Which stone would you buy? approx 2.2 carats, E, VVS2, HPHT round labs for this Gem Goblin

[GemGoblin]

Bottom Line: Which would you buy? 2.2, E, VVS2, HPHT; 3 links in bullets below
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Long time lurker, finally getting ready to buy a stone for a ring. Thank you for all the education on here, have especially learned a lot from u/DejaWiz's comments and many others.

Background/Specs
I've been looking for an ~2.2 carat round lab, E color, VVS2, HPHT, max budget $2k. Seeing quite a few nice stones well below that too.

I focused on HPHT only after a lot of research. I understand the CVD outcome can easily be as good, but this feels like the safer choice for my personal priorities.

I wanted a hearts & arrows designation on the IGI report just to offer that extra datapoint (I'm aware that the IGI H&A doesn't guarantee anything). However, I have barely been able to find any HPHT with H&A on the report with the right specs and am driving myself crazy click on links, so for now have settled on the following shortlist.

Which would you buy, if any?

• 2.20 carat D VVS2 HPHT
• 2.2 E VVS2; has "H&A" but picture is less clear, and slightly worried the pavilion angle and crown angle aren't complementary enough (40.8 PA to 35.1 CA)
• 2.11 E VVS1
• 2.35 E VVS2 - last minute add worried it's almost too big but it does have H&A + google angles

I'll keep a few similar stones in reserve in case these get sniped and so as not to overload the shortlist. I'm grateful to anyone who may take a few minutes to look at these and weigh in on this big purchase. The advice available from this community is amazing.

 

[0-0-0]

Loosegrowndiamond has filters for HPHT and H&A rounds to make searches easier.

I would go as big as possible within budget which means 2.5 ct+, so I’ll add one more option with fatter arrows!

Loupe360

loupe360.com

 

[GemGoblin]

I love the positive peer pressure. What a beautiful stone. But we did a few in person try ons and 8.5mm was at the max of what we felt worked proportionally given finger size; 8.9mm is too big in this case, as awesome as it is.

Just curious with the "fatter arrows" comment, do you keep an eye out for arrow size or darkness? I've struggled to develop an eye for looking at the pictures so am curious if this is something I can lean on.

The LGD filters was a great tip, thank you. I like the look of this 2.21 carat stone, although with 40.5 PA (35.1 CA) it's maybe right at the edge of the stats.

 

[dylanandtyler]

Loosegrowndiamond has filters for HPHT and H&A rounds to make searches easier.

I would go as big as possible within budget which means 2.5 ct+, so I’ll add one more option with fatter arrows!

Loupe360

loupe360.com

@0-0-0 I love the look of fatter arrows too. Is it pavillion angle that creates the width of the arrows or a specific combo of crown/pavillion?

 

[0-0-0]

Darker arrows are indicative of shallower crown/pavilion combos and/or closer viewing distance. The thickness of the arrows is mostly determined by lower girdle facets at similar table sizes.

Facets Explained: Understanding the Lower Halves

Within robust diamond proportion sets, the lower girdle facets have great influence on the life and character of a diamond, particularly if the diamond has good patterning (optical symmetry or ‘Hearts & Arrows’ diamonds).

www.whiteflash.com

 

[dylanandtyler]

Darker arrows are indicative of shallower crown/pavilion combos and/or closer viewing distance. The thickness of the arrows is mostly determined by lower girdle facets at similar table sizes.

Facets Explained: Understanding the Lower Halves

Within robust diamond proportion sets, the lower girdle facets have great influence on the life and character of a diamond, particularly if the diamond has good patterning (optical symmetry or ‘Hearts & Arrows’ diamonds).

www.whiteflash.com

@0-0-0 thanks so much for the link....really explains a lot! It's too bad that IGI does not measure/and or disclose LGF. Not sure if it makes sense, but if trying to guestimate LGF, would pavillion % and angle fit into some formula? With IGI LGD's, how would you know?

 

[GemGoblin]

Very interesting. This sent me down a rabbit hole of a few old posts on PS about fat vs skinny arrows which I enjoyed reading about.

I had settled on this 2.21, but it looks like someone else beat me to it.
I've looked at too many, nothing else is catching my eye and a lot of the E-color H&A/HPHTs on loosegrowndiamond have been sold according to StoneAlgo (also checked the Ds).

Maybe I'll give it a pause, I wonder how often LGD refreshes from the data feed. I did find a few stunning GCAL certified stones (1, 2) which I would take if they were closer to $2000, but at 2.5-3x the price of the IGIs I'm looking at it's just hard to justify. The hunt continues!