so confused about princess cuts

[murphc2]

I''ve been reading these forums for a while and i really haven''t come to the conclusion of what excatly makes a decent princess cut?
I want to spend about 7k for diamond and setting. And frankly i just want it to look beautiful and big (ie: greater than a 1ct weight and a very high rating on the BrillianceScope)

I''m coming down to the deadline, as i''ve been draging my feet in the final decision. So basically i''m just asking for help. Possibly a reference with a online jewler that receives alot of recomendations. I''m not afraid of buying the diamond seperate and then searching out the proper mounting.

My only realization after reading and looking is that you can''t really rely on the clarity, color, and %''s to get a princess that really shines. The closest thing i''ve found is a Leo diamond from zales
.98 ct
I
S2
Good polish and symmetry
5.43x5.28x3.92
$ 5,849 set in a 18k white gold solitare band w/ the signiture "LEO" engraving on the inside w/ a small stone.

please help...

 

[DiamondsRagirlsbestfriend]

I highly recommend the folks at whiteflash.com I think they''ll take good care of you.

If you decide that you''d like to speak with them, give them a call, rather than sending them an email.

 

[icekid]

oh dear... stay far far away from zales if at all possible. whiteflash is a great recommendation, and many here work with mark turnowski from engagement rings direct, good old gold... there are more. someone can definitely direct you to a great online jeweler where you will get much better bang for your buck than at maul stores like zales. good luck!

 

[IrishEyes]

Please don''t go the Zales route!! Try dirtcheapdiamonds.com or goodoldgold.com. They are highly recommended, I''ve checked out their stuff and they have great deals for really good diamonds!! Kudos to you for going with a princess! I have one myself and I really love it. I know the specifications on cut and symmetry and so forth are iffy still, but they are so beautiful and different from the rounds.

Good Luck!!

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

The problem with princess-cuts is that, compared to rounds, this is still rather uncharted territory.

Up to now, princess-cuts are cut for weight, and because of this, it is hard to find princesses with a very good cut. AGS'' new research takes us completely out of the box, and it shows that there are much better performing proportion-combinations, which basically now are not being cut.

The currently used charts with proportion-recommendations are based on observations of currently available princess-cuts. They give you a direction on a fairly good choice, but soon there will be princesses outside of these ranges that outperform everything currently available.

It is an error to simply take the idealscope, and certain notions based on round brilliants, and assess a princess-cut based on that. In rounds, a pleasing contrast-pattern consists of nice black arrows and small triangles of leakage on the side. In princesses, we also need to get a patterned contrast (partly black, partly white), but with few being cut for beauty, it is difficult to set guidelines on how that pattern should look in the idealscope.

If we are talking brilliancescope, I have even more questions. It is clear that this machine measures something, and there are many discussions whether what it measures is correctly translated into its three results. In rounds, especially the result on scintillation is questioned. It might very well be that in princess-cuts, this problem will become huge, in a sense that new princess-cuts will show magnificent scintillation to a viewer, while this is not shown in the Brilliancescope-result. This will be a very serious test for the machine.

Basically, this does not answer your question. But if I see that you are considering a Leo from Zales, at that pricing, you are better off to wait for the new AGS-0-princess cuts, which will be available in about two to three months.

Live long,

 

[murphc2]

soo yeah my questions remain unanswered... I will call the people at whiteflash and see what they have to offer. I am afraid that i can''t wait the 2-3 months though for those diamonds..

... Being the case another possiblility?
chris-

 

[belle]

if you can''t wait, your best bet is to call and have a diamond looked over for you. best of luck!!

 

[murphc2]

Thanks for the info... how does this one sound... well at least how does it stack up on paper...

Shp Crt Col Cla Lab Dpt Tab Meas Grdl
Cul Sym Pol Flr Cash$ Price$
Princess 1.23
G SI1 GIA 74
68 5.81*5.72*4.25 tk no vg vg no
a+++ make! crown height 13%
$5876
or this

Princess 1.29
G SI1 GIA 72.8 69 6.09*5.91*4.30 tk-vtk
no gd gd no
$6161