Opinions on these RB photos! High HCA, GIA Ex Ex Ex

[Veltiesmom]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this GIA Ex Ex Ex MRB, which was recommended to me by a PS vendor despite a higher HCA score. I know it's not out of the question to have a poor performing GIA 3Ex, so I'm trying to let my eyes be the judge. I'll post the specs, but first I'm interested to hear everyone's gut reactions to the photos. What red flags do you see?

I have a video as well, can't remember whether it's OK to post those?

 

[gm89uk]

It's very hard to judge on photos alone.

It seems possibly a little darker under the table and if I had to guess this stone is possibly steep deep which a higher pavilion angle.

 

[MissGotRocks]

It is hard to judge by pics alone - I believe this stone is the 36 crown angle and 40.6 pavilion angle, right?

 

[Veltiesmom]

Correct. This diamond is the 3.18 D Si2 (57 t, 62.5 d 36 cr 41 pav 80 lgf). I had told the vendor I was passing on it because of the numbers, but he felt I should really see it in person and kindly offered to send it to me, so I took him up on it.

In person it is bright and quite pretty. I did not feel that I saw a ring of darkness surrounding the table. I did feel perhaps that there was sometimes areas of extra darkness under the table in spots, but I couldn't be sure if that was in my head (and when I compared the stone to photos I have of diamonds with ideal proportions, the table area darkness looked similar). Any darkness I did see, however, looked like contrast zones against the arrows and not a dark ring if that makes sense.

However, the IS images do show quite a bit of leakage in a ring around the table.



Not sure if I'll be able to move forward with it given the IS images. It is a very interesting case, though, because from the IS images I would not ever have expected the diamond to look as nice as it does.

 

[Gypsy]

You need to see the diamond dirty, not just clean and see it in all kinds of light. The amount of leakage may be within your personal tolerance.

Put lotion on your hands, let it soak in, then handle the diamond. Make sure you see it in all kinds of light.

 

[solgen]

I think the pics do show some light leakage but perhaps IRL it's not too noticeable especially since you might not view it in a static position. Is it eye clean? If it's priced right then I would consider it otherwise I'd want better performance/specs in a 3ct stone even though that will probably incur a hefty price bump.

 

[Veltiesmom]

Thanks all. I received my ASET today so here are those images. I took these with my iPhone through the scope (!!) so excuse the photo quality. I think they should still be reliable though. The first two images were taken next to a table lamp; the third was backlit by a lamp through a sheet of paper as suggested by the box.

Solgen, for me the stone is close to eye clean, but not 100% clean. There is a scuff on the edge of the table (can't remember the technical term) and some clear crystals. In the right light (such as backlight by a bright window) I can see them. It appears that I have eagle eyes, so I believe it might be eye clean for others - but not perfectly so to me.

You make an interesting point about a stone with better angles possibly involving a price bump. Would you expect a GIA Ex Ex Ex with better angles/lower HCA score to cost more than a GIA Ex Ex Ex with angles like this one? I wasn't sure if the market paid attention to much beyond the cut grade.

 

[bluelotus]

I wonder what you decided to do! Did you keep the stone?

 

[Veltiesmom]

I did not, in the end. It was very pretty, but I decided to keep looking.

 

[gm89uk]

did you want any help finding a stone?

 

[Veltiesmom]

Thanks so much. I need to use a particular vendor but i will continue to post the options here for advice! I know what to look for, but finding it in the right size/color/clarity/price range is another matter!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Good decision. Between the leakage and clarity, I think you were wise to pass on this one!