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Radiant Help! - diamonds are complicated

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chri

Rough_Rock
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Messages
3
I've been looking for about a month and have done a ton of research--I understand the Four C's and have a good idea where I can find value (GH/VS1) range. However, it seems as if, when looking at radiant cuts--which of course is what my girlfriend wants--half of the things that apply to a round brilliants don't.

I have collected a number of diamonds on a comparison here: http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-dia...022,138011,195021,241632,250098,138024,156820. My girlfriend likes the look of larger facets on the James Allen site, but I'd like to know how much we'll actually be able to see them when they're not under 40x magnification

I understand generally a radiant depth should be larger than the table, but not always, and I also understand the LW ratios should be around 1.4 for a rectangular and 1.0-1.1 for a square radiant; but it's so difficult to know if I'm getting a diamond that will look the way I want it to.

I guess I just want to be sure I'm getting a good value, beautiful, eye-clean diamond, and am a bit overwhelmed by the complications involved in radiant cuts. Do any of the diamonds on that comparison stand out as better choices to you (the experts)?

Thanks so much for any help!
 
Hi Chri,

I'm not sure where the idea that the table in a radiant cut should be smaller than the depth originated but there's no relationship whatsoever between table size and depth %. It is also not true that a rectangular or square radiant "should be" a particular length/width ratio. The L/W ratio (shape) of the radiant is a purely personal call based on what you like and how it works with the setting you choose. As a general rule a diamond will visually look square if it is 1.1 -1 or squarer, it will look sqarish up to 1.15-1, it will look rectangularish upt to 1.2-1 and it will look rectangualar if it is 1.2-1 or longer. In fact, many people consider 1.4-1 overlong (certainly not ideal) and a radiant that long is much more likely to have a bowtie.

Numbers aside, a well cut radiant looks as big as it ought to for its carat weight and has beautiful even brilliance without a bowtie or concentrations of black and does not window out with a slight tilt. Unfortunately, the only way to know if this is the case is to see the diamond or trust someone else who has seen it to both know what to look for and tell the truth. Pictures are not reliable since lighting conditions vary and the #'s generally available do not provide enough information. Things like ASSET scans are useful but only if you really know how to interpret them (which very few people, even so called experts, do) and even then do not substitute for seeing the diamond.
 
Chri,
What are your specs and budget? JulieN picked out some nice ones to get more info on.

tyty333
 
Thanks a lot for the feedback and help. I'd love to find something that's colorless or near colorless, eye clean, and between .5 and .9, and I'd love to spend less than $3,000, which definitely seems possible. JulieN's selections are great and help a lot, and I love the larger facets within them. Those types of facets--the fairly large size--are exactly what I'm looking for. I'm just a bit scared about buying online and not being able to see the diamonds in person.
 
But you have a video, and you can get ASET images and an actual gemologist's opinion on up to 3 stones at JA. And other vendors will have that capability as well (Good Old Gold, Whiteflash, etc - Diamonds By Lauren carries a lot of radiants and are very knowledgeable on them as also).

Don't be nervous about buying online - there are reputable vendors that will give you an honest, objective opinion on the stones in question, and will tell you how well they perform. I trust their trained eyes more than I'd trust my own in a jewelry store with fancy lighting than can make terrible stones sparkle... ;))
 
This post is from forever ago, but I wanted to stop back by and just say thanks to everyone who helped. I ended up choosing this diamond and pairing it with a 2mm knife-edge solitaire setting.

I bought the ring at the end of October--James Allen was fantastic throughout the entire thing and the presentation was absolutely great--and proposed on December 20th. The diamond was perfect and the ring is beautiful--my fiancé loves it, and it's exactly what she wanted.

Here's the end result. It's a bit yellow because of the lighting, but I assure you the diamond is absolutely colorless. Thanks again for the advice.
 
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