Please help me choose a loose diamond!

[Heidibrooke]

I'm new here, but I'm not new..lol. I'm 35, married 11 years. I recently lost my wedding rings I am trying to replace the ering only. My beloved lost set was: IGI cert 1.21 rectangular mod brilliant, H color (but often mistaken for colorless), SI 1 (very clean...hard to find even a spec in the loupe). The dimensions were: 6.06x5.45x4.17. Polish & symmetry: good.

I've ordered the following two loose diamonds from James Allen. Which do you think would best, or please feel free to recommend a different diamond (even shape). My budget is 5,500 for the stone. Thanks for your help!

Round:
1.01
E
SI 1
Depth: 64.8
Table: 54.0
Pol: Exc
sym: VG
Flo: none
Cut: VG
Girdle: med-slt thick
6.30x6.25x4.07
GIA cert
$5630


Oval:
.94
G
IF (internally flawless)
Depth: 60
Table: 56
Pol: Exc
Sym: Exc
Flo: none
7.95x5.17x3.10
Ratio: 1:53
Girdle: med-thick
GIA cert
$4850

 

[Heidibrooke]

I guess no one has an opinion or advice?

 

[tyty333]

You'll have to post links or pictures because numbers really don't tell us much about fancy cuts.

 

[Dancing Fire]

one round and one oval?..

 

[tyty333]

Doh...I thought they were rectangular modified brilliants like what she had...

Ok, the round is too deep and we need a link to the oval because its a fancy cut.

 

[heididdl]

links please

 

[Heidibrooke]

Ok, so I canceled the round. I didn't have a good feeling about the cut. Here is a link to the oval. Please let me know what you think. Also, any suggestions of rounds from the James Allen website would be greatly appreciated. I'm color sensitive, but sparkle is most important to me!

The oval:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.94-carat-g-color-if-clarity-sku-236434

 

[ecf8503]

Has the oval shipped yet? Because JA will do workups on 3 stones - including inspection / comparison by a gemologist and ASET images (for fancies) (or idealscopes with rounds). Don't have them ship a stone blindly when they'll evaluate it for you first!

What setting are you interested in? Is there a stone shape you are leaning toward? There are a lot of stones on their site...

Do NOT compromise on cut quality - that is what makes the diamond sparkle. An ideal cut stone will face up larger and whiter than a less well cut one.

There are ways to evaluate the potential of modern round brilliants - stick with GIA excellent or AGS 0 graded stones, plug all the numbers into the HCA for GIA stones (https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca) and look for a number under 2 on the HCA (once you get under 2, lower is not necessarily better).

We can help you find a stone - your $5500 budget is very healthy, and we can find you a great one, but we need a little more direction from you as to what your criteria are - size? shape? setting? etc.

 

[tyty333]

Ok, so I canceled the round. I didn't have a good feeling about the cut. Here is a link to the oval. Please let me know what you think. Also, any suggestions of rounds from the James Allen website would be greatly appreciated. I'm color sensitive, but sparkle is most important to me!

The oval:
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.94-carat-g-color-if-clarity-sku-236434

Its certainly a different flavor than what we're used to. That doesnt make it bad. Do you like the faceting pattern?
You need to get an aset and post it.

First, I think you need to decide if you want a round or an oval. Do a search on PS for oval and take a look at the rings.
See if you like them over a round. A oval should give you more finger coverage while a well cut round will usually provide
more sparkle.

 

[Heidibrooke]

I knew I came to the right place, thank you very much! I wish I had known that about James Allen. It's on its way. I cancelled the round in time, thankfully!

It's so hard to tell with ovals, because of the lack of a cut grade. The one thing I know I can't deal with is a bowtie. I could not get past that. I don't see it in this one, but if it's there, I will have to go to a round for sure!

I would like a diamond that will face up as big as my 1.21 I lost. It was 6.06x5.45x4.17. I can't afford that carat weight at this time. I would like the round to be 1 carat.

I'm a little color sensitive, but not so much that I couldn't handle an H or even an I. Clarity is important, but eye clean is ok by me! I just want a lot of sparkle! Thanks for your help!

 

[Heidibrooke]

I like a simple setting. I will be going with a 1.5-2 mm platinum 4 prong solitaire setting.

 

[RockyRacoon]

This will face-up close to the same amount of square mm's as your old stone.

At the top end of your budget, but beautifully-cut, and eye-clean:
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.008-i-si2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104064812012

 

[Heidibrooke]

Very pretty, and slightly out of my budget. Is it blue?

 

[Heidibrooke]

What about this round?

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut/1.00-carat-h-color-si1-clarity-sku-229213

 

[RockyRacoon]

Very pretty, and slightly out of my budget. Is it blue?

It is not blue.

What you are seeing in that specific image is the fluorescence. You only see the presence of the blue in UV light, and it will not be nearly as pronounced as it is in the image on the site (that image is just to show how vivid the fluor happens to be in this particular stone)

If the diamond were blue, it would be worth a pretty penny!