Excellent vs VG worth the price difference?

[slycatty]

What''s everyone''s opinion on Excellent vs Very Good - Cut, Polish, and Symmetry? Do you think it''s worth the price difference? Is an Ideal/Excellent cut diamond a must?

I''ve been looking for a 1.5 RB stone and the only way I can get the color and clarity I want within my budget is if I get a VG Cut, Polish, and Symmetry. I was looking at G-H color and SI1-SI2 clarity. My budget is $7500. What would you get?

 

[Lestat]

Personally, anything less than very good and I'd start to wonder why the cutter didn't want to put the extra work in. Maybe the stone wasn't worth it? Very good and Excellent are ok in my book, quite a few threads here state that the average person won't even see a difference. Maybe it's one of those "mind clean" issues.

ETA: Sorry, didn't see that you asked about cut as well, I thought you were only asking about polish & symmetry. I wouldn't trust the good/excellent/ideal cut rating from most places, I'd want it backed up with Idealscope images and the angles from the report (GIA or AGS) so that you can judge the cut yourself and post here for advice. Don't skimp on cut if you can, it's the most important C.

 

[Dreamer_D]

VG polish, fine. VG symmetry, fine. VG cut? Not always good enough. You can find a good deal if you buy a diamond that was kicked out of the EX/Ideal category because of polish or symmetry, but it is a search for a needle in a haystack. I would rather see you hunt for a diamond just under the 1.5ct mark and save money that way. It will look the same size but cost a lot less.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I like this one: http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/H-SI2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1191830.asp Request an ideal scope if interested.

You will not be able to find a well cut stone over 1.5ct for your budget I am afraid. They cost *double* that amount. Any "deals" will not be real deals.

 

[sparklyforever]

dreamer...
wouldn''t vg symmetry mean vg cut? i thought that''s what that meant..

 

[serenitydiamonds]

I think VG for polish is perfectly fine. After that, I am a strong believer of cut quality so VG in symmetry is a big turnoff and a VG in cut grade it raises an eye-brow for me if it''s claimed to be ideal. The cut quality of a diamond is visible from quite a distance away so I feel this is the one aspect of a diamond that should not be compromised.

--Joshua

 

[serenitydiamonds]

Date: 2/2/2010 10:58:24 PM
Author: sparklyforever
dreamer...

wouldn''t vg symmetry mean vg cut? i thought that''s what that meant..

It is possible to get a stone graded VG symmetry and an Excellent cut. The stone may have very nice proportions but slightly mis-aligned facets.

--Joshua

 

[slycatty]

Thanks for the input. I think I''m going to keep an eye out for an Excellent cut stone and be ok with VG polish and VG symmetry.

 

[yssie]

Go by the numbers.



You can have a leaky EX cut and a lovely VG cut - and you can have lovely EXs and ugly VGs.

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 2/4/2010 8:22:15 PM
Author: yssie
Go by the numbers.

You can have a leaky EX cut and a lovely VG cut - and you can have lovely EXs and ugly VGs.

Ditto.