Round Brilliant 2CT - Budget 12,500 to 14,000

[nashvegas]

This is my first post on the site. Must pickup a 2CT round before our 10 year anniversary 8/7.

Looking for an ideal cut, color G-H, SI1 (or better, eye clean a must), 2.0ct or better. Budget is $12,500 and $14,000. Could possible endure some pain to move to $14,500 to 15,000 if it''s an absolute must. Must stay out of TN to avoid sales tax. I can''t seem to find information on a lot of the sites pertaining to crown and pavilion angles / percentages to determine HCA. Most of the stones I am finding in my price range are EGL. Need help and recommendations.

 

[Ellen]

Hi nash,

Hate to say it, but in a well cut stone graded by a major lab, it''s not possible. You need to either up the budget, or lower the size.

 

[mercoledi]

Ditto Ellen I found one, but I sincerely doubt that it''s eye-clean JA blechy F SI2

 

[CKinNYC]

Hi Nashvegas,

I think what you''re looking for is a little unrealistic with your budget, if you want to stick to an ideal/excellent cut AGS or GIA stone (which would probably be the reco here). Either you can come down a bit in size, or go lower in color, or perhaps a combination of the two.

Does it have to be a 2ct+? What size finger does she have (if it''s for a ring)?

For that budget, you''re looking at probably a 2ct J SI1. This isn''t very helpful of me, but I found this one on James Allen - but it''s literally just become unavailable, sorry. http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/J-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1176998.asp

As Ellen said, you''re going to have to budge on some of your criteria.

Good luck!

 

[Ellen]

Here's another possible contender. Need to ask if eyeclean of course.

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1067904.asp

 

[nashvegas]

Thanks for your responses. I am looking to get the valued for my budget. I did a price comparison search on the site with AGS0 checked, then for labs; GIA, AGS and Other. For depth and table sizes I took the defaults for the search (which were depth 58.7 to 62.3, table 53 - 5. That search returned several stones, almost all are EGL. Not sure if I can find out how the EGL cuts are without the crown and pavilion angles to plug into HCA. Most sites are not listing info on thier sites.



If there are not many options available within my budget range what would you recommend for good quality cut around 2ct (noting the preference to stay at 2ct) and trying to get the best value for my budget.



Thanks,
Jeff[/i]

 

[Regular Guy]

Though I agree with my friends that something will have to give...

the Pricestats resource will give you some leverage.

For example...since again my friends thought to push to SI2, where you can find some eye clean options...this one and a few others meet your requirements otherwise. You can see it''s cert on Union Diamond, and find it earns an HCA of 1.3 TIC...also cherry for both GIA Excellent and AGS0. But...though the cert is clean...as discussed here recently, it notes the clarity grade is based on clouds not shown.

This could be a reason to not go. But...it gets you a diamond that''s probably eye clean. Asking WF to evaluate it...they may be able to tell you it doesn''t suffer sufficiently to worry.

 

[honey22]

You are going to pay a hefty premium for hitting that 2ct mark. How about dropping to 1.8 - 1.9ctish and you could probably do that with your budget. I know you said you wanted to hit the 2ct mark, but I would much prefer a well cut sparkly stone that''s slightly smaller (you probably won''t notice the size difference after setting anyway) than an average cut lifeless 2ct stone.

 

[MikeRato1]

agree with honey, she wont be able to see a size difference so just tell her its a 2.0 & start looking at 1.9''s

 

[mercoledi]

Would you consider a J with strong blue fluorescence?

 

[nashvegas]

1.8 and 1.9 diamonds are ok. I am like you guys I dont think anyone would be able to tell. Would prefer to stay within near coloress diamonds. Would prefer G or H.

I did get a reasonable response from a vendor I contacted, its one color higher than I was wanting (EGL "I", which I guess could be bad as J according to what I am finding in other posts). The cost is 12K and change.

EGL 2.12 RB
8.35 - 8.29 - 5.03

Depth: 60.5%
Table: 57%
Crown: 14%
Pavilion: 42%
Clarity: VS2
Graining: Nil
Fluorescence: None

Girdle: Medium, Faceted
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Excellent Ideal Cut - 8 hearts & 8 arrows

HCA, I didnt know what to put for cutlet % as I couldnt find info on that in the certificate, so how do you determine cutlet %?. I put an 0 for cutlet and it scored a 1.9 HCA. I put a 2 and it scored a 0.8, not really sure what to do to get the cutlet %.

Thanks for your help so far. Let me know what you think and offer any other suggestions as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[agc]

Jeff, to stay in your budget and get a nicely cut GIA/AGS graded G - H SI1 diamond, you would probably be looking at a 1.7 carat diamond. You could get a larger one with EGL but I would be concerned about the accuracy of the grading.

 

[Regular Guy]

Another option (that''s been bandied about)...not EGL, and not even GIA.

 

[purrfectpear]

Date: 6/17/2008 10:11:26 PM
Author: Regular Guy
Another option (that's been bandied about)...not EGL, and not even GIA.

