Trying to navigated too many diamonds--help with color, polish, symmetry, etc?

[Picabia]

I love the ratio calculator available on this site, it''s been extremely helpful in narrowing my choices. However I need to settled on 3 stones to see in person, and I''m struggling to pick just three. If I want the most sparkle and fire I can get for the money (instead of size), should I only go with "excellent" gia stats for both, or can I go "very good" for one over the other?

Also, I keep hearing that for most people color ratings of h or i and above all look about the same. Is this really true? I can''t tell online, and all the diamonds I''ve seen in person are d-f. I don''t want to add a g or h stone to my list and get there to realize that the color difference is noticeable. Any thoughts? I ask because I can get a larger stone of h quality, which would be nice if the color is undetectable to the naked eye, but I don''t want to compromise color just to jump up a size.
Thanks!

 

[JulieN]

what size are you looking at?

 

[Picabia]

Right now 90 points. However I could go up to 1 c. if I drop color down to h. Definitely want ideal cut.

 

[stone-cold11]

Video of color comparison.

http://vimeo.com/3288695

Note that this is not exact as color is going to different with different display. Just note how small the color difference are.

 

[Picabia]

Wow. It looks like I might want to throw a larger H into the mix to see in person. It does seem as though it appears colorless from above.

What about polish and symmetry? Should I insist on "excellent" for both? What will "very good" for either one affect as far as brilliance goes?

 

[JulieN]

H will be fine face-up.

EX grades aren't necessary, as long as you get the appropriate discount, but I do like to see an EX grade for symmetry, especially in a round.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 4/13/2010 8:13:12 PM
Author:Picabia
I love the ratio calculator available on this site, it''s been extremely helpful in narrowing my choices. However I need to settled on 3 stones to see in person, and I''m struggling to pick just three. If I want the most sparkle and fire I can get for the money (instead of size), should I only go with ''excellent'' gia stats for both, or can I go ''very good'' for one over the other?

Also, I keep hearing that for most people color ratings of h or i and above all look about the same. Is this really true? I can''t tell online, and all the diamonds I''ve seen in person are d-f. I don''t want to add a g or h stone to my list and get there to realize that the color difference is noticeable. Any thoughts? I ask because I can get a larger stone of h quality, which would be nice if the color is undetectable to the naked eye, but I don''t want to compromise color just to jump up a size.
Thanks!

The best thing you can do is view some G and H colour in person to see what you prefer for colour, if you have a Jareds nearby go and view their AGS0 Peerless brand in a similar size to the diamonds you are considering.

Also post the details of any diamond you are interested in here and we can look it over for you, some VG polish and symmetry or even VG cut grade diamonds can be well worth considering.

 

[axiochris]

I agree with Lorilei. I went to Jareds to compare colors with their Peerless diamonds. I was trying to decide between an F down to H.

My advice would be not to get caught up in the comparison between the grades since you wont be wearing 2 diamonds in the future. I think all 3 looked fine to me, though i can tell a slight difference when compared against each other.