Please help select a 0.9 - 1ct

[tumlatra]

Thanks for those that have tolerate my ignorance about the important of quality of cut.
My budget is about $5K. Here are the requirements: colorless is a must for her, little as possible imperfection is for me, as big as possible for her mom, lol.

Thank you in advance for all of your wisdom.

 

[bunnycat]

Thanks for those that have tolerate my ignorance about the important of quality of cut.
My budget is about $5K. Here are the requirements: colorless is a must for her, little as possible imperfection is for me, as big as possible for her mom, lol.

Thank you in advance for all of your wisdom.

Has your girlfriend seen different colors of GIA graded stones to know what her color tolerance is? If she's seen something like EGL graded stones which can often be off by 1 or more color grades in their color assessment, she may think a G has lots of color, when in fact, she may actually be fine with a true G for example....Or perhaps it is a "mindclean" issue for her which is fine, color mostly comes down to personal preference, but I would suggest going to look at some stones to see what her preferences might be because if she says F but really can't see the difference between F and H, then you could get a lot bigger stone than if F really is her personal lower limit.

As for imperfections, stones are graded with a 10x loupe, not a microscope. No stone is going to be completely perfect. Even IF stones are graded at 10x so if you blew it up to 50X, there's probably be something there. I'd say try to find out how far in clarity you are comfortable going. VS 1-2 is generally a good suggestion for an e-ring.

 

[tumlatra]

Thanks for those that have tolerate my ignorance about the important of quality of cut.
My budget is about $5K. Here are the requirements: colorless is a must for her, little as possible imperfection is for me, as big as possible for her mom, lol.

Thank you in advance for all of your wisdom.

Has your girlfriend seen different colors of GIA graded stones to know what her color tolerance is? If she's seen something like EGL graded stones which can often be off by 1 or more color grades in their color assessment, she may think a G has lots of color, when in fact, she may actually be fine with a true G for example....Or perhaps it is a "mindclean" issue for her which is fine, color mostly comes down to personal preference, but I would suggest going to look at some stones to see what her preferences might be because if she says F but really can't see the difference between F and H, then you could get a lot bigger stone than if F really is her personal lower limit.

As for imperfections, stones are graded with a 10x loupe, not a microscope. No stone is going to be completely perfect. Even IF stones are graded at 10x so if you blew it up to 50X, there's probably be something there. I'd say try to find out how far in clarity you are comfortable going. VS 1-2 is generally a good suggestion for an e-ring.

At first we thought we would settle for G or H (GIA), but after we went to the diamond district in LA and look at a few stones, we decide on E, but F is ok I suppose.

 

[bunnycat]

I looked around a little, and perhaps one of the more sleuthy people than myself will chime in with some suggestions, but if you have determined your specs are F as the lowest color, and VS+ for the clarity, then I am not sure you will reach the .9 mark with our budget.

In budget examples of well cut stones:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/10411/

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2812695.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2813897.htm

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2812698.htm

A little over budget and SI instead of VS, but if you call them, you can get a small Pricescope discount as well:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/0.833-f-si1-round-diamond-ags-104062605017


Here's one from James Allen that's GIA XXX and scores 1.7 on the HCA so you could hold it and get an idealscope image and gemologist review. For the price, though, I'd be inclined to go for a super ideal cut stone instead from one of the above vendors that already has plenty of performance information.

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/round-cut/0.82-carat-F-color-VS1-clarity-Excellent-cut-sku-106795

 

[tumlatra]

Thank you all for helping, especially Farmer Gal and Bastecat. I have narrow down the candidate.

(A) 0.857 ct G VS2 $4700 (it has a crystal at dead center, and seems pretty dirty for VS2)
HCA: 1.5
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2898160.htm


(B) 0.804 ct E VS2 $5400 (it look pretty clean with trace of feathers at the edge of girdle)
HCA: 1.8
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2812695.htm


(C) 0.813 ct F VS2 $4500 (also pretty clean with clouds)
HCA: 1.9
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2812698.htm

I could not chose, between all three. Financially, (A) and (C) seems best especially (C) is F color, thus the ideal cut will enhance the clarity and sparkle. However, will 0.4 in HCA will make any different with the naked eyes. At the same time, (A) seems like a good deal since it is a larger stone. (B) is the smallest but the prettiest I think, it just cost 16-18% more than (C) and (A), and don't know if the upgrade to E color and the "clean mind" worth the extra $900 bucks.

 

[JulieN]

The cut of the F is not on the same level as the ACAs. You need to put those two on hold and get in touch with WF to talk about inclusions, color, etc...

 

[bunnycat]

I would also cal and ask them to review the stones for you and give their opinion. Two of the ones you have narrowed down to are Hearts and Arrows symmetry. The other is also an in house stone, though it didn't meet the symmetry requirements for hearts to make the ACA designation. It's certainly not going to be a dog or a dud without perfect hearts, but if you mentally want the symmetry perfection, then it doesn't have that. I would call an ask how it performs compared to the other 2 if you like it.