The home stretch; picking the final stone

[ChedWick]

What I'm looking for is a diamond that when my future fiance compares to all of her friend's, is clearly the superior stone. One that she will be mesmerized by day in and day out because its never dull. Now with where I've narrowed my options, I'm confident that regardless of what stone I choose, I'll get what I want. EVERY stone that I've been shown from local jewelers and big box brick and mortar stores have been rather lackluster. I'm also pretty confident that every person I know who is either married or engaged likely walked into a store once or twice and called it a day. But, I'm still rather particular and seek the best I can get(within reason).



Now, to get right to the point. After extensive research of the years and extensive searching over the past 4 or so months, I've chosen a diamond. I actually spoke with a WF rep who seemed as particular as me and after talking with him we agree'd on a E si1 stone. I currently have said diamond reserved waiting for me to pull the trigger. At least for the next 6 days.


Item Code AGS-104058935031
Category A CUT ABOVE®
Shape Princess
Carat 0.608
Color E
Clarity SI1
Cut Ideal

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2803930.htm



My other options are all H color stones with varying clarity grades.


Alternative option 1
H, VS2

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2803928.htm


Alternative option 2
H, VVS1

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2763517.htm


Alternative option 3
H, VS1

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut-loose-diamond-2803924.htm

The issue I'm having right now is partly me being overly particular, but since each stone falls just into my price range, I don't feel I should settle. My concerns with the H color stones are how much less colorless they may look in comparison to the E stone. The rep I talked to said he could see the difference. And while by themselves I may never to think to myself "hey those aren't colorless" if I have the option for a better stone, I'm gonna take it. This, I feel is probably why the Rep was so quick to eliminate these stones from my initial selection when I was on the phone with him. However, with the stone I've current reserved I'm concerned about the clarity and the images that come on the inventory listing. When comparing the base 40x zoom image it doesn't look as good as say the H VS1 stone. It could very well look better in person but idk, I'm not an expert by any means so I may be reading too much into the base image differences. I can also see the inclusions. The WF rep confirmed that it is eye clean, even at 6 inches(their eye clean is 10 inches) but I can't seem to get past those two concerns atm. Even though I've seen sI1 and sI2 stones from local jewelers and haven't been able to see anything without a loupe.

So considering the 4 option what are your opinions. Stick with the current one I have reserved or alter my order?

 

[diamonds-are-friends]

the stone you chose looks to be the best amongst the 4.

 

[ChedWick]

I think I would tend to agree. But that H VS1, my 3rd alternative option seems to also look really good. I'd be paying just slightly more, not really enough for it to even be a factor, upgrading the clarity but downgrading on the color. Judging from just the first white images, it for what ever reason looks a little whiter and brighter, but I imagine the initial zoomed images aren't taken with quite the precision as the ideal-scope or Aset images. Decisions decisions.

 

[04diamond<3]

I like the last one the best.

 

[mgrant]

I like the last one the best.

Why?

 

[ChedWick]

I like the last one the best.

Any particular reason why? I'm not great at reading the ideal scope and aset images but is it based off of them that make you like the trade off in color for clairty? Or something else?

I guess that's where I'm at. Is the performance of any other the alternative stones enough of an improvement to justify trading color for clarity?

 

[k_darling]

the stone you chose looks to be the best amongst the 4.

I agree - looks like the best option for your money. Color is generally the first thing that people will notice. Unless you're able to see inclusions, I'd go with the E.

 

[04diamond<3]

I like the last one the best.

Why?

Because it has a better facet pattern than the first one and I like the aset better on it.

 

[ChedWick]

I went and viewed quite a few different colored diamonds of varying cut grades on JamesAllen(360 white background view) and for the most part, I can definitely tell the difference between an E and an H. So I'm leaning toward my first choice. I've got about 4 days left on my reserve before its re-listed. Any other thoughts and opinions before I make the purchase. After this its a battle of settings...

 

[CharmyPoo]

You wrote that you wanted a diamond that " is clearly the superior stone" when compared to her friends. What diamonds do her friends have and what size are they? I will be blunt ... superior is not just cut in the real world. Size plays a mega factor.

Many here may believe that an AVC is superior in cut and light performance. I can tell you that I never get a single comment on how well it performs in real life. I get plenty of comments on how big and white it is.

 

[heididdl]

Charmypoo I am glad that you said that as i am a girl that is not flashy but I'd like close to a carat with an eye clean stone G/H.... has she ever dropped a hint about size.........I have previously posted I have a GIA certified H color Si1 stone it is so clean that even with 30x I can just barely find the inclusion and it is so clear I can see the sand at the bottom on the ocean and its 3.66 carat emerald.

Not suggesting 3.66 but I would go to .91 just under a carat before the 1.00 price hike and an eye clean si1 G/H color......and her friends will drop dead with an ideal cut.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think they will all look the same in person, so get the whitest one if it makes you feel good about your purchase

 

[Christina...]

