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Which 3 carat should I choose????

andrea1216

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 26, 2006
Messages
19
Over the last couple of weeks I was posting on here about a 4.36 carat K/L diamond that faced up very white. I decided to look at smaller, whiter stones. Are any of the following diamonds worth ordering and checking out in person? I will need to narrow it down to one. Which would you pick out of the following? They all have medium blue fluorescence because I saw a fluorescent diamond at the jewelry store today that looked great. I just don't want to pay brick and mortar prices.Thanks in advance for your help!

http://www.eternitydiamonds.com/diamond_detail.php?id=500992&ref=pricescope

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Good-Cut-Round-Diamond-1397856.asp

http://www.abazias.com/database/NewDiamondInfo.asp?stock=102197017&src=builder

http://www.abazias.com/database/NewDiamondInfo.asp?stock=111558823&src=builder
 
I also wanted to give the specs for the diamond I saw in the store today. It was a beautiful diamond, but I am not sure why it does not do so well on the HCS (it gets a 3.9). It is a GIA excellent cut, so why is the HCS score so low? Here are the specs on the one in this one....

GIA
3.26 carat
9.47-9.54 x 5.89 mm
H
SI2 (extremely eye clean)
Excellent cut
Excellent polish
Excellent Symmetry
Medium Blue fluorescence
Table 57%
Depth 62%
Crown Angle: 35.5
Pavilion Angel: 41
 
I really don't understand how, after all the time you've spent on here, you can honestly look at this picture http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Good-Cut-Round-Diamond-1397856.asp and think: Hmm, maybe I should consider buying this! Just the picture alone should disqualify it, let alone the table and depth measurements.

Run them all through the HCA (which you clearly know how to do) and anything under 2 is worth pursuing. Anything over two... read what it says.
 
The first ones numbers look good but its a large SI2 so you need to find if its anywhere near eye-clean or at least eye-clean
enough for you. Can you get a picture of it?

The second one is a mess.

The 3rd one had no GIA report (so no angles).

The 4th one is so heavily included I'd couldnt imagine that it could be a nice stone. The angles arent working all
that great either. Can you get a picture of it?
 
andrea1216|1332028045|3151052 said:
I also wanted to give the specs for the diamond I saw in the store today. It was a beautiful diamond, but I am not sure why it does not do so well on the HCS (it gets a 3.9). It is a GIA excellent cut, so why is the HCS score so low? Here are the specs on the one in this one....

GIA
3.26 carat
9.47-9.54 x 5.89 mm
H
SI2 (extremely eye clean)
Excellent cut
Excellent polish
Excellent Symmetry
Medium Blue fluorescence
Table 57%
Depth 62%
Crown Angle: 35.5
Pavilion Angel: 41
the diameter is too small for its weight.
 
Gypsy|1332028530|3151056 said:
I really don't understand how, after all the time you've spent on here, you can honestly look at this picture http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/I-SI2-Good-Cut-Round-Diamond-1397856.asp and think: Hmm, maybe I should consider buying this! Just the picture alone should disqualify it, let alone the table and depth measurements.

Run them all through the HCA (which you clearly know how to do) and anything under 2 is worth pursuing. Anything over two... read what it says.

Woah!!! That thing in the middle is like an Rorschach ink blot, and none of the images it conjurs up are good!
 
Dancing Fire|1332030936|3151074 said:
andrea1216|1332028045|3151052 said:
I also wanted to give the specs for the diamond I saw in the store today. It was a beautiful diamond, but I am not sure why it does not do so well on the HCS (it gets a 3.9). It is a GIA excellent cut, so why is the HCS score so low? Here are the specs on the one in this one....

GIA
3.26 carat
9.47-9.54 x 5.89 mm
H
SI2 (extremely eye clean)
Excellent cut
Excellent polish
Excellent Symmetry
Medium Blue fluorescence
Table 57%
Depth 62%
Crown Angle: 35.5
Pavilion Angel: 41
the diameter is too small for its weight.


It is what on PS is referred to as a "steep deep" diamond. It's the one area of GIA Ex/Ex that we don't recommend. And also why we always say that GIA Ex can be too broad.

If you so a search for Steep Deep you will see lots of threads about it. Here's one (although I'm not getting the sense that you read much or research) [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/gia-ex-let-the-buyer-beware.41371/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/gia-ex-let-the-buyer-beware.41371/[/URL] and [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/gia-excellent-steep-deep-diamonds.93735/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/gia-excellent-steep-deep-diamonds.93735/[/URL]

If you could get an IS of the stone you would likely see more light leakage than most 'Ex/Ex' diamonds and certainly most AGS ideal light performance diamonds.

For you though, considering your budget and size requirements, and if you loved it in person... it might be an acceptable compromise. You seem to want size over everything. So... something's got to give.
 
The first stone you posted has promising numbers but I'd echo the other poster's sentiment that an SI2 in a stone that large could be problematic.

It seems as though you are just randomly choosing stones in a larger size range and that can be a very dangerous way to choose a stone so be careful and do your homework. If size is more important to you than cut quality, then the particulars may not matter to you as much. A dead looking or largely included stone will not be eye appealing - no matter how large it is.

I would suggest you get in touch with one of the PS vendors and talk to them about what you are looking for in terms of size, cut, clarity and color. They can work with you and make recommendations regarding available stones or what they might be able to call in for you.
 
Might you consider keeping the color lower and going for better clarity? I think getting better clarity is more important, plus if you have an EX cut stone, it will hide some of the color.
 
I wouldn't waste time looking at virtual SI2 stones. Most will not be clean enough in stones that size, and even with SI1 you may have to sort through many. You may find a GIA ex stone that has an HCA score in the 2+ range that may be fine, but I'd weed out all that score 3 or more at the outset.
 
diamondseeker2006 said:
I wouldn't waste time looking at virtual SI2 stones. Most will not be clean enough in stones that size, and even with SI1 you may have to sort through many. You may find a GIA ex stone that has an HCA score in the 2+ range that may be fine, but I'd weed out all that score 3 or more at the outset.
yep, great advice.
 
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