Opinion on radiant (worried about depth)

[littledeb]

I think the stone has a great price and it actually is very pretty (bear in mind I am a novice to all of this and almost any diamond looks beautiful to me). What do you think of this stone for $16k?

GIA says "Cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant" but the guy said it is a Radiant
measurments 8.97x7.84x5.64
carat 3.08
depth 71.9%
table 60%
girdle thin to medium
culet none
polish very good
sym good
clarity SI1
color H
flour none

my worry is that the depth puts it at a 3A on the fancy cut advisor charts - is this really bad?

 

[belle]

were you able to compare it to other radiants? not all are created equal. finding the most appealing to your eye is the hardest part.
of course budget is a factor...but i would look at as many as you can before shelling out the $$$.

 

[littledeb]

belle, thanks for the advice. I think my biggest problem is that I don''t have a trained eye. I don''t trust myself since I think almost all of the ones I look at are beautiful - it has to be a real clunker for me to recognize it. I guess I just need to keep trying to educate myself. I''m just getting so anxious to get a new ring on my finger.

Are there personal shoppers for diamonds (someone who knows what they are looking for?) - if yes, tell me how to find them!

Thanks,
Debbie

 

[coda72]

Well, I can''t help you about the personal shopper, and I wouldn''t know how you would find one. This radiant is a puzzle. At first, I was going to say pass on it, but for $16k it might be worth it. I just did a quick search, and there''s no 3 carat radiant that''s even close to this one in price, at least not one that''s a 1A or 1B. The closest one in price is more than $10k more. So, if you like it, I would get it.

 

[jaz464]

Though radiants are difficult to compare through numbers, this diamond is very deep. IMO, I would pass.

 

[RADIANTMAN]

I hope that I''m not breaking any rules by saying this, but, even for a a radiant which is a little deep, that price looks much too good to be true. Do lot''s of homework, including getting a credible explanation for why the price is so low - usually, you get what you pay for and there''s a reason why it''s actually worth that much less. At the end of the day, if you''re satisfied with the explanation, and the ring talks to you, buy it.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/30/2005 10:33:09 AM
Author: RADIANTMAN

I hope that I'm not breaking any rules by saying this, but, even for a a radiant which is a little deep, that price looks much too good to be true.

One more vote for some reality check on the offer.

Your posts says there is a lab report... so the obvious version that this might be more I-Si2 than H-Si1 by in-store grading falls off.

Is this an estate sale? Is the diamond damaged in some way after the lab report had been issued?

Who knows, maybe you are right and the very few examples in the database here very wrong. 16k is still plenty to ask for some third party's opinion, IMO.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/29/2005 8:30:40 PM
Author:littledeb

... bear in mind I am a novice to all of this and almost any diamond looks beautiful to me.

No wonder

- they are.



my worry is that the depth puts it at a 3A on the fancy cut advisor charts - is this really bad?

No, even by the user guide that comes with the grades. The first categories are supposed to be unsually well cut. However, check the long list of limitations of the AGA grades (do not account for brilliance, don't tell you that all 1A are better looking than all 3A to most people etc.). As much as I can tell, the careful wording makes the grades sound less useful than they really are... but, reading them is by no means the same as looking at diamonds.

My 0.2.

Hope things work out. It would be very nice news if that price is not a typo.

 

[littledeb]

Thanks for all your help. The ring is being sold due to a broken engagement - it was worn for about a year so the platinum shows some wear but nothing too bad. I tried to attached a picture he sent me but the file is too large for upload and I don''t know how to shrink it. I do not know the guy personally so if I decide to get it we will have an appraisal that compares against GIA report to ensure diamond is a match. My only worry is that it isn''t a great diamond and my eye doesn''t know that since I don''t have much experience looking at diamonds - especially radiants.

I do like the look of it - my husband originally wanted an emerald cut and I like the brilliance of a round so this is actually a nice compromise.

Appreciate all comments/input.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Hi Deb,
I have to agree with Stan on this- ANY 3.00 H/SI1 Radiant which a dealer is selling for $16k is not a good diamond to buy.
How can I make such a blanket statement? Well, dealers would line up to buy a desairable 3.00 H/SI1 for a couple thousand more than you''ve been offered this diamond for.
Dealers would pay this in spite of the fact the stone comes from a broken engagement

It''s like to story of someone selling a Porsche for $10k....something has got to be wrong

71.9 is a little deep, but very little.
I have seen many fantastic, desirable radiant cuts with 72% depth.
This depth would not explain why the diamond is being offered so far below market.


I am NOT attempting to
1) sell anything
2) instill fear
Rather descibe the market as it exists today- the fact that everyone else is charging 10K more is NOT a good thing.

 

[belle]

Date: 11/30/2005 4:18:16 PM
Author: diamondsbylauren
I am NOT attempting to
1) sell anything
2) instill fear

are you attempting to read the posts?

it sounds like this is a private individual selling the ring which is FAR different than a predatory dealer trying to make a sale.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 11/30/2005 3:43:39 PM
Author: littledeb

... if I decide to get it we will have an appraisal that compares against GIA report to ensure diamond is a match.

