Shamelessly Seeking Help! What do you think about this diamond?

[meSpike]

So after lurking for awhile, I''ve decided to seek some advice! I''m brand new so I certainly don''t deserve it, but I''d sure appreciate the help!

Here''s what I''m looking for:

Shape: Princess
Carat: At least 1.0
Clarity: At least VS2
Color: At least I
Cut: Very Good - Ideal
Budget: Would like to spend no more than $5500 on the stone

I really like the idea of getting a stone that has a good sized table so it looks big in the ring. I''ve been looking for stones that are around 6.0mm x 6.0mm. I have a feeling this is not the best strategy and might result in a diamond that doesn''t sparkle the way other stones of equal carat would.

I''d like to plug in some pavilion and crown angles into the HCA but there isn''t ever any information on the stones I see on Blue Nile. I''m really digging the prospect of ordering of Blue Nile, though, to take advantage of the current 6% cash back through FatWallet.

Here''s the one in which I''m interested:

Price: $5,226
Carat weight: 1.13
Cut: Very Good
Color: G
Clarity: VS1
Depth %: 68.3%
Table %: 75%
Symmetry: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Girdle: Thin to medium
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.07 x 5.87 x 4.01 mm
Length/width ratio: 1.03

Link to Diamond at Blue Nile

Any thoughts on this? Is this diamond''s disproportional stature going to ruin its sparkle?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/20/2009 2:50:53 AM
Author:meSpike
So after lurking for awhile, I've decided to seek some advice! I'm brand new so I certainly don't deserve it, but I'd sure appreciate the help!

Here's what I'm looking for:

Shape: Princess
Carat: At least 1.0
Clarity: At least VS2
Color: At least I
Cut: Very Good - Ideal
Budget: Would like to spend no more than $5500 on the stone

I really like the idea of getting a stone that has a good sized table so it looks big in the ring. I've been looking for stones that are around 6.0mm x 6.0mm. I have a feeling this is not the best strategy and might result in a diamond that doesn't sparkle the way other stones of equal carat would.

I'd like to plug in some pavilion and crown angles into the HCA but there isn't ever any information on the stones I see on Blue Nile. I'm really digging the prospect of ordering of Blue Nile, though, to take advantage of the current 6% cash back through FatWallet.

Here's the one in which I'm interested:

Price: $5,226
Carat weight: 1.13
Cut: Very Good
Color: G
Clarity: VS1
Depth %: 68.3%
Table %: 75%
Symmetry: Excellent
Polish: Excellent
Girdle: Thin to medium
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.07 x 5.87 x 4.01 mm
Length/width ratio: 1.03

Link to Diamond at Blue Nile

Any thoughts on this? Is this diamond's disproportional stature going to ruin its sparkle?

Of COURSE you deserve help and you shall have it!

With this diamond though the table is much greater than the depth, this can lead to a diamond which might show a bit of brilliance but due to the table size will have a shallow crown height, you might not see much in the way of fire. Really with Princess images such as photos and ASET are needed in order to properly judge them but BN do not offer these. If you prefer to buy from them, then if you can find an AGS0 cut grade Princess that will get you into the realm of better cut Princess but then you have to take a chance to see if a particular stone appeals to you. However they do have a good return policy and plenty of time for you to inspect the diamond.

A larger table might make a diamond look ' spready' but the trade off can be a compromise in cut quality which can affect the beauty and sparkle.

HCA only works for round diamonds by the way, not Princess or other fancy shapes.

More on ASET below

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance

 

[meSpike]

Thanks Lorelei! I appreciate your insight. I didn''t realize the HCA didn''t work for princess cuts. I''ve tried learning all I can but there is certainly a lot more to diamonds than I thought!

I''ve been thinking about it for a couple days and I think I like the trade off of this diamond. I don''t want to sacrifice too much on color, clarity, or table size so I''m thinking if I lose a little sparkle (which, as I''ve come to understand, is the combination of fire and brilliance) I''ll be satisfied.

When you say:

"With this diamond though the table is much greater than the depth, this can lead to a diamond which might show a bit of brilliance but due to the table size will have a shallow crown height, you might not see much in the way of fire..."

Are you saying that a diamond with a table much greater than the depth might show average (or even above average) brilliance? Or, are you saying it might just show a little brilliance?

Also, will the shallow depth totally kill the fire? I want the diamond to have SOME sparkle but I''m willing to sacrifice a little in that neighborhood.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/22/2009 2:19:48 AM
Author: meSpike
Thanks Lorelei! I appreciate your insight. I didn't realize the HCA didn't work for princess cuts. I've tried learning all I can but there is certainly a lot more to diamonds than I thought!

I've been thinking about it for a couple days and I think I like the trade off of this diamond. I don't want to sacrifice too much on color, clarity, or table size so I'm thinking if I lose a little sparkle (which, as I've come to understand, is the combination of fire and brilliance) I'll be satisfied.

