Online Diamond Buying Help!

[tjh5122]

Hey All -

I asked a few questions a while back and got excellent advice from you all. The time is coming where I have to pull the trigger on the diamond purchase, and so I am in need of some last minute advice. My questions are:

1. I understand the concept of HCA score and the inputs of depth, table, crown angel, and pavilion angle. I'm terrified of picking an online GIA Excellent cut diamond and it looking bad because one of these parameters is not good. Are there "ranges" that generally result in good light performance? I will run the HCA calculator before I make any purchase, but this will greatly reduce my search burden if I knew a range of good values.

2. Has anyone used Zoara or Blue Nile when purchasing loose diamonds? I really like Zoara's prices and pictures that sometimes accompany the diamonds. However, with good prices, I get nervous that I might get taken advantage of. Can anyone provide advice here if these are safe options?

3. I've heard a lot about looking at an ideal-scope image of the diamond. Do you all view this as mandatory before buying a diamond online? Will vendors like Blue Nile or Zoara provide ideal-scope images if you request them?

4. Is it highly recommended that when I buy the diamond online, I take it to an independent appraiser during the return period to have it valued? How much does this type of appraisal cost?

5. What other critical parameters should I include when shopping online? I typically look for 1.25c, SI1 or better (eye clean), I or J color, Ex GIA cut, table 52-56, depth 57-62, no strong/v. strong fluorescence, and no extremely thick/think girdle. Note that the depth and table ranges was kind of arbitrary and found by experimenting w/ the HCA calculator (See question #1 above). What other factors should I consider?

 

[palmersj]

The hca tool is just that a tool. It's not perfect and is only meant to help you weed out stones that most likely won't perform at a high level. The key is to get pictures, videos, gia report, etc and anything else (ideal scope) to help you get a great performing stone. Once you've narrowed it down and feel as comfortable as possible, pull the trigger and see it for yourself. You can always return it and or evaluate it. Obviously make sure the return policy is in place. I bought from bn and am glad I did. I think if you search, gypsy had a post recently with some parameters that you could use for ranges acceptable for highly performing stones. 34 crown angle, 41 pavilion, +/- etc. As far as florescence goes, I bought mine with strong blue because of the increased light performance for a J colored stone. You may be just freaking out because you're close to the end. Take the advice given in many of these posts and you don't have to do anything you don't feel good about.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

Hey All -

I asked a few questions a while back and got excellent advice from you all. The time is coming where I have to pull the trigger on the diamond purchase, and so I am in need of some last minute advice. My questions are:

1. I understand the concept of HCA score and the inputs of depth, table, crown angel, and pavilion angle. I'm terrified of picking an online GIA Excellent cut diamond and it looking bad because one of these parameters is not good. Are there "ranges" that generally result in good light performance? I will run the HCA calculator before I make any purchase, but this will greatly reduce my search burden if I knew a range of good values.

The best way to know about this is to experiment with the HCA as you have done. There are, indeed, complimentary angles but they all have effect on each other. If you do a search you will find recommendations from various PriceScope members that are very good starting points - but as a trade member I hesitate to give you a 'must have' set of measurements as they are so dependent upon each other and I have seen diamonds that sit outside the 'recommended ranges' perform very well.

3. I've heard a lot about looking at an ideal-scope image of the diamond. Do you all view this as mandatory before buying a diamond online?

The optical performance of a diamond is revealed through Ideal-Scope and (especially) ASET images. These tell you where the diamond is drawing light from and how that light will be seen by the viewer. I personally do not recommend a diamond for purchase to a customer until I can prove the light-performance pedigree with an ASET image. The HCA will tell you, at most, "this diamond is worth further investigation" - the ASET is one example of that further investigation.

4. Is it highly recommended that when I buy the diamond online, I take it to an independent appraiser during the return period to have it valued? How much does this type of appraisal cost?

I guess my question here is what are you after from the appraiser? Do you want confirmation of the GIA ratings for color/clarity/carat/cut or are you actually asking the appraiser to give you an estimate of the market-value of the diamond? If you are looking for market-value estimation for peace of mind - you may get that, or you may not. But if you are wanting to know if you got the best deal - especially on the internet - I like to think that is already built in. Let me tell you what I mean: Many - a vast number, actually - of the diamonds that are available through an online retailer are available through multiple online retailers. The inventory carried by X-online-diamond-dealer will often overlap the inventory carried by Y-online-diamond-dealer - this is why so many companies have Price-match policies. When you buy online, each dealer is making sure they are giving a price that will not be undersold by the others. In that circumstance you are, essentially, getting the lowest possible price on the diamond that will ensure the dealer is not losing money. This is where the value of the add-on services (free shipping, return/replacement guarantees, etc...) start to make a big difference.

5. What other critical parameters should I include when shopping online? I typically look for 1.25c, SI1 or better (eye clean), I or J color, Ex GIA cut, table 52-56, depth 57-62, no strong/v. strong fluorescence, and no extremely thick/think girdle. Note that the depth and table ranges was kind of arbitrary and found by experimenting w/ the HCA calculator (See question #1 above). What other factors should I consider?

If you are talking strictly about a round - I would revise the numbers you are looking at. Again, a search of PS postings will certainly give you some hard-and-fast numbers if you insist on going that way. Also, as mentioned earlier look for the add-ons that come with the purchase; if you decide you do not want to keep the diamond, do you pay shipping? Is there a re-stocking fee? Is there a warranty of any kind?

Here is a big one: Is the retailer a straight "drop-shipper" meaning they never see the diamond. If they 'drop-ship' in the traditional sense the diamond will be sent from the supplier directly to you without a quality-control check.

But many companies do a quality check and verification before you ever see the diamond. Call and talk to the customer service representative - they should have access to comments from an on-sight gemologist who has looked at the diamond and noted anything you may not see in the online description. VERY IMPORTANT - then ask if the company sends it directly to you from the supplier or if they have it inspected by their own gemologist before it is sent to you. If you can have it inspected for damage or unexpected problems it saves you the disappointment of receiving something in the mail that is less than was promised.

Hope that helps - it is a lot to consider, but you will do well I am sure!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

This range will usually get you into better HCA score territory (as has already been stated, some combos are more complimentary):

table: 54-58

depth: 60-62.3

crown angle: 34-35.0

pavilion angle: 40.6-41.0

I would not shop at Blue Nile with the possible exception of their Signature stones because at least you can get a glimpse at them from their GCAL reports.

Right now, Enchanted Diamonds has really excellent prices and has many stones with images and some with idealscope or ASET images. I look only at the stones that have images (click that in search) and then sort them by their cut score (which is not guaranteed to mean anything, but I find that their stones that score 97-100 are usually the most desirable ones, especially ones that score 100.)