AGS, which I think most PS'rs would agree is preferable as far as labs go

However that particular stone sure has some whopper carbon spots at 8x magnification

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/17/2008 9:47:45 PM
Author: nashvegas
1.8 and 1.9 diamonds are ok. I am like you guys I dont think anyone would be able to tell. Would prefer to stay within near coloress diamonds. Would prefer G or H.

I did get a reasonable response from a vendor I contacted, its one color higher than I was wanting (EGL 'I', which I guess could be bad as J according to what I am finding in other posts). The cost is 12K and change.

EGL 2.12 RB
8.35 - 8.29 - 5.03

Depth: 60.5%
Table: 57%
Crown: 14%
Pavilion: 42%
Clarity: VS2
Graining: Nil
Fluorescence: None

Girdle: Medium, Faceted
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Excellent Ideal Cut - 8 hearts & 8 arrows

HCA, I didnt know what to put for cutlet % as I couldnt find info on that in the certificate, so how do you determine cutlet %?. I put an 0 for cutlet and it scored a 1.9 HCA. I put a 2 and it scored a 0.8, not really sure what to do to get the cutlet %.

Thanks for your help so far. Let me know what you think and offer any other suggestions as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

Depending on which division of EGL it is, it could be as bad as a K. EGL USA is the only division that seems fairly accurate in its grading.

Also, this is what we call a shallow/shallow. Both crown and pavilion are much less that optimal depths. I would pass on this myself.


Jeff, I don't know if the intended asked for 2 cts., or that's just what you want, but almost all of the women on here, even the ones who love size, would opt for a smaller, excellent cut stone over a bigger, not so well cut, if given a choice. Cut IS what makes a diamond, it's the one thing you don't want to scrimp on.


p.s. While the stone scored well numerically on the HCA, did you see where the x fell? Ideally, you want it to fall in the overlap area of AGS/GIA, or close to.

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 6/18/2008 8:00:07 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 6/17/2008 9:47:45 PM
Author: nashvegas
1.8 and 1.9 diamonds are ok. I am like you guys I dont think anyone would be able to tell. Would prefer to stay within near coloress diamonds. Would prefer G or H.

I did get a reasonable response from a vendor I contacted, its one color higher than I was wanting (EGL ''I'', which I guess could be bad as J according to what I am finding in other posts). The cost is 12K and change.

EGL 2.12 RB
8.35 - 8.29 - 5.03

Depth: 60.5%
Table: 57%
Crown: 14%
Pavilion: 42%
Clarity: VS2
Graining: Nil
Fluorescence: None

Girdle: Medium, Faceted
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Excellent Ideal Cut - 8 hearts & 8 arrows

HCA, I didnt know what to put for cutlet % as I couldnt find info on that in the certificate, so how do you determine cutlet %?. I put an 0 for cutlet and it scored a 1.9 HCA. I put a 2 and it scored a 0.8, not really sure what to do to get the cutlet %.

Thanks for your help so far. Let me know what you think and offer any other suggestions as well.

Thanks,
Jeff

Depending on which division of EGL it is, it could be as bad as a K. EGL USA is the only division that seems fairly accurate in its grading.

Also, this is what we call a shallow/shallow. Both crown and pavilion are much less that optimal depths. I would pass on this myself.

HI:

Ellen, normally I would never take issue with you on semantics, but I think you meant to write this a different way....

For the OP--do you think it might be wise to work with one vendor here and ask them to find you a EGL USA certed stone that might fit your size/price criteria and be a beautiful stone?

cheers--Sharon

cheers--Sharon

 

[Ellen]

Date: 6/18/2008 9:23:57 AM
Author: canuk-gal

Date: 6/18/2008 8:00:07 AM
Author: Ellen

Depending on which division of EGL it is, it could be as bad as a K. EGL USA is the only division that seems fairly accurate in its grading.

Also, this is what we call a shallow/shallow. Both crown and pavilion are much less that optimal depths. I would pass on this myself.

HI:

Ellen, normally I would never take issue with you on semantics, but I think you meant to write this a different way....

For the OP--do you think it might be wise to work with one vendor here and ask them to find you a EGL USA certed stone that might fit your size/price criteria and be a beautiful stone?

cheers--Sharon

cheers--Sharon

You''re right. While I meant "bad" as in as "low" as, not bad as in "horrible" I didn''t word it properly, and it did sound "bad".

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I would say that GIA and AGS labs are preferable. My GIA diamond is perfectly cut and the additional tests prove it. But I bought from Good Old Gold who can run the extra tests on the diamond.

Does she want a 2 ct. above all else? We spent $14,000 about 2 years ago on a 1.6 ct. stone. If you go to 2 cts. on that budget, you''re going to really have to sacrifice something.

 

[nashvegas]

I had two more quotes come in at 14 and change (almost 15):

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.15 GIA J VS2
8.26 - 8.30 x 5.10

depth: 60
table: 57
crown angle: 35.5
pavilion angle: 40.6
Fluorescence: none

Excellent Cut, Excellent Polish, Excellent Symmetry

HCA Score: 1.4


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.04 GIA I SI1 (eye clean reported by the vendor)
8.18 - 8.22 x 4.99

depth: 60.9
table: 57
crown angle: 34
pavilion angle: 40.8
Fluorescence: none

Excellent cut, Excellent polish, Excellent symetry

HCA score: 1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you think about these stones compared to the EGL? Both the EGL stone and these stones seem to be cut well according to the certifications and the HCA scores, the GIA stones may be cut a bit better considering its a stricter certification. Just wondering if these two are really going to be worth going over the budget for compared to the EGL stone comming in at 12 and change?

