Please Help - Can't decide which diamond

[HonestJackson99]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if I should be concerned about this Feathered diamond (see top link below). I'm afraid if the feather is located at the surface it might comprise the rock. I spoke to the rep and they said the feather is located within the diamond. (not sure if the rep knows what she's talking about)

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.90-carat-e-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-360138

Also, I was trying to decide the feather or the diamond below
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.86-carat-e-color-vvs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-375954

Would anyone be able to tell me why .90 is cheaper than the .86. What do you guys think?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Jack

 

[Gypsy]

I don't like either of them to be honest. But it's nothing to do with the inclusions.

Both are 60/60 style stones. Which is fine. But very few 60/60 style stones are good performers, and neither of those is going to be.

Here is what you need to know:
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.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. And GIA Ex is not enough. And you must stick to GIA and AGS only. EGL is a bad option: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/[/URL]
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want? Well first you want to stick to stones that have a crown angle of 34 (33.5 okay for 60/60 style stones) and over, a pavilion angle of 41 and under, and no deeper than 62.5
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Well one method is to start with a GIA Ex, and then apply the HCA to it. YOU DO NOT USE HCA for AGS0 stones.
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/holloway-cut-advisor
The HCA is a rejection tool. Not a selection tool. It uses 4 data points to make a rudimentary call on how the diamond may perform.
If the diamond passes then you know that you are in the right zone in terms of angles for light performance. Under 2 is a pass. Under 2.5-2.1 is a maybe. 2.6 and over is a no. No score 2 and under is better than any other.
Is that enough? Not really.
So what you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It 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 Blue Nile, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. BGD, James Allen, GOG, HPD, ERD and WF do.

The Idealscope is the 'selection tool'. Not the HCA.
So yes, with a GIA stone you need the idealscope images. Or you can buy an idealscope yourself and take it in to the jeweler you are working with to check the stones yourself. Or if you have a good return policy (full refund minimum 7 days) then you can buy the idealscope, buy the stone, and do it at home.


Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium.

 

[Gypsy]

Also is there a reason you are looking at E color? You can VERY VERY VERY safely go down to F or G color and not see ANY tint at all. Unless it's for cultural reasons, I personally would consider going down to G or at least F.

Personally I'd be looking at this stone:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.91-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-371380 Put on hold and get an idealscope. They will ask you for three stones. Don't waste all three idealscopes. You will probably only need this one. And don't get idealscopes of any of the duds you posted at the start of this post. You have NOTHING to worry about with any inclusions of a VS1 stone. Okay?

Here's what you need to know about color

It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. So... no. Not really. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H.



If you are talking fancy shapes without ideal light return (because there is no 'ideal' for EC's Radiant, etc) it's a bit different.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them side by side. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white, you only see the contrast because of the proximity. But it's very slight, you could set an F center with G sides and never tell the difference. And even H sides depending on the setting and the size of the sidestones... especially with round brilliants.


I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.

 

[Gypsy]

I prefer the F I posted for you above.

But this is a lovely stone as well, if eyeclean: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.93-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-386597 It's a 60/60 style, but one that has the right angles for performance. You can use this as a second stone for the idealscope if you want more than just one to chose from.

And here's a third for the idealscope bunch and it is also a good 60/60 style stone, again, if eyeclean: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.90-carat-f-color-vs2-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-382164


Okay? Any of these three, if eyeclean will be fine. Even if they have feathers. A stone with a feather wouldn't be graded VS2 if the inclusion was a danger in terms of placement or size or anything.

 

[HonestJackson99]

I can't say thanks enough Gypsy for your help.

One of my decisions for picking the two stones which you mentioned were duds is because the GIA report did not say it had feathered or crystals which I though would comprise a diamond. But if your saying if a diamond is graded VS2 or better, then those flawed characteristics shouldn't be too much an issue.

What do you mean when you say eye clean?

When you say Cut is king, thanks for this tip. And your rule of thumb is
Crown:34 (33.5 okay for 60/60 style stones) and over
Pavilion angle of 41 and under
Depth: no deeper than 62.5
How about table

Should I follow that rule of thumb if I do not have access to a ideascope? Also James Allen has a filter for cuts called true hearts. (if i select that filter it will limit my choices) but if I follow your rule above, then I do not have too?

For a long time, I was looking at Bluenile because they have a bigger inventory, but they don't have pictures. Is it wise just basing my decision's based on filters and gia reports even if there's no picture? because I was looking at this one
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD05183632?keyword_search_value=LD05183632

Thanks again Gypsy, Enjoy your Sunday

 

[Gypsy]