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Please give me an opinion on this diamond

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little_birdie

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Messages
98
Hi everyone!
My SO is looking at heart shaped diamonds for my e-ring. He is going to a standing store as he did not want to risk purchasing online overseas and preferred the follow up available at a standing store. I live long distance so have not seen the stone myself, but he says it is 'very pretty and shiny'.

This is the stone that he has been presented with:

Heart brilliant, 0.81ct, D colour, SI1
GIA cert number 1149327510

I am not clear on their asking price (he was quoted roughly $9k AUD including platinum setting which he has not yet touched on, at this stage no idea what the setting will be, so I'm not sure where they pulled that figure from).

The GIA report states that the clarity characteristics are twinning wisp and feather.

I know that heart shapes are best assessed in person, but I'm not able to do so and my SO is not really one to cross examine things.
From the GIA details, is there anything that would raise a red flag to you?

I'm sure I'd get something much better value online, and I did point my SO in that direction (and asked him to research/ask for help on pricescope) but he's determined to go the store route and he doesn't really like to do the forum thing :roll: .

Thank you so much for your help!
 
He is getting very screwed on price.
 
Thank you.

We had a big discussion the other night and he's agreed to look around a little more and look at some online prices before going back and discussing with them, if they can't find anything good then he's open to us looking online.
It seems quite tricky to find heart shaped diamonds, looking on the diamond search here the main suppliers are Blue Nile and B2C but the latter don't seem as reputable. I know that Blue Nile is not considered the best, but it seems the best in this case.

Would this be acceptable?
GIA number 5156867318
1.02ct, D, very good cut (It seems like the only seller of X cut heart diamonds are B2C), VS2, faint fluorescence.

Any opinions would be appreciated, thank you!
 
No.
Two options:
Give us your budget. Tell us what you want. We'll find nice options for you. You can pick among them.

If you want to search yourself you need much more knowledge. And that's going to mean a lot of reading. I am happy to post the information for you, and you can study it.

Tell me what you prefer and we'll go from there.

You do not need D color. What you need is ideal light return. You are perfectly safe down to G for color. And VS2 or eyeclean SI for clarity.
 
Thanks Gypsy!

My SO is adamant on getting D color because that's what the SA at the store showed him. He insisted the first stone 'glowed and sparkled like crazy' and the other stones he was shown just did not compare, the SA told him it's all because of it's color and he's taken that to heart even though I said I did not mind.

Budget is $10000 AUD all up but ideally less, so maybe budget up to $6500 USD all up for stone and reserve the rest for the setting?

I'd just like the best stone under the budget, my finger is tiny so carat size is not that important to me. I prefer a 'chubby' rather than a 'skinny' heart.

Thank you!
 
So to clarify. A heart shape? D color?

I swear to you E or F would be good. But ok.
 
Yes, if possible, thanks Gypsy!

I am more than happy to take your word that E and F would be good. I would be happy with G and H myself, but my SO is determined and I will compromise on this one with him to keep him happy.

Just so I can learn, would you mind briefly telling me how you were able to judge that stone? I looked at the heart diamond chart in the knowledge section and it seemed to closely fit the criteria for a good cut (the BN one).
 
OK. I thought we were talking round diamonds.

I'm sorry.

OK. Hearts. Seems to be a theme tonight.

Hearts are fancies. So throw out all the numbers. You can't buy fancies by the numbers. They are meaningless.

You have to buy based on what your eyes see. And what an ASET tells you.

So that means you need to work with a vendor that provides images. GOOD ONES. And videos are even better. And you need ASET images too.

So here's the search I did on JA for you:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/heart-shaped/?CaratFrom=0.85&CaratTo=10.00&Color=D,E&Clarity=VS2,VVS2,IF,VVS1,VS1&PriceFrom=400&PriceTo=6540&Sort=Carat%20asc,%20DefaultOrder&ps=15 You can look through these and see how different they all look in terms of performance.

And this is the brightest pretties one that I found through that search: (and the only worth a second look, I thought)
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/heart-shaped/1.01-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-179117

As you can tell the numbers are... interesting.
But it's the brightest stone with the most facets that stay lit, and the nicest contrast pattern when the diamond is in motion.
And you wear the diamond on your finger. Not the numbers.

JA can provide you with an ASET. SO put the diamond on hold (no cost no obligation) and ask for an ASET image. They will say you get three. Just ask them for the one, unless one of the other ones in the search caught your fancy. They will push you for three. Push back.

This is how you read an ASET image:
http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance



BC2 has these two which are promising as well. Not sure about those computer generated ASETs though. I'd strongly prefer real ones taken of the actual stone with a camera.
http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-4360525-0.91-carat-Heart-diamond-D-color-VS2-clarity.aspx
http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-4272694-0.91-carat-Heart-diamond-D-color-IF-clarity.aspx

I have a strong preference for the JA stone just because I can see how it performs in motion. But the BC2 ones are also promising. I could ask their gemologist to look at them and tell you which is the brighter stone with better performance.
 
Thank you Gypsy, I will look into them.

Given that with fancies like a heart shape meaning that numbers are less relevant, should I give more thought to the first 0.81ct stone that my SO saw in person and feels is bright and beautiful even though we've already determined that the asking price is way more than it deserves? I'm just wondering whether I was wrong to dismiss his stone and maybe I owe him a massive apology for not giving him enough trust to choose?
 
It may well have been a gorgeous stone. There's no way to know.

BUT, that said. The fact that the sales person told him it was the color that made it so nice is a problem. Because it's just not true. It's performance. SO either she knows squat about diamonds. Or she's just lying to him to upsell him on color he REALLY doesn't need. Or to get him to buy that stone, because it's the only one in the store he liked. Who knows.

