Oval Diamond for Engagment ring

[InternallyFlawed]

Hello all,

I've been lurking for a long time, doing my research into diamonds and rings for my better half. I have a very good idea of what she would like, and I want something that will befit the both of us.

She would like:

• Oval diamond
• Thin gold band
• 4 prongs

I love getting into the intricacies of whatever I'm buying, and from my very basic research, I've found a couple of diamonds I like the look of on Adamior:

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.84-ct-D-VVS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43253422 (top-end of my budget)
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.81-ct-D-VVS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43147642
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.80-ct-D-VVS2-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D42453120

I have still lots of research to do, particularly when it comes to settings as she would like a 'low setting' (whatever that means), and I would like to get the setting in platinum, with the band in 18k yellow gold.

So the questions I have are:

1) How do the above diamonds look, particularly considering a layman has looked at them.
2) Other than ASET images, what else should I ask for?
3) Any other advice for ovals would be greatly appreciated.

 

[OoohShiny]

Welcome to the forum, and good job on the research!

Ovals are tricky to shop for because they are so variable, and they also often don't perform very well in terms of light performance (and, hence, ASETscope images).

Do have a look at the August Vintage proprietary ovals - they used to be called Opulence Ovals but I think they are now called Elyque (spelling?) Ovals. They have the light performance of a good MRB but the shape of an oval, although they do face up smaller for their carat weight than some of the 'classic' cuts because they need a deeper pavilion to get the good performance!

 

[elizat]

Is there a particular reason you want a D and VVS stone? You could drop down in color and clarity a bit and spread your budget further. You won't be able to see the difference between a VS and VVS with your eyes, so unless there is a reason you want that, you can loosen the specs.

I don't like the second stone at all. It has uneven center faceting to my eye and mush at the ends. It doesn't appeal to me. The third stone has no image. It is a sample only. You would need the actual image. Of the three you linked, I like the first the best, but I worry that in person that the bowtie is going to be pretty visible.

This will face up a little smaller and is a G, but it's designed to have no bowtie and should not be too dark, even though it is a G.

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/collections/opulence/products/0-81ct-g-vs2-august-vintage-oval

If you could consider a J, this is pretty:

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/collections/opulence/products/0-93ct-j-vs1-elyque-oval-1397710

I would ask to see an actual video of the G and the J, compared to say an F, from August Vintage if you want an idea of the color differences.

 

[tyty333]

Your 3rd link doesnt have a picture of the stone. You would need to request a picture first to see if its worth considering. You pretty much cant
pick a fancy cut without images. If you cant get an image then its not worth considering.

Edit...
Fancy cuts (like ovals)...cuts vary widely and there are a high percentage that are not cut well (at all). You
really limit yourself to finding a nicely cut oval by setting your specs too tight (like D/VVS1/2). You
would be better off to open your self up to the colorless range (D/E/F) and stones that are
considered mind-clean (VS1/VVS/FL). The most important thing (by Pricescope standards) is the
cut (nice faceting pattern, with mirrors that turn "on" and "off" throughout the stone). Size/color/clarity
would come after that.

 

[tyty333]

What I try to look for in an oval...you want as many nice facets as possible lighting up/turning off as the stone moves. Look for clearly delineated facets
(well defined outline of facets) and minimize gray/mushy looking areas. All most all ovals will have some mushy areas by nature except the August
vintage ovals and ones that by default seemed to be cut similar.

Nice facets in blue...red area tends to be a little mushy

Again, nice facets in blue

This has a very nice center where lots of facets light up as the stone is moved plus minimal/no mush.

THis stone shows the mush in blue. It usually appears as a darker/grayer area where facets are not very well defined.

 

[KKJohnson]

The video is odd on this one but I would inquire for more information
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.91-ct-E-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43248123

These are very nice and I would inquire over these as well
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.90-ct-D-VVS2-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D42952429

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.90-ct-E-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43258153

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.84-ct-D-VVS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43277796

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.81-ct-D-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43174950?rfr=similar

 

[InternallyFlawed]

Thank you all for your replies. My apologies for the late response, had a family member go into hospital suddenly but all is well!

Welcome to the forum, and good job on the research!

Ovals are tricky to shop for because they are so variable, and they also often don't perform very well in terms of light performance (and, hence, ASETscope images).

Do have a look at the August Vintage proprietary ovals - they used to be called Opulence Ovals but I think they are now called Elyque (spelling?) Ovals. They have the light performance of a good MRB but the shape of an oval, although they do face up smaller for their carat weight than some of the 'classic' cuts because they need a deeper pavilion to get the good performance!

