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Hiker923

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 5, 2019
Messages
13
Hi Everyone!

New to the forum and have been overwhelmed with all the great information this site has to offer. I plan on popping the question in 2020 to my GF but have a few questions about the diamond buying process. After some sly conversations, I know she's looking for at least a 2 carat round diamond in a gold solitaire setting

I've read and read and read and think when I'm searching I should be looking at the following info:
  • Carat: > 2
  • Color: >H
  • Clarity: > SI1
  • Cut: Excellent / Ideal
  • Florence: Min / None
What are your thoughts on that? Is there items I need to "tighten up" or "be flexible on"?

More Questions:
  • Is there any additional value of Blue Niles "Astro Ideal" or James Allen's "True Hearts" Cuts? Or are these just a marketing trick to spend more?
  • How do I get the most bang for my buck?
  • Has anyone used the Diamond Screener? Is it worth it?
  • My budget is ~$20-$25K, is that enough or do I need to save more?
  • Any other tips?
 
I suggest using the PS diamond search tool and only considering stones that score "excellent" on the HCA. I would be flexible about fluor, since there really isn't any evidence of fluor having negative effects on stones. No reason to limit yourself to only stones without it.

Cut is by far the most important thing, so don't compromise on it. JA "true hearts" are sometimes nice and other times overpriced. I would choose a stone from Whiteflash or high performance diamonds or Brian Gavin before going with true hearts (because the upgrade policies and overall customer service is better from those vendors than from JA). I'll look around and see if I can find anything!
 
Thank you so much for the information! I read that Fluorescence gave the diamond a cloudy look so that's why I had made it "Min / None".

I'm willing to go higher on the size, as long it has the bling. I always wondered that because it's going to be set in a gold ring, that if I could be flexible on the color...any experience?

Oh and on the HCA page, it says confirm with Ideal-scope, ASET scope or send to an appraiser. Being that I'll be buying only (for cost reasons), any idea how to get this done?

lovedogs said:
I suggest using the PS diamond search tool and only considering stones that score "excellent" on the HCA. I would be flexible about fluor, since there really isn't any evidence of fluor having negative effects on stones. No reason to limit yourself to only stones without it.

Cut is by far the most important thing, so don't compromise on it. JA "true hearts" are sometimes nice and other times overpriced. I would choose a stone from Whiteflash or high performance diamonds or Brian Gavin before going with true hearts (because the upgrade policies and overall customer service is better from those vendors than from JA). I'll look around and see if I can find anything!
Click to expand...
 
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To add to @lovedogs note regarding JA & BN ‘branded’ cuts, the difference between them and HPD/WF/BGD branded cuts - as I understand it - is that the latter have very specific criteria & proprietary processes & cutters for their diamonds and they own the inventory; BN & JA - to my knowledge - simply put their ‘brand’ label on any diamond they have access to (e.g. virtual inventory available to multiple dealers) if it happens to meet whatever their parameters are (I don’t believe they publish them).
 
Hiker923 said:
Thank you so much for the information! I read that Fluorescence gave the diamond a cloudy look so that's why I had made it "Min / None".

I'm willing to go higher on the size, as long it has the bling. I always wondered that because it's going to be set in a gold ring, that if I could be flexible on the color...any experience?

Oh and on the HCA page, it says confirm with Ideal-scope, ASET scope or send to an appraiser. Being that I'll be buying only (for cost reasons), any idea how to get this done?
Click to expand...
Ideal vendors provide ASET images. And it's definitely wrong the fluor gives diamonds a cloudy look. It's just inaccurate. Yes, you could be flexible on color depending on your GF's preferences. Down to H/I, but it depends on her.
 
