Yet another help me choose a stone thread RB~1.50 carats

[NJDeac]

So I've done my research and made a preliminary short list of stones that I think I'm ready to have vetted by the community at large. While I hate to clutter up the board with another "help me pick a diamond" thread, I can't think of a better way to solicit advice from the community at large. Aside: Maybe it would be helpful to create a separate subforum for such threads, given how common they are?

Anyhow, here are my general criteria, in rough order of importance:

1) Well-cut Round Brilliant Stone, H&A symmetry, AGS/GIA cert
2) 1.50+ carat weight
3) Eye-clean SI1 or above, prefer VS2 or above
4) I color or above, willing to drop to J if the circumstances were right (if a particular stone represented a large size increase, for instance) Color is less of a concern since the stone will be set in yellow gold and she is not particularly color sensitive.

My budget for the stone is in the 11-12k range.

Here are a few candidate stones I've found, with some general comments/questions after each (Links are embedded in the heading of each). Comments on these stones in particular or other stones in the general ballpark of what I'm looking for are greatly appreciated.

Stone 1: 1.63 I SI1
Comments: The size on this one is quite appealing. However, are the abundance of feathers a structural concern, particularly in how they appear around the edges? The stone scores a 1.6 in the HCA, but only a "Very good" for scintillation. The idealscope/diamxray image also appears a bit washed out under the table - possible leakage?

Stone 2: 1.50 I VS1
Comments: The high clarity of this stone is very appealing, but the helium report indicates large variances in the crown and pavilion angles (approximately .6 for each between minimum and maximum). The stone scores 3x Ex on the HCA with a 1.4, though the crown angle of 35.5 seems rather steep.

Stone 3: 1.505 I VS2
Comments: The stone is approximately the same size and price as the previous stone, but a grade lower in clarity. However, the angle variances are less than .3 and .4 degrees for the crown and pavilion, respectively. The ASET image appears a little "busier" around the tips of the blue arrows than I've seen in most other pictures, but maybe this is just an artifact of the way the image was taken? The idealscope image lacks the small white "v" marks between the arrows - is this indicative of painting on the girdle?

Stone 4: 1.515 I VS1
Comments: Another VS1 stone. The idealscope and ASET images appear fine to my untrained eye. The hearts and arrows image is a bit of a concern though: the "v" structures on the hearts at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock are rather asymmetrical. Is this enough to be cause for concern?

Stone 5: 1.53 I VS2
Comments: I liked this stone a lot until I saw the dreaded "knot" on the AGS report. Is it true that knots are always a major cause for concern, even if the stone otherwise receives a high grade in clarity?

Thanks!

Edit: Fixed the link on #5

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 3/22/2010 6:16:51 PM
Author:NJDeac
So I''ve done my research and made a preliminary short list of stones that I think I''m ready to have vetted by the community at large. While I hate to clutter up the board with another ''help me pick a diamond'' thread, I can''t think of a better way to solicit advice from the community at large. Aside: Maybe it would be helpful to create a separate subforum for such threads, given how common they are?

This forum is all about helping people find diamonds! Don''t worry, you are in exactly the right place. Now to look at the contenders...

 

[yssie]

Five winners

don''t worry about the specifics of the HCA - in fact, since you have excellent images, don''t worry about the hca at all.

 

[Dreamer_D]

First off, all of these diamonds will perform well. I would wager that if you put them all in front of you, you would not be able to tell them apart. The details that you are commenting on are really splitting hairs amongst diamonds that are probably in the top 1% on the market for cut quality. So *really* you can pick any one for any old reason. All three vendors are great too.

But if it helps, here is my hair splitting analysis:

1) the feathers are most likely *not* a concern. The reality is that feather rarely pose a problem for the durability of a stone (this topic has been discussed a fair bit around here). Jon will be able to tell you if the diamond is safe. The diamond is part of the lifetime policy, and Jon would not buy a diamond that was not a good one and offer that policy. BUT, with so many options, it is up to you wether you want to "settle" and get a diamond with feathers. But I would eliminate this one because the price is a fair bit higher than some others and it is not noticably larger.

2) This one faces up a little small for its carat weight because it is a tad deep (and steep in the crown as you commented). The images are great, but the slightly smaller appearance would bug me, even though it would not be visible.

3) I like this one.

4) This one is nice too.

5) Wrong link. I don''t like knots though.

I would take 3 because you do not need VS1 clarity to be totally completely eye clean, so I would go for the VS2 from BGD.

 

[NJDeac]

Thanks so much for the advice. I suppose it''s comforting that if one or more of these stones sell before I''m ready to pull the trigger, I have plenty of backup options. Not sure why my original post topic got truncated - it originally said "Yet another "Help me choose a stone" thread - 1.50ct round brilliant" - I suppose the forum software doesn''t parse quotations in post titles properly.

On another note, does anyone know if BGD offers any kind of PS discount like James Allen and Whiteflash do, or a setting/stone combo discount like GOG does?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 3/22/2010 9:52:29 PM
Author: NJDeac
Thanks so much for the advice. I suppose it''s comforting that if one or more of these stones sell before I''m ready to pull the trigger, I have plenty of backup options. Not sure why my original post topic got truncated - it originally said ''Yet another ''Help me choose a stone'' thread - 1.50ct round brilliant'' - I suppose the forum software doesn''t parse quotations in post titles properly.

On another note, does anyone know if BGD offers any kind of PS discount like James Allen and Whiteflash do, or a setting/stone combo discount like GOG does?

Yes, just ask. I believe the total wire/PS discount at BGD is 5%, but you will need to confirm. I don''t think there is a setting/stone deiscount though, but their settings are reasonably priced.

Are you not planning to buy any time soon? I have noticed that diamonds in the specs you are considering seem to go quickly-ish. But there are always others. ACAs and BGD signature stones are well cut in general.

 

[NJDeac]

Date: 3/22/2010 9:58:02 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 3/22/2010 9:52:29 PM

Author: NJDeac

Thanks so much for the advice. I suppose it's comforting that if one or more of these stones sell before I'm ready to pull the trigger, I have plenty of backup options. Not sure why my original post topic got truncated - it originally said 'Yet another 'Help me choose a stone' thread - 1.50ct round brilliant' - I suppose the forum software doesn't parse quotations in post titles properly.


On another note, does anyone know if BGD offers any kind of PS discount like James Allen and Whiteflash do, or a setting/stone combo discount like GOG does?

Yes, just ask. I believe the total wire/PS discount at BGD is 5%, but you will need to confirm. I don't think there is a setting/stone deiscount though, but their settings are reasonably priced.


Are you not planning to buy any time soon? I have noticed that diamonds in the specs you are considering seem to go quickly-ish. But there are always others. ACAs and BGD signature stones are well cut in general.

I suppose that depends upon your definition of the word "soon". I'll probably be moving forward with the purchase in the next few days, but I'm not on any particular time-table (much to my girlfriend's chagrin). There are a couple more local places I want to look at settings in person and I've promised to meet with a friend of a friend who knows a guy who runs a jewelry store (I'm skeptical, but I told him I'd meet with him, and I'm not going to buy anything without doing at least as much due diligence as I've done with my online shopping plus an independent appraisal). All in all, there seem to be enough stones out there that I won't be devastated if one of the ones I'm after isn't available, and it's not like De Beers will be running out of diamond rough to be cut any time soon.