Wanted: $6k Sock Remover

[^]

OK, I''m ready to ask her.

I''ve invested months on this site and others to learn how to pick the stone that will even begin to do her justice.

But I could still use a hand from you guys to find one that will knock her socks clear off.

Here''s my ideals: Round Brilliant, Cut is king, HCA < 2 (TIC), I''d ideally want F, VS2, but from months of perusing this site, I''ve been convinced to consider G, SI1 since it doesn''t seem to make much difference to the naked eye. Extremely eye clean is key to me, though. 1ct isn''t really that important to me, but it is a nice bonus. I prefer .9ct TIC to a 1.001ct dud. Polish does not have to be Ideal.

My dream stone would probably be something like a WF ES G, SI1 which was extremely eye clean and only missed ACA by a hair, but is a strong value. I''m not married to WF, though, I''m a big fan of GOG as well.

This stone will be going into a platinum Mark Morrell Sunburst setting which I''m hoping won''t look bad on her somewhat larger finger.

On a side note, I will be going to NYC next week and I thought why not order a WF stone and bring it with me so I can compare it with GOG stones in person? I haven''t counted out Solasfera''s, either, and believe they''re the kind of stone you have to see in person to decide whether they''re your cup of tea.

So, to start this off, here are a few I''d appreciate opinions on:
Diamond 1
1.017 G/SI1 ACA $5943:
Should this be dismissed because its 1.5 HCA score is EX-VG-VG-VG? IS looks nice. *

Diamond 2
1.040 G/SI1 ACA $6121:
Why is this SI1? AGS Report looks clean but IS image seems to show inclusions. Cert from 08/04, a trade-in? Should I be concerned about AGS''s new stringent standards? HCA''s X is nice and high, closer to the younger people side (which we are), but I''m not supposed to use HCA to decide between good stones. *

Diamond 3
1.046 G/SI1 ACA $6123:
"Additional clouds not shown." IS looks nice for light return in my novice opinion. Faceted girdle 1.1% to 4%, does that matter? HCA VG-EX-VG-VG, bad? Manual entry of Sarin data gives EX-EX-EX-VG but outside AGS0 box

Diamond 4
1.018 G/VS2 ES $6333:
I''m assuming the IS image dismisses this one?

Diamond 5
1.12 F/SI1 ES $6532:
"Additional clouds are not shown." This one looks very nice, but is it me or does the IS image make it look a little off kilter? The ring around the arrow shafts seems lopsided and the culet seems to be shifted slightly to one side. Possibly just photography, and I assume IRL you''d never notice? *

How do you utilize 40x images of the stones? Just to see about inclusions and symmetry? Because some shots show quite a bit of dispersion, others less so. Do I worry about additional clouds not shown?

I''m a little disappointed in GOG''s selection currently, I don''t see the perfect stone in my price range right now. Hoping they''ve got one by the time I arrive in a week because I''m quite impressed with their site.

Thanks in advance for your guidance! I''ve learned volumes from you, even (and especially) when you disagree w/ eachother. Vendors'' comments invited, if that''s possible w/o breaking rules.

^

 

[strmrdr]

Diamond 4
1.018 G/VS2 ES $6333:
I'm assuming the IS image dismisses this one?

Not at all, very nice classic style cut diamond.
It would be my pick of the bunch.

 

[strmrdr]

Diamond 1
1.017 G/SI1 ACA $5943:
Should this be dismissed because its 1.5 HCA score is EX-VG-VG-VG? IS looks nice. *

My second choice as long as its eyeclean.

 

[strmrdr]

Diamond 3
1.046 G/SI1 ACA $6123:
"Additional clouds not shown." IS looks nice for light return in my novice opinion. Faceted girdle 1.1% to 4%, does that matter? HCA VG-EX-VG-VG, bad? Manual entry of Sarin data gives EX-EX-EX-VG but outside AGS0 box

This one would be in last place with the rest somewhere in between.

 

[^]

Thanks for your input, Storm. Can you elaborate on how you came to those conclusions?