Here are some outstanding options from a super ideal vendor that has a $1 upgrade policy and outstanding customer service. ASET/IS images are included, and no need to check the HCA because it's an AGS 000.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4104629.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2962086.htm

Different company but equally outstanding upgrade policy and customer service:
https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD10451
https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/diamonddetail/HPD10704

Less great of an upgrade policy, but another super ideal vendor. They will provide ASET/IS images upon request:
https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/2.137-i-vs2-round-diamond-bfg-785915
 
Fluor may only be a problem in Strong and Very Strong fluor stones, and even then, there are not many with issues.

The anti-fluor position of many jewelers is one based on myth - years ago, stones with fluor traded at a premium, then Tiffany (IIRC?) decided to not sell them and everyone else followed suit. :rolleyes:

(I think that's correct, anyway!)
 
lovedogs said:
Here are some outstanding options from a super ideal vendor that has a $1 upgrade policy and outstanding customer service. ASET/IS images are included, and no need to check the HCA because it's an AGS 000.

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4104629.htm
https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2962086.htm
Click to expand...

I really enjoyed these ones but when I posted originally, I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger. And unfortunately these were sold. Would you have other suggestions?

budget is still 20-25k, with an emphasis on size and ‘bling’.

I also originally had looked at the fecility setting but found out it was too thin! for someone reason, it looks like Blue Nile has abetter selection on settings
 
GL! With that budget you should find nice finger real estate and a beautiful stone! Now the fun part begins...
 
diamondsR4eVR said:
GL! With that budget you should find nice finger real estate and a beautiful stone! Now the fun part begins...
Click to expand...


Thank you! It's just tough to navigate find a nice stone and diamond...there's a lot of noise out there some have said WF / HP are way too expensive and i should ignore the entire certification gig while others live by them.
 
I’ve purchased from WF and BN. I liked both items but my WF purchase has been my favorite. I hear a lot
of wonderful things from HPD. Pull the trigger on something that has a good return policy? I’m old school and love looking at stones in person, but I can definitely understand the lure of online buying. Plus it’s cheaper in a lot of cases.

My stone has SF and I don’t regret it one bit. I was driving myself crazy bc of the SF prior to receiving the ring and large in part due to some of the negative reviews. It turns out-it’s a non issue in a lot of cases and that’s why I’ve said in my threads, look at all stones including the floro ones. Even ones with SF. I have better pics in my threads, but I just snapped this pic of my stone with SF. No cloudiness or milkiness. None whatsoever. Sometimes what you do get, when the sun is bright, is a beautiful (to me anyway), a light blue hue. This pic does not do the stone justice 2EB202CD-33EE-4015-ABAA-5A3FD1A08982.jpeg
 
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diamondsR4eVR said:
I’ve purchased from WF and BN. I liked both items but my WF purchase has been my favorite. I hear a lot
of wonderful things from HPD. Pull the trigger on something that has a good return policy? I’m old school and love looking at stones in person, but I can definitely understand the lure of online buying. Plus it’s cheaper in a lot of cases.

My stone has SF and I don’t regret it one bit. I was driving myself crazy bc of the SF prior to receiving the ring and large in part due to some of the negative reviews. It turns out-it’s a non issue in a lot of cases and that’s why I’ve said in my threads, look at all stones including the floro ones. Even ones with SF. I have better pics in my threads, but I just snapped this pic of my stone with SF. No cloudiness or milkiness. None whatsoever. Sometimes what you do get, when the sun is bright, is a beautiful (to me anyway), a light blue hue. This pic does not do the stone justice 2EB202CD-33EE-4015-ABAA-5A3FD1A08982.jpeg
Click to expand...

That's an awesome ring and that setting is beautiful! My GF shares the same taste as you.

Do you mind if i ask where you got that setting?
 
Hiker923 said:
That's an awesome ring and that setting is beautiful! My GF shares the same taste as you.

Do you mind if i ask where you got that setting?
Click to expand...
We purchased it in person-B&M store. But it’s a classic 4 prong platinum band that you can find anywhere. The only thing for you is- does she prefer 4 or 6 prong- if you go the solitaire route. Also, I asked for tiny claws. I’m a sucker for claw prongs. My personal fav.
 
diamondsR4eVR said:
The only thing for you is- does she prefer 4 or 6 prong- if you go the solitaire route.
Click to expand...


