Upgrade considerations: quality or quality and size or nothing

[giamari23]

After viewing the brilliance and sparkle of my mom's stone (thank you IDJ/PS) I am now more than ever pondering whether an upgrade to improve the specs of the same size diamond would be worth it. I am wondering if anyone else has been in this situation

My current stone is an EGL USA Round Brilliant 1.5 ct (7.3 mm) very good cut G SI2

Appearance wise it faces white to me, and I'm pretty color sensitive. Some of the inclusions are what bug me, and at the time we had to do things very quickly because of health and family reasons so the stone was bought at a time when I didn't know as much or have PS.



Has anyone else dealt with an upgrade just to improve stone specs and not for size?
Did anyone face trying to upgrade specs and end up doing both specs and size?

Just curious overall.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Your ring is lovely!

But honestly I am not sure what you are asking. Are you experiencing buyers remorse or just want to vent about lessons learned? Thing is, asking if an action is "worth it" is only something you can determine.

cheers--Sharon

 

[giamari23]

HI:

Your ring is lovely!

But honestly I am not sure what you are asking. Are you experiencing buyers remorse or just want to vent about lessons learned? Thing is, asking if an action is "worth it" is only something you can determine.

cheers--Sharon

Hey Sharon,

You know I just reviewed it again. And I suppose it's more...lesson's learned sort of thing/
I'm going to take this down and repost it to better organize it.
and thank you.

 

[tyty333]

Most people do upgrade for size but some keep the same size and upgrade clarity and a few upgrade just color because that "J" was just
a little lower than they could handle. No biggie...you dont really need a good excuse to update IMO. If you dont like something and you have
the funds then fix it.

Does your jeweler have a good upgrade policy?

 

[AprilBaby]

I understand what you are saying and yes, I would upgrade to improve cut and clarity. You have many more years to look at your ring and you will be much happier even if it's a bit smaller with the fantastic specs.

 

[marcy]

I would upgrade just for a better cut, color or clarity. I think if you want a different diamond you should get it.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I call it 'tweaking'! I have upgraded many times over the years and my husband always thought you should walk away with something larger so that you felt like you had an upgrade. Last time when I traded for my ACA, I ended up upgrading for clarity only and that was just to get to a stone that I loved. I truly upgraded more for the cut quality than anything but have never regretted it for a moment. If you are unhappy with your stone for any reason and it is feasible for you to upgrade, I say go for it!!

 

[giamari23]

I call it 'tweaking'! I have upgraded many times over the years and my husband always thought you should walk away with something larger so that you felt like you had an upgrade. Last time when I traded for my ACA, I ended up upgrading for clarity only and that was just to get to a stone that I loved. I truly upgraded more for the cut quality than anything but have never regretted it for a moment. If you are unhappy with your stone for any reason and it is feasible for you to upgrade, I say go for it!!

Yes. Tweaking! Exactly what I really want to do.
If I do it at all, because:sentimentality and I think it's still a very pretty stone, it is going to be for cut and clarity. Those two factors bother me and honestly in my experience I'm the only one who can tell. But it still gets in your head. Also I've seen prices for what we paid for the stone for GIAs in the same carat weight with an excellent cut for the same SI2 eye cleans.
The timing is what's questionable. Im thinking about contacting the jeweler I went to in another location. I'm sort of done with them but I'm curious of what they would offer. After that I'd probably ask around here who beyond IDj people have experience with (I was very comfortable at IDJ obv. ) but like to make all considerations.

 

[giamari23]

Most people do upgrade for size but some keep the same size and upgrade clarity and a few upgrade just color because that "J" was just
a little lower than they could handle. No biggie...you dont really need a good excuse to update IMO. If you dont like something and you have
the funds then fix it.

Does your jeweler have a good upgrade policy?

Hey Ty,

No unfortunately I think the upgrade policy is blah. Trade in value as long as good condition and receipt and cert. they give consideration to market value. So nothing concrete and they left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I would still ask to be safe. I'd like to go GIA at least same weight and up to clarity and cut.

 

[giamari23]

I understand what you are saying and yes, I would upgrade to improve cut and clarity. You have many more years to look at your ring and you will be much happier even if it's a bit smaller with the fantastic specs.

I'm leaning this way and I think you are right.

 

[giamari23]

I would upgrade just for a better cut, color or clarity. I think if you want a different diamond you should get it.

Agreed. I'm on ththe path. Question of when and then who through and also to trade in or not and how that affects timing. Thank you for the support

 

[SimoneDi]

Hi there, honestly, you don't seem to like the vendor where you initially purchased the ring and their upgrade policy seems questionable. Just for that reason, I would not purchase from the same place again. Have you thought about recutting? That can do miracles for your existing diamond and you can have an "upgrade" of the existing stone's appearance. I have personally done recuts 2 times and every time is was 100% worth it. If I were you, I would contact BGD and inquire about the possibility of a recut. They would ask you to send in the stone for evaluation if you are seriously interested.

 

[giamari23]

Hi there, honestly, you don't seem to like the vendor where you initially purchased the ring and their upgrade policy seems questionable. Just for that reason, I would not purchase from the same place again. Have you thought about recutting? That can do miracles for your existing diamond and you can have an "upgrade" of the existing stone's appearance. I have personally done recuts 2 times and every time is was 100% worth it. If I were you, I would contact BGD and inquire about the possibility of a recut. They would ask you to send in the stone for evaluation if you are seriously interested.

Thank you for giving me another strategy to think about. I am going to look into what I would need to do to send it to them. In your experience what did you send to them for the assessment, the stone itself and have someone else remove it from its current setting? Sorry for such basic questions, my mind is fuzzy from all this.

 

[acaw2015]

I would absolutely upgrade if it bothered me. I had a SI1 for a while, with an inclusion that bothered me awfully! I used to stare at/look for the inclusion instead of at the ring. It was what would be considered eye clean by most, but it didnt work for me. When I finally upgraded to vs1, I also downgraded color and upgraded size+cut. In the end I found my own perfect combo...

 

[SimoneDi]

Thank you for giving me another strategy to think about. I am going to look into what I would need to do to send it to them. In your experience what did you send to them for the assessment, the stone itself and have someone else remove it from its current setting? Sorry for such basic questions, my mind is fuzzy from all this.

I am happy that you are open to the idea! I just sent them the ring as is. The first time around, I used my original setting for the recut stone, the second time around, I didn't and they just shipped the setting back to me. I wouldn't want anyone touching the current stone prior to the recut evaluation. Once they evaluate the stone, they will send you a current ASET, Idealscope and Sarin report of the current stone and if it I s a candidate for a recut, they will send you a size estimate for the new stone. The cost is approximately $425 per carat (as far as I remember), so you are looking at about $640 or so for the recut + shipping costs. It is really a very small price to pay for ideal performance! I will make sure that the stone is insured prior to shipping. Let us know how you proceed!

 

[tyty333]

The easiest way to upgrade is to keep your own stone (since you're not particularly fond of that vendor and trade up is not that great), turn it into
a pendant (if you dont have one), then purchase a new stone at a vendor that does have a good upgrade policy.

A recut would be nice but it being an SI2 may not make it a good candidate for a recut. Doesnt hurt to ask.

Since you are not color sensitive maybe you could go down in color and up in cut/clarity. What is the mm size of your stone?