Anyone consider these any of the three stones as being a substantially great value for the price? Anyone have any reccomendations?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[coda72]

I personally think the J Mercoledi posted is the best possibility. It''s an AGS0, and the fact that it has strong fluorescence might make it appear a color grade or two higher. You would have to check with GOG to see if it''s eyeclean though.

 

[Regular Guy]

Nash,

Seems like there''s a lot that could be said about your last item mentioned by you...

Date: 6/18/2008 12:36:35 PM
Author: nashvegas
I had two more quotes come in at 14 and change (almost 15):

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.04 GIA I SI1 (eye clean reported by the vendor)
8.18 - 8.22 x 4.99

depth: 60.9
table: 57
crown angle: 34
pavilion angle: 40.8
Fluorescence: none

Excellent cut, Excellent polish, Excellent symetry

HCA score: 1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks,
Jeff

Your problem with your first recent mention is only that it''s a J...not the GH you initially were going for. But...your last option provisionally get you everything you want, plus perhaps a seller you have a local relationship with.

 

[Cocosgirl]

By the numbers either of those look good -- I would probably go for the J/VS2 since it''s bigger.

 

[nashvegas]

Yeah its looking like I''m going to have to bend somewhere. I would prefer G, H. Really considering the I listed below. So far from what I see as far as cut quailty and color its my best bet. J really starts getting warm as far as color. Will most likely be staying away from J unless I can somehow arrange to visually see anything in J before purchasing.

2.04 GIA I SI1 (eye clean reported by the vendor)
8.18 - 8.22 x 4.99

depth: 60.9
table: 57
crown angle: 34
pavilion angle: 40.8
Fluorescence: none

Excellent cut, Excellent polish, Excellent symetry

HCA score: 1

 

[nashvegas]

Found something interesting today is that I had two vendors quote the exact same J color stone. In cases like this are there any tools available to do a search on the stone’s information, size, etc to find out the vendor that actually has a stone? I figure in a case like that it would be cheaper to actually buy the stone from the vendor who is sourcing it as apposed to trying to buy it from someone in the middle who is going to make a profit on the stone as well.

 

[Lynn B]

I have a gorgeous AGS-0 2.36 RB that is a J/SI2 and it is beautifully *white* and completely eye-clean. I have no regrets and get compliments on it daily. I LOVE an eye-clean SI2 (they ARE out there), and getting a killer cut J (or even a K) colored stone is a GREAT way to maximize a budget.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/finally-gorgeous-new-fishtail-pave-set-from-wf.46129/
(Lots of pictures in the thread, but I got a new camera on about page 6 or 7 so the pics get better after that.)

 

[nashvegas]

Lynn thats some great pictures and a beautiful stone. Hopefully I will end up picking up something that my wife will be as happy with. Still looking for options. Hopefully I will get things narrowed down in the next week or so.

 

[vespergirl]

I know that mine opinion is not necessarily shared by all PSers, but I have a beautiful 2 ct. EGL H&A stone that''s graded G SI1. The vendor I worked with carried mostly EGL stones, and I compared mine with GIA & AGS stones through an Idealscope, and am satisfied that I have a true H&A that''s really G color. You can definitely find a beautiful EGL stone - if it were me, I''d rather have an EGL stone that''s a G or H than a GIA stone that''s a J, because I''m color sensitive, and that''s my taste. If you''re able to take a look at the EGL stones in person, I wouldn''t rule that option out.

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/18/2008 9:51:24 PM
Author: nashvegas
Lynn thats some great pictures and a beautiful stone. Hopefully I will end up picking up something that my wife will be as happy with. Still looking for options. Hopefully I will get things narrowed down in the next week or so.

Nash,

Happy to help. I know the *lower color/clarity* THANG isn''t necessarily for everybody... which is certainly OK... leaves more for me!

Seriously, I just can''t see paying for what I cannot literally *see*... to the naked eye, my SI2 was NO DIFFERENT from my old VS2, and the G color and the J color were so incredibly similar, too. It wasn''t like the J stone screamed *YELLOW!!!!* Believe me, I am very, very PICKY (dare I even say a bit ... um... anal?

) and I would have never been able to be happy with a diamond that showed any yellow, OR any inclusions.

When I bought my first stone, I was a nervous newbie... so I bought a G/VS... nice and *SAFE*. But further education here on PS taught me a few things, and so I looked at lower color/lower clarity stones for my upgrade, and have never looked back.

Because of escalating prices and the darn budget, I will probably never upgrade again

, but IF I ever did, I would absolutely look again at KILLER CUT, lower color/clarity stones. No yellow, no visible inclusions, just sparkle sparkle sparkle and SIZE, babeeeeeeeeeee, SIZE!