Should I get an "I" stone?

[fiyaz]

Ive been mulling this over for a couple of days or so. Should I drop down to an "I"color from a "G" or an "H"? The reason for wanting to make the step down is because of cost. The "I" stones are about 15-20% less then the "G or H" stones with all other things being equal.

Ive been presented with stones of all three colors in white gold or platinum settings, but find it VERY, VERY hard to tell the difference in the color face up. Actually I cant at all. However, if look at the stones from the side I can see a small difference in the color. I think my perception of color may not be as good as the average joe (or jen). From your experiences, will the average person be able to see yellow in the "I" stone face-up?

In case it matters, the stats of the stone that I am looking at is below:


carat = 2.06
color = I
clarity = SI1
HCA = 1.5-EX

Other stats:
ex-ex-ex-vg 0 H&A 61.7% 55% 35° 40.8° thn-med no ex ex no 8.19*8.22*5.06

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Depends on your sensitivity to color and your priorities. "I" stones can be very beautiful and face up white. My mother has an I colored stone from tiffany & co and it is a stunner.

 

[chrono]

Agreed. Most people cannot tell the difference between an H and I face up.

1. How colour sensitive are you? Apparently not so.

2. How colour sensitive is the receipient?
3. In larger stones, colour tend to be more apparent. However, your stone is an RB so the sparkles of a well cut round tends to blind the viewer to its body colour.

 

[belle]

in that size, for me, it would depend on the setting. i would not hesitate putting a well cut, properly graded 'i' or 'j' color stone in the setting i have now because the side profile (where you will see color) is not emphasized.

 

[kcoursolle]

I think an I in that size range will still face up very white if well cut. You might see some tint from the side but this is not really how diamonds are viewed or appreciated to the casual observer, and I doubt anyone would ever notice it.

 

[fiyaz]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I am not color sensitive at all. It is SO hard for me to tell the difference face up. But its me .... I cant tell the difference between black socks and blue socks

The receipients cares the most about:
1. Size
2. Sparkle - So that implies the cut.

One of the jewellers that I spoke with tried to talk me out of an "I". He said that when the stone is nice and clean the sparkle of and ideal cut stone is very apparent. However, when the stone gets dirty you will lose the brilliance and scintalation and the color will be more apparent. Would you guys agree with this?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[metromom]

I have a 2.02 Oval I SI1. It faces up completely white. I recently had it reset in a bezeled halo with G-H melee and you cannot at all tell a color difference. The halo and bezel also help in that even if there was a color variation on the side now you cannot see it. The price difference allowed me to get a bigger center stone. What is the cert? With a GIA, an I can actually swing closer to the H side. Just make sure it is well cut and sprakles. Good luck.