Thoughts on 1.3-1.6 carat round

[sparklecoffee]

Hi all, been lurking here for awhile soaking up all the knowledge until I finally feel I know enough to be dangerous. Looking for a 1.3 to 1.6 carat round diamond for the center of a 3 stone engagement ring and I purchased a couple that looked good when I found them but now. as I know more, I’m wondering if I overlooked anything or if there are better options. And maybe I’m just trying to optimize too much too. I do tend to go down these rabbit holes too far. We don’t need the best of the best, just a well balanced stone.

Do you notice any standout issues with either of these? I’m not tied to one or the other. We went smaller with the AGS stone because it was the best we thought we could find at the time, I thought it’s ASET and H&A looked really good. But as I looked again I thought I found a good 1.57 GCAL 8x.

Hopefully both arrive around the same time so we can compare side by side.

Thanks for your time.

Target was a 1.3-1.6 carat, F-H color, VS2 or higher and I filtered mostly for AGS with ASET or GCAL 8X for some reassurance of cut quality.

1.32 Carat Round Lab Diamond AGSL 404051732025 | Ritani

1.32 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut G Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number AGSL #404051732025

www.ritani.com

1.57 Carat Round Lab Diamond GCAL 322720024 | Ritani

1.57 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut G Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number GCAL #322720024

www.ritani.com

 

[lovedogs]

I dont like the striations on the 1.57. I think your original choice looks good! How much was the 1.32?

 

[momofive]

Comparing the two, I agree with lovedogs.

 

[sparklecoffee]

Thank you both for the replies. The 1.32 was $1498 and the 1.57 was $1248.

 

[DejaWiz]

I'm seeing quite a few 1.6-1.7+ D VS2 and better HPHT for your budget. Would you like me to post some of those so that you can compare?

 

[sparklecoffee]

That would be much appreciated DejaWiz.
The setting this will go into can accept a max of 1.65 so I’ve been limiting my search to 1.6 ct max. Budget is $1600.
The 1.32 was ordered 2 weeks ago and hasn’t left the diamond secured stage so I was going to see if Ritani could cancel that order.

 

[DejaWiz]

1.60 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG564385852 | Ritani

1.6 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG564385852

www.ritani.com

1.60 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG564374417 | Ritani

1.6 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG564374417

www.ritani.com

1.60 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG564364177 | Ritani

1.6 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color SI1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG564364177

www.ritani.com

1.60 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG567368847 | Ritani

1.6 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG567368847

www.ritani.com

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG520207305 | Ritani

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color SI1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG520207305

www.ritani.com

1.69 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG566311792 | Ritani

1.69 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG566311792

www.ritani.com

 

[Kim N]

Here are a few for you to take a look at in addition to DejaWiz's list. I suggest putting the ones you like on hold so they don't get sniped.

1.60 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG567368847 | Ritani

1.6 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG567368847

www.ritani.com

1.62 Carat Round Lab Diamond GIA 2447044716 | Ritani

1.62 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number GIA #2447044716

www.ritani.com

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG551208867 | Ritani

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG551208867

www.ritani.com

 

[DejaWiz]

Any way your setting prongs can be slightly modded to house a completely clean 2 carat?

2.04 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG551275143 | Ritani

2.04 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color SI1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG551275143

www.ritani.com

 

[sparklecoffee]

Wow, thank you both for all the options. I ended up swapping one of my orders for the 1.64 that @Kim N noted. I'm sure all the options you both presented would have been better than my novice eyes found. Ritani customer service said this was a great diamond. And being that I have a 1 year old down for a nap, my time to noodle on these decisions is very short. So I'm very thankful for both @Kim N and @DejaWiz for your time.

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG551208867 | Ritani

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG551208867

ritani.vxca.net

I'll post pictures when both of my orders arrive. Thanks again!

 

[Kim N]

Wow, thank you both for all the options. I ended up swapping one of my orders for the 1.64 that @Kim N noted. I'm sure all the options you both presented would have been better than my novice eyes found. Ritani customer service said this was a great diamond. And being that I have a 1 year old down for a nap, my time to noodle on these decisions is very short. So I'm very thankful for both @Kim N and @DejaWiz for your time.