Thank you for your help. I had a quick look but I failed to mention that I'm in the UK so my search might be a bit more difficult. I'll look further into these.

Is there a particular reason you want a D and VVS stone? You could drop down in color and clarity a bit and spread your budget further. You won't be able to see the difference between a VS and VVS with your eyes, so unless there is a reason you want that, you can loosen the specs.

I don't like the second stone at all. It has uneven center faceting to my eye and mush at the ends. It doesn't appeal to me. The third stone has no image. It is a sample only. You would need the actual image. Of the three you linked, I like the first the best, but I worry that in person that the bowtie is going to be pretty visible.

This will face up a little smaller and is a G, but it's designed to have no bowtie and should not be too dark, even though it is a G.

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/collections/opulence/products/0-81ct-g-vs2-august-vintage-oval

If you could consider a J, this is pretty:

https://www.augustvintageinc.net/collections/opulence/products/0-93ct-j-vs1-elyque-oval-1397710

I would ask to see an actual video of the G and the J, compared to say an F, from August Vintage if you want an idea of the color differences.

It was never my intention to look solely at a D. I'm happy to go on recommendations but as far as I can tell, the difference between a D and F would be negligible to the untrained eye. I've been looking at DEF and VVS1 but I'm flexible on my specs for the right stone.

What I try to look for in an oval...you want as many nice facets as possible lighting up/turning off as the stone moves. Look for clearly delineated facets
(well defined outline of facets) and minimize gray/mushy looking areas. All most all ovals will have some mushy areas by nature except the August
vintage ovals and ones that by default seemed to be cut similar.

Nice facets in blue...red area tends to be a little mushy

Again, nice facets in blue

This has a very nice center where lots of facets light up as the stone is moved plus minimal/no mush.

THis stone shows the mush in blue. It usually appears as a darker/grayer area where facets are not very well defined.

This is an incredible post, thank you so much! I'll continue to do my research based on this help. I failed to mention in my first post that I'm in the UK so if I buy a ring from the USA, it will have to be bought unseen. I'm aware this is a no-no but I'm debating whether the cost-saving benefit would be worth it.

The video is odd on this one but I would inquire for more information
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.91-ct-E-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43248123

These are very nice and I would inquire over these as well
https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.90-ct-D-VVS2-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D42952429

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.90-ct-E-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43258153

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.84-ct-D-VVS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43277796

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.81-ct-D-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43174950?rfr=similar

Thank you KKJohnson, I'll look into these and get back to you all. I'm learning as I go along so your help is much appreciated.

 

[InternallyFlawed]

Hello all,

I've been doing my research and one diamond has taken my eye:

https://www.bluenile.com/uk/diamond-details/LD12467183

It fits all the ideals, and looks very nice from the photos. The customer service at BN has been excellent and they've done a visual test for the bowtie and apparently it's 1/5 which is the best. However they don't do ASET photography

As I'm in the UK, I'm unable to see the stone in person. I know this is a taboo, but I don't know how I can get round this. But for arguments sake, how does this stone look?

Thanks in advance.

 

[OoohShiny]

In terms of bow-tie, it's good in my opinion - no strong central band of darkness, the contrast patterns jump around nicely.

Colour and clarity are my preference and it looks very 'crisp'.

I am not that familiar with BN videos but it looks like it might slightly 'window' at rotation/tilt angles (where it goes see-through). This seems fairly common on classic oval cuts, but it's not too bad on this one.

Overall, I'm not that good on Oval cuts but I think it is pretty good.

 

[tyty333]

I have one other one to throw out for you. Its ever so slightly smaller (LxW) but also less expensive. I kind of like the faceting pattern better on this
one than the one you are looking at (just slightly though) but taking everything into consideration they may come out about equal. In the stone below I
feel like the center area of nice facets spreads out a little more as it approaches the sides of the stone. It helps if you put both stones in a comparison on
BN and watch them rotate together. Start and stop them as the front rotates around.

https://www.bluenile.com/uk/diamond-details/LD12201801

Everyone rates the following criteria differently. Pricescopers rank cut High but as you can see depending on how you value the other items the first stone
you picked may win out over the stone I posted.

