What about this stone?

[shelldemeo]

Hi--

My husband and I are planning on heading down to the diamond district to find a ring to replace a wedding ring that was stolen (several years ago). After reading the posts on this forum, I am reconsidering the diamond district.

We are looking for a .7 diamond and will then search for a platinum setting. I am fond of the Whitehouse platinum filigree bands but not fond of the 2K pricetag from our local jeweler.

We have appointments with two different people down in the district that were recommended by friends. One I booked today but the car salesman attitude..."I will get you a sparkly one sweetie" talk makes me worried. The other one is Mark T. who is recommended quite frequently on this web site. I worry, however, that HE might be the one doing the recommending (in various disguises). Yes....I am spending too much time trapped in a home with a todder.

Anyway, I know so little about diamonds and reading up on info in this forum makes me concerned that I will be snookered into a lesser than stone.

I would like to sacrifice size (so I am going under a carat) for brilliance.

Do you recommend a stone like this? Perhaps I should bag NY and just get this online...

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Item Code: AGS-4963105
Price: $3,307.50
Report: AGS
Shape: A Cut Above H&A
Carat: 0.704
Color: D
Clarity: SI2
Depth: 60.8
Table: 57
Crown Angle: 34.8
Crown %: 15.1
Pavilion Angle: 40.9
Pavilion %: 43.2
Girdle: Thin to Medium
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Culet: Pointed
Fluorescence: Negligible
Measurements: 5.76-5.78X3.51

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Any advice would be helpful!

-Shelly

 

[dlg]

I think it is worth a trip to the diamond district. While I understand you are willing to go down in size to go up in other qualities, you probably don''t need D color. E, F, G, and H all look the same to most. If you go to a jeweler, you can compare for yourself. If you go down in color, you could go up in size.

 

[sunkist]

Shelly, that diamond looks like it will be beautiful!!!

 

[MiniMouse]

I had the fortunate experience of dealing with Mark T. when we were looking for my wedding set in July. He was an absolute pleasure to deal with, very professional (none of the "I will get you a sparkly one sweetie") and his knowledge is amazing. Although (sadly) we didn''t end up buying from Mark, it was only because we viewed 3 stones at our appraiser''s office and one was a cracking D stone which even our appraiser thought was amazing. Had we not gone for the D, we would have gone for the beautiful F stone that Mark sent. It really was a gorgeous stone, extremely well cut and at a good price.

In your shoes I would definitely go along and see Mark, you shouldn''t miss out on the opportunity to see fantastic stones with your own eyes. He has a wonderful reputation here and he is very good at helping educate you on the 4 C''s. He is not pushy either. The more you learn on your visit, the more clear you will become as to what is important to you out of the 4 C''s. Even if you go along and walk away without choosing a diamond, it will put you in good stead for diamond Internet shopping, because you will have a better feel for what color, clarity and size works for you. That was an issue I had with buying over the Internet, I was too afraid to get a near colorless diamond, in case I was color sensitive. However, I suspect, if I could have gone to a wonderful vendor like Mark, then I may have been prepared to go down in color, depending on what my eyes saw. Unfortunately, as an expat living in Saudi Arabia, it''s not easy to find good diamond vendors with diamonds to show, let alone well cut ones, so I erred on the safe side and bought colorless.

You have a great opportunity to meet a really good diamond vendor, I highly recommend you take up the opportunity and no, I am not Mark T., I am not related to Mark T., I''m just a PS''er who''s had a good experience with Mark T. Remember, there''s nothing more exciting than seeing diamonds with your own eyes and picking ''the one''. I''m sure you''d have a fab experience with Mark T, who rates highly in my book.

As for the stone you mention in your post, it looks like a great stone if it is eyeclean. The IS (on WF''s website) looks very good. I guess being outside of Texas, you would save on taxes, as well as the Pricescope discount PS vendors give. My diamond was from WF''s expert selection and it has turned out to be absolutely fab. Whiteflash is a very good vendor.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. You can''t go wrong with either Mark T or Whiteflash.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 2/3/2006 10:07:50 PM
Author:shelldemeo


I worry, however, that HE might be the one doing the recommending (in various disguises).

No... too many sellers got banned along the time for attempts at self-promotion (overt or not quite) to suspect anything of the sort might be going on.

This isn''t matter of what this seller does, but of how the forum works.