Thoughts on this stone?

[book_of_love]

Well, after being a member of this forum for so many years now I finally have my own stone to consider. I''m currently in the process of designing a necklace with the help of my boyfriend as a Christmas present. He doesn''t know a thing about diamonds and while I can''t claim I know anything either I think I have at least a better grasp of things than he does. We know that surprise won''t be a part of the process since he is really relying on my help. We just reserved a diamond from Good Old Gold and I couldn''t be more nervous. It looks like a great stone and I really love the look of it but I''m worried about a potential inclusion near the table. I want to take this process slowly and not make any rash decisions but this stone really caught my eye and I couldn''t risk someone else grabbing it before I had a chance to fully mull things over. I''m still waiting to hear back in regards to other stones but this one is my #1 so far. Then we have to move onto the setting which I have no idea what we''re going to do.

Anyways, I should probably get to the good part, the stone that we put on hold. It can be found here. I''m looking at something between the .4 - .6 carat range and we really don''t want to spend more than $1200 on the whole thing so this stone is at the top part of our budget. Here''s the specifications:

Shape: round
Carat: .058
Color: J
Clarity: SI2
GIA Cut Grade: Excellent
AGS Light Performance: Ideal
Optical Symmetry: Superior
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: Medium
Culet: None
Lab Report: GIA
Table Percentage: 55.89%
Depth Percentage: 61.34%
Crown ∠: 34.59°
Pavilion ∠: 40.74°




The stone is eye clean and according to Sarah it is a real great stone. My only reservations is that one inclusion and the fact that it is a J. I do love the look of a warmer stone but I wonder if a J might be too warm for a necklace? I think that is about it. I guess I''m just looking for some reassurance that this is a nice looking stone. I think it scores a 1 on the HCA or something similar to it but can''t remember off the top of my head. I''m incredibly hopeful but would like to know if there''s something that I could be missing. Thanks so much for any thoughts that could be passed my way. It has been great reading everyone''s journeys over the years!

 

[stone-cold11]

Hmm... That stone should not be sold as a traditional H&A stone but a modified H&A as the hearts has a deep cleft. Ask if GOG mis-labeled it? At that size, it should be difficult to see color. Clarity wise, if they say it is eye-clean, I am inclined to believe them as they can see the stone.

 

[Lorelei]

That looks like one of GOG's modified h&a, could be a mistake was made in the description but ask Jon. I can tell you though whatever the designation, its a beautiful diamond!

J colour will be fine, unlikely you will see warmth in that size ( I can't anyway).

 

[book_of_love]

Date: 11/6/2009 5:11:16 AM
Author: Lorelei
That looks like one of GOG''s modified h&a, could be a mistake was made in the description but ask Jon. I can tell you though whatever the designation, its a beautiful diamond!

J colour will be fine, unlikely you will see warmth in that size ( I can''t anyway).

Could you tell me what you mean by a modified H&A? I don''t think I''ve heard of that before. Where is the cleft?

 

[stone-cold11]

Read this article, it defines what is traditional H&A. http://journal.pricescope.com/Articles/65/1/Hearts-and-Arrows-Diamonds-and-The-Basics-of-Diamond-Cutting.aspx

Nothing wrong with the modified H&A, just not traditional standard, by having a larger lower half facets, this increase the cleft of the hearts and the separation between the hearts and V.

 

[book_of_love]

Oh, thanks so much! I initially thought the cleft was something in the stone and I started to get worried. That article is very helpful, thank you for sharing that link. I don''t know why I hadn''t read over it before. I still really love the stone but this is good to know.

 

[stone-cold11]

Good luck then.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/6/2009 7:42:12 AM
Author: book_of_love

Date: 11/6/2009 5:11:16 AM
Author: Lorelei
That looks like one of GOG''s modified h&a, could be a mistake was made in the description but ask Jon. I can tell you though whatever the designation, its a beautiful diamond!

J colour will be fine, unlikely you will see warmth in that size ( I can''t anyway).

Could you tell me what you mean by a modified H&A? I don''t think I''ve heard of that before. Where is the cleft?