Stone you found Above linked stone
Better faceting pattern (cut) X (ever so slightly and IMO)
Size X (ever so slightly)
Color X (D)
Clarity X (VVS2)
Cost X (about 300 Euros less)
Fluorescence X (faint) (Strong Blue)
Polish Same
Symmetry X (Ex)
Satisfaction of finding X
your own stone


Other notes...
Most of us order stones without seeing them first but we've usually seen videos and hopefully asets (especially with fancy cuts). We have the
ability to return them easily while I know its a little more difficult for you. Not sure how the UK Bluenile works but I hope that you are able to
return a stone if you find you are not happy with it.

 

[InternallyFlawed]

I have one other one to throw out for you. Its ever so slightly smaller (LxW) but also less expensive. I kind of like the faceting pattern better on this
one than the one you are looking at (just slightly though) but taking everything into consideration they may come out about equal. In the stone below I
feel like the center area of nice facets spreads out a little more as it approaches the sides of the stone. It helps if you put both stones in a comparison on
BN and watch them rotate together. Start and stop them as the front rotates around.

https://www.bluenile.com/uk/diamond-details/LD12201801

Everyone rates the following criteria differently. Pricescopers rank cut High but as you can see depending on how you value the other items the first stone
you picked may win out over the stone I posted.

Stone you found Above linked stone
Better faceting pattern (cut) X (ever so slightly and IMO)
Size X (ever so slightly)
Color X (D)
Clarity X (VVS2)
Cost X (about 300 Euros less)
Fluorescence X (faint) (Strong Blue)
Polish Same
Symmetry X (Ex)
Satisfaction of finding X
your own stone


Other notes...
Most of us order stones without seeing them first but we've usually seen videos and hopefully asets (especially with fancy cuts). We have the
ability to return them easily while I know its a little more difficult for you. Not sure how the UK Bluenile works but I hope that you are able to
return a stone if you find you are not happy with it.

Thank you for your reply, and funnily enough this is a stone I also have in my comparison so I really appreciate you bringing it back to my attention. I'm going to look at both much more in depth.

However since I posted last, I've been able to get an ASET image of the first stone. I've attached all the details and would really appreciate some help on this. Looking at the ASET image is like reading a foreign language to my layman eyes!

https://www.bluenile.com/uk/diamond-details/LD12467183

 

[OoohShiny]

ASET colours:

White (on a white background) = leakage, i.e. light passing straight through the stone rather than being reflected back to your eyes

Green = light gathered from the surrounding environment

Red = light gathered from around the viewer's head

Blue = obstruction from the viewer's head, which helps give contrast patterns that make a stone look visually interesting (if cut well)

Black (on a white background) = obstruction from the camera lens (so effectively the same as blue)


Sometimes you see ASETscope images with a black background. In that case it is harder to tell what is leakage and what is obstruction, because the affects of white as leakage (which would of course be black) and black as obstruction (which would also be black) cannot be separated from each other.


See the diagrams on this post for a visual representation of where light is coming from that is reflected back to the viewer:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-stones-hung-as-pendants.249704/#post-4566020


Classic ovals are always terrible in ASET images, but at least the one above doesn't have a thick stripe of blue/obstruction/contrast across the middle (which would indicate 'bow-tie').

 

[InternallyFlawed]

ASET colours:

White (on a white background) = leakage, i.e. light passing straight through the stone rather than being reflected back to your eyes

Green = light gathered from the surrounding environment

Red = light gathered from around the viewer's head

Blue = obstruction from the viewer's head, which helps give contrast patterns that make a stone look visually interesting (if cut well)

Black (on a white background) = obstruction from the camera lens (so effectively the same as blue)


Sometimes you see ASETscope images with a black background. In that case it is harder to tell what is leakage and what is obstruction, because the affects of white as leakage (which would of course be black) and black as obstruction (which would also be black) cannot be separated from each other.


See the diagrams on this post for a visual representation of where light is coming from that is reflected back to the viewer:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...-stones-hung-as-pendants.249704/#post-4566020


Classic ovals are always terrible in ASET images, but at least the one above doesn't have a thick stripe of blue/obstruction/contrast across the middle (which would indicate 'bow-tie').

Thanks OoohShiny,

I had a look at those explanations of ASET images as well as comparing to this diagram and I still struggled to see what was good. I believe I understand that the abundance of white isn't ideal, but then again ovals don't fare well in ASET.

To your eye, how does the ASET compare to other ovals you have seen? I was able to get a magnified photo from B2C Jewels.



This is appears to be the difficulty with ovals; whilst on paper the spec looks excellent and in the video from Blue Nile it looks beautiful, as a diamond, is it the best in its range?

