(Very) thin girdle or HCA 0.7?

[bella3x]

Hi,
A long time lurker here And a «diamond freak», as per my boyfriend.
I read a lot about diamonds and HCA before posting and feel quite comfortable knowing about all the angles, but will appreciate the help anyway!
We have decided to get engaged and since I’m the “diamond freak” in the couple, I am conducting the search, with some input on his side. Our budget is very limited and we live in Europe, so we will go with a small diamond and most likely a preowned ring, since I’m not biased against preowned jewelry.

My 2 front runners have the following central stones:

1) 0.37 carat, D/VVS2, very good symmetry and polish
Size – 4.65x4.67x2.86 mm
Total depth – 61.4%
Table – 55.2%
Crown angle – 34.5 degrees
Girdle width – 1.3% average, ranging from 0.96% to 2.16%
Pavillion depth – 40.9 degrees
Culet: none

HCA of 1.5, not taking into account the very thin girdle

2) 0.47 carat, H/VS1, excellent polish and very good symmetry
Size – 5.04x5.06x3.05 mm
Total depth – 60.4%
Table – 55%
Crown angle – 33.9 degrees
Girdle width – thin to slightly thick
Pavillion depth – 40.7 degrees
Star length percentage – 55%
Lower half length percentage – 75%
Culet: none

HCA of 0.7, assuming the medium girdle

Which one would be a better choice, according to the figures? I can’t get ASET/IS images, so will have to pick based solely on numbers.

 

[Gypsy]

H.

 

[fair75]

I would go with the H diamond as well. The first option has a very thin girdle and that is not a good thing. Very thin girdles are prone to chipping and very thick girdles will result in smaller diamonds. It is safe to say that people should stay away from very thin or very thick girdles.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

The H. It's larger, too.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

bella3x,

I cannot comment specifically on the diamonds you are considering (against forum rules) but I can give you some general tips.

The reason, I think, you are seeing a common recommendation from the members of PS is their general understanding of how diamond 'looks' compare. A VS1 will (in the vast majority of cases) be eye-clean, so a VS1 will, to the naked eye, likely look similar to (or the same as) a VVS2, VVS1, or IF or F for that matter. A near colorless diamond will appear very very white in a setting so there may be no reason to get a 'colorless' diamond unless there are cultural or personal reasons.

Also, anytime you can get a diamond of larger size that appears to check all the boxes of cut-quality, awesome!

 

[bella3x]

Thank you all! Looks like H really wins and now I feel much more reassured, thanks to your help