Princess Cut Stone Selection

[jblackburn]

On Monday, I have to call an Online Dealer and tell them 4-5 stones from their catalog that I want to look at when I visit them IN PERSON next weekend. This trip will be pretty important to me as Maryland is about 3.5 hours away from me (so I don't want to make the trip twice) and when compared to the other places (mostly B&M) where I can actually look at the stone (which I have heard is pretty important for princess cut where the specs alone are not always conclusive), this place seems to have the best prices. They can only let me look at about 4-5 though so I need to choose carefully even before I meet with them.

Here are some that I am considering asking to look at when I come in.

Ct Col Clar Lab Price Depth Table Pol Sym Flr Measurements

.70 E VS2 GIA $2,268 71 70 VG GD None
.70 F VS2 GIA $2,665 72 68 VG VG None 4.95x4.79x3.45
.70 E VS2 GIA $1,962 66 74 GD GD None 5.32x4.80x3.17
.72 F VS1 GIA $2,100 65.3 74 VG GD Med 5.33x4.99x3.26

Anyone have any thoughts on the quality/value of these stones. Particularly, any thoughts on the quality of the cut from the specs alone. Color and clarity does not matter as much since I have only looked at d-f color and vsII or better clarity anyway. (I and my girlfriend want a really nice stone for the money -- not necessarily a big stone.)

My initial thoughts are below - but please comment any way you like. Also any thoughts on how to judge the best cut stone once I am there would be wonderful. I don't know if I trust my eyeball alone, and despite all the wonderfully helpful advice on this website, I have not been able to find this information given specifically in reference to princess cut ... YET

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... my thoughts ...

I know the first two stones have real nice depth and table percentages (according to AGA) but honestly the second one is probably too expensive for me. The third stone looks like a good deal for $1962 (does anyone disagree) but I am skeptical about the 74% table percentage -- is this too much? The measurements for the third one also worry me as it seems like it might be too "rectanglish" for my tastes. The fluorescence worries me on the fourth one though I am not sure how much this matters. ~ Should I include g-h in my color category? I am already willing to accept an S1 if its "eye-clean."

Here's the best s1 I have found for the money so far:

.70 E SI1 GIA $2,104 70.3 71 VG GD None 4.96x4.91x3.45

 

[StevL]

If you want a square stone you may be surprised at how out of square the first grouping of diamonds may appear. There is one in that group that may be okay but you need to see it.

Out of the info you provided I like the last (SI) diamond best. You really need to see fancy shapes!

My rule is to keep the diameters within 10/100 of a mm when I'm looking for a square stone. If I have a difficult time finding that perfect quality, price, and squareness I then move on to diamonds that are within 15/100. I never go more if I want square, I'll just wait for one to come along.

Good luck hunting!