Radiant cut advice

[shimmie]

Can anyone advise a clueless newbie whether this would be a good diamond to purchase in a radiant cut? Price is approx $10,000. Any help at all would be very much appreciated. In particular I have read so much info about depth and table percentages that my head is hurting!

The GIA certificate gives the following info:

Cut cornered rectangular modified brilliant
6.72 x 6.09 x 4.52mm
1.5 carat
depth 74.2%
table 72%
girdle: medium to slightly thick
culet: none
polish: very good
symmetry: good
Clarity: VS1
Colour: G
Flourescence: None

 

[Lorelei]

Hi Shimmie and welcome

We are very lucky here to have two great experts , Radiantman, who's Father invented the radiant cut I believe and David from DBL, these guys really know their stuff and I am sure in a bit of time they will answer any questions you may have. Also use the search tool above using radiant cuts, you should find lots of info to get you started. The only thing I can advise you on is that radiants are tricky and cannot always be best evaluated by the numbers, i.e what might sound way too deep might work great in a radiant and there is no substitute for using your eyes. Don't get too hung up on the numbers and see what expert advice you get, but the main thing is that the diamond you choose delights YOUR eyes

The colour and clarity sound good so there shouldn't be any problems there.
I hope this helps

 

[coda72]

I personally think 74.2% is too deep for a radiant, but that''s just my opinion. It may appear a bit smaller than it should for its carat weight. I don''t know if you''re buying online or in a jewelry store, but for buying online, I use the numbers because you''re not going to be able to order a whole bunch of diamonds to see which one you like. For me, when I was looking for a radiant, I wanted an AGA 1A, so I looked for depth 60-65% and table 60-65.5%. These are hard to find, but they have a good chance of being beautiful diamonds.

 

[shimmie]

Thank you for the advice and the warm welcome - very much appreciated. I have seen the diamond in a store - my fiancee loves its sparkle and how it looks, but as I say, we're no experts and this is the first time I've bought a diamond.

 

[Lorelei]

I am glad you found this helpful. Numbers are one thing, but as the experts say you cannot evalute radiants by numbers alone - they really need to be seen, numbers are useful to weed out contenders but they standards vary so much unlike round brilliants they are still a bit of an unknown quantity and difficult to advise on. I don't have enough knowledge on radiants to advise you in any great capacity, but what I have learned is that sometimes less than perfect numbers in these cuts may have amazing results in person, but the important thing is what you and your fiance find beautiful, as the diamond has been seen it is worth serious consideration if you love it. Many here with fancy shapes can tell you that their pears, radiants etc fall well short of the " ideal " measurements but that the performance is incredible. I cannot advise you on the numbers at all, as I said previously that I don't have the knowledge here but they are a place to start, once you have seen and loved a diamond however even if it is a little too deep, or the table is larger than ideal, that will fade into the joy the thought of wearing the diamond brings you. I have a very deep pear and it is gorgeous

If you can, maybe get an independant appraisal done on this diamond if possible and put it on hold if you love it, then look around and see what else is available if you are dealing with a brick and mortar establishment, that way you can see in person how the different measurements have an effect on each diamond and decide what works best for you. In other threads opinions between experts and cutters vary so much as to what constitutes a good radiant that in the end it has to be down to what YOU like and will love forever. If the numbers are hugely important to you that's fine, but in the end it is beauty you are after and in a radiant as in all diamonds that is entirely in the eye of the purchaser. Is there another similar weight radiant you could compare it too, just to see the performance and if the depth makes much difference?

 

[Rank Amateur]

The main thing about radiants is "don''t pay too much".

Often they are cut for weight retention, so you shouldn''t need to pay the same $$/ct as a round. I have a feeling that vendors like them because they can be bought (wholesale) relatively cheap and the opportunity is there to make a little bit better $$/ct margin.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

RA- I disagree- I think it''s good to pay too much....

I don''t know that dealers like radiants for any other reason then they are popular.
Well cut radiants are not "relatively cheap" - they cost as much or more than other fancy shapes, like Princess, Oval, Emerald Cut, Asscher, Marquise- for a dealer, buying diamonds for stock requires gonads of steel. You can''t buy everyting, and you never know exactly what people might want.


Of course the essence of your point about price is true- you should be able to get a larger radiant cut diamond, as compared to a round of the same quality, for any given price.

Shimmie- if you like the diamond, and feel comfortable with the seller, it''s a good price.

PS- one teeny detail- you listed the weight as 1.5- a GIA report would give a third decimal place- for example 1.50

 

[Rank Amateur]

David

What''s the premium of a "real" Radiant over a generic "radiant"?

 

[shimmie]

Thank you David. You''re quite right - the certificate lists the weight as 1.50 carats.

 

[shimmie]

Thank you all for the help - it''s lovely to find such a friendly forum. I think I''m going to go ahead with it, but if anyone else has any other opinions or advice, it would be great to hear your views.

 

[eks6426]

Shimmie,

I have a radiant diamond engagement ring. The best advice has already been written...make sure you look at a lot of different radiant cuts. It''s hard to judge them by the numbers. They all look sparkely until you start to compare them side by side. When I picked mine, my then fiance and I picked 10 stones "by the numbers" that we thought would look good, then the jeweler brought them in for us to view in person. I was amazed at the differences. Many of the stones had similar numbers but looked completely different.