Out from the shadows - advice please.

[bostonkiddo]

Hi all,

I''ve been in the background lurking (oh, what a terrible term, more like living vicariously... but that''s for a different thread)for quite a while now - and I''m still a ways off from actually needing a finished ring, but I''ve come to the point where I need some of the wonderful advice you all dole out so generously. I have been looking for a near colorless, eye-clean SI1 with great light performance. As for size, you guessed it - as big as possible for the budget, which is around 5,700 for the stone (slightly higher if the stone is from WF or Excel, as the settings she likes from those two are slightly less expensive).

Anyway, today I came across a stone with a combination of proportions and price that seems possibly too good to be true, so I need a reality check.

The vendor, who was very helpful on the phone today, says it is eye-clean, faces up white, and would show no color set in a platinum setting

1.5 carat
J SI1
P VG
S VG
depth 59.4
table 58
crown 33.5
pavilion 40.2
girdle - M-SLTK

7.48*7.41*4.42


This scores a 1.3 on the HCA, but GIA gave it a Good cut score, which scares me quite a bit. I understand that there are combinations that make for beautiful stones that don''t make Excellent on the GIA scoring, but Good seems a little bit low. My wonderful SO''s preferences are for size first, but I want to give her a stone that will still sparkle like mad, so would this combination work?

I''ve asked for a IS image, and it should be here in the next few days, but should I be getting my funds together, or do you all think I will probably have to pass on this one?

Thank you kindly in advance,

Tanner

 

[stone-cold11]

This stone will probably have obstruction issue, not recommended for a ring, but could be ok as a pendant/ear-ring stone.

 

[FB.]

GIA cut grades seem to drop once you get into the risk of obstruction; notice how the GIA and AGS top cut grades cling to the upper right of the orange zone on the HCA, where obstruction is not anticipated to be a major problem.
Lower GIA grades can also be due to a lower quality of finish, or because the cutter used what GIA considered to be too many cutting tricks.

Generally speaking, if something seems too good to be true, you have a high risk of an unexpected and unpleasant surprise.

 

[bostonkiddo]

Thanks, I read FB''s long obstruction thread a while back - and I was expecting that this rock might have obstruction issues, but I didn''t get a good sense of exactly how much the obstruction would visually impact the stone. If it causes the stone to look dark at normal viewing length, that would be a major problem, but if it only becomes a problem when viewed quite close, than it might be ok, considering the large jump in size from the combination of extra weight and the spreadiness of the cut.

any idea? other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Lorelei]

This is what we call a shallow shallow but the pavilion angle alone will very likely cause obstruction. This is where the diamond visibly darkens due to the viewer's head/ body shadow blocking the light to the stone. Thus such diamonds are often better suited for pendants or earrings because then obstruction isn't a problem due to the different viewing angles. You can do better than this diamond.

There is a video titled Head Obstruction by Garry Holloway bottom right of this page.

http://diamondscope.pricescope.com/

 

[bostonkiddo]

Thanks all,

I''ll keep looking.

Tanner