brilliant.
Keep looking.....

RD... ..this is the first time that i ever hear you make these comments...

 

[usn001]

Thanks for your input again everyone! Big thanks to Rockdiamond.

I haven't seen the stone/ring in person yet but I will go check it out over the weekend just to fulfill my curiosity.

 

[Siamese Kitty]

You're most welcome, I hope it helps! You should definitely be able to find a beautiful, well-cut ring within your budget. $2000 is a lot of money, don't sell yourself short.

 

[usn001]

Let's try again! I found another ring with the following center stone. I actually made the purchase already.. I did see the 90 point diamond that was in my first post and it looked pretty bad. Below is the spec:

GIA
Round Brilliant
5.56 - 5.61 x 3.55 mm
Carat Weight: 0.70 carat
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Cut: Very Good
Total Depth: 63.6%
Table Size 58%
Crown Angle: 36.5 degrees
Crown Height: 15.5%
Pavilion Angle: 41degress
Pavilion Depth: 43%
Star Length 55%
Lower Half: 75%
Girdle: Slightly Thick to Thick
Faceted (4.7%)
Culet: None
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very good
Fluorescence: None
Comments: Additional twinning wisps are not shown. Surface graining is not shown.
Key to Symbols: Twinning Wisp, Needle, Indented Natural

 

[stone-cold11]

Try plugging the numbers into the cut adviser I linked to above.

 

[usn001]

Try plugging the numbers into the cut adviser I linked to above.

Stone-cold

The score was pretty high to my surprise.. slightly over 5... even though GIA graded it very good?

 

[stone-cold11]

Well VG might sounds good, in reality, with modern cutting tools getting an Ex cut is relatively easy, this stone is just cut to get to the price/carat jump at the 0.7c mark. The thick girdle, large overall depth is typical sign.

 

[usn001]

Stone-cold, thanks for the enlightenment! It is a good lesson learned. I guess this can be a good starter stone/ring until I move up the food chain

 

[slg47]

does it come with a good upgrade policy? if you can still return and get a better stone with a better policy, that might be in your best interest