Jon has some diamonds cut that way as he has clients who appreciate the look of longer lower girdle facets and what they provide for performance. As a result of the longer LGF''s the hearts patterns develop a cleft at the top, so these diamonds aren''t h&a in the traditional sense but are still beautiful stones which appeal to many.

 

[book_of_love]

Thank you so much for the explanation, Lorelei. I really appreciate it! I thought about the cleft thing at work today and I don''t think it will be an issue for me. This is the biggest stone we''ve come across in our price range which is what has it ahead of the rest. Sarah has reassured me about the inclusions but I won''t know for sure until I see it in person but I have a feeling that I''ll be okay with them. I''d really like a stone that just performs really well and looks great in a simple, classic setting. GOG offers necklace settings but I didn''t care for it because it will slide on the chain which is something I''m trying to avoid. Is there somewhere else I can look? I''m not sure what jeweler would set someone else''s stone.

 

[stone-cold11]

Check out WF?

Have you talk to GOG on the setting? They should be able to come up with a non sliding setting, it is not uncommon.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/7/2009 2:04:31 AM
Author: book_of_love
Thank you so much for the explanation, Lorelei. I really appreciate it! I thought about the cleft thing at work today and I don''t think it will be an issue for me. This is the biggest stone we''ve come across in our price range which is what has it ahead of the rest. Sarah has reassured me about the inclusions but I won''t know for sure until I see it in person but I have a feeling that I''ll be okay with them. I''d really like a stone that just performs really well and looks great in a simple, classic setting. GOG offers necklace settings but I didn''t care for it because it will slide on the chain which is something I''m trying to avoid. Is there somewhere else I can look? I''m not sure what jeweler would set someone else''s stone.

Then you might have found your diamond! GOG has access to many more ring and pendant settings than you see on their site, ask Jon what he might have for settings that would suit you, he might be able to offer you a fixed pendant setting.

 

[book_of_love]

Stone - We did check out WF and I love their settings but didn''t find a stone that I love as much. We still haven''t heard back from one other vendor after requesting further information and I love their settings and I like their stones on paper. I like how GOG satisfies my instant gratification because they have all of the information right there and available to you whenever you want. I''m not being very patient about this and it has been really helpful being able to reference the stone whenever I want if I forget a detail or some other bit of information.

Lorelei - I will do that, thanks! I"m afraid that I''ll be making all of the decisions on this necklace before my boyfriend gets back from his hunting trip this afternoon.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/7/2009 12:42:57 PM

Lorelei - I will do that, thanks! I''m afraid that I''ll be making all of the decisions on this necklace before my boyfriend gets back from his hunting trip this afternoon.

Hehehe!!

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 11/7/2009 12:47:19 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 11/7/2009 12:42:57 PM

Lorelei - I will do that, thanks! I''m afraid that I''ll be making all of the decisions on this necklace before my boyfriend gets back from his hunting trip this afternoon.

Hehehe!!

Isn''t that the plan?

 

[book_of_love]

Well, we haven''t heard back from any of the other vendors yet so it looks like we''re all systems go on the GOG stone. I''m more than happy with it but I can''t help but want to read the information on everything else, just to satisfy my curiosity. However, this stone is the biggest so I should forget about the rest while I''m ahead.

I''m having the worst time picking out a setting. I originally loved the look of a four prong setting with the chain attached near the top two prongs (like WF''s four corners) but was informed that it can cause the stone to flip which would drive me absolutely batty. I just don''t care for the look of the setting that can slide along the chain. I think the stone sliding around all the time would drive me nuts as well. Other than a bezel (which I''m not fully sold on yet) what other options are there? Any pro/cons to the other settings?

 

[book_of_love]

I''m happy to report that I have purchased my necklace! It sounds like it will be set sometime next week. I just need to decide what necklace length I want. I''m kind of

right now!

 

[stone-cold11]

So what kind of setting it that? If sliding, but a length of chain that you do not have yet, so that you can mix and match for different occasion?

