$10,000 Budget..looking for a round excellent cut

newtodiam · Mar 12, 2014

Looking for a very nice diamond, white + sparkling etc. and something she can show off. (and i can too ha)

What should I be looking for??

Gypsy · Mar 12, 2014

Please confirm that she wants a round for sure.

Then snoop around her pinterest page, and see what she likes for settings. Or just ask her for setting preferences.

Next leave your wallet at home. Call your local Hearts on Fire Dealer ask for an appointment with them for this Friday or Sunday or Saturday to educate you on the importance of cut, and to show you all different colored diamonds (particularly FG HI). Also ask to see SI1 clarity stones.

They are VERY over priced and we can get you diamonds with the same precision cutting AND the same ideal light return for less (that's our greatest skill).

But they are FANTASTIC for helping new shoppers find out what their preferences are for colors and clarity, as well as helping them understand diamond cut.

AFTER you have done that.

Come back and tell us-- that the setting she wants is. WHAT YOUR TOTAL budget including the setting is.
And what your preferences are for color and clarity.

THEN we will be able to help you find the perfect ring for your lady, you and your budget.

RockyRacoon · Mar 12, 2014

Just to give you an idea, here are a few different options, all of which are top-of-the-line:

1.295ct, G, SI1
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.295-g-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104069928006

1.183ct, G, VS1
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.183-g-vs1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104067973050

1.55ct, H, SI2 (inclusion looks like it might be prong-able - talk to Jon about this stone to get more details)
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/11676/

Gypsy · Mar 12, 2014

To get you started:

ON CUT:
Rhe entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. And GIA Ex is not enough.
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want? Well, we have tools to help you with that. But that is not enough.
What you need after that is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return. That is why you won't see us recommending Blue Nile, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. All our best vendors do though.

Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium. With AGS0 stones you don't strictly need an idealscope image. But getting one is nice to confirm performance and that is why almost all our best vendors provide them for you.

ON COLOR:

It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. So... no. Not really. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H in a round. But MANY people have happily bought white I or even J diamonds when trying to eek out a little more size.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white.

I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.

ON CLARITY:
http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/SI/ and http://www.goodoldgold.com/4Cs/Clarity/VS/ Generally we say that eyeclean SI1 and VS2 are as high as you need to go with round brilliants.