Thanks,
^

 

[belle]

Date: 6/23/2006 4:31:59 AM
Author:^

Thanks in advance for your guidance! I've learned volumes from you, even (and especially) when you disagree w/ eachother.

that's great! you should be happy with my answer then because i am going to disagree with strm.

i like #1 the best.

it's my favorite combo (g/si) and all of the angles fall within my preferred range. and of course, the idealscope image looks perfect!

have fun choosing!

great title btw...that was very cute.

 

[strmrdr]

diamond 4 - no painting - great angles - real nice IS
diamond 1 - pro: bang for the buck - con: painted - which isn't that big a deal but enough to kick it down. If 4 wasnt in the mix it would be at the top.
diamond 3 - borderline angles - not enough to matter much but the others are slightly better.

 

[esp102]

Storm - how do you know it''s painted?

 

[Mara]

my pics are first choice, diamond #4, it has the best angle combo with table and depth for me... and second choice is diamond #2 even though it's a 57 table which i am not super fond of.

diamond #3 is out with it's too high 35.1 crown angle with other information. third would be diamond #1 but i don't love the 40.9 pav angle, not if there are better ones in the mix and there are, if that pav angle was 40.8 this would be my top pick. you may not see that much of a difference (if any!!) but i will freely admit i am a nut about trying to get the best angles possible. #5 is just too expensive for what it is.

all the IS's look fine to me.

i don't care about visuals painted vs unpainted. they will be beautiful regardless. oh you can tell if it's painted if the IS returns light all the way to the edges of the stone or if it is unpainted, the edges show white light leakage.

good luck!!

 

[^]

Great to have input from people so familiar with angles and how it translates to IRL effects. I simply haven't seen enough to know.

So far:
#4 received 2 votes for favorite
#1 received 1 vote for favorite, 1 for 2nd & 1 for 3rd
#2 received 1 vote for 2nd
#3 seems to be voted off the island

I'm surprised #1 got such good feedback w/ EX-VG-VG-VG, isn't that a consideration? I'm patient and could wait another month if an EX-EX-EX-VG would be better. Why do you like the angles but HCA doesn't?

Thanks again,
^

P.S. Thanks Belle! In your 7,000 posts, I've certainly seen you disagree with people w/o hesitation. Nice to see lively debate.

 

[aljdewey]

In order.....#4, #5, #1, #2, #3

As for the painting.......I wouldn''t dismiss any diamond just because of miniscule painting, but that''s me.

 

[esp102]

>>diamond #3 is out with it''s too high 35.1 crown angle

I have a stone with 35''ish angles and 40.6ish pav and it scores high in every brillance test (AGS and AGA).

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/23/2006 3:11:04 PM
Author: esp102
>>diamond #3 is out with it's too high 35.1 crown angle


I have a stone with 35'ish angles and 40.6ish pav and it scores high in every brillance test (AGS and AGA).

a 35+ crown by itself doesnt mean much by itself its the crown/pavilion combo that matters a 35.5/40.6 is a different matter than a 35.1/40.8 and the better combo.

In this case the 35.1/40.8 combo isnt a bad one the others are just slightly better.

 

[Mara]

esp...what strm says is spot on. basically ALL of those stones are going to be stunners...it''s just splitting hairs at this point.

however, if i was splitting hairs between 5 amazingly cut stones...i would not choose the one with 35.1 and 40.8 combo. but that''s just my own visual personal preference. it''s not to say that a 35.1 angle is BAD...it is the relation to pav and other numbers.

again the OP could choose any of these diamonds and it''d be in the top 1% of what is out there most likely, but if you have the opp to split hairs between 5 fab diamonds, why not!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Another vote for #4. Not only does it look beautiful (love the IS), but I think G VS2 is a wonderful combination. I''d certainly go with a VS stone with that small of a price difference.

(But you should call and talk to Jonathan at GOG. He is looking at a list of new diamonds right now and can tell you if there are any good prospects on his list as well.)

 

[^]

Mara,

What is it about the appearance of stones with those angles that you don''t like? A little less spakle? Some people have a table size preference, for instance. I haven''t seen enough to know my own preference. Sounds like I''m ok with all these picks. That''s very reassuring. Thanks.

^

 

[diamondseeker2006]

P.S. What size is her finger? We were just helping a guy with a setting for a size 10 finger, and the collective wisdom was that he needed to go with a halo to increase the size of the ring for her finger size.