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG551208867 | Ritani

1.64 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG551208867

ritani.vxca.net

I'll post pictures when both of my orders arrive. Thanks again!

Excellent! Looking forward to your thoughts when they arrive!

 

[sparklecoffee]

I've been having fun trying to learn how to select diamonds but I recognize my knowledge is all focused on the proportions. I found 5 new diamonds that all had proportions that fit my small subset, were HPHT and under budget. Do any look like excellent examples?
I was thinking of picking up one more to compare to the 1.64 that hopefully arrives soon.

Sidebar, does anyone price match to Ritani? Adiamor seems to indicate only GIA or AGS graded diamonds are eligible for price match. I've already got 2 stones (arrived and on order) through Ritani and if I get another I'll be at 3 with only 2 able to be returned per their policy. I hate to send back two diamonds but I wish I had researched more before the 1.57 CVD with striations arrived. I probably shouldn't have ordered that one.

In any case, here were 5 I found.

1.52 D VS1

1.52 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG544262837 | Ritani

1.52 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG544262837

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

1.55 E VS1

1.55 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG572344612 | Ritani

1.55 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut E Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG572344612

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

1.56 D VVS2

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG566309143 | Ritani

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG566309143

www.ritani.com

Loupe360 didn't have a 360 image but one was available on Ritani, seems strange.

Another 1.56 D VVS2 - Is this one that has a blue nuance to it? I can't tell, but its video does seem a different shade than the others

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG564374430 | Ritani

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG564374430

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

And a 1.61 D VVS2 - This one looks grey to me but is it just the background.

1.61 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG529257465 | Ritani

1.61 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG529257465

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

If I was choosing on my own I gravitate to the 1.55 E VS1. It seems like it has a lot of contrast.

If any are good choices, would I notice any difference between them and the 1.57 or 1.64 already here or on order?

 

[Kim N]

I've been having fun trying to learn how to select diamonds but I recognize my knowledge is all focused on the proportions. I found 5 new diamonds that all had proportions that fit my small subset, were HPHT and under budget. Do any look like excellent examples?
I was thinking of picking up one more to compare to the 1.64 that hopefully arrives soon.

Sidebar, does anyone price match to Ritani? Adiamor seems to indicate only GIA or AGS graded diamonds are eligible for price match. I've already got 2 stones (arrived and on order) through Ritani and if I get another I'll be at 3 with only 2 able to be returned per their policy. I hate to send back two diamonds but I wish I had researched more before the 1.57 CVD with striations arrived. I probably shouldn't have ordered that one.

In any case, here were 5 I found.

1.52 D VS1

1.52 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG544262837 | Ritani

1.52 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG544262837

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

1.55 E VS1

1.55 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG572344612 | Ritani

1.55 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut E Color VS1 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG572344612

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

1.56 D VVS2

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG566309143 | Ritani

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG566309143

www.ritani.com

Loupe360 didn't have a 360 image but one was available on Ritani, seems strange.

Another 1.56 D VVS2 - Is this one that has a blue nuance to it? I can't tell, but its video does seem a different shade than the others

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG564374430 | Ritani

1.56 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG564374430

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

And a 1.61 D VVS2 - This one looks grey to me but is it just the background.

1.61 Carat Round Lab Diamond IGI LG529257465 | Ritani

1.61 Carat Round Lab Diamond ID Cut D Color VVS2 Clarity with diamond report number IGI #LG529257465

www.ritani.com

Loupe360

loupe360.com

If I was choosing on my own I gravitate to the 1.55 E VS1. It seems like it has a lot of contrast.

If any are good choices, would I notice any difference between them and the 1.57 or 1.64 already here or on order?

I would nix the 1.55 E for having a very wonky pavilion. You can see this from the black triangles between the arrow bases.

I'm leaning towards no blue nuance on the 1.56.

