Seeking advice on final 2 diamonds before I order my engagement ring!

[diamondlover778]

We are trying to emphasize cut while not blowing our admittedly small budget. Price for all of these diamonds is around 3,000. James Allen Sale on their settings is ending tonight so I'm thinking I'm going to order it at some point in the next 6 hours, unless it's clear I'm making a mistake.

In order of preference based on my limited knowledge at present:

1.18 carat E VS1
6.75 by 6.77 by 4.20
55.5% table
34.9 crown
40.9 pavilion
62.1% depth
Ideal cut
HCA 0.8

Lab-Created 1.18 Carat round diamond

This 1.18 carat Lab-Created round diamond E color vs1 clarity has Ideal proportions and a diamond grading report from IGI

www.jamesallen.com

1.25 carat G VS2

6.87 by 6.92 by 4.27
55.5% table
34.0 crown
40.6% pavilion
61.9% depth
Ideal cut
HCA 0.6

https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/8448805/

Going into a platinum solitaire setting.

Thank you all for your help!

 

[SouthernElle]

Did you order the first one? It says not available now. I was going to say the first one would be my pick.

 

[OoohShiny]

We are trying to emphasize cut while not blowing our admittedly small budget. Price for all of these diamonds is around 3,000. James Allen Sale on their settings is ending tonight so I'm thinking I'm going to order it at some point in the next 6 hours, unless it's clear I'm making a mistake.

In order of preference based on my limited knowledge at present:

1.18 carat E VS1
6.75 by 6.77 by 4.20
55.5% table
34.9 crown
40.9 pavilion
62.1% depth
Ideal cut
HCA 0.8

Lab-Created 1.18 Carat round diamond

This 1.18 carat Lab-Created round diamond E color vs1 clarity has Ideal proportions and a diamond grading report from IGI

www.jamesallen.com

1.25 carat G VS2

6.87 by 6.92 by 4.27
55.5% table
34.0 crown
40.6% pavilion
61.9% depth
Ideal cut
HCA 0.6

https://www.brilliantearth.com/lab-diamonds-search/view_detail/8448805/

Going into a platinum solitaire setting.

Thank you all for your help!

Did you order the first one? It says not available now. I was going to say the first one would be my pick.

I would agree with SouthernElle because:

- we are aware that grading reports other than GIA and AGS may be a bit 'soft' on colour and clarity grading, so on that basis, I personally would advocate going as high as you can with each, 'just in case'.

- the BE stone is marked as being a CVD stone on the certificate, and as it rotates, you can see 'stria' (a series of horizontal lines) in some of the lower girdle facets / pavilion mains. It has been noted that these may have a negative impact on transparency and, hence, light performance, so it would seem wise to avoid them if possible.

- the first stone seems extremely clear and clean - I can't see any stria, even in the SuperZoom view, so I'm wondering if it's a HPHT stone, which tend to not suffer from stria (if I understand things correctly).


As always, though, I am no expert so wiser minds than I may say differently! lol

Please do come back to post pics if/when you have chosen one and/or had it set!

 

[diamondlover778]

I would agree with SouthernElle because:

- we are aware that grading reports other than GIA and AGS may be a bit 'soft' on colour and clarity grading, so on that basis, I personally would advocate going as high as you can with each, 'just in case'.

- the BE stone is marked as being a CVD stone on the certificate, and as it rotates, you can see 'stria' (a series of horizontal lines) in some of the lower girdle facets / pavilion mains. It has been noted that these may have a negative impact on transparency and, hence, light performance, so it would seem wise to avoid them if possible.

- the first stone seems extremely clear and clean - I can't see any stria, even in the SuperZoom view, so I'm wondering if it's a HPHT stone, which tend to not suffer from stria (if I understand things correctly).


As always, though, I am no expert so wiser minds than I may say differently! lol

Please do come back to post pics if/when you have chosen one and/or had it set!

I grabbed the former, although now (of course less than 24 hours after I bought the diamond) I see this diamond too:https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...ity-ideal-cut-sku-7586474?a_aid=55f8cd4e21a11 which is very similar except maybe more sparkle? How much stock can we put in the videos?

I did get an idealscope of the diamond and it looks pretty good from my very limited knowledgebase. However on video it's not quite as dramatic. Hmm. The 1.18 does appear more symmetrical to me though.

