What is a good price for a ring like this?

[angela]

Thanks for the link - guess I was way off! I was calculating more off of what I have seen since I've been lurking around on PS and the averages of people I know. I stand corrected, and feel lucky!

OMG - 5 CARATS? I can't even imagine how huge that thing must have looked!

Bling bling!

Good luck Ben, it's a tough decision, but can be fun as well. Hope they don't give you a hard time about having the Sarin done. Can't wait to see what you've decided on!

 

[Nicrez]

It was so big you didn't shake her hand, you shook her diamond!

By the way, she lady's ring had me burning to know if it was real and what the hell her husband did for a living...! I asked my doc and he slyly mentioned that she's the wife of a very famous baseball guy, but the details are lost on me, I don't know squat about the men in tight pinstriped whites!




Ben, they MAY give you a tough time about the Sarins, but a jeweler we went to didn't know how to find a place, and tell them that Gemological Appraisal Laboratories of America on 54 West 47th has one. (212) 382-2888. That's who one jeweler used for one of my stone in contention! That's the same place I got a ring appraised by a great gemologist, Bruce Haberman. GAL of A is pretty good.

LUCK!

 

[Rank Amateur]

The F in the girdle description I think stands for "faceted". This is where the girdle gets polished instead of simply rubbed, or "bruted", against another diamond.

Sorry to be redundant if someone answered this previously!

 

[BenNYC]

I spoke with the jeweler today about the Sarin reports over the phone and he said that he will get them. If for some reason he forgets to get them I can always have him get it when I whittle down the selection he is putting aside for me.

 

[BenNYC]

OK, so today I went to see some stones. I wasnt particularly enamored by anything he showed me but he said on Friday he would have some more to show me. Out of all the stones the only one I considered was this:

.9 carat
SI 2
I Color
6.22-6.31*3.82
61% Depth
56% Table
Med-Slightly Thick Girdle
Good Polish
Good Symmetry
Medium Blue Flourescence
33.5 Crown Angle
41.9 Pavillion Angle

The crown and Pavillion Angles are not ideal but everything else looks about right, right? Any comments on this stone would be appreciated. He was asking $2800 for it. Is it a good price? Is it a stone worth considering if I want to get the stone and a platinum setting for around $3500? Thanks.

 

[phoenixgirl]

This is why crown angles are so important . . . because looking at just the table and depth percentages, you would think it falls in the ideal range.

This stone gets a 5.7 -- only if price is the main criterion rating on the HCA:
light return: good
fire: fair
scintillation: fair
spread: very good

What kind of a platinum setting are you getting for $700?

Is the stone certified? If so, by whom?

0.90 I SI2 stones are going for $2200-$3150 right on Price Scope. If your stone has a GIA or AGS cert the price might be ok, but otherwise, I don't think so. However, I think it's kind of a dud due to the cut.

 

[BenNYC]

----------------
On 3/3/2004 5:48:57 PM phoenixgirl wrote:

This is why crown angles are so important . . . because looking at just the table and depth percentages, you would think it falls in the ideal range.

This stone gets a 5.7 -- only if price is the main criterion rating on the HCA:
light return: good
fire: fair
scintillation: fair
spread: very good

What kind of a platinum setting are you getting for $700?

Is the stone certified? If so, by whom?

0.90 I SI2 stones are going for $2200-$3150 right on Price Scope. If your stone has a GIA or AGS cert the price might be ok, but otherwise, I don't think so. However, I think it's kind of a dud due to the cut.----------------

It is a GIA stone. I am not getting a $700 platinum setting. I am getting a basic $350 six prong Tiffany type setting. Sorry if I was unclear but that is the max I want to go and will pay that gladly for a one carat with a better cut.

 

[valeria101]

Regardless of budget, there is very, very little recommending that stone. If round brilliants do not sparkle at their best, what's the good ? Also, the quality of the cut (as we folk define it) it is not readily factored into the price. As long as you do not reach to the very top cuts (H&As, for example) the price is not going to take into account differences in optical performance (this is what the hCA) predicts. So why get a worse stone if a better cut one is not going to be more expensive ?

There seem to be quite a few stones with AGS reports in the 0.85-0.95 cts, H-I, SI1-SI2 interval... Hope not all would turned out HCA 5 !

 

[BenNYC]

----------------
On 3/3/2004 6:12:43 PM valeria101 wrote:

Regardless of budget, there is very, very little recommending that stone. If round brilliants do not sparkle at their best, what's the good ? Also, the quality of the cut (as we folk define it) it is not readily factored into the price. As long as you do not reach to the very top cuts (H&As, for example) the price is not going to take into account differences in optical performance (this is what the hCA) predicts. So why get a worse stone if a better cut one is not going to be more expensive ?----------------

When you say that the quality of the cut is not factored into the price, are you saying that this stone is not any great deal or that if this same stone had ideal crown and pavillion angles it would be the same price that this one is?

 

[Mara]

To put it bluntly, that stone is not going to look good. And you aren't getting any sort of GREAT bargain on a horribly cut I SI2 for almost $3k.




Take that $3k and put it into a well cut stone...

 

[BenNYC]

Ugh. Thats what I figured. Is the diamond buying experience supposed to be this frustrating? Should it be hard to find well cut stones of that size, color and clarity?

 

[valeria101]

Yeah... something like that. It will all depend if the 'better cut" reaches H&A pedigree and is sold as such. Anything inbetween (such as a non-branded stones with correct angles but otherwise average symemtry) would not command a premium.

Here's one quite thing : WWW BTW

 

[Mara]

Platinum $350 setting aside that leaves $3200 or so for the stone.




http://www.whiteflash.com/diamonds/diamond_Details.aspx?itemcode=AGS-4658909#




Really nice option. It's 1.0 carat, well-cut, great HCA score, eye-popping IdealScope image. It looks like it could be an almost H&A or similar. WhiteFlash discounts for Pscope members, so you may even be able to get a little extra $$ off if you ask. On Pscope it was listed for $3450....special pricing, so maybe they will give it to you for your max of $3200?




Anyway, my bottom line? If you are spending $2700 on crap, spend a little more and get something really beautiful. The J color will probably look as good as the I color one with the bad cut you are considering now. A stellar cut masks color better.

 

[valeria101]

And more:

0.83 cts, I-SI1, $2600, AGS certificate

0.81 G SI2 HCA 1.4 $2700 (site worth inspecting for more)


And a whole list of them...

 

[BenNYC]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I would prefer to get the ring at a B&M store so I can have it resized, cleaned, etc if neccessary and I am generally wary of making major purchases off the web. So I called the jeweler who I am dealing with and requested that he get me only stones within the ideal range. He said that was fair enough and that he will certainly look for them.

I just want to get the right ring and get this over with already!