AND he doesn't know that much about diamonds and you really need to be able to compare several stones in person, preferably with well trained honest sales staff to help you understand what you are seeing in order to decide what a truly NICE one is. How many hearts has he seen that he says this one is really nice? Has he seen more than one D color heart? Or was that the only one there? You can see from that JA search I pulled for you... all those stones are D and eyeclean. See how some of them are less than stellar? Now if you'd just seen only ONE of those-- say one of the ones that's not great, but not bad either. In a vacuum. http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/heart-shaped/1.01-carat-d-color-vs2-clarity-sku-174657 Wouldn't it look great to you?

Plus he was under the jewelers lights. Those lights can make even a crappy stone look fabulous.

And again. This is a jeweler that clearly has poorly trained sales staff (D is why the stone is pretty). And is making a KILLING ripping people off on diamond prices.

That diamond is 81 points. D SI1.
This is a 91 point D VS2. http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-4360525-0.91-carat-Heart-diamond-D-color-VS2-clarity.aspx 3,860.82

That's not making me feel good about the jeweler.

So... I'd give your guy the benefit of the doubt. But that jeweler is raising all sort of flags. And that makes me doubt that stone.

Plus, again.... HOLY COW is that price a rip off.
 
By the way... this one might be worth a second look. Might as well get a second ASET from JA on it. http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/heart-shaped/0.90-carat-d-color-vvs2-clarity-sku-250452 I originally cut it from consideration because of the facets need the point but... now that I see it again... there's some promise there. And it's got a lovely high crown. So... worth an ASET.

ANd since you get three, throw this one in there too: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/heart-shaped/1.01-carat-e-color-if-clarity-sku-278819
 
Thank you, I showed all the JA ones to my SO and he quite liked the first one (as do i). He's still a little hesitant about purchasing online even though he admits it makes alot of sense and the odds of problems with JA is low, he feels more secure purchasing instore. Will just have to see if he will grow to the idea, because he did agree to consider online possibilities!
 
Hi Little birdie,

I am soooooo glad that you have managed to speak to SO about the purchase $ of diamonds and that he is starting to coming around... :appl: :appl:

you are in good hands with gypsy.. she has great knowledge... doesnt beat around the bush and i have seen her get great diamonds for other ppl....

Couple of things about buying from USA into AUS, which i may have posted in the ohter thread, but i will pot it on here again from what i know... i am also hoping that other AUS PSers that have bought from USA, can chime in to tell of their experience.....


1) import duty- there is none. USA and AUS have a deal where this duty is waived. Most US online vendors should know this. sorry but i cant find the link :-(
2) taxes-a) the GST you cannot escape. this is based on the ring + diamond + shipping charges
b) customs handling fee- AUD$50-60
c) must be paid before the package is released
3) try ozforex.com to help with the transaction. they give better rates than the bank by a few percentage points.. when you are spending AUD$10k, it will save a few hundred $
4) get the local jeweller to size your finger in summer, now, as fingers swell in summer. Also understand that in winter, the ring may spin a bit. once you have the AUS size, they can convert that size to US size. or use: http://pics.bluenile.com/assets/chrome/pdf/ring_sizing_guide_0610-AUSTRALIA.pdf
that way, the ring size will be correct.
5) get the vendor to send you photos of the ring as it is getting made or when completed, so that you can SEE the ring BEFORE posting/ shipping it out. I have seen many posts on here with several stages of custom ring making. I forget the vendor though,but i am sure the vendor will take photos of the finished product for you. That way it will minimise any returns to the vendor.
6) Enjoy the moment of choosing the diamond and the making of the ring.

excited for you guys. :-)
 
Thank you!
I read the information on Whiteflash about the waived duty, if he only purchases the diamond and not a ring will they still waive the duties? I think he may consider getting the stone online and then the ring made here for the follow up care.
I have had my finger sized twice since summer started, so it should be ok.
Thanks for the ozforex.com tip!

I really appreciate both of your help, I will keep you updated!
 
Gypsy|1391856498|3610691 said:
OK. Hearts. Seems to be a theme tonight.
Click to expand...

This may be the "the 2014 trend" sneaking up on us.
:shock: :lol:
 
Travelling fir work rhis week. I will check whrn I can on a larger screen than my phone.
 
I can't speak for the others, but I have wanted a heart shape since I saw a beautiful one on someone more than 5 years ago.
I saw the other thread and am well aware that the general census is against heart shaped diamonds but both my SO and I love them and want it.
My second choices were a pear-which my SO did not like, or a round brilliant but only if it was in a sapphire halo vintage antique style setting (those 'target' rings). So heart it is.

My SO visited the store today and they did not have any other stones to show, they also said that the price they offered was the 'lowest possible' so we will most likely purchase a diamond off JA. We are still looking to have it set in Australia though, my SO said that he'll choose the diamond and then we'll get a setting made together. I'm interested in taking it to Holloway Diamonds, it seems to be the best place to go, but I'm not sure if they will set a diamond purchased outside and if they'll make a setting for a heart shape at all. We would have roughly $4000 AUD for the setting, but hopefully will not need to spend all of that budget.
Has anyone had any experience from Melbourne? (Should I start a new thread for this because it's more setting related?)
 
Ok, I know I'm the only one posting here, but I found the same James Allen diamond on Whiteflash (exact same GIA cert) but for a few hundred more. I like the Whiteflash settings more and my SO agrees.
We love a particular Tacori setting that's designed for a RB only, but we're hoping they can take parts of the design that we like to create a setting that will house a heart diamond as well as fit my smaller than average finger.
 
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