Square Radiant - Opinions Please!

[darock]

Hey Everyone,

I''m new to the process and the board but I''ve seen some of the great advice in this forum and was hoping for some expert opinions before I make the "big purchase."

I found a great-looking square radiant diamond with the following specs:

1.51 carat
VS1
F
6.69x6.51x4.36
Depth: 67%
Table Width: 66%
Crown Height: 11%
Pavilion Depth: 54%
Girdle: Medium/Polished
Polish: Very Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Florescence: None
EGL Lab Cert.

Also, it''s roughly $11k. Is this a good price - does anyone know the Rapaport value on this?

Please let me know what you think - Thanks in advance.

 

[coda72]

Well, there''s nothing in the numbers that raises any red flags, but you need to see the diamond to know for sure. Also, I would be a bit wary of the EGL cert. The price seems to be in line with what diamonds with GIA reports are going for, at least from the vendors online. I don''t know the Rapaport value on this diamond, and I don''t know if it''s even relevant. But then again, I''m not an expert.

 

[belle]

if feel you''ve compared it to enough stones to determine it really is ''great looking'' then i think you''re all set!

you can check the price by putting your specs into the ''pricescope your diamond'' search tool above and comparing to similar stones.

best of luck!

 

[kcoursolle]

Do you have any images of the stone? This is especially helpful with radiants. The numbers look fine, but I as well am a bit leary of the EGL cert.

 

[darock]

No images, although I saw the stone and it looked great to me.

Also, how big of a deal is the EGL vs. GIA cert? Presumably, it keeps the price down, right?

 

[dianne]

Date: 3/1/2007 2:04:18 PM
Author: darock
No images, although I saw the stone and it looked great to me.

Also, how big of a deal is the EGL vs. GIA cert? Presumably, it keeps the price down, right?

Is the cert EGL Europe or EGL USA? I have heard EGL USA is much more reputable than EGL Europe.

It does keep the price down BUT you may want to get it appraised to confirm it is the quality you want, especially if it is an EGL Europe certificate....even if it is just one of those local jeweler freebie "here will you check this out and see if it matches this cert" kind of thing.

Here's what happened to me and why I say get it checked out:

My bf purchased me an H color loose cushion cut diamond that had an EGL Europe cert. I was ok with the EGL cert because it was allowing me to get more carat weight for the money....ok, so the greedy in me came out

Thank goodness I had found Pricescope and had been lurking to the point of addiction. I was so excited!... but because of what I had read on this site I did not allow my excitement to blind me enough that I bypassed having someone look at it. I did just that, at two different places, and the H stone turned out to be a K!

I was lucky enough that these two places, local jewelry stores, did not in any way attempt to sell me one thing...even though I have heard that some will tell you the quality is bad to try to entice you to buy from them---so beware of that.

Both of these jewelers took out the master stone set and didn't tell me which color master stone they were using, but they put it beside my stone and let me tell them which one I thought matched the best. They started out obviously whiter and moved on to the ones with more color. Turned out the "obviously whiter" was an H--which was what EGL graded my stone! I don't think I am as color sensitive as some on here but when the diamond is in the white tray I can usually see color in an H. Some can see the difference between D, E, and F---I admit I cannot. In my situation, this stone was an in-your-face K color! Even though the price was lower, I really don't think it was low enough to accommodate for a decrease in 3 color grades.---not to me, anyway.

Now, I have heard that if you can find an EGL that appraises with the same grading as the cert then you have found a great deal because you do get to benefit from the lower price. Me?, I was so upset at this color difference that I now have a bad feeling toward EGL certs and, as far as one of them appraising correctly, I think that's an urban legend --- not really, I just wasn't so lucky.

Edited to say: We returned the diamond!

 

[darock]

Thanks for all the help - I will definitely try to have it "re-certified" to double-check.

Any other tips out there?

 

[coda72]

I just wanted to say that there''s not enough of a discount on this diamond to account for the EGL cert. If you''re buying from a jewelry store or whereever, I would try to bargain with them a bit more. Maybe you can get them to go down a few hundred dollars. Here''s a diamond with similar specs to yours and has a GIA report.

http://www.icestore.com/search/diamond_inventory_detail.asp?ID=5984

 

[darock]

Thanks Coda! That was a big help!