Did you order the first one? It says not available now. I was going to say the first one would be my pick.

Yes, although I am now wondering if I should have gone with the 1.17 carat. It looks better in the video/whiter/sparklier, but maybe I'm seeing things .

 

[SouthernElle]

I would agree with SouthernElle because:

- we are aware that grading reports other than GIA and AGS may be a bit 'soft' on colour and clarity grading, so on that basis, I personally would advocate going as high as you can with each, 'just in case'.

- the BE stone is marked as being a CVD stone on the certificate, and as it rotates, you can see 'stria' (a series of horizontal lines) in some of the lower girdle facets / pavilion mains. It has been noted that these may have a negative impact on transparency and, hence, light performance, so it would seem wise to avoid them if possible.

- the first stone seems extremely clear and clean - I can't see any stria, even in the SuperZoom view, so I'm wondering if it's a HPHT stone, which tend to not suffer from stria (if I understand things correctly).


As always, though, I am no expert so wiser minds than I may say differently! lol

Please do come back to post pics if/when you have chosen one and/or had it set!

I don’t think it’s stria from the CVD process, just part of the VS2 clarity? I have yet to come across any HPHT diamonds during my year to two years search for a MMD. I don’t think they are very common for larger stones.

I grabbed the former, although now (of course less than 24 hours after I bought the diamond) I see this diamond too:https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...ity-ideal-cut-sku-7586474?a_aid=55f8cd4e21a11 which is very similar except maybe more sparkle? How much stock can we put in the videos?

I did get an idealscope of the diamond and it looks pretty good from my very limited knowledgebase. However on video it's not quite as dramatic. Hmm. The 1.18 does appear more symmetrical to me though.

Yes, although I am now wondering if I should have gone with the 1.17 carat. It looks better in the video/whiter/sparklier, but maybe I'm seeing things .

I think we all start to see things when we’ve looked at sooo many diamonds. Sometimes the lighting is different in different videos, I think you’ve purchased a gorgeous stone!

 

[OoohShiny]

I don’t think it’s stria from the CVD process, just part of the VS2 clarity? I have yet to come across any HPHT diamonds during my year to two years search for a MMD. I don’t think they are very common for larger stones.

I would agree with the last part - they do seem hard to find!

I do still feel it's Stria-related, though I found this thread to be a good discussion with some examples, which has informed my understanding (hopefully correctly! lol)

Newbie Question: Difference between Natural and Lab grown?

Hi, I am very new to this type of products (diamonds) and wondering how could some expert with years or even decades of experiences see the difference, using whatever tools are needed, between Natural diamond and Lab grown diamond? As far as I know experts also check and verify the structure...

www.pricescope.com

and this thread has an awesome picture of a B or C colour diamond (!!) amongst other useful stuff!:

Unique characteristics in MMD

Take what you want and leave what you don’t. I haven’t seen the GCAL magnified images before and found it interesting: https://www.hpdiamonds.com/en-us/extra/173

www.pricescope.com

 

[OoohShiny]

I grabbed the former, although now (of course less than 24 hours after I bought the diamond) I see this diamond too:https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...ity-ideal-cut-sku-7586474?a_aid=55f8cd4e21a11 which is very similar except maybe more sparkle? How much stock can we put in the videos?

I did get an idealscope of the diamond and it looks pretty good from my very limited knowledgebase. However on video it's not quite as dramatic. Hmm. The 1.18 does appear more symmetrical to me though.



Yes, although I am now wondering if I should have gone with the 1.17 carat. It looks better in the video/whiter/sparklier, but maybe I'm seeing things .

Videos depend entirely on the camera settings being used, the lighting setup, your screen setup... lol

They have many(!) people doing these videos, as I understand it, so it's entirely possible the setup has variations across the different desks.

You could request the grading report for the 1.17 and compare it to the 1.18, to see if it may have a different 'flavour' in terms of cut, but going off the video alone may be risky!

 

[MelloYello8]

Throwing this out there but there is a BE ring with a D VVS2 posted on LT and noticed it may be in your price range. The seller didn’t post much info on the cut. https://loupetroop.com/listings/rings/2nd-red-brilliant-earth-lab-diamond