Princess cut diamond - advice/help required please

[Rags]

Hello all,

I have just got back from a short trip to Geneva - suffice to say every second shop there was a jewellers - well at least it seemed like it. However the diamonds on offer in most of the shops seemed very expensive for what they were.

My wife is a diamond nut and has four brilliant cut solitaires and two triangles the largest of which is 1.8 carats. After discovering this forum and reading some of the posts from you good folk , I am ashamed to say that when purchasing these diamonds we never looked into the various factors that have been mentioned as being important. The only things we considered were colour and clarity but nothing else - with H and VS1 being our bottom end limits. Luckily most of the stones were purchased from a reliable source.

Anyway I am now in the market for a Princess cut stone of about 2.5-3.0 carats which I want to gift to my wife as a surprise anniversary present - 4 months away. Unfortunately my source passed away about a year ago and the business was closed up by his son. I have several questions relating to Princess cut diamonds which I would be grateful for any answers to -

- on a carat basis is it true that princess cut diamonds look larger than brilliant/round ones

- is it true that with a princes cut diamond the colour is easier to spot ie you should definately not look for anything below a G colour.

- what setting to go for - I have seen one that I like which has 4 claws and the main diamond is flanked on either side by a baguette shape diamond - the baguettes are not on the mount itself but lower on the body of the ring.

- what other factors are important particularly to Princess cut diamonds

- the most difficult one - where should I buy one from - I was offered in Geneva a 2.7 carat G Stone VVS1 for 26,000 USD which seems very high

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give and apologies if some of my questions appear stupid.

 

[Giangi]

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Hi ya!

Anyway I am now in the market for a Princess cut stone of about 2.5-3.0 carats which I want to gift to my wife as a surprise anniversary present - 4 months away. Unfortunately my source passed away about a year ago and the business was closed up by his son. I have several questions relating to Princess cut diamonds which I would be grateful for any answers to -

- on a carat basis is it true that princess cut diamonds look larger than brilliant/round ones Well, it depends on the cut... Most princesses are cut sooo deep they look somewhat small for their weight. But a nice princess will look almost as big as a round.

- is it true that with a princes cut diamond the colour is easier to spot ie you should definately not look for anything below a G colour. Yes it's true that you can see color easily. But, before you can see clearly a trace of color you have to go to at least a J color diamond. I'd consider an H in order to get a bigger/better clarity/better cut stone... Or simply to save some bucks and put them toward a setting!

- what setting to go for - I have seen one that I like which has 4 claws and the main diamond is flanked on either side by a baguette shape diamond - the baguettes are not on the mount itself but lower on the body of the ring.
It's the most common (and probably one of the most beautiful) setting we see. It gives a little extra sparkle to the center stone, but it doesn't overwhelm it. Good choice!

- what other factors are important particularly to Princess cut diamonds
CUT CUT CUT! Have a look at the tutorials you can find at Good Old Gold, at 'AGA'scharts and, if you can, get an IdealScope.

- the most difficult one - where should I buy one from - I was offered in Geneva a 2.7 carat G Stone VVS1 for 26,000 USD which seems very high .
Nowdays you can find great bargains and very high quality on the net. Do a search on this forum and you'll see how many couples have purchased their diamonds on the net and the prices they paid!
I wouldn't but the 2.7 not only because it's pretty expensive, but mainly because you CAN'T see the difference between a VVS 1 and a VS 1-2. Some SI 1's may be eye-clean at this size, but at VS 2 you should be pretty safe.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give and apologies if some of my questions appear stupid. You're very welcome. You made some great points and your questions are not stupid at all!

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[Rags]

Hey thanks Giangi - that was very helpful.

Since I posted i have been looking at some prices and am favouring a H colour with either vs1 or vs2 clarity as you suggested. Prices seem to kick in around the 15000 usd mark. i am going to spend the next few days reading up about cuts, polish, dimensions etc to get a good understanding before I jump in with hard earned cash.

I am also getting interested in the marquise cut - seems to me to be a nice compromise and it certainly stands out. Does anyone have any opinions of this shape - anything whether negative or positive will be welocme information for me.

I wish I could ask the wife but it would spoil the surprise.

 

[valeria101]

Marq's are my favorites... but it seems that most Pricescope buyers went for rounds (beacuse of the branded cuts). However, the prevailing cut on the market is a matter of passing fashion: now rounds and prineceses seem to make the ovewhelming bulk of sales but it hasn't been like this for ever. So, why not a marquise?! The shape of marquises varies quite a bit with various parameters, going from close to oval (a long one) to close to a lozenghe cut (meaning <> ). And then coems the most stryking: the length/width ratio. All these are matter of taste. The best point about marquises? - they give alot for the eye to see even if their weight is not all that great. I guess it would help to see alot of (at least pictures) of various pices to see what these things mean and appreciate the visual effect of a great cut, but hopefully the net is there to help. One thing: I feel that, if badly cut, marquises really look bad (uneven, shallow, you name it) but it is not hard to get good ones. I guess the largest inventory (with pictures) may be posted by Stuller (and some cuts are terrible there, with a few good) and GOG may have a couple of more classic cuts (close to 1:2 width/length ratio, which you may or may not go for).

By the way, marquises seem to be a challenge for ring-makers, so it seems that this cut ends up with the best treatment from designers, including some international awards lately...

 

[Rags]

I like the look of a marquise cut - also strangely and postitively they seem slightly cheaper than equivalent princess cut diamonds and miles lower than rb's.
I assume this reflects the effort that goes into cutting them but am not sure.

But what do you mean they give a lot for the eye to see - do they have a greater visible surface area than equivalent weight rb's ie do they look bigger.

 

[valeria101]

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On 10/28/2003 12:42:19 PM Rags wrote:
But what do you mean they give a lot for the eye to see - do they have a greater visible surface area than equivalent weight rb's ie do they look bigger.

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What I refered to is not measurement, but rather optical ilusion. I guess that geometrically, the round gives the largest surface among closed, convex shapes of the same circumference... But, let's say a round of 6 X 6 mm and a marquise of 10 X 4 have the same weight. The marquise will become comparable with the width of the finger (given the 10mm, and a finger like mine, of less than 15mm diameter) and way bigger than the width of the ring's band, while the round is way smaller than the finger and about twice the width of the band. As far as I think, the size of the stone while worn is going to be appreciated in reference with the obvious related things (band, finger, hand) since not everyone spends so much time among diamonds... and chances are there will be no other marq around. If you draw the dimensions of a marq (just the contour, of course) and round like these, you'd see what I mean. Surely, you can pich up a couple marquises and rounds of similar weight, just in case my example does not apply to stones you like.