Second what David says... you may have been lucky if the seller has never attempted to sell to anyone at a higher price before you got this offer.

Aside matching with the lab report, the appraiser should be able to solve this pricing puzzle too once the diamond is take out of the mounting and inspected.


I wish the reality check comes in as you expect... and you will care to drop a happy-end note on this thread too

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Read the post? Wow, that sounds like a great idea!

Belle- I do not see where we know this is a private individual seller- Deb simply referred to the seller as "the guy".
No question it''s a totally different story if this is a private individual seller

Deb- is it a dealer offering you the diamond?

 

[littledeb]

Not a dealer. An individual selling a ring from a broken engagement.

 

[belle]

Date: 11/30/2005 8:14:13 PM
Author: diamondsbylauren
Read the post? Wow, that sounds like a great idea!

Belle- I do not see where we know this is a private individual seller- Deb simply referred to the seller as 'the guy'.
No question it's a totally different story if this is a private individual seller

Deb- is it a dealer offering you the diamond?

i know! you should try it! really.
you could even use some context clues to help.
...broken engagement...scratched up platinum...don't know the guy... doesn't sound like a dealer does it?
or you could just scare the op and assume it's a dealer selling 80 cent dollar bills and 10k mercedes again.
read.
listen.
help.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Belle- of course we''d love to educate folks reading this, and not frighten anyone.

Of course, if it had been a dealer, and it was a scam, then saying it was a broken engagement might have been a part of it. I honestly did read it and did not assume it was a private seller.
Again- not to frighten anyone .....There''s a lot of good sellers- including the sponsers of this forum. These are known companies
Still, advising caution when the seller is unknown seems like good advice to me.

Deb- thanks for clearing that up.

Now that we know it''s a private seller, maybe the use of a professional appraiser as an intermediary would be a great move.

 

[littledeb]

Thank you all for your help. Sorry I didn''t clarify in the beginning more details of the situation. I found a couple appraisers in the area (through Pricescope!) and will ask the seller if they would be willing to take the ring for an evaluation. I really appreciate all the helpful advice and I''ll let you know what happens!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Definitely use an independant appraiser - see the list in the upper right under resources.

David you best slow down your trawling (or is that trolling) process and read the threads properly. Otherwise people may suspect you are just raising your google association with the word "radiant" by writting on as many associated threads as possible.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Or people could get the benefit of an experienced radiant dealer? And if it is true that conversations like this get picked up by Google I''d say that it''s in my best interest to be accurate , and considerate in response.

Say someone asks the normal question- "I''ve seen such and such diamond. Here''s the GIA numbers- is it a good diamond?"
We can only anylize numbers to limited efficiency- we can''t say it''s a great looking diamond simply form numbers- we all agree on that.
But if the buyer likes the way the diamond looks, knowing if the price is in line is very important.
I''d also say having objective expert advice on the vendor also benefits the consumer - so discussing where they are buying the diamond seems important too.

My intention is to assist folks-no matter who they are buying from.

Deb:
If this works out it could be an amazing deal.
I''m not at all afraid of a combo of 71.9 depth and 60 table. This could be a great looking diamond.
If the guy is willing to trust one of the forum regular appraisers- and you don''t send any money to the seller till you get the good word - it might be pretty cool.

 

[littledeb]

Thanks to everyone for all your help. I used one of the pricescope appraisers and the ring checked out. I just got it yesterday and it is beautiful. I need to have it sized a little but other than that I feel very lucky. Thanks again for all your help. I attached a picture. Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy since I had to use shrinkmypicture.com to get it small enough to upload. The ring is really nice in person.

 

[belle]

awesome littledeb! glad the ring checked out and that you came back to post it for us!

enjoy it and wear it in good health.

 

[Lorelei]

Looks lovely Littledeb! Congrats and handshots wouldn''t hurt either!

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/18/2005 9:02:49 PM
Author: littledeb

The ring is really nice in person.

I would think so too!

It is very nice even in that small picture.

Congratulations for the great find and smart shopping

 

[littledeb]

I can''t really get good hand shots because the ring doesn''t fit my hand. The ring is a size 6.5 and my finger is a 4 3/4. It is very obvious the ring is too big and can''t be sized this small. My finger doesn''t even take up the width of the stones in the setting. One of the risks/challenges I knew from taking this approach (buying a used ring). I talked to a couple jewelers and I think I''m probably going to buy a new mounting and transfer the stone to that. The jewelers said I could try and reset the mounting to make it smaller but the setting is a designer (Jeff Cooper) so I feel like that would be destroying a beautiful piece. I think I''d rather pass on my good fortune and sell the mounting to someone who could appreciate it.

Now I need to start researching what type of setting to put my new stone in. I''m not too familiar with radiant shape so any suggestions are welcome?

Thanks,
Debbie