When you say:

'With this diamond though the table is much greater than the depth, this can lead to a diamond which might show a bit of brilliance but due to the table size will have a shallow crown height, you might not see much in the way of fire...'

Are you saying that a diamond with a table much greater than the depth might show average (or even above average) brilliance? Or, are you saying it might just show a little brilliance? It is so hard to tell and anything I could say would be speculation as I am not an expert and vastly experienced with seeing thousands of diamonds, this is basically what is a reasonable outcome based on the info we have. From what I have read these diamonds can look a bit glassy and show glare from the table size, you can see brilliance but thats about all these stones will do.

Also, will the shallow depth totally kill the fire? I want the diamond to have SOME sparkle but I'm willing to sacrifice a little in that neighborhood. From the info we have, this diamond is not a good contender on paper to show much fire, again this is a reasonable predictive outcome. Because of the large table, the crown height will become increasingly shallow. Crown height is important to aid the production of fire, so again it is reasonable to assume with a table of this size the crown height is going to be shallow, and a natural result of this is the diamond won't show much fire....

If you want, and if you prefer to go through BN we could hunt for some diamonds for you which might be better? Can't say for sure without images which they don't provide but we could find some with better proportions which could be good propositions for for visuals and beauty. SC will be along later, he is good at sorting through diamonds and finding nice ones especially with large sites like BN!

 

[meSpike]

I would sure appreciate that. I would, at this point, like to just look at BN (for a few reasons).

I''d like to find something that has decent table size. I was hoping I could find something with a table close to 6.0mm x 6.0mm but I know that in my price range I will have to settle for something a little smaller.

Also, I know you said to look for AGS0 cuts on BN. From what I''ve read on Pricescope, BN Ideal cut is as good as AGS0. Is this correct?

Thanks again

I promise that I share my [limited] expertise on other forums!

 

[stone-cold11]

No, BN Signature Ideal princess is not as good as AGS0 as it is just grade from proportion and finish and nothing on the light performance unlike an AGS0 princess cut.

 

[tap02150]

are you sure you want to sacrifice brilliance/cut ( the light that is returned) for a color or clarity? Color and clarity can change without visible differences to the naked eye. In addition, a better cut diamond will appear larger?

When i first started looking, I didn''t want to sacrifice color or clarity as well. Then i learned about the importance of cut in princess diamonds. I suppose it all depends on your and your girlfriend''s preference.

 

[meSpike]

Date: 8/22/2009 3:27:26 PM
Author: tap02150
are you sure you want to sacrifice brilliance/cut ( the light that is returned) for a color or clarity? Color and clarity can change without visible differences to the naked eye. In addition, a better cut diamond will appear larger?


When i first started looking, I didn''t want to sacrifice color or clarity as well. Then i learned about the importance of cut in princess diamonds. I suppose it all depends on your and your girlfriend''s preference.

Yeah I don''t know. I think I need to go see some more in person to get a better idea of the trade off. I just know I''ve seen some lower color/clarity diamonds and I was not impressed.

What combination did you end up going with? Or are you still looking?

 

[tap02150]

Well, it took me a while to figure out what exactly my girlfriend wanted.. i think for a long time she didn''t know exactly what she wanted either lol.. she just wants one.. but any way; I found out that she loved the princess diamonds, and that she preferred quality over size.

So obviously at first i thought quality = color and clarity.... oh how wrong i was when i showed up here at pricescope.

I quickly learned that a round diamond will sparkle with more intensity than a princess cut unless that princess cut is of ideal cut quality. So my first look was to make sure I had the best quality diamond.

You can find some superior cut princesses at either

WhiteFlash.com

GoodOldGold.com

HighPerformanceDiamonds.com

as well as JamesAllen.com ( you need to request an Ideal Scope image = this will at least show the light returned from the diamond)... all the other vendors above provide one.


Any way, it just happened that I went with a .77ct princess, E color ( i would have went down to G-H, just got lucky) and VS2 clarity. I bought the diamond and the setting from WhiteFlash.

Here is the attached picture of my ring, just to give you the idea of the quality

 

[tap02150]

heres mine, just to give you an idea. Your budget is also about $2000 dollars more than mine was for the diamond alone.

I am positive you could find one with excellent quality but larger than mine (maybe just under 1 ct?)

If you want, i can find some diamonds that I think may work well for you

 

[meSpike]

Is that a picture of THE ring you own? If it is, it looks really great! I like the setting too!

Yeah the more I look, the more it sounds like I should put an emphasis on cut if I''m looking at princess. I appreciate the offer to help. I think I might wait a month or two before I place an order. I was ready to this weekend but I think I might take a little more time and see what comes along.

I''ve just got to get it through my head that bigger is not necessarily better! I wanted the diamond to be as big as I could afford but I guess that was just my naivete to the diamond buying process! Finding a balance is difficult!

 

[tap02150]

yeah, thats the ring i picked out and have thanks!

Learn as much as you can, and when you''re ready, come back here and i''d be more than willing to help you out!

-ted