I like the 1.61, but it seems to be tilted in the video. It also seems to be quite well-priced compared to the others.

 

[Kim N]

Did you end up ordering a third stone? I looked at them again on a different monitor and now I think the 1.56 does have blue nuance. The other 1.56 may be borderline as well.

 

[sparklecoffee]

Thanks for checking back in and sharing more insights. I did not end up ordering a 3rd stone. The 1.64 is arriving Thursday and will be a good comparison against the 1.57 GCAL 8x we already have from last week.

The Ritani customer service team spent some time looking at the 1.64 already on order and the potential 1.61 from above and two of the agents both thought the 1.64 that you had found was a better stone.
So that’s at least people in favor of that stone of yours over things I can track down. So I’ll keep my day job haha. But it is fun learning on the nuances of finding the best of the best diamonds.

Will try and get pictures posted of the 1.57 and 1.64 this week / weekend.

 

[sparklecoffee]

People here are not only excellent diamond shoppers but are better diamond photographers than me too! I didn't appreciate how hard it is to take pictures of such sparkly objects until I spent a good 2+ hours trying all sorts of angles and lighting scenarios and 3 cameras and 1 tripod. No pictures do justice to what we see with our own eyes and I have to cut bait and stop trying to get lab quality photos.

Honestly, both the 1.57 G VS1 (GCAL 8X) and the 1.64 D VS1 (IGI) caught our attention with enough sparkle that our amateur eyes would have been happy with either. When I first compared the 1.64 to the 1.57 I was shocked at how much more brilliant the 1.64 was. But then I cleaned the 1.57 (from our handling the prior week) and they both ended up looking similar.
There were times when the 1.57 seem darker than the 1.64 and may have had a couple less areas of fire.
Almost every lighting scenario we selected the 1.64, if only by a small margin. But this is why it's nice to have stones to compare against.

Kudos to DejaWiz and Kim N for helping find a better performing, higher color and larger stone for only $150 more than the GCAL 8X I had found earlier. We definitely would not have this nice of a stone if we had settled on the jewelry stores choice of a 1.11 I VS2 for over double what this 1.64 cost.

Thanks again for all the help and guidance. I've learned so much about diamonds in the last two months and am really happy we have a better than most stone

A couple of attempts at pictures below.
The 1.57 is always on the left and the 1.64 always on the right.

iPhone adjusted the white balance on these, they were both on the same white background.






And the setting it will go in (this is just a placeholder glass stone that the stores uses for rings on display). Will take a few weeks to get the 1.64 mounted.

 

[Kim N]

People here are not only excellent diamond shoppers but are better diamond photographers than me too! I didn't appreciate how hard it is to take pictures of such sparkly objects until I spent a good 2+ hours trying all sorts of angles and lighting scenarios and 3 cameras and 1 tripod. No pictures do justice to what we see with our own eyes and I have to cut bait and stop trying to get lab quality photos.

Honestly, both the 1.57 G VS1 (GCAL 8X) and the 1.64 D VS1 (IGI) caught our attention with enough sparkle that our amateur eyes would have been happy with either. When I first compared the 1.64 to the 1.57 I was shocked at how much more brilliant the 1.64 was. But then I cleaned the 1.57 (from our handling the prior week) and they both ended up looking similar.
There were times when the 1.57 seem darker than the 1.64 and may have had a couple less areas of fire.
Almost every lighting scenario we selected the 1.64, if only by a small margin. But this is why it's nice to have stones to compare against.

Kudos to DejaWiz and Kim N for helping find a better performing, higher color and larger stone for only $150 more than the GCAL 8X I had found earlier. We definitely would not have this nice of a stone if we had settled on the jewelry stores choice of a 1.11 I VS2 for over double what this 1.64 cost.

Thanks again for all the help and guidance. I've learned so much about diamonds in the last two months and am really happy we have a better than most stone

A couple of attempts at pictures below.
The 1.57 is always on the left and the 1.64 always on the right.

iPhone adjusted the white balance on these, they were both on the same white background.






And the setting we loved.

