Reasonable deal or keep looking? 1.96 round

[necompressor]

Hello, lurking for a while, great forum and great information. Any feedback is appreciated. Starting to look for a rb for a Tacori Halo HT2547 2.5cu8 setting. Looking at a stone locally, specs that I have are:

1.96
d Color
SI2
Cut grade: very good,
63.7% depth
61% table width
15% crown height
42% Pavillion depth
thick, faceted girdle
polish vg
sym vg
cutlet none
Graining slight
Very slight blue floro

2010 EGL cert

$13,200

Looks eye clean to me, shows really white compared to a 2ct I Gia stone they had for comparison. Thoughts at this price point? Thanks!

 

[Dancing Fire]

that is a poorly cut stone + EGL = run away now!

 

[AprilBaby]

EGL, deep cut, very good rating....nope

Very doubtful its D color or Si2 clarity.

 

[Gypsy]

No freaking way.

Do NOT BUY. EGL has been banned by Rapnet and people are suing for fraud over their lab report accuracies.

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. And GIA Ex is not enough. And you must stick to GIA and AGS only. EGL is a bad option: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/[/URL]
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want?
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Well one method is to start with a GIA Ex, and then apply the HCA to it. YOU DO NOT USE HCA for AGS0 stones.
https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/holloway-cut-advisor
The HCA is a rejection tool. Not a selection tool. It uses 4 data points to make a rudimentary call on how the diamond may perform.
If the diamond passes then you know that you are in the right zone in terms of angles for light performance. Under 2 is a pass. Under 2.5-2.1 is a maybe. 2.6 and over is a no. No score 2 and under is better than any other.
Is that enough? Not really.
So what you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return. That is why you won't see us recommending Blue Nile, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. BGD, James Allen, GOG, HPD, ERD and WF do.

The Idealscope is the 'selection tool'. Not the HCA.
So yes, with a GIA stone you need the idealscope images. Or you can buy an idealscope yourself and take it in to the jeweler you are working with to check the stones yourself. Or if you have a good return policy (full refund minimum 7 days) then you can buy the idealscope, buy the stone, and do it at home.


Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium.