Which radiant cut to choose?

[1800catlady]

Hello all! First time poster, long time lurker here. My fiancé and I are in the process of selecting a radiant diamond and we've gone a little nuts trying to pick apart hundreds of stones. They're all starting to look the same! That being said, I think we've narrowed it down to two good contenders (or maybe not!)

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/radiant-cut/1.01-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-1107950
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/radiant-cut/1.02-carat-h-color-vs2-clarity-sku-1041519

We're rookies here and we've read tons of posts on PS, but would love some advice. Things we are concerned about: brilliance/fire, chunky vs. crushed ice (we prefer the former, though at this point, I'm thinking that most if not all radiants will look slightly crushed), and whether there's a bow-tie effect.

Thank you for all opinions!

 

[stacyj11101]

i'm new here too and they are both lovely stones to me. i happen to love radiant cuts. best of luck to you.

 

[drk14]

Radiant cuts are next to impossible to evaluate by internet shopping, because their design typically relies on long path lengths for the light rays that enter the stone, and therefore 2-dimensional camera images unfortunately do not have sufficient depth of focus to depict the real-life appearance of the diamond. The PS forum as a community has tremendous expertise in using images and online tools to select diamond cuts that are designed to have short light ray path lengths (such that it is possible for cameras to bring the the relevant virtual facets into focus), but this expertise does not necessarily translate well to selection of radiant cuts (and other long-pathlength designs).

You're probably best off evaluating the stones in person. What part of the country are you located in?

 

[tyty333]

Between the two, I think the first one looks the best. Less mushy area than the second. See if you can request and aset image from
JA.

 

[1800catlady]

Thanks for everyone's input so far. Unfortunately I requested an Idealscope but the diamonds were not available in the NY diamond district so they couldn't get one. I'm also leaning towards the first one because it is cheaper haha!

 

[tyty333]

Thanks for everyone's input so far. Unfortunately I requested an Idealscope but the diamonds were not available in the NY diamond district so they couldn't get one. I'm also leaning towards the first one because it is cheaper haha!

The first one is more expensive (well, on my machine it is)!

 

[1800catlady]

Oh just kidding! Sorry, it's one of those days where my brain is fried --- TGIF.

So I just received a response from JW and they say they also prefer the more expensive one. BUT, am I crazy to think that there is a bow tie effect there? I didn't notice this last night but I'm seeing it this morning. See the image below:

https://i.imgsafe.org/42cacadb43.jpg

 

[1800catlady]

Well, we did it! We ended up purchasing the more expensive and more sparkly option of the two. Thanks everyone for your help!!