Questions About Princess Cut Buying Process

[Sparkle524]

Hi-
I'm a newbie and have been lurking on this website for a few weeks trying to learn as much as I can about princess cut diamonds. I still have a few questions about what to buy, who to purchase from and how buying on the internet works.

1. I was looking at goodoldgold.com and noticed how beautiful their Solasfera princess cuts were. If you were buying a pc diamond would you spend the extra money to get a Solasfera pc or just go for a pc AGS ideal cut pc?

2. Which internet vendors are reliable? I've seen goodoldgold, supercert and whiteflash mentioned numerous times. Are they good companies to deal with?

3. Is this how internet purchasing works? I pick the diamond, they send me the AGS, Diamxray, ASET, Brilliantscope, etc and once I approve of the diamond and wire them the money and they ship it out. Once I receive it I take it to an appraiser and if all is well I am a happy camper? If not, I ship it back to them and they will refund my money minus shipping charges?

4. I already have the setting - is it better for me to ship the setting to them and have them set it or should I have a jeweler in town set it after I get it insured?

So far I have looked on numerous websites as well as the diamond search here on pricescope and have not found what I am looking for. Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[jaebond]

1. I personally would (and did) spend the money for a signature cut, but I'm sure there are a lot of factors that go into making that decision.

2. I went with BGD (Brian Gavin Diamonds) and they were wonderful to deal with.

3. The way I did it was I had them (along with a few other companies) ship the diamond (at my expense) I liked best to an appraiser so that I could see them all together. I picked the one I like (which was from BGD), then they all went back to their respective homes. I then picked the BGD ring I liked and had them set it and send it to me.

4. From what I have read, it is better to have the diamond people set the diamond for you. I'm assuming that includes shipping the setting to them, but I'm sure many other people will chime in.

 

[Sparkle524]

jaebond - when you had them ship all the diamonds to you did you have to pay the full price for every diamond shipped to you? That would be too expensive for me. Or did you leave some type of deposit. I can't imagine them shipping any diamond without some type of payment. I searched the BGD website and included the signature diamond and it came up with no results. I may have to request that they do a search.

 

[jaebond]

I definitely didn't pay the full price beforehand. I don't think I had to put down a deposit, but I'm not really sure. The stones were sent to an appraiser and then I went for an appointment, so the I never had possession of the stones. You have to be in contact with an appraiser when you are setting everything up. There is a list under the resources tab up above.

I was able to find the BGD princesses. Did you go here:

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamond/search-for-diamonds/princess

Try expanding your search parameters if they aren't showing up.

 

[Sparkle524]

jaebond - thanks for the link. I did find the link for pcd on the BGD website. Actually I read somewhere on this forum that BGD is in Houston as well as Whiteflash. I live in Houston as well. I requested a quote on the PS forum search for a pcd with my requirements. I hoping to find something nice for a fair price.

 

[iKevyn]

glad i found this post. im also new here and also looking for a diamond. i hope you found what you're looking for.

 

[Sparkle524]

Ikevyn - I've received quotes from the request that I submitted on Pricescope but have yet to see any that I like. Here's what I'm looking for:

3 to 3.5 ct princess cut
F color
VS1
No culet, no fluorescence
Ideal cut

So far nothing. I have an appt with a sales rep at Whiteflash next week since I live in HOuston. Hopefully I will be able to find something beautiful there. At least I can see it in person. I'll post my experience working with them here next week.

 

[slg47]

Most vendors probably do not stock such large sizes but if you call ahead they could probably work with you to find something.

 

[Sparkle524]

slg47 - I've been corresponding with Sara at GOG and she currently doesn't have anything in stock except one pc that is H color. I'm hoping that Whiteflash will have something I like. So far the other quotes that are coming in are no where near close what I want. What's funny is that I requested PC diamonds and one quote was for 3 RBs. If I can't find an ideal cut pc I may have to get a 2+ ct RB.

 

[Amys Bling]

Most vendors probably do not stock such large sizes but if you call ahead they could probably work with you to find something.

exactly this. You may have to actually call into the vendors and discuss what you are looking for so they can find options for you.

 

[bagelboy]

I think that a diamond cutter has to have almost the perfect shaped rough to make a princess diamond. Not only is this type of rough harder to find in the first place and then factor in the larger sizes of rough needed to cut a three or four carat diamond. I think that average diamond mine probably only produces a few pieces per month if they are lucky. Plus it may be easier and faster to sell if this rough was cut into an emerald shape or a round diamond. A cutter may be able to sell three or four round diamonds in the same time it takes to sell one princess diamond. So maybe a needle in the haystack I think.

 

[ariel144]

The H superior cut princesses on GOG are going to give off more light and sparkle than an F that is not cut as well. If you look at the cut of the Solasfera and the superior princess cuts on GOG you will see they are very deep with very small crown percentages. This produces the highest performance of light return in a princess cut diamond. Also notice that the inclusions are close to the girdles and will never be noticed on those two 3c H stones that he has.

Note the superior cuts have tables in the 60 percentile range, which are very hard to find.

You can go here and search a large number of diamonds but they will not have a price listed:

www.polygon.net

click on "Services" and "quick search".

If GOG is a member they can call in a diamond that you find on there but you need to know what to look for and that would be the cut range that goes with a "Superior" Cut princess on the GOG site.

I suggest that you go to GOG and watch all his tutorials on color, clarity, and what makes good light performance in a diamond and then start your search for your princess cut diamond. Here is a G color with a pretty good aset.

http://www.exceldiamonds.com/Diamonds-1/GIA-Graded-Loose-Princess-Cut-Diamond-3-09-Carat-G-Color-VS2-Clarity-108991.html

I believe that Jon will call in another diamond and show you a video comparing his H colors to an F or G that he can call in for you. The superior cuts will be the best performers and the difference in an F, G H will not matter.

Here is a guy who will search out the best diamond according to what you are looking for:

http://www.bestdiamondsearch.com/

You do not say what your price point is. But I would definitely watch all the tutorials on GOG to educate yourself before you start your search. You may change your mind on what you think you really want and need. For instance florescence is not a bad thing in 99% of diamonds that have it and on a lower color of diamond it can be very good making the diamond look whiter. Watch the tutorial on florescence. Hope this helps with your search

 

[Sparkle524]

Thank you for all the replies. The last time that I purchased a diamond was about 15 years ago when I first got married. This diamond is an upgrade for my 40th birthday. I was searching for a diamond based on the AGS Ideal cut chart. As you can tell I'm a newbie.

Ariel144 - I've been watching some of the videos at GOG and they are really informative. My husband said that my budget for a diamond is $65 - 70K. Of course I would like to purchase a diamond that is beautiful with the most amount of sparkle for the least amount of money. Thank you again for all the helpful info. Oh, one last question. The diamond that you referenced at exceldiamonds show an ASET that has quite a bit of green showing on the image. I thought the goal is to try to find a diamond with more red than green? Can you clarify?