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shopping for a new center stone, where should I look online?

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courtneyclv

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After I went today and looked at the ring I have on hold, I did notice, again, that the princess center stone 1.21 looked cloudy in an area. I also remember when I looked at it magnified it looked cloudy...so I am starting over...that would really annoy me.

i am going to see a jeweler of my friends this week. I cannot decide if I want a princess, square radiant or Jubilee, cut corner square brilliant. I like the look of squares shapes but do not want to necessarily pay more for a premium shape.

I know radiant sparkles more like crushed glass, what about Jubilee, cut corner? I want major sparkle to go with the setting I have chosen. (thin channel set baguette sides stones, pave and engraved sides of ring)

Are there differences between size..if I put all three of these by each other..would one look larger than the other if they proportioned right?

Where can I buy wholesale/broker diamonds online if I cannot find anyone in Las Vegas?

I CANT WAIT TO POST THE SPECS AND HAVE YOU HELP ME CHOOSE!
 
Ooh, good one jayrenay!
 
Date: 11/26/2006 10:49:45 PM
Author:courtneyclv
Where can I buy wholesale/broker diamonds online if I cannot find anyone in Las Vegas?
I''d tend to AVOID anyone who calls themselves a "wholesaler" or "broker" because IMO MOST of the people who choose to portray themselves that way are trying to mislead people into believing that they''re getting a better deal than they actually are.

Just think of all those "jewelry warehouses" with their advertised $599 1 carat rings etc etc ... or the "friend of a friend" who really only tries to sell you what they already have in their extremly limited inventory.

I''d guess regular old "non-wholesale, non-broker" ONLINE diamond vendors like Whiteflash or Good Old Gold or James Allen or Superbcert or ... anyone you see a lot of raves about here on Pricescope ... might be your best bet for maximizing your stone-only budget. Especially if you''ve but that whole "credit" thing behind you ... or will be using it for setting/w-band/FH''s w-band combo.

As to shapes that look bigger ... square shapes generally look smaller than rectangular or oval or pear or marquise. If you''re branching out to radiants = maybe you should consider rectangular ones to fool the eye.

Somehow all the cut-cornered square stones seem to look smaller than Princesses do ... the clipped corners keep your eye in the center of the stone, revolving around a smaller circumfrence ... square Princesses -- at least you''re drawn out to the corner points.
 
I know you love the setting you have on hold, but have you considered a halo? I just set my 1.74 RB in a square halo and it makes it look huge! From afar it looks like a big square diamond with all the sparkles! It''s definitely had that draw dropping effect on people! LOL
 
a good way of having a sense for what will look big is to pay attention to the actual measurements of the stones vs the weights. the measurement will give you a more accurate sense of the face up size
 
Oh I do like that 1.54 H color! (And If I go out of price range..I wll pay the difference. I believe the stone I did have was $7300.) I wish I could compare colorless to G,H,I..is there a link that has pics?

Well out of the shapes I have looked at, I do the like formality of the princess cut and how it sparkles. I LOVE tapered corners though..but radiants that I always see look rectangular..and i have long skeleton fingers and dont want to make them any longer. Plus..I always see the prongs on the tapered corners anyways, which kind of takes that away from the neat lines. Don't you think?

Thanks for the replies..can't wait to see more links! (because I know you all will send good measurements etc, no nasty stones!)
 
I think the X-factor at whiteflash might be perfect for you. It''s a princess with cut corners, so it''s square and has cut corners. Unfortunately, I just checked their inventory and most of their x factor stones are around 1.0 carats. However, if you are really interested in the xfactor I would call whiteflash since their inventory changes regularly.
 
I LOVE the X-factor! Are they in the same price range as princess? It looks like they ''sparkle'' the same..whereas radiant is like crushed ice.
 
Oh ya, I saw that one too. LOVE the SHAPE. I don't know about SI2 though..how can I tell on good old gold if it is alright. Would I be able to see cloudyness on this site by the photos or magnifications?


I checked out both the 1.34 princess and the 1.54, It seems like the 1.54 is better. It has inclusions on the sides, the 1.34 has them in the middle of the stone. BUT- What is the whitish blob on the 1.54 idealscope??

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2542/

I am definatly thinking about this stone so far. I think I like goodoldgold.com the best out of the sites so far, lots of info to get..which I like! I also like how that stone has AWESOME light performance (and is about the same price as the 1.21 in the mall store) This stone looks awesome on paper, good measurements etc. But about that blob..


(I am glad BF doesn't know I am doing all of this research...he says he is getting an ulcer already because I cannot decide! What can I say..I shop around!)
 
Date: 11/27/2006 12:41:39 AM
Author: decodelighted
What about this Cut-Cornered Square Brilliant??

1.51 AGS cert H si2 for $7K
Nice one, Decoded!!

If you come up with another 10K this X-factor is purdy!!!
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J/K but those X-Factors are nice!
 
Oh no..now I started to think even more.

I see goodoldgold.com has free shipping..I can do a bank transfer, see the diamond tomorrow, check it out, return it for free if I dont like it.

hmmm

LOL
 
Have you considered a square cushion? I LOVE cushions!!
 
Someone here already mentioned this, but the square cut stones look beautiful with a halo around them, and it can make your stone look twice the size for very little cost, as compared to a larger stone. I know you mentioned in one of your earlier posts that you tried on a halo ring and loved it, but I think it was out of your price range. There are tons of options out there for settings with halos, and you may be abe to find one that works for you.
 