 

[^]

Author: diamondseeker2006
(But you should call and talk to Jonathan at GOG. He is looking at a list of new diamonds right now and can tell you if there are any good prospects on his list as well.)

Ooooooo! Thanks for the tip!

Date: 6/23/2006 5:24:40 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
P.S. What size is her finger? We were just helping a guy with a setting for a size 10 finger, and the collective wisdom was that he needed to go with a halo to increase the size of the ring for her finger size.

Size 6-8.

Broken finger means it has to be almost 8 to fit over knuckle, but true size probably about 6 1/2. Somewhat longer, not short-stubbies. Good question, DS.

There goes any chance of keeping this anonymous if she's found PS...

^

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/23/2006 5:31:15 PM
Author: ^

Author: diamondseeker2006

(But you should call and talk to Jonathan at GOG. He is looking at a list of new diamonds right now and can tell you if there are any good prospects on his list as well.)

Ooooooo! Thanks for the tip!

Date: 6/23/2006 5:24:40 PM

Author: diamondseeker2006

P.S. What size is her finger? We were just helping a guy with a setting for a size 10 finger, and the collective wisdom was that he needed to go with a halo to increase the size of the ring for her finger size.

Size 6-8.

Broken finger means it has to be almost 8 to fit over knuckle, but true size probably about 6 1/2. Somewhat longer, not short-stubbies. Good question, DS.


There goes any chance of keeping this anonymous if she''s found PS...

^

You might want to look into a hinged band in that case.
a 8 will spin badly on a 6.5 finger.

 

[strmrdr]

http://www.superfitonline.com/

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Jonathan is looking for a diamond for me..that''s how I know! He just needs to know what you''re looking for and then he''ll check out every last spec on the diamonds that fit your parameters!

Regarding the size issue, Storm gave you a good suggestion, although I have never seen this actually done. If you are seriously worried about her seeing this, go back and edit your post to leave out the size details.

 

[^]

Thanks, Storm. I don''t actually know what her below the knuckle size would be exactly, but I''m going to try for Euro Shank and see if that''s enough, as I''d like to avoid hinges or appliances if possible. She wears a ring there now and it seems to be ok.

1 ct solitaire on a ~7 should be fine, right?

^

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 6/23/2006 5:56:59 PM
Author: ^
Thanks, Storm. I don''t actually know what her below the knuckle size would be exactly, but I''m going to try for Euro Shank and see if that''s enough, as I''d like to avoid hinges or appliances if possible. She wears a ring there now and it seems to be ok.


1 ct solitaire on a ~7 should be fine, right?


^

kewl
yes its fine.

 

[^]

Date: 6/23/2006 5:49:37 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Jonathan is looking for a diamond for me..that's how I know! He just needs to know what you're looking for and then he'll check out every last spec on the diamonds that fit your parameters!

I asked him to look for me, but I'm sure he gets tons of requests like that from PS memebers. He passed me to a sales rep, which is fine. I've found that they seem sort of reluctant to pick stones for me, but have asked me to select the ones I want to view upon my arrival from their online inventory. Would be nice to have John as a "personal shopper," especially with new inventory, but no biggy. I've got a whole forum full of personal shoppers

Update:
#4 received 4 votes for favorite
#1 received 1 vote for favorite, 1 for 2nd & 1 for 3rd
#2 received 1 vote for 2nd
#5 received 1 vote for 2nd
#3 is the "bad" side of the split hair.

^

ETA: After reviewing my latest e-mail from Tim, he was very amenable to looking for me. So much info, I guess I glazed over that. Thumbs up.

 

[^]

Sarin report for #4 was just posted, what do you think?

http://www.whiteflash.com/pimg/Sarin/sarin_AGS-7408806.jpg

1.010 instead of 1.018, should I care?

Is this a killer stone, or just average for WF? Understanding that WF is mostly killer stones compared to average, but I want to make sure this is something special. Especially since I''m stretching well past my budget for this.

I''d prefer a $5,000-$5,500 stone, but it seems that the selection at that price point is non-existant.

Thanks!

^

 

[Mara]

the sarin and the variation looks fine.

all of these stones are exceptional. it''s just splitting hairs.