 

[book_of_love]

Date: 11/13/2009 5:32:42 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
So what kind of setting it that? If sliding, but a length of chain that you do not have yet, so that you can mix and match for different occasion?

I'm not even sure what the setting is called, but I could swap out the chain if I wanted to. I'm still in love with the four corners type of mounting but after much discussion with Sarah I feel that this one will work for what I like. If not, then maybe I'll look at a semi bezel.

On a totally unrelated note, is there any way I can change the title of this thread? I just want to update it with my progress but I can't find where to do it.

 

[stone-cold11]

Press the report concern button below to contact the admin to change it for you. But best to just start a new thread and link to this thread for a bit of history?

 

[book_of_love]

Well, it is done! Sort of! I was going to get it tomorrow but there was a communication snafu and now I won''t get it until next Wednesday. They have to order my chain which won''t arrive until Monday and then they''ll ship Tuesday. I''m so excited that it is coming and I''m happy that it isn''t coming tomorrow because I have a very busy day at work.

 

[stone-cold11]

Good luck.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/18/2009 7:33:00 PM
Author: book_of_love
Well, it is done! Sort of! I was going to get it tomorrow but there was a communication snafu and now I won''t get it until next Wednesday. They have to order my chain which won''t arrive until Monday and then they''ll ship Tuesday. I''m so excited that it is coming and I''m happy that it isn''t coming tomorrow because I have a very busy day at work.

Congratulations!!

 

[book_of_love]

I got it!! Woohoo!! I have been meaning to post something about it but I''ve been without internet since Wednesday when I got it. I''m hanging out at a coffee house right now to pay some bills and thought I''d check in.

I have to say. I''ve never seen a prettier stone. This stone is absolutely perfect and 110% eyeclean for being an SI2! I''ve looked at it a million times and can''t see a single inclusion and I suspect that''s because I get too distracted by all of the beautiful arrows and flash of color I get from it.

I''ll have to post photos once I get the net back hopefully sometime next week!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/28/2009 12:15:41 PM
Author: book_of_love
I got it!! Woohoo!! I have been meaning to post something about it but I''ve been without internet since Wednesday when I got it. I''m hanging out at a coffee house right now to pay some bills and thought I''d check in.

I have to say. I''ve never seen a prettier stone. This stone is absolutely perfect and 110% eyeclean for being an SI2! I''ve looked at it a million times and can''t see a single inclusion and I suspect that''s because I get too distracted by all of the beautiful arrows and flash of color I get from it.

I''ll have to post photos once I get the net back hopefully sometime next week!

So glad it met all your expectations!!!!

 

[book_of_love]

Here''s a teaser! Off my Sigg bottle at work. I was bored.

 

[yssie]

Tease

It looks fabulous!! More pictures!

 

[FB.]

Date: 11/28/2009 12:15:41 PM
Author: book_of_love
I got it!! Woohoo!! I have been meaning to post something about it but I've been without internet since Wednesday when I got it. I'm hanging out at a coffee house right now to pay some bills and thought I'd check in.

I have to say. I've never seen a prettier stone. This stone is absolutely perfect and 110% eyeclean for being an SI2! I've looked at it a million times and can't see a single inclusion and I suspect that's because I get too distracted by all of the beautiful arrows and flash of color I get from it.

I'll have to post photos once I get the net back hopefully sometime next week!

It doesn't look eye clean from where I'm sitting......

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/1/2009 8:54:15 PM
Author: FB.

Date: 11/28/2009 12:15:41 PM
Author: book_of_love
I got it!! Woohoo!! I have been meaning to post something about it but I've been without internet since Wednesday when I got it. I'm hanging out at a coffee house right now to pay some bills and thought I'd check in.

I have to say. I've never seen a prettier stone. This stone is absolutely perfect and 110% eyeclean for being an SI2! I've looked at it a million times and can't see a single inclusion and I suspect that's because I get too distracted by all of the beautiful arrows and flash of color I get from it.

I'll have to post photos once I get the net back hopefully sometime next week!

It doesn't look eye clean from where I'm sitting......

BoL its gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!