If you want to see something beautiful, do a search on here for baguette halo, and just see what that does to the size of a ascher or similar square cut-type stone. It seems that after doing some reading on this forum, some have had problems gettting settings like that made, and certainly many are more informed than I, but I did run across these settings in stores and they are beautiful, and really give the apppearance of a large stone for little cost.
 
Date: 11/27/2006 12:41:39 AM
Author: decodelighted
What about this Cut-Cornered Square Brilliant??

1.51 AGS cert H si2 for $7K

Ohhh...Deco...I LOVE the shape of this stone!!! Nice find! Courtney- would you consider asking the folks over at GOG about this one? They can verify for you whether its eye-clean or not...that shape is truly to die for, dont you think?
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drool.... edited to say, darn I meant to quote...it's for the 1.51 H si2... nice rock!
 
Yes, I do like Halos..but I also like the look of side stones and a good matching wedding band. I am going to stay with my gorgeous setting. (It is classy and timeless and has some antique feel.) I may get tired of a Halo.

I just have to find a center stone for it now!

So that white spot on the 1.54 princess is not a cloud but light coming out? I can assume that is good then? I will call the website and see if they can tell me anything about the diamond, cloudy spots and if it is in fact eye clean.

How do you think the specs compare on these two stones, girdle, table etc? Someone said above that cut corners look smaller. Which stone in your opinion is better?

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2542/ princess cut

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/2426/ cut corner

(even if I do not get either of these..I am learnng a lot so thank you!)

ps- I will tell you this..i have looked at some other sites, and I haven't found many princesses that are idea and excellent in polish and symmetry at such a good price as goodoldgold.com
 
If you look at the specs of the cut corner:
Width: 6.21mm
Length: 6.30mm
Depth: 4.55mm

vs the princess:
Width: 6.25mm
Length: 6.35mm
Depth: 4.46mm

you can see that they are almost identical as far as size (5/100 of a mm dif) so based on this it should seem they will face up to about same size. I do not have any personal experience from either shape so this was just purely measurement based observation. Let the experts weigh in before relying on this info...

Here is a link that compares GHIJ stones to a D. It happens to be from the good old gold web site. Keep in mind that the that it is more difficult to see color in a set diamond and it will face up whiter due to the light being reflected back.
 
Courtney, those are both beautiful stones! I''d first ask which one is most eye clean and decide that way. But if they both are, I think it is just your personal preference. I really like cut corners the best.

Shipping is free if you keep the stone, but you do pay for the shipping if you don''t keep it (probably around $50). They''ll deduct it when they send you the refund, and you pay to ship it back to them. I ordered a couple of stones before deciding on one, and it really helped me decide on the size I wanted. But in your case, you''re going for the largest you can afford, so it is unlikely you''d send one of these back since they are excellent cut stones!
 
I wish I could just reserve the diamond for a few days and think about it. It says you can do that..but then says you had to pay. I want to meet with my friends jeweler just to see what he has. He may have a stone that is the same color, but maybe eye clean SI1, but highly DOUBT he will have ideal cut.

On the cut corners billiant and the princess above... But-If there are significant inclusions I can see, that would bother me. But that corner cut brilliant seems kind of rare and I love it!!! I haven''t seen it anywhere else! I looked at both AGS reports that mark the inclusions...

The light performance is a bit better on the princess. I wonder if that would matter. So I guess it is a toss up between the two.

My mom always says, "if It is meant to be, it is meant to be." I guess I will wait and see what I find on Thursday, and if the cut corners brilliant is still available after not seeing anything, I will get it. I just tried to call goodoldgold and they aren''t open on Monday! Darn..
 
Hey Courtney ... I think both of those stones are pretty evenly matched and FABULOUS. You'd probably be happy with either one!

As to which would look "bigger" ... I have an 1.5 ct Asscher that has cut corners, but the prongs kind of fill in where the corners WOULD have been ... so it ends up looking about as big, if not as big as a similar size princess. Does that make sense? At this level it's almost splitting hairs about which looks bigger ... you could see them side by side & pick one ... but you'll never be seeing it side by side on a table like that again ... in a RING ... the effect is nominal. Not a deciding factor, ya know?

You could ask the folks at GOG which they think looks better in person (Jon or Tim are both nice)


ETA: I just noticed the Princess comes with a Lifetime Guarantee (I guess that's like an upgrade policy? Or ability to trade it in later for purchase price??) but that the Cut-cornered Square Brilliant only comes with a "limited warranty" ... maybe it's just because they can't anticipate what the demand for that unique cut of stone will be like 10 years from now -- where Princesses have a track record ... but I'd ask about it when you call them & see what they do mean by it!
 
Date: 11/27/2006 5:08:09 PM
Author: decodelighted

ETA: I just noticed the Princess comes with a Lifetime Guarantee (I guess that''s like an upgrade policy? Or ability to trade it in later for purchase price??) but that the Cut-cornered Square Brilliant only comes with a ''limited warranty'' ... maybe it''s just because they can''t anticipate what the demand for that unique cut of stone will be like 10 years from now -- where Princesses have a track record ... but I''d ask about it when you call them & see what they do mean by it!
Yeah, that means the princess can be upgraded in the future with full trade-in value and the other cannot. But maybe if you get the right stone this time, you won''t be looking to upgrade! But do ask about that to be sure!
 
WOW it looks like you have two really nice stones to choose from. Out of your two choices I like the "cut corner square brilliant" It''s because I like the facets and I like the "edge" that has different facets outside of the table. That''s just my opinion tho. Buy what they say is best but buy what you like!
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