What''s more important, Color/Clarity or Cut?

[Chase26]

Ok, now everyone here has spiked my interest in finding the best deal and with that; Does it make more sense to sacrifice color and clarity for cut? Here is my dilemma; I''m looking to spend around 2k for a round diamond. I have seen some between .6-.7Ct that are in my price range, but vary depending on color, clarity and cut. I''ve found some diamonds that are D/E color and VS1 clarity, but the cut isn''t perfect. Then i have found some that are in the same price range but F/G/H color and VS2 clarity and excellent cuts, like H/A cuts which we love. So, what is more important when looking to mount it in a Platinum setting?
Thanks again!
Chase

 

[Hest88]

Cut should be your mantra.

I think of it this way: take a piece of the finest silk, strong and gorgeous and perfectly-dyed. That's your D, IF rough diamond. Then, give it to some 10 year old with a sewing machine and no talent to sew you a dress. I can guarantee you that no one is going to notice how great the silk is; only what an ugly dress you have.

OTOH, take a decent piece of silk, not the greatest, but decent, and put it in the hands of a master tailor who spends a hundred hours making sure the design is perfect and every seam is invisible. The silk may not be the greatest, but the dress is going to get major wows nonetheless.

Those are extreme examples, but hope that made a bit of sense in terms of why cut is the supreme factor.

 

[dimonbob]

Hi Chase,

Most of the beauty of a diamond comes from the cut. You can have a D Flawless that is a dog or you can have a diamond with a couple of colors lower but still white and eye clean SI1 with a super ideal cut and it will be beautiful and blow the socks off the D FL dog. But...the dog will cost much more.
Go back to Search for Cut Quality and dial in .60 - .75 ct, D - F color and VS1 - SI1 clarity, GIA & AGS certs and see what you come up with?
Have fun!

 

[pricescope]

It also depends on personal taste and preferences, Chase26.

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[barry]

Chase;

Cut is the most important of the "C"s". It will allow you
to get a bigger diamond at a lower clarity that will face up white, white
and look fabulous in a platinum setting.

Barry
www.superbcert.com

 

[JayTee]

Like Leonid says, its all about personal preference. Mine personally (and I'll provide the reasoning for it), in highest priority to lowest is Cut, Color, and Clarity.

Cut is the highest priority because that is where the scintillation and fire of the stone comes from -- the sparkling effects that catch one's eye.

Personally, I found that I preferred as colorless a stone as possible, although you may not be able to notice the "yellow" in a lower color grade stone unless you set it side-by-side with other stones of higher color grades.

Clarity is the least important of the three because its the one you will notice least unless you get an I-grade stone. From FL to VS2, you cannot see any imperfections unless you put the stone up to a scope.

 

[Mara]

My two cents...you are on a tight budget. Don't waste your precious $$ on F VS1 quality. That would be nice if you could, but if you can't...it's not the end of the world. Cut is definitely king around here, and if you don't get a well-cut stone (whether it is well cut TIC or a BIC or other...), your stone will not be worth even $10 of your hard-earned money.

I ran a Pscope search and found a bunch of excellently cut stones in your budget range. I pasted the screen shot JPG below. I copped out and took the easy 'search by cut quality' way, I am sure there are many other stones in the H&A AGS 0 regular Pscope search for you to peruse as well...but all of these stones were found because their vendors gave additional information on them up front for the search tool to process their #'s (e.g. crown and pav angles for HCA calcs and/or other details) and it spit them out. They all score under 2.0 on the HCA and many will have Bscope or IdealScope or Sarin or H&A images for the stones.

IMO you should be able to go G/H color and SI1 clarity (as long as it's 100% eye clean!!!) and get a great stone. If you start thinking....oh but F VS1 sounds so great, you will end up sacrificing either cut and or your $$ budget. G/H faces up white in platinum, and I love G's personally as my stone is a G and its white white white in plat.

Good luck!!

 

[ccuheartnurse]

I agree with Mara, you can go down to an SI-1 especially in the ct. wt. you're looking at. My stone is also a G & is white white in my platinum ring.

Judy

 

[Chase26]

Hey Thanks to everyone! This site is GREAT! I've learned more today than in all the days we've been looking in the stores! I guess my biggest decision is to go with a f color SI1 clarity or a G color and Vs2 clarity. Seems that both are in my price range. Guess it's personal opinion at this point. If G is White white, then that's great. But i also am probably going to have to stick to around .60 to fit the seeting we like. So i'm assuming that the clarity won't be a big deal at SI1.
Well thanks again to everyone for all of their help! I can't thank you enough!
Chase

 

[Talonnav]

Here's my take on the 4 C's in order:
1. CUT!
2. Color
3. Clarity
4. Carat weight (determined by your budget)

 

[fire&ice]

In a stone the size you are looking at:

pay attention to the cut first. I don't think you have to go super ideal...just a stone w/ a good make.

IMHO, a larger well cut g/h SI stone wins my vote everyday over an F/VS2 smaller stone. Clarity is graded under a 10x loop. One hardly carries around a loop. Color is graded face down. Once set, the color difference in a this size stone between f-gh is very little. But, check it out yourself.

just my 2cents - Good luck.