Plz help on stone I want to buy

[Streyo]

I''m trying to buy an engagement ring and I''m pretty new to diamonds. One of the most recent jewelers I went to gave me a seemingly in depth explanation of how diamonds are graded and what to look for. Then she showed me a EGL Certified diamond with these features:

Color:G
Clarity:SI1
Cut:Round Brilliant, Ideal plus
Carat:.72
Floresence:none
Culet: none
Polish: very good
Symmetry: very good
Depth: 62%
width: 58%
Girdle: thin - medium thin

this diamond she offered to sell to me for $2800.00. I''m just wondering what people here think of this. I''m anxious to have a ring ready soon and was totally sold on this diamond and on the jewelers sincerity but I know next to nothing and could use some advice. thank you

 

[Ellen]

Hi Streyo,

Doing a price search on here, comperable GIA stones are coming up between 2000-3000. These are GIA though, EGL would be a bit lower.

Here''s a thread on labs. Do you know which EGL lab it is? And can you have an independant appraiser check it out and return it if it doesn''t meet your expectations? If so, and you like it, it may be worth a look.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/various-certificates-interpretation-of-survey.67959/


A small word of advice, please don''t get too anxious, this is a very important purchase.

 

[Streyo]

Thank you Ellen for your reply. I don''t know which EGL lab its from nor if I can appraise and return. I will have to find out when they are open and meanwhile read up here about the different labs. Also in my haste to post my question I completely missed the "Pricescope your diamond" feature at the top of the page. Thank you for not flameing me for that.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 8/27/2007 8:44:27 PM
Author: Streyo
Thank you Ellen for your reply. I don''t know which EGL lab its from nor if I can appraise and return. I will have to find out when they are open and meanwhile read up here about the different labs. Also in my haste to post my question I completely missed the ''Pricescope your diamond'' feature at the top of the page. Thank you for not flameing me for that.

lol No problem.

If you cannot take the stone to an appraiser, to make things simpler, and safer for you, you might ask to see AGS0 stones with a 0 in light performance. That would pretty much ensure you get a nice stone.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

well, one thing to remember is exactly what type of cut we are talking about. If you run the search above with out specifying any cut parameteres it is true that you get a plethora of options at the 2k range in .70 cts. However, barring the options by USA certed...since I was never able to contactthen, if you run the same search but fill in the AGS0 box (not hearts and arrows or cut quality search) then you find that the cheapest diamond is 2500 and the next cheapest (again barring USA certed whom i know nothing about) is 2850 with the Pricescope discount which may imply money wire transfer for some of the buisnesses. Thus, it seems that if the diamond he has is properly graded, and if the cut is actually on par with AGS0 cut grade--which is possible, then it actually looks like the price is spot on.

Further, because it is an EGL graded diamond if you bring that up with him its possible you could get a further disciount, which means it is very possible for you to get an AGS0 cut quality G SI1 for less than you could get the same AGS\GIA stone online. Partly the reason for this option being made to you is because you can look at it yourself, but you may need to bring it into an appraiser before hand to make sure. which of course cost extra but may still be the best option depending on how much of an EGL discount he will give you.


So, how do you determine the cut?

First you need the angles, then you need the LGF and stars, then you need to report the symmetery and polish, but even if it looks goodk, you　need to bring out a symmetery scope. From there first look at the top and see if you can see a clear arrows pattern with the symmetery scope, then flip it over and see if you can see a hearts image on the back. The hearts image doesnt need to be perfect, but when viewed at the right angled (the angle can sometimes be difficult to get) it should be some pretty obvious hearts that you are looking at. Reflector images on top of that would be a huge bonus, but

if your angles meet AGS0 specifictions, your polish and symmetery is ideal/excellent and youc an see clearly defined arrows and hearts with a symmetery scope, and finally if it looks beautiful and seems to perform well to your eyes Under different lighting circumumstances (dont just look at it under store lighting, look at it under different lighting. In particular have it taken to a room with dispersed graded type lighting so that you can have a better look at the color and clarity to make sure that nothing is visible from various distances that will bother you, then natural lighting, then consider the type of lighting she uses where she works and see if you have the option of viewing it under that type of light source. Also, if he has a set of master stones you might be able to look at the color yourself and possibly eliminate the true necessity of an independent appraiser--though you still might get one of course, as who could really say if his set of master stones are a true set, but he might have some loose GIA F G H stones lying around you can look at to compare.

Once you have done all of that, you shouldnt have any problem making the purchase. The problem is, as you can see on the pricescope search function, if the cut is not of AGS0 cut quality you may well be massively overpaying as much as 800 bucks, throw in a missgraded color or clarity and it can get pretty ridiculous.

Thus, this is a very real option, but you will need to excercise caution, get all the information you need and run all of the visual examinations necessary. Then after that consider a purchase.

 

[Ellen]

WH, to try and compare prices with an AGS stone is not comparing apples to apples. You also say IF the diamond is properly graded (and at this point that is entirely debatable, especially if it is EGL Israel), and IF it's cut is on par with AGS0 cut grade, (which again, is a crap shoot at this point because we don't have critical angles here), then it looks like the price is spot on. That's some big IF'S, and a bit misleading imo.

And to say it's very possible he's going to get AGS0 quality at a bargain price is a real stretch also, imo. If the stone were that great, why wasn't it sent to GIA or AGS to begin with??


Strey, if you want to keep this simple, see if you can get the Crown and Pavillion angles from the grading report. Then plug the numbers into the HCA, and see where to go from there. It helps weed out undesirable stones.

https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp

But again, if you just want to go the safest, easiest way, ask for AGS0 stones. They are graded for light performance, and take a lot of the worry out of picking a stone.