Oval Diamond Review

[thebiglos]

I'm looking to purchase a diamond for an engagement ring and have one that I'm interested in. I have a video of the diamond and the GIA certificate but no ASET image unfortunately. I'm hoping you guys can take a look and let me know what you think, thanks.

Link to video: http://youtu.be/YdQhF1MfPOU

http://imgur.com/Pelc3Z0

Table: 56%
Depth: 62.9%
Girdle: Slightly thick - Thick

 

[Gypsy]

6 main oval. With a bowtie you can probably drive a truck through. If they provided ASETs we could see if the bowtie comes up blue (bad) or red (can be not bad).

Did you see it in person?

 

[thebiglos]

I have not seen it in person. Do you suggest purchasing local for fancy shape diamonds since proportions can only tell so much? Or would you suggest buying from WF where I can get pictures and ASET images for the diamond? Will ASET really provide a better idea of bow tie over viewing a video of the stone? Can you determine the degree of bowtie from an ASET?

 

[thebiglos]

6 main oval. With a bowtie you can probably drive a truck through. If they provided ASETs we could see if the bowtie comes up blue (bad) or red (can be not bad).

Did you see it in person?

Can you explain what a 6 main oval means? I'm not familiar with that terminology, I would really appreciate it!

 

[Gypsy]

Lots of good questions.

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king. With fancies though (anything other than a round brilliant), that is a little complicated. But no other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. But with ovals if you want to stay about G, that's certainly possible. Still if there is a gorgeous stone at H it might be worth a look.

There really is no other way to determine if you have a good oval cut is to see images of the stones, and then you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.

That's what an ASET image does. http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance Please read.
And ASET shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return That is why you won't see us recommending vendors like Blue Nile, as they do not provide images or ASET images for their diamonds. James Allen and Good Old Gold do this. So do Brian Gavin, B2C and Whiteflash and High Performance Diamonds. ERD does too, for stones they source for you.


Keep in mind that ovals are especially hard to shop for because so many have bowties. So finding a bright, well cut bowtie is a herculean task at times if the stock at vendors is poor.

If you don't know what a bowtie is let us know.
Finally: you buy ovals by spread (dimensions) not carat weight. Any spread difference greater than .2 is eyevisible anything less, really isn't.

The best vendors for sourcing ovals FOR YOU are Good Old Gold, Brilliantly Engaged, and Victor Canera. BGD has found some nice ones as well. You can contact them directly and see what they find for you.

I can search for you at James Allen and B2C. What is your budget and what do you want for it?

 

[Gypsy]

6 main oval. With a bowtie you can probably drive a truck through. If they provided ASETs we could see if the bowtie comes up blue (bad) or red (can be not bad).

Did you see it in person?

Can you explain what a 6 main oval means? I'm not familiar with that terminology, I would really appreciate it!

If you look at the lab report you will see a drawing of the faceting of that stone. Ovals are not like Round Brilliants. There are a number of different faceting plots for them.

The pavilion (bottom of the stone) has 6 "mains" -- you can count them, it's the number of points on the star shape. That stone has 6. Some ovals have 8. Some have 4. Some do not have that type of faceting at all.

 

[Gypsy]

Also the problem with a video is the light sources are not known. Light sources can manipulate the look of a diamond to make it look better than it would be set.


Videos are still great. But in conjunction with flat photos and an ASET.

The more information the better. It's not an either or proposition. Its about getting the most information for your purchase.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I agree with Gypsy and would also recommend Good Old Gold because of their track record in finding good ovals and other fancy shapes. They check light return and will do a video as well.

 

[Gypsy]

Regarding your question about ovals or fancy cuts for engagement rings. I think any shape the wearer loves is the right and 'best' shape for an engagement ring. If the wearer has requested an oval, then by all means... get them an oval.

Here's a nice potential stone:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.50-carat-d-color-vs1-clarity-sku-277579 It's got very crisp faceting.

If eyeclean, this one is interesting as well: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.75-carat-d-color-si2-clarity-sku-347605

Probably over budget, but potentially lovely stone: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/2.00-carat-g-color-vvs2-clarity-sku-374559