SI1 clouds worry me

[bte90]

I am looking at this diamond and the plot scares me. I am pretty new to this. What do you guys think? Thanks!

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?reportno=1169847175&childpagename=GIA%2FPage%2FReportCheck&pagename=GIA%2FDispatcher&c=Page&cid=1355954554547

 

[WinkHPD]

I think if you are interested in ANY diamond, that you need to call it in, look at it, and if you do not like it, send it back.

It only matters what YOUR eyes think.

Wink

 

[bte90]

Thanks. I looked at it in a local jewelry store and to my eye it looked great. From the top I could not see any inclusions without a loupe.I picked it out among others similarly graded. But my eyes certainly are not well trained. The cut is excellent, which I like. When I saw the plot I was shocked that there were so many clouds plotted. Not being truly well-versed in the grading system I guess I just though those clouds would make it more of an SI2.

 

[JulieN]

Usually the times you should worry is when they are NOT plotted and the comment says "clarity based on clouds not shown."

 

[treasurehunter]

Yea I have seen SI1 clouds that affect transparency but only when there is no inclusion on the plot. The more feautures it has like crystals needles the less affected it will by the clouds

 

[yssie]

Thanks. I looked at it in a local jewelry store and to my eye it looked great. From the top I could not see any inclusions without a loupe.I picked it out among others similarly graded. But my eyes certainly are not well trained. The cut is excellent, which I like. When I saw the plot I was shocked that there were so many clouds plotted. Not being truly well-versed in the grading system I guess I just though those clouds would make it more of an SI2.

Clouds are just groups of inclusions in close proximity - the report tells you where they are relative to the plane of the girdle, but doesn't tell you how deep they are (inclusions closer to the center of the stone and closer to the culet are more likely to be reflected and interfere with light return because more light rays travel through those areas), and doesn't tell you how dense or visible they are (how many individual inclusions make up that cloud and what colour are they?).

Personally if you compared it to other stones with fewer/different inclusions in a variety of different lighting types and you didn't note any difference... that'd be sufficient to cap the worrying for me. That doesn't mean that the clouds aren't impeding light return to some extent - of course they are, as do all other inclusions - but if your eyes don't see it then IMO it needn't remain a practical concern.

Of course, caveat emptor: you're new to this, you haven't trained your eyes to pick up nuances in light return, and you aren't living with the stone - it's certainly possible that after buying it and living with it for a while your eyes will pick up on things they missed in that half hour in-store... having an independent appraiser look at the loose stone might be of benefit here - you'll get an unbiased, educated opinion.

Those proportions are unusual on PS but no reason they can't be working together to make for a nice bright stone We can't tell you much about this without at least some close-ups of the stone though.

Old thread with more details on clarity grading: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/clarity-grading-question.154174/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/clarity-grading-question.154174/[/URL]

 

[bte90]

Thanks for the replies! One thing I am confused about is how stones with the same grade in color, cut, and clarity and ct weights varying by .05 or less can vary in price as much as $2,000 on the same website. Does ct weight alone account for that or is it also a factor of the individual in-person appearance of each stone?

 

[yssie]

Thanks for the replies! One thing I am confused about is how stones with the same grade in color, cut, and clarity and ct weights varying by .05 or less can vary in price as much as $2,000 on the same website. Does ct weight alone account for that or is it also a factor of the individual in-person appearance of each stone?

In general there are a number of things that can contribute to pricing differences - some may or may not apply in this particular case:
-Precision of cut
-Vendor type (drop shipper? Pricey 47th St. location?)
-Age of the stone (and how long it's been in inventory)
-Price of the stone when it was bought
-Which manufacturer the stone is bought from/owned by
-Vendor policies - vendors with generous buyback/trade-in/upgrade policies may sell at higher price points
-For SIs and lower-coloured stones I believe tradepeople have confirmed that individual appearance contributes to pricing - a "nice" SI2 will cost more than a very visibly included SI2 w/ similar specs
...

Others on the board can provide a more complete picture - hopefully they will see this question and comment

 

[WinkHPD]

Thanks for the replies! One thing I am confused about is how stones with the same grade in color, cut, and clarity and ct weights varying by .05 or less can vary in price as much as $2,000 on the same website. Does ct weight alone account for that or is it also a factor of the individual in-person appearance of each stone?

In general there are a number of things that can contribute to pricing differences - some may or may not apply in this particular case:
-Precision of cut
-Vendor type (drop shipper? Pricey 47th St. location?)
-Age of the stone (and how long it's been in inventory)
-Price of the stone when it was bought
-Which manufacturer the stone is bought from/owned by
-Vendor policies - vendors with generous buyback/trade-in/upgrade policies may sell at higher price points
-For SIs and lower-coloured stones I believe tradepeople have confirmed that individual appearance contributes to pricing - a "nice" SI2 will cost more than a very visibly included SI2 w/ similar specs
...

Others on the board can provide a more complete picture - hopefully they will see this question and comment

Yssie makes great points. I would like to add a few too.

The best cut diamonds

• • demand more care in crystal selection
  • greater time in planning
  • more sophisticated tools
  • more skilled artisans
  • increased fine-tuning
  • greater time-per-diamond overall
  • a yield of less carat weight.
  • The result? An indisputably higher cost-basis, thus they command a higher price

Some people think that it is worth it, others do not. Clearly I am of the worth it camp.

Wink