BN diamond help

[vina0416]

Hello, I've probably been looking at rings on and off... We are finally buying a ring after being married for 2 years. Military problems Anyway, we are stationed overseas, so buying online is our only option. I've looked at Adiamor and Blue Nile and I have decided I like Blue Niles and their settings more. Our budget for the center stone is probably no more than 6k… the lower the better. I understand the basic diamond terms but I get lost reading some of the threads when it comes to table %, etc. etc. What do you guys think of this one? I'm okay with a diamond looking more blue. I'm not concerned with carat size either as long as it has the look of 1 carat or even bigger… But I understand that bigger doesn't always mean better! Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you!

Choice 1:
Stock number: LD04477529
Price: $4,990
Bank wire price: $4,916
Price per carat: $4,990
Carat weight: 1.00
Cut: Ideal
Color: J
Clarity: VVS2
Depth %: 63.4%
Table %: 56%
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle: Medium to Slightly Thick
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Strong
Measurements: 6.34 x 6.36 x 4.03 mm
The picture shows a pinpoint and a natural inclusion.

Choice 2:
Stock number: LD04420764
Price: $5,338
Bank wire price: $5,258
Price per carat: $4,448
Carat weight: 1.20
Cut: Ideal
Color: J
Clarity: VVS2
Depth %: 62.9%
Table %: 57%
Polish: Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Girdle: Medium
Culet: None
Fluorescence: Medium
Measurements: 6.76 x 6.78 x 4.26 mm
Picture of diamond shows no flaws but the description says, "clarity grade is based on internal grain not shown."

 

[WillyDiamond]

Vina
Welcome to the forum and congrats on looking for a diamond. Others will chime in who are much smarter than me, but a few comments.

1. Which lab graded these stones? GIA? AGS? EGL? There is a big difference between GIA/AGS vs. EGL.
2. In order to run the diamond thru the HCA, we are in need of the pavilion angle or percent.
3. Also most people on this forum will not buy without pictures. Most like to see Idealscope and/or ASET's.

edit: Re-read your post, you cannot get the pics from BN, they don't supply them.

Best of luck.

 

[WillyDiamond]

OK, I went to the BN site and saw they are GIA graded, I ran them through the HCA, the first stone scores 4.9, the second scores 5.4.
Anything under 2.0 can be for "further consideration", 2.0 to 3.0 consider only if price is great. Above 3.0 is a real "bow wow".
Perhaps others on this forum can locate a stone for you that the vendor will ship international. Best of luck.

edit: Since you like fluorescence, I would take this one over yours:
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.010-j-vs2-round-diamond-ags-bl-104070945004#!prettyPhoto[gallery2]/0/

 

[vina0416]

So HCA tool is a better indication than just reading specs? Thanks for the advice on the tool I'll look into more stones and use the tool. And a shipper will just need to be able to ship to an APO address (zipcode is stateside) so technically not international... Hopefully that doesn't narrow my choices by too much.

 

[WillyDiamond]

The HCA is a rejection tool, not a selection tool. So if the diamond falls in the less than 2.0 range, it would be worth further consideration.

 

[vina0416]

This rock got a 1.4 from HCA but has a bunch of inclusions as pictured. Is that considered a lot of flaws? I obviously can't buy a perfect diamond with our budget but if I were to have any flaws, are there any I should stick to and others I should definitely avoid? It seems like the safest inclusion would be a pinpoint cause it's the smallest…?