Wonderful, it looks gorgeous in your setting! Wear it in the best of health!

 

[sparklecoffee]

Since I went soo far down the diamond search and research rabbit hole, I had to go the next step and order an ideal and ASET scope to confirm the stone is a decent choice. After an hour or so of trying to get the scopes and stone aligned I think these images are a good representation of the stone. It's hard to take in focus images. And it's really hard to ensure everything is level and aligned. I took these on a stone holder on a white youtube screen.

What do you think? Still seems like a good stone to me and we will keep it. There is some extra contrast around the 3 of the 8 arrows and a bit more green where there could be red. But I also don't see any significant light leakage.
I'm also an amateur scope reader too so feel free to correct my interpretations if I'm mistaken.
And yes, it's probably not the same level as a premium branded cut, but I also recognize that it's around $1000 cheaper than a guaranteed super ideal stone. So, for what we paid, I'm still happy. We liked the performance compared to other stone we had ordered so we know it's at least better than one diamond out there

All images are the same stone, but may be a different rotation as I took these throughout the day and with different iPhones.

 

[Kim N]

Since I went soo far down the diamond search and research rabbit hole, I had to go the next step and order an ideal and ASET scope to confirm the stone is a decent choice. After an hour or so of trying to get the scopes and stone aligned I think these images are a good representation of the stone. It's hard to take in focus images. And it's really hard to ensure everything is level and aligned. I took these on a stone holder on a white youtube screen.

What do you think? Still seems like a good stone to me and we will keep it. There is some extra contrast around the 3 of the 8 arrows and a bit more green where there could be red. But I also don't see any significant light leakage.
I'm also an amateur scope reader too so feel free to correct my interpretations if I'm mistaken.
And yes, it's probably not the same level as a premium branded cut, but I also recognize that it's around $1000 cheaper than a guaranteed super ideal stone. So, for what we paid, I'm still happy. We liked the performance compared to other stone we had ordered so we know it's at least better than one diamond out there

All images are the same stone, but may be a different rotation as I took these throughout the day and with different iPhones.

You did a great job with the images! The stone is tilted in some of your photos, which explains some of the extra blue or green. It looks like it has no light performance issues and is a total winner.

 

[sparklecoffee]

Thanks Kim N.

After I posted I thought about you and how it might be fun to see a Ritani stone we bought based on your recommendation and knowledge but one in which we could not get an ASET from the supplier.
We’re happy with our diamond and glad you and all others are here to help folks.

It’s amazing how much just a slight tilt of the stone can really affect the images. Makes me appreciate the professional looking ASETs of the premium stones.

 

[momofive]

Congratulations. You did a great job!

 

[sparklecoffee]

As a scientist and data loving person I couldn't stop myself from getting a hearts and arrows viewer to see if our diamond exhibited a decent pattern. I can safely say it is not a hearts and arrows diamond But that's OK, we're still happy with the light performance even if the symmetry is a bit off.

And like I said with the ASET and IS images, these things are hard to take handheld with a iPhone. It's amazing how much they change when the alignment is not perfect. These were the best examples of a hearts pattern that I could get.

Referencing this site, my rookie analysis says that the lower girdle halves are not exact enough or the proper proportions, something that the IGI reports don't tell us anyways. I was happy to see that the 34.4 / 40.6 angle combination was solidly in the bold in the chart to give this diamond a chance to have good hearts and arrows. But I'm not unhappy we don't have true H&A. If that was a must we would have shopped for H&A designation or went with a super ideal vendor (WF, BGD, etc.) Those were out of our budget. So instead of a top 1-2% diamond we are probably in the top 20%, which we're perfectly fine with.


https://www.heartsandarrows.com/hearts-arrows-diamond-ideal-cut-dna.aspx

I'll try and post some videos later, maybe after we get the stone set. And maybe I'll start a different thread when we get the setting, a thread summarizing our diamond picking adventure because I learned so much from reading dozens to hundreds of threads on other peoples diamonds. It'd be nice to have a one stop discussion of everything I did and learned for other rookie PS'ers to learn from.