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Help with shopping for a Princess Cut

Bigwrecked

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jan 17, 2013
Messages
11
Hello. I've been reading this forum over the past few weeks and it has aided me enormously in educating myself. Now I'm narrowing down my search and was hoping for some help.

First, I purchased a 1.09 ct round brilliant a number of years ago for an engagement that did not work out. It's been sitting in a drawer for a number of years and I viewed my ring search as a good opportunity to trade the ring in towards another purchase. Unfortunately, it has narrowed my search slightly as I'm required to go to a local vendor vs. an online jeweler. The specifics of the ring are as follows:

Certification: EGL (didn't know any better at the time)
Weight: 1.09
Depth: 63.2
Table: 57
Crown 15
Color: G
Clar: VS 2
Tolkowsky Ideal Cut

I know what people on this board have to say about EGL but I maintain that it is a great looking stone. I'm just not going to give it to a second girl. Maybe I'm looking at the situation with rose-colored glasses, but I'm pretty sure a jeweler could flip a ring like this quickly.

From conversations, I've had with jewelers they will give me between $2500-$2800 towards a new stone if I trade it in. Is this fair value?

The stone that I'm looking for is a GIA certified 1.5 ct. princess cut. I'd like to get the best stone I can with a price range topping out at $7500.00 plus my old stone. I'd like this price to include everything (setting, etc.).

I've gone to 5-10 stores of varying quality. Some stores made believe EGLs were the same as GIAs. Others spoke the language of the people on this forum.

The store that really spoke to me just showed my two stones.

Stone 1:

GIA
1.51 ct
Color: G
SL1
Table: 71
Depth: 78
Price: $10,800

This was a great looking stone. The GIA report indicated that there a few small inclusions (which I couldn't see) on the outer edges of the stone near the corners but the center of the stone was completely clean. My research indicates that the cut was only average on this stone.

Stone 2:

GIA
1.5 ct
Color: G
VS1
Table 74
Depth: 75.8
Price: $11,520.00

My research indicates that this stone was only an average cut as well and the first stone was much more impressive looking to the eye.

I wasn't crazy about the prices on these stones, but assuming I could do some negotiation, are these stones even worth negotiting over? I've read that cut is king.

Thoughts? Perhaps someone can point me in the right direction.

Thank you
 
do you have any pictures of these stones? It's always hard to go by numbers with fancy cuts so any pictures will help...

Here are some other options:

I absolutely love this one! And you can expect about 5% discount if you like them put them on hold (up to 3) and request aset images:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/Princess-cut/2.01-carat-J-color-VS2-clarity-sku-177700

I so love this one too, I'd just see if it's eye clean:

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/Princess-cut/1.70-carat-G-color-SI2-clarity-sku-148625

This one's also nice:
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/Princess-cut/1.52-carat-F-color-SI1-clarity-sku-153728

this is also a nice one..make sure it's clean though...

http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/Princess-cut/1.51-carat-E-color-SI2-clarity-sku-180612
 
Were all of the stores you visited interested in taking your stone on trade or are you limited to the vendor you purchased from?

Here is an easy guide you can use to help you narrow down your selections...https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-grading-chart-princess

AGS is currently the only lab grading the cut quality of princess cut stones, so limiting your options to AGS graded stones will help ensure that you are getting a beautiful stone as well. Will any of the vendors you have visited call in a few AGS0 stones for you to view and compare?

I also agree that EGL is notorious for it's loose grading and because of it you really never have an accurate idea of what you are purchasing. I'm sure that your previous stone is beautiful but you can't be sure that it's really a G SI1 by AGS or GIA standards without actually having it graded by them. It also makes making comps near impossible since you really have no idea if the report is accurate or off by 2-5 grades, which in diamond speak can make a difference of thousands of dollars.

If you are interested there is a forum here where you can list your stone for sale to a number of vendors, if they are interested they will contact you and make an offer. This may increase your options if you are interesting in trading for credit with that particular vendor or can work out some sort of trade..https://www.pricescope.com/sell-your-diamond..
 
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