Question about 2 stones on HCA and if I should even bother changing or looking further (Gary your in

[confuzed]

I already purchased a stone and ring from Bluenile.com (yes I understand there is no trade up policy but they have both the bands my GF likes)

I am talking with others while I consider returning the ring to bluenile.com partly because of the lack of trade up policy and want to make sure I am doing the best I can with what I have. Whiteflash is looking at getting me a price on a band that is what I want and assuming the bands are the same price (or similar) and knowing that they have been very good to talk with and have good service, is the diamond worth the extra $900+?

If it really will not look better to the casual person then I do not want to waste their time as it will cost them money to send it to me only to find out I did good on the bluenile.com purchase. ($5,200 with diamond and pave set bridal set) My budget was about $5,500 but could stretch to the whiteflas assuming the bands are similar pricing.

The stone that I bought is:

GIA Certification
- .91 Carat Round (6.16-6.20x3.82 mm)
- Color - G
- Clarity - SI1
- Cut - Excellent
- Clarity Characteristics - Crystal <---Not sure I understand this if it is more complex than what it sounds
- Polish - Very Good
- Symmetry - Excellent
Flourescence - None
Proportions:
Depth - 61.8%
Table - 57%
Crown Angle - 34.5 degree
Pavillian Angle - 40.6 degree
Cutlet - None
HCA Results:
Light Return - Excellent
Fire - Excellent
Scintillation - Excellent
Spread -Very Good

Total Visual Performance 0.9 - Excellent within TIC range

The price of the diamond was $4,038.00


The Stone I am considering is:

AGS Certification (ACA from Whiteflash)
- .917 Carat Round (6.23-6.25x3.83 mm)
- Color - H
- Clarity - VS2
- Cut - AGS (0) A Cut Above H&A
- Polish - Ideal
- Symmetry - Ideal
Flourescence - Negligible
Proportions:
Depth - 61.4%
Table - 56.1%
Crown Angle - 34.7 degree
Pavillian Angle - 40.6 degree
Cutlet - None
HCA Results:
Light Return - Excellent
Fire - Excellent
Scintillation - Excellent
Spread -Very Good

Total Visual Performance 0.8 - Excellent within TIC range

The price of the diamond was $4,950.00

 

[Lord Summerisle]

as beautiful as ACAs are... its hard to argue with a $1000 price increase, and theres not many alternatives.

hows about this one: http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-395179.htm its a touch (0.2mm smaller, 0.805 G VS2)

do you like the Blue nile stone? does it look good, can you see the inclusion at all if you look hard enough? does it bother you if you can?

if you are uncomfortable, maybe its worth checking out the ACA, or an alternative ES stone, or one from another vendor... if you like the stone you have, stick with it.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

I would like to see an ideal-scope image of the BN stone. Dont suppose you have one or can acess someone else''s?

I can not believe BN will not provide them.
If not that then at least post their weird GCEL report please because we can get an idea of optical symmetry from it.

You are comparing stones with similar proportion, but different degrees of selection strictness - only you can decide if that adds value

 

[confuzed]

Thanks for both replies. I do like the one I have but I want to make sure I did the best I can.

Gary,

The diamond I purchased was not part of their "Signature" collection so I am not sure they have the GCAL cert or Ideal-scope image. I have sent them an email requesting that and will post back shortly.

In the mean time I did find the following two that would allow me to increase the size (which she will like) and appears to be good based on HCA. (Both have sarin, ideal-scope images, and Aset since they are at whiteflash)

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-332235.htm#

http://www.whiteflash.com/round_ideal_cut/Round-Ideal-Cut-cut-diamond-332235.htm#

Thanks for your help!

 

[confuzed]

Gary,

It appears that I can not provide this info.

I''m sorry to say that we are not able to provide IdealScope reports for our diamonds. This is primarily because our suppliers do not have these machines on site, but also because we do not believe that these reports offer a good value to our customers. A cut appraisal machine is only as good as its calibration, and unless these machines are meticulously calibrated, they will not produce accurate results. Even when perfectly calibrated, the same diamond run through the same machine three times will produce three different results. (This is an experiment I would recommend trying if you ever happen to be at a jewelry store with one of these machines.)

Another reason we stay away from these kinds of reports is that the new AGS and GIA reports have largely superseded the need for additional cut grade assessment. The GIA and AGS are the undisputed leaders and gold standard for diamond grading in America, and their new cut grade assessments are the result of many years of research. Other assessments are neither as widely recognized nor as highly valued as GIA reports, so we have decided that the price increases that would result from providing these reports would not be acceptable to the majority of our customers.

The diamond in question is not from our Signature Ideal collection so it would not have gone to the GCAL for additional grading. Signature diamonds are raw stones that we send to a cutter with certain criteria that we want. If they don''t measure up they are not graded by the GCAL. Not all Ideals are cut to Signature Ideal specifications although many have the qualities.