I've never asked her directly but my feeling is 4 because of her exact statement of "I want to see more diamond than anything else"
 
Hiker923 said:
I've never asked her directly but my feeling is 4 because of her exact statement of "I want to see more diamond than anything else"
Click to expand...

Her taste does sound very similar to mine. For e.g., I was also torn with tapered baguettes as side stones, but the metal holding the baguettes bothered me. Too much metal for my taste. Mind you, it was so subtle and most people would not even notice. Including my fiancé who was like, what are you talking about? It’s so thin. Still bothered me. Thankfully, he loves a solitaire like I do and he picked this setting for me.
 
Also, keep in minds 4 prong can make a RB look squareish. To me it’s so very subtle that it’s insignificant. Plus a stone is more secure with 6.
 
You've got 31 AGS000 stones in the Search tool at the moment with parameters in line with average PS-recommendations that will get you close to the SuperIdeal parameters:

Diamond Search Results | Real-time Information on 1,000,000+ Diamonds | PriceScope

PriceScope's Diamond Search is the best place to find the best diamond prices. Search and compare over a million natural, lab and fancy color diamonds.
www.pricescope.com www.pricescope.com

and 339 GIA XXX within the same parameters:

Diamond Search Results | Real-time Information on 1,000,000+ Diamonds | PriceScope

PriceScope's Diamond Search is the best place to find the best diamond prices. Search and compare over a million natural, lab and fancy color diamonds.
www.pricescope.com www.pricescope.com

You will see I've stretched the budget to $26k (to account for potential Wire discounts) and the colour down to I, in case any jump out at you.
 
OoohShiny said:
You've got 31 AGS000 stones in the Search tool at the moment with parameters in line with average PS-recommendations that will get you close to the SuperIdeal parameters:

Diamond Search Results | Real-time Information on 1,000,000+ Diamonds | PriceScope

PriceScope's Diamond Search is the best place to find the best diamond prices. Search and compare over a million natural, lab and fancy color diamonds.
www.pricescope.com www.pricescope.com

and 339 GIA XXX within the same parameters:

Diamond Search Results | Real-time Information on 1,000,000+ Diamonds | PriceScope

PriceScope's Diamond Search is the best place to find the best diamond prices. Search and compare over a million natural, lab and fancy color diamonds.
www.pricescope.com www.pricescope.com

You will see I've stretched the budget to $26k (to account for potential Wire discounts) and the colour down to I, in case any jump out at you.
Click to expand...


I finally started playing around with that / discovered it...but it's awesome. I'm also glad the HCA info is free for the time being. And if I understand it correctly, the closer Cut Advisor Score to 0 the better the diamond

Currently I'm looking at these (they seem to achieve the size and bling I'm looking for (unless i missed something)

  1. Option 1 https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4168534.htm?source=pricescope
  2. Option 2 https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4165279.htm?source=pricescope
  3. Option 3: https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4202471.htm?source=pricescope
  4. Option 4: https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4000702.htm?source=pricescope
 
Hiker923 said:
I finally started playing around with that / discovered it...but it's awesome. I'm also glad the HCA info is free for the time being. And if I understand it correctly, the closer Cut Advisor Score to 0 the better the diamond

Currently I'm looking at these (they seem to achieve the size and bling I'm looking for (unless i missed something)


  2. Option 4: https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-4000702.htm?source=pricescope
Click to expand...
I like #4. I'm a sucker for small table % on a high crown. :love:
 
Stones with HCA equal to or under 2 are worthy of deeper investigative tools (imaging, etc).

Whiteflash ACAs do not need to be run thru HCA because AGS has already done a light performance test on them and ACAs are precision cut, so they trump the HCA tool (which is a rejection tool, not a selection tool)
 
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