Typical engagment stone help request!

[Wizandor]

Hey PS Members,

Great site, I'm really trying to educate myself on the buying process and have been soaking up as much information as possible to try and get a great eye-clean stone at a good value. I've been searching around on the typical sites, and even contacted the guys at truthaboutdiamonds.com - but I'd like to get a non-affiliate community opinion on the following stone they recommended:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1429062.asp [1.53 Carat H-SI1 Ideal Cut Round Diamond $11,120 with PS discount]

The stone looks great on paper, but there is some minor dark discoloration in the top right of the stone in the scope that does not show up on the GIA report...Is this just an issue with the photo taking process or should I be concerned?

Alternatively, does anyone have a recommendation on a 1.4+ caret stone in the same price range (~$11k or less)?

 

[dangr]

The dark discoloration may be the "additional clouds are not shown" under the comments section of the certification. Keep in mind that you're viewing the diamond at 40x on that page and in real life, you may not be able to spot it with a 10x loop and hopefully not with your own naked eye. Just ask the JA gemologist if the stone is eye clean but be specific of what that means (how many inches away? 20/20 vision? from what angles? etc.).

Concerns (granted I'm very much a novice too):

look how old that certification is (2004). Where has it been all these years? Might need to verify that it hasn't been damaged or anything.

depth. It's deeper than the safezone many PSers go by (62.3%).
does not have crown angle/pavilion angle to compute HCA score because cert is from 2004. HCA (located under tools) is a great way to weed out stones that are less likely to be the best of the best in terms of sparkle.

If you're still interested in this, first ask the JA gemologist if it is eye clean. Then ask for for an idealscope image of it to analyze the light return (just post it back here and people can help). You only can request this for up to 3 stones at JA, so choose wisely!

Good luck!

 

[Statefan42]

Hey PS Members,

Great site, I'm really trying to educate myself on the buying process and have been soaking up as much information as possible to try and get a great eye-clean stone at a good value. I've been searching around on the typical sites, and even contacted the guys at truthaboutdiamonds.com - but I'd like to get a non-affiliate community opinion on the following stone they recommended:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1429062.asp [1.53 Carat H-SI1 Ideal Cut Round Diamond $11,120 with PS discount]

The stone looks great on paper, but there is some minor dark discoloration in the top right of the stone in the scope that does not show up on the GIA report...Is this just an issue with the photo taking process or should I be concerned?

Alternatively, does anyone have a recommendation on a 1.4+ caret stone in the same price range (~$11k or less)?

1.380 so not quite that 1.4 mark you were looking for.
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2680536.htm

1.42 I color though. Not sure if you were trying to stick with H. Would have to see if it is eye clean. $9545 with pricescope discount.
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1363421.asp

 

[sohcpunk]

Hey PS Members,

Great site, I'm really trying to educate myself on the buying process and have been soaking up as much information as possible to try and get a great eye-clean stone at a good value. I've been searching around on the typical sites, and even contacted the guys at truthaboutdiamonds.com - but I'd like to get a non-affiliate community opinion on the following stone they recommended:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1429062.asp [1.53 Carat H-SI1 Ideal Cut Round Diamond $11,120 with PS discount]

The stone looks great on paper, but there is some minor dark discoloration in the top right of the stone in the scope that does not show up on the GIA report...Is this just an issue with the photo taking process or should I be concerned?

Alternatively, does anyone have a recommendation on a 1.4+ caret stone in the same price range (~$11k or less)?

1.380 so not quite that 1.4 mark you were looking for.
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2680536.htm

1.42 I color though. Not sure if you were trying to stick with H. Would have to see if it is eye clean. $9545 with pricescope discount.
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1363421.asp

That 1.42 looks like it has a big black carbon spot at 5 o clock. Wondering what that is?

 

[Statefan42]

Hey PS Members,

Great site, I'm really trying to educate myself on the buying process and have been soaking up as much information as possible to try and get a great eye-clean stone at a good value. I've been searching around on the typical sites, and even contacted the guys at truthaboutdiamonds.com - but I'd like to get a non-affiliate community opinion on the following stone they recommended:

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1429062.asp [1.53 Carat H-SI1 Ideal Cut Round Diamond $11,120 with PS discount]

The stone looks great on paper, but there is some minor dark discoloration in the top right of the stone in the scope that does not show up on the GIA report...Is this just an issue with the photo taking process or should I be concerned?

Alternatively, does anyone have a recommendation on a 1.4+ caret stone in the same price range (~$11k or less)?

1.380 so not quite that 1.4 mark you were looking for.
http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2680536.htm

1.42 I color though. Not sure if you were trying to stick with H. Would have to see if it is eye clean. $9545 with pricescope discount.
http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1363421.asp

That 1.42 looks like it has a big black carbon spot at 5 o clock. Wondering what that is?

It does look bad. It is marked as a crystal on the cert. It's always hard to tell what something will look like when you have it at 40x zoom. Probably not eye clean though.

 

[Wizandor]

Thanks for the info dangr, and for the recommendations Statefan42. I've asked for an idealscope image and the measurements to calculate HSA - I'll post them up as soon as they come in. I really get into the technical side of things, this is great! In the meantime I'll keep digging to find other stones as well. Thanks for the help all, and I welcome any more suggestions!

 

[Wizandor]

I was able to get an idealscope image of the diamond I originally linked. Additionally, the JamesAllen representative per their gemologist has stated that "the inclusions are tiny and blend very well, the diamond faces eye clean." Can anyone lend me their opinion on the light return and value of the stone? I need to make a final decision!

 

[tyty333]

It does look like it has a little bit of leakage under the table. I'm curious what the numbers are. Personally I think I would want to see it in person to see how it performs in different lighting. If it didn't perform up to my expectations then I would return.

 

[Wizandor]

I hope it's a decent stone - I really have no idea how to read these scope images.

 

[Wizandor]

I was able to get the detailed numbers on the stone, can anyone help me out with analysis?

 

[tyty333]

You can look at whiteflash's ACA asst image to see what a nice one looks like. Yours has black at the base
of the arrows and that's not something I personally like to see.