What to do about my diamond choice??? Brian from WF suggested following!

[lauraher]

So Brian left me a message last night telling me his choices, it goes as follows: #1, #2, #3. He said that #1 faces up the whitest and that it looks the largest out of all three. The only thing is that when I initially asked the pricescope community about this diamond, many said that because of the low HCA score, 0.7, it might not have the best contrast, but I spoke to Brian and he said it looked beautiful-but it''s also the most expensive of the three! Stone #2 has an HCA of 1.4, and stone #3 has an HCA of 1.1. Hopefully I will speak to Brian on the phone today, but the low HCA is kind of worrying me. Those who have worked with Brian, do you go with what he suggests?

Here is the origianl thread.
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/its-between-these-3-diamonds-please-help-me-chose.47640/

Thanks!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You need to go by what Brian says since he is the one looking at the diamonds. #1 may be priced higher for good reason...it may be the best stone.

 

[lizzyd]

"Those who have worked with Brian, do you go with what he suggests?"



Yup. If he says #1 is the best, then it's the best. Period.




HCA is only a tool to help seperate out the wheat from the chaffe. Once you are under a 2.0 score on HCA, then you really have to look at the stone. If you have the most experienced eyes in the business (IMHO) looking at it for you, you take his advice.

 

[Mara]

yep i have trusted brian on all my stones and he has not let me down...he has the cutter''s eyes and he sees stones the way us regular mortals cannot. i definitely trust his eyes.

i would go with #1. i recall #1 or #3 being my top 2.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 7/7/2006 12:19:45 PM
Author:lauraher

The only thing is that when I initially asked the pricescope community about this diamond, many said that because of the low HCA score, 0.7, it might not have the best contrast, but I spoke to Brian and he said it looked beautiful-but it''s also the most expensive of the three! Stone #2 has an HCA of 1.4, and stone #3 has an HCA of 1.1. Hopefully I will speak to Brian on the phone today, but the low HCA is kind of worrying me. Those who have worked with Brian, do you go with what he suggests?

I''ve trusted Brian on my stones, too, and haven''t been let down.

You can count on Brian to tell you the straight dope. When I was e-ring shopping, I called to ask about two stones. He recommended a third stone that had just come in. It was larger than the other two I asked about and it was less expensive due to Si2 clarity. He told me the SI2 stone actually looked cleaner than the two SI1 stones and that it was his top pick. Thankfully, I listened to him. He will give you his honest opinion.

Regarding the 0.7 on the HCA......numbers and figures are fine as weeding tools, but they cannot replace the visual inspection by experienced eyes.

When people see the low HCA score, that tells them to make sure they caution to check the contrast. That''s all. That data isn''t definitive, and it doesn''t replace visual inspection.

As far as the stone being more expensive.....if budget''s an issue, then perhaps you''ll choose 2 or 3. But if you have the budget for it, I''d go with Brian''s pick.

 

[mrssalvo]

I haven''t purchased a big stone from WF but if I were, i''d have no problem trusting Brian''s eyes and would go with his suggestion in a heart beat.

 

[msdarlinjoy]

Hi Lauraher ~

I haven't bought a diamond from Brian, however, I do realize that he is trusted here.

Others have been happily satisfied from his advice, and if you are going to buy from WF, at some point you need to develop some trust that he knows what he is doing.

It's like you go to the doctor ... you need surgery ... at some point you need to trust the Dr. that he knows what he is doing, and the surgery that he is suggesting ... he will be able to execute without complication.

Ok, so Brian isn't a Dr. (At least for all I know) and he is suggesting to go with #1. Obviously he is able to see the diamond, examine it and say ... "Wow" this one is the most sparkly of all three that are being considered. I can't imagine him reccomending a "Dog" ... if it was, you obviously would be taking advantage of the return period, and he would have wasted his time, you would be disatisfied, and let everyone know how dissapointed you were. I don't think he is that kind of businessman.

I personally think that they must care about their clients, and take care of them, they do have repeat customers. In any business, you do not get repeat customers by selling something it isn't.

Good luck, and my personal choice of the three would be in order: #1 becuase Brian thinks it's the best out of three, then I would probably go with #3, then #2.

Best wishes, and have a happy day!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Bite the bullet girl, and go with #1!

And yes, I have purchased from WF before and trust Brian completely.

One last piece of advice (from a semi-noobie)- we all sometimes get carried away by all the stats, numbers, etc... but in the end, let your eyes make the choice!

GOOD LUCK

 

[KtIceRN]

I just wanted to chime in on this thread because I have been going through something very similar looking for an asscher cut stone.
I had 2 stones called in by WF. I read all the specs on this board for weeks and finally picked one from whitflash that I thought would be great. When I did get the pics they did not receive a good response from people... aka they were not "worthy"...too dark in the center. So I told WF no because I trusted the opinion of the people here. So I searched on and picked another stone, had it sent in and more pics...again not a great response. So I e-mailed them and said I was not sure, more pics please, or any sugesstions on another stone.
So I get an e-mail from Lesley that said Brian wanted to talk to me! So of course I called and spent 45 minutes on the phone with him analyzing the two stones. He had taken multiple pictures of both stones to show me. We went over each one in specific, many different lighting shots and ring shots. He asked me alot of questions about what I wanted and why I had picked these stones and why I wasn''t sure about them, what had made me say no to them, ect.
Well, I have to say that Brian CERTAINLY knows what he is talking about. My first not so worthy asscher is a BEAUTIFUL stone according to Brian and well worth taking a closer look at. He personally told me that he would cover the cost of the shipping if I was not pleased by the stone. I like someone who will put their money where their mouth is
So I guess my point is I have not been here very long but it did not take much time to realize that while this board is a GREAT place to get information and talk about things but when it comes to expert advise it is best to go to the experts like Brian. There is alot of value in the expertise of seeing things with a cutters eyes. Numbers are just that numbers...a guide line...expert eyes are key.
Just my .02 on the subject. I can''t wait to see my stone coming from WF soon, then it''s off to be set in my custom setting.

 

[lauraher]

Thank you so much. I let all the figures get to me more than someone who''s life is diamonds. What the eye sees is much better than data sometimes. I am hoping to purchase the ring on Monday. I have to email Lesley and let her know. I am soooo excited. My last diamond was a 1.5, but I have always wanted a 2ct, don''t really know why. I went to try one on today at Tiffanys, and OMG it looked huge. I can''t wait to have my ACA!!!!!