Requesting your Opinions, please

[j0nny55]

Hi again! Yes! That is something I've craved to hear! Especially hearing about the off-angle theory. I'm glad you can see that and I'm glad I mentioned it. I've sent all the pictures and data to my sisters too, and they think it looks super. . .(but they could just be so excited they'd say a ring-pop was fabulous haha so it is good to have educated, non-biased opinions!)

I've searched their site for an AGS stone to compare, but there isn't much, and the AGS certs they do have don't mention anything about AGS 0 (in regards to the light return. . . they do have the normal AGS numerical grades for the other qualities though. Odd, huh?).

So I've asked them if i could see stock number 133901 (GIA report: 2131049734) to compare, and a couple of other stones that are similar, just to see if I still love the one I've reserved. I would link them directly, but...whenever I try to link to a stone (comparison page) it takes you to an empty page. I'll have to let them know that. Anyway!

I'm hoping the people at SB don't stop talking to me, with all the hoops I'm asking them to jump through, haha!

When this is all done, I'll owe you at least a drink!

 

[Christina...]

You're spending A LOT of money, you should be asking them to jump through some hoops! You wouldn't buy the first car that you gave a test drive right?! The stone that you are having called in looks like a great comparison stone. Personally I like the smaller table of the stone, but that's just going to be a personally preference. As a rule I've always looked for square stones that have a larger depth than table percentage, but now that we have confirmed that your stone is a performer isn't such an issue.

And you owe me nothing but a long happy life with your fiance. We are all here because we love diamonds and love helping people find the most beautiful stone that they can for their money. It's a hobby! Although, if you'd like to cheer for Syracuse for the next couple weeks that would be ok.

Any idea when the stone will arrive for comparisons? Oh, and I meant to mention earlier, don't worry if you can't answer right away, it's much more important that she doesn't know what you're up to!

 

[j0nny55]

Holy cow. . . I could buy a car instead of this . . .didn't really think about it like that haha! Stone #2 will be in on Friday, so that should be when I make the decision. If stone1 performs close to stone 2, then it'll be a done deal! If I fall in love with stone2, I'll get that one instead. A bit more money, but I don't want that to stand in the way

By the way, why do you prefer the different table size? Does it sparkle 'differently' ? I'm just curious

I've found an appraiser and I'll get either one appraised after I take it home! Oh, is there any particular insurance policy I should get, or can I just call my home/car/etc. company to get it covered?

Thanks again and go Orange!

 

[Christina...]

The size of the table effects the crown height. It the crown is flat you will have a lifeless diamond. A diamond that has a high crown is more visually appealing and has better light performance. The large table gives the appearance of a larger stone but it will be a large lifeless stone.

But I'm not worried about this with your stone. A 71% table is not too large on a princess cut. I was initially worried that the stone had a larger table than depth percentage which can cause light leakage, but we ruled that out with the idealscope images that you posted assuming still, that it was weak because of the angle it was sitting, which I'm confident of based on what you saw when you viewed the stone in person. The real test will be when you compare your stone with the AGS0. You will either prefer the smaller table deeper depth of the AGS or you won't. But I think that its a great last step, then you will know for sure that YOU prefer one over the other and won't be second guessing yourself later.

You can add the stone to your homeowners policy or you can go with a company that specializes in jewelry. Jewelers Mutual is one. When you get your appraisal done you should mention that you are doing for insurance purposes. Some appraisers will give a different value depending on what you are using the appraisal for. You don't want an appraisal that over states the stones value because you don't want to be paying extra for premiums. You should also consider what type of policy you want, cash value, or replacement. Some companies will replace your stone if it becomes lost or damaged with a stone with like specs, some will give you the cash value of your stone and allow you to chose the stone that you replace the lost one with. That is the type of coverage that I have and prefer. I truly don't know enough about appraisals and insurance policies to give you anymore information than this, but there are several excellent appraisers on PS and if you start a new thread, you will get a lot more helpful information that what I can give. If you don't want to start a new thread then I'm sure if you do a PS search about insurance policies you will find a huge amount of information.

Can't wait until Friday to hear what you have to say! I'm sure I'm not as excited as you are, but I'm pretty excited for you!

OH yeah...Go Orange!!

 

[Christina...]

I just wanted to show you the difference in crown angles so that you could get a better idea of what it looks like....


This is the James Allen stone that I had mistakenly posted earlier as an AGS0. You can see how flat the profile of the diamond looks

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-SI2-Premium-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1409727.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131

This stone is an AGS0, you can see that the crown angle is almost twice as high as the previous stone. This will result in the light entering and leaving the stone from the top, reflecting back to the viewers eye, whereas with a shallower crown the light will exit from the side.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-VVS2-Ideal-Cut-Princess-Diamond-1433102.asp?b=16&a=12&c=77&cid=131

Big difference right?! The higher crown is just more visually appealing and makes for a brighter more firey diamond. I suspect that you will find the crown height to be fine on your stone, but I wanted to show you so that you would know what to look for on Friday.

Good Luck!!

 

[j0nny55]

OK! The stone came in early so I went down this morning (hooray no down-town Friday traffic, whew) I am now totally convinced 'my' stone is the one! The more expensive comparison stone was beautiful. The great news is that I could hardly tell the difference between the two! In fact, only eye-noticeable difference was 'my' stone was a brighter white, even though they are both 'G' color stones! The comp stone did perform a tiny bit better under the ideal-scope, but I couldn't tell the difference with my eyes, and since 'my' stone was visibly brighter in color that was the real 'clincher' for me. That and I can get a stone that performs just as well for about 3k less I'm good with that! The girl who was showing me the stones was the one who pointed out the color difference. Since I was able to work alone with her (not my original salesperson, who is great) I think her opinions were less likely to be biased towards one stone or the other based on price/commission. Not that they let that factor in in general, but just in case! That being said, so far working with Solomon Brothers has been great, they're very patient and are willing to do quite a bit to encourage comfort with the purchase. (Figured I'd give them a shout out because it has been a good time!)

This has been a super experience working with you guys and someday I hope to 'pay it forward' with all this knowledge I've gained through the process. Once I get the stone mounted and prettied up, I will take some glamour shots and post for everyone to see!

 

[Christina...]

Yah! I'm so excited for you Jonny! And I'm super duper excited to see that stone mounted!! It's going to be on blinging ring!! I also love the fact that you have been able to keep this a secret from her! So, I'm assuming that the stone is being mounted now? When can we expect pictures?? Make sure that you start a new thread in the Show me the Bling forum so that everyone has an oppurtunity to oogle it! Next step, start planning the perfect proposal!! I'll be waiting for a whole a bunch of beautiful pictures! Congratulations!!