 

[Ss52]

Since you’ve looked at Adiamor, please have a look at this one. It looks great to my eyes.

https://www.adiamor.com/Diamonds/0.90-ct-F-VS1-Excellent-Cut-Oval-Diamond/D43262078

I do like the one you posted the ASET of.

 

[tyty333]

Can you request an aset for the other stone. Then you/we can compare the two. Asets for ovals are never pretty and remember they are just a one
time shot of what the stone is doing. The videos are much more useful in my opinion. I really dont know how they came up with that Aset chart of
ovals. I really wish they had videos to go with the chart then maybe you could decide for yourself which ones are poor and which ones are good.

The stone that Ss52 posted may be decent but it is a fair amount smaller (7.24x5.4). I did not consider stones that were that much smaller than
the one you've already selected.

I didnt noticed when I posted but it ate up all my spacing when I was comparing the two stones so now it doesnt make any sense.
Let me try to redo it so it makes more sense.

Different specifications.....which stone "won" out
Better faceting pattern (cut): Stone I Linked (ever so slightly and IMO)
Size: Stone you found(ever so slightly)
Color: Stone I linked (D)
Clarity: Stone you found (VVS2)
Cost: Stone I linked(about 300 Euros less)
Fluorescence: Sound you found(faint), Stone I Linked (Strong Blue)
Polish: Same
Symmetry: Stone you found (Ex)
Satisfaction of finding
your own stone: Stone you found

 

[Swirl68]

Just throwing this one out there. I thought it was pretty.

https://www.parcelandstone.com/diamond/Oval/0.90-carat-F-color-VS2-clarity-stockNo-1200982/

 

[Ss52]

Just throwing this one out there. I thought it was pretty.

https://www.parcelandstone.com/diamond/Oval/0.90-carat-F-color-VS2-clarity-stockNo-1200982/

That cut IS very lovely! The one feather at about 10:00 might be a problem though. Look closely when the diamond spins 45 degrees to the left.....it looks like the feather breaks the surface. That would make it a pass.

 

[InternallyFlawed]

After months of research, I took the plunge and ordered a ring. I would like to thank everyone on this website for their help.

Just for some background on the ring; as I mentioned before I wanted this ring to be a mixture of me and her in that it would have the details she wanted and it would reflect my personality.

With that in mind it is an oval diamond in a gold band which is what I'm 99.9% certain she would like, and the specification fits into the 'ideal' ranges of an oval stone.

This is the stone I went for:
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD12467183

And I had it set in this:
https://www.bluenile.com/uk/build-y...mfort-fit-solitaire-18k-yellow-gold-2mm_51602

To my layman eye, it looks lovely. Are there any appreciable issues that anyone can see on here?



VIDEO
https://imgur.com/a/l2kRe5a

 

[Ss52]

After months of research, I took the plunge and ordered a ring. I would like to thank everyone on this website for their help.

Just for some background on the ring; as I mentioned before I wanted this ring to be a mixture of me and her in that it would have the details she wanted and it would reflect my personality.

With that in mind it is an oval diamond in a gold band which is what I'm 99.9% certain she would like, and the specification fits into the 'ideal' ranges of an oval stone.

This is the stone I went for:
https://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD12467183

And I had it set in this:
https://www.bluenile.com/uk/build-y...mfort-fit-solitaire-18k-yellow-gold-2mm_51602

To my layman eye, it looks lovely. Are there any appreciable issues that anyone can see on here?



VIDEO
https://imgur.com/a/l2kRe5a

 

[Ss52]

Very nice! What fine color and clarity. She’ll love it.

Thanks for showing us the pictures.

 

[InternallyFlawed]

Very nice! What fine color and clarity. She’ll love it.

Thanks for showing us the pictures.

Thank you! I've ordered a new ring box as I'm not too keen on the Blue Nile packaging.

How that I have the ring and a very basic loupe, what should I be checking to ensure all is well?

 

[InternallyFlawed]

Had a very quick look at the ring through a cheap loupe and noticed there's an ever so small 'hole' for want of a better word at the bottom of the setting where the platinum prongs meet the gold band.

Is this something to be wary of and should I get Blue Nile to repair it?

 

[OoohShiny]

That's a great buy - it looks lovely!

It could be worth dropping BN an email with a pic of the setting, just to ask if there will be any potential issues - I'm sure it won't be an issue or cause any problems with structural integrity as it looks a very small hole, but it is near where the different metals join so see what they say about!