I agree that they are all going to look extremely similar in person, and all have very similar dimensions, based on that I would go with your first choice if it's eye clean.

 

[bunnycat]

the stone you chose looks to be the best amongst the 4.

I agree - looks like the best option for your money. Color is generally the first thing that people will notice. Unless you're able to see inclusions, I'd go with the E.

Really? I would have thought size would be first, even on a princess.

I don't have a lot of experience with P cuts, but generally people see size and brightness or liveliness (performance) in a stone (at least a round) and that means size and cut quality are the first things they notice, even if they don't really understand how cut quality affects a stone they just see "ooh- shiney!" (that's good cut quality). SInce you are looking at ACA stones, performance isn't an issue. They are all similar sized so I'd probably go for the E also since points one and two on your "must have" list seem to be taken care of (ie- size that you want and performance you want). That would bring me (at least) to color so I'd get best color in budget after my first two points are taken care of. Clarity is my last concern because my eyesight is not so good anymore. Lots of stuff is "eyeclean" when you are over 40! That could be reversed for you, or maybe not. I'd ask WF if the clarity concerns you enough.

 

[ChedWick]

Thank you all for the input and opinions. I greatly appreciate it. I'm going with my first choice, the E SI1 stone. I like the ideal-scope and aset images, it falls into my budget, and from what the WF rep said after pulling it out and looking at it compared to my other options, it IS eye clean, even at 6 inches away(their standard for eye clean is 10 inches). My initial options limited out the H stones and it was a pretty close battle between another E SI1 stone but it had a rather large crystal right in the middle of the table that after examination, the Rep determined was not eye clean from 6 inches away when looking down, and not eye clean from the side at 10 inches.

To answer/comment on some of the comments and opinions.

I'm fortunate on two fronts. The first, my girlfriend is really small. 4'10" to be exact. So a smaller diamond will look bigger on her hand. The second is that she isn't too concerned with size. A few years ago while we were still early on in college I let her browse around a Kay Jewelers. The sales people there had her try on a 1 carat stone and she thought it was too big for her. It did kinda look a little ridiculous on her small hand imho. She said the 3/4 carat was probably the biggest she'd like. All this was before they showed us prices too, so I think she meant it instead of just saying it so I wouldn't spend X amount. I could be naive but heck ignorance is bliss.

My disadvantage is that .6 for what I want in cut and performance, is about all that will keep me in my budget. As I Look right now, with what is available, to get the same characteristics I want, I'm looking at about a $1000 jump just to go from a .6 to a .7 carat stone. That pushes the total cost well out of my budget. Even if I went with white gold over platinum I'd probably still be out of my budget by a few hundred. I really want platinum too. So I don't find the cost to get what would essentially be a size increase of 3-4 sheets of paper, justified.

Don't get me wrong, I agree size would probably have the most initial impact when comparing her future ring to others but with us both being recent college grads and in the market to buy a house, my budget wont allow must more wiggle room.

As far as what her friends and family have on their fingers. I'd say noting bigger than 1 carat and cut quality is probably akin to what local jewelers typically have in stock and try to pawn off on the less educated.. I don't think any of their husbands/fiances are as particular as I am about big purchases. I mean, I've been researching and learning for the better part of 4 years now. I started off looking at Kay's, Jared, and Zales. I feel I've come a long way.

And for my comment on the superior stone. I've watched A LOT of the goodoldgold youtube videos and their comparisons of different diamond cut grades. That's more so what I mean when I say I want the superior stone. Heck, I'd prefer a round or AVC from what I've seen on GOG's youtube channel, but my g/f likes the princess cut. So that's what I'm going with.


Again, thank you for all the comments and opinions. I'll be sure to post again when I actually get the diamond in.

 

[ChedWick]

Welp, I got it in and I love it!





Sorry for the poor picture, I'm not entirely sure how to get a good picture with a simple point and shoot or my phone(actually took better pics).

I'm happy with the size and more than happy with its fire and brilliance. I haven't taken it out of the packaging yet so it can only look better once it no longer has a fairly thick and reflective piece of plastic covering it. I actually took it to a local jeweler who was trying real hard to sell me some stones without anything but the GIA report. I told him my concerns with cut and light performance and he eventually gave up and told me if I wanted to use what I was getting in to compare against what he had, he'd be ok with it and actually would like to see himself. I don't think he actually expected me to get a good diamond online. Well, he was impressed and so was I. I saw exactly what I hope/expect to see in the future in terms of comparing diamonds.

Under 10 times magnification I can see the feather on the table but strangely only when its in the upper left corner. I cant seem to see it when its rotated around and I sure as hell can't see it without 10x magnification.


So thank you again for all your opinions. I greatly appreciate it.

Now for the setting, but I think I'll make a new thread for that. I'm about as, if not more indecisive about the setting as I was with the diamond...