two stones. one finger. help me pick!

[joman]

I am seriously considering these two stones. Which one will you guys pick? Main concern re: each of them:

Diamond 1: ran HCA and got 1.5. Excellent light return and fire. Very good scintillation and spread. I guess “very good” is not as good as “excellent” if I have a choice right? For that much advantage of size over diamond 2, H seems to be a good tradeoff…

Diamond 2: ran HCA and got 1.1. Excellent light return and fire and scintillation. Very good spread. The thing is the leakage on the table. You can see it in the idealscope. Should this be a total dealkiller? Will it be visible to naked eyes and adversely affect the performance of the stone?

Diamond 1 is a 200-300 more expensive than diamond 2 (both in $11-12K range) so it makes it really hard to pick one!!!

 

[joman]

missed the dimension of diamond 2 in the pic - 6.98x7.03x4.33

 

[diamondseeker2006]

The great news is, you don't use the HCA on AGS graded stones because they grade light performance for you! So ignore all of that.

Both stones are gorgeous and ideal cut and I doubt seriously you could tell any difference in cut or performance just from looking at them in person. My inclination would be to go for the first one just because it is a little larger and technically has the better IS image (which is just a mind-clean thing). On the other hand, I do like the table size and lower girdle facet size of #2, and it is G color. So while I don't think you can go wrong with either one, I do think 1.36 sounds better than 1.29! So I really can't see much reason not to go to the first one unless the recipient is super color sensitive and wants G or higher.

 

[joman]

Thanks diamondseeker for your opinions! Can you please explain why you prefer the table size and the girdle facet? Like how should they contribute to my purchase decision? As much as I try to learn, I haven’t really gotten into such technicality.

I previously only consider G or better but I was just browsing the “show me the bling” section and saw a HIJK thread – H looks pretty white facing up so looks like a good value for my money. And gf and I were at Costco last weekend and she saw a I color in the jewelry section and asked if that is good – I guess she is semi color blind after all LOL.

 

[joman]

anyone else please?