Hi again,
Thanks for all the responses. This is such a confusing process. I really do appreciate all the help.
Jetcaptain, in regards to setting, I made the following post earlier regarding what I was thinking of, but haven't gotten any responses yet:
setting question
I've thought of going for a lesser color and clarity and am not totally sure. My girlfriend and I had a discussion a while back and she insisted that she does not want anything over 1.5 carats. This was after her and I looked around the diamond district here in new york to get an idea of what we like. Her reasoning was based on her not usually wearing a lot of jewelry and her having pretty small hands (she does have small hands, but average size fingers). Anything larger than 1.5, she said she felt uncomfortable wearing, despite my urgings otherwise. Also, we talked about it and her motivation is not her desire to save money; it genuinely seems to be discomfort with larger stones. So I have been looking in the 1.3-1.4 carat range.
Also, since I don't have to worry about size, I have focused on color (or perhaps overfocused). I think it has to do with the perfectionist in me who wants her to have the very best. With regards to this particular diamond being overpriced, I too looked at the pricescope pricestats. For example, in what you quoted the DVS1 do have an average price of 10,400 for a 1.36 carat diamond, once I looked at the available diamonds, the largest one included in that pool is 1.16 carats. Under DVS2, there is a 1.34 diamond available, but the site does not list that much information. Plus, while I've bought jewelry online before, I'm new and wary of online sites for diamonds. I will probably end up buying online, but certain things such as scanned GIA certs on the site reassure me somewhat. This diamond doesn't have that, instead all the numbers have just been typed in. I have recently requested additional information regarding this stone. Under EVS1, the largest diamond is a 1.3, but like the prior one lacks any certificate and also has medium blue flourescence, which I was hoping to avoid. The next largest is a 1.21, smaller than where I'd rather be. Under EVS2, there are a couple of diamonds in my size range, but they all lack cert information.
So while the price for the current stone I'm currently looking at is high, there do not seem to be a lot of choices in the range of what I am looking at and the average price per carat provided seems to more reflect the average for the lower size (1-1.25) majority of stone. Though this stone is still a bit higher priced than comparable stones, assuming they have comparable cut, which I can't tell until I hear back from them. I am busy at work and it is difficult for me to contact a bunch of different vendors to get extra information, which to me seems like information that should be listed on their site. Outside of work, I spend pretty much all my free time with my girlfriend, and I don't want to ruin any surprise she may get out of this because I don't think she's expecting anything for another six months.
Nonetheless, I am not set on this stone yet, as I have requested info from the dealers regarding about half a dozen others in the D-E/VS1-VS2 range.
Thanks again for all the advice/opinions.
Any ideas regarding my setting question or additional advice with regards to this stone?
Thanks and take care,
Kessar
PS - Sorry about the very long message.