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Shortlisting a 0.5 carat oval, how to?

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firebunny

Rough_Rock
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
17
Last week my partner and I went into a jewellery store and were shown a beautiful 0.5 carat oval in a rose gold halo. It was the perfect size and dimensions on my hand, and the oval diamond was just beautiful, no bow tie at all! They showed me the same design with a 1ct oval and it had a pretty unattractive bow tie. Anyway they were both sold, but now I know what I want.

The price for the ring was $5000 AUD (That's just under $3800USD). My budget is closer to $4000 ($3000USD).

I got a quote for Alistair Kelsey's hand made 'embrace' setting at just under $2000AUD, with a plain band, and I figure if I can get a diamond for around $1500 I'll be saving heaps of money! (the setting: http://www.makerslane.com.au/product/view?productId=1970)

So I have reached out to Jogia Diamonds which is an Australian diamond wholesaler with a pretty good site. They have the technology to do photos, asets, and videos, but not for the international selection diamonds until they bring them in ($200 deposit and they charge shipping fees if I don't want to take it). They only one they have on hand is this one (TOO big and out of budget, and I'm not convinced it looks very good anyway?)
http://www.jogiadiamonds.com.au/diamonds/diamonditem.php?code=SS1995

Anyway I asked them for a recommendation on an oval and they sent this this one through to me:
http://www2.jogiadiamonds.com.au/images/certs/J8742148-image.jpg


Vital Information
Code: J8742148
Shape: Oval
Weight: 0.51ct
Colour: G
Clarity: VS1
Fluorescence: None

Cut Information
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Measurements: 6.15x4.45x2.87
Length:Width Ratio: 1.38 : 1
Table: 58%
Depth: 64.5%

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pagename=GST%2FDispatcher&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FReportCheck&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=7201439653

Photos, Videos & Cut Analysis - Performed when diamond is called-in (approx 5-7 days).
Price
Regular: A$1455.10 (inc GST)
GST Free: $1322.82
Deposit: $200 deposit needed to call this diamond in.

Is this worth asking them to bring in? The depth seems pretty.... deep? Can someone educate me please!
 
Hi firebunny - :wavey:
Full disclosure, I'm in the trade and in direct competition with the vendors you've mentioned...however, that doesn't mean I can't give you some general advice on ovals if you'd like it - I just can't comment on the stones or the vendors - - there are also some great resources here on PS if you haven't accessed them yet (up on the tool bar).

Ovals in general aren't known for their big flashes, but will instead emphasise smaller points of light. You'll want to look for nice colour distribution across the belly, and bright distribution of light from top to bottom. Look for minimal bow ties - also look at the distribution of dark & light from the bow tie. You also want to look out for dark/dull/dead patches at either end. Girdles of course are important, and you don't want either too thin (chipping) or too thick (extra weight without any real benefit).
In general, an oval will show a bit more colour than a round of the same colour grade - - also, be aware that you can also have yellow & brown body colours (so you might want to check this with your vendor - or you may not even care - up to you).
There are plenty of VS2-SI1+ stones out there - lowering your clarity a bit might allow you to get a slightly bigger diamond / improve colour / etc. (if that interests you).
I tend to have a personal preference for a 1.4:1 ratio (L/W), but depending on your aesthetic preference for face-up outline, you should be pretty safe between 1.3-1.5:1
I tend to shop for a depth of around 60% - I'm not overly fussed about the table size as long as it's a nice combination and the stone looks balanced.
Hope this helps
 
Thanks ADN. It is a bit tough to apply the information you've given to the stone I have posted, but I will look at some more stones and see if it becomes clearer on what is a minimal bow tie, dullness or brightness, etc.
 
Would appreciate ANY comments on the specific stone. Or even a thumbs up thumbs down emoticon! I am not confident either way despite all the reading up I've done..
 
Thanks flyingpig, that link has some good example diamonds I can stare at and try an decipher things such as 'sparkly' and 'mushy'! Feeling a bit more knowledgeable
 
One thing you would wanna make sure with your vendor is distributionof colour as rightly put by ADN. Ovals & Marquise can show some body color towards either ends and can be unattractive because of that.
 
Another very important thing as rightly mentioned by ADN is the body tint. Diamonds having brown tints can be unattractive to some. While some members on this board prefer a brown tint over yellow.
 
As to the stone you have posted...it looks to be average to me. Not bad but not great either.

I checked out James Allen for you. You can see if you like any of these then ask Jogia if they can bring them in.

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/?CaratFrom=0.48&CaratTo=15&Color=G,F,E,D&Clarity=SI1,VS2,VS1,VVS2,VVS1,IF,FL&PriceFrom=200&PriceTo=1570&ViewsOptions=Images&TabSelected=3&DiamondID=960550,787098,928869,831905,811571,975636

I think* this one is my favorite because not only is the middle nice but it has some nice facets on the N/S ends outside of the table
as well.
http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.51-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-sku-811571
 
Thanks so much gr8leo87 and tyty. I will have a good think about the list you posted and the one you suggested tyty, it looks beautiful.
 
Just an update that I did end up purchasing one of the above ovals from James Allen. It is beautiful and is now being set in a rose gold halo. Can't wait to see the end result. Thanks for your help everyone, especially tyty333


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
pretty! great choice!
 
Just an update, the stone has been set by Alistair Kelsey and finally on my finger! There is a bow tie in certain angles (JA's geminologists said there would be none but I was pretty skeptical. It didn't have an obvious one til set either) but it's bright and shiny. Love it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

image1465873943.jpg

image1465873958.jpg
 
Oh I just saw this on his Instagram. It's lovely!
 
ADN|1458536063|4008781 said:
Hi firebunny - :wavey:
Full disclosure, I'm in the trade and in direct competition with the vendors you've mentioned...however, that doesn't mean I can't give you some general advice on ovals if you'd like it - I just can't comment on the stones or the vendors - - there are also some great resources here on PS if you haven't accessed them yet (up on the tool bar).

Ovals in general aren't known for their big flashes, but will instead emphasise smaller points of light. You'll want to look for nice colour distribution across the belly, and bright distribution of light from top to bottom. Look for minimal bow ties - also look at the distribution of dark & light from the bow tie. You also want to look out for dark/dull/dead patches at either end. Girdles of course are important, and you don't want either too thin (chipping) or too thick (extra weight without any real benefit).
In general, an oval will show a bit more colour than a round of the same colour grade - - also, be aware that you can also have yellow & brown body colours (so you might want to check this with your vendor - or you may not even care - up to you).
There are plenty of VS2-SI1+ stones out there - lowering your clarity a bit might allow you to get a slightly bigger diamond / improve colour / etc. (if that interests you).
I tend to have a personal preference for a 1.4:1 ratio (L/W), but depending on your aesthetic preference for face-up outline, you should be pretty safe between 1.3-1.5:1
I tend to shop for a depth of around 60% - I'm not overly fussed about the table size as long as it's a nice combination and the stone looks balanced.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...

ADN -

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting all this helpful info. I'm sure many of us on PS will benefit from this overview.

:appl: :wavey:
 
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