Looking for a stone

[maxpower123]

Okay, so i've decided against trying to find too good to be true deals and risking a loss of my money to get myself a bigger better stone.

Now, I ask for your help once again... Help me find a stone!

My specifications are this:


carat: 1.25-1 - 1.75
cut: Very good - Excellent
clarity: vs2-vvs1
color: H-F


*I want the stone to face up as big as possible

budget: $8000-9500


saw this, what are your thoughts? http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-3315738-1.25-carat-Round-diamond-F-color-VS2-clarity.aspx

 

[justginger]

As a suggestion, if you're wanting the biggest stone for your money (and size is thus a priority), I would consider dropping your desired clarity down to the SI range. If you purchase through reputable PS vendors, all you have to do is ask them if the stone is 'eye clean' (in other words, the imperfections are invisible to the naked eye). That will save you some cash over the VVS-VS range, allowing you to upsize the stone's weight, and you still won't be able to see any inclusions. I'd also stick to the G-I color range - same principle, small difference that is hardly noticeable, saves your budget to be put into the weight/size instead.

 

[justginger]

Oh, and if you're wanting the sparkliest, prettiest stone, you'd better stick with excellent/ideal cut only. With cut classification, very good is not very good.

 

[justginger]

http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...ls/1.277-i-vs2-round-diamond-ags-104062657002

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-2690312.htm

 

[Niel]

I really think that you're specs are a tad extreme.
you can compromise on color and clarity, and go lower and you wont even notice.
cut is something you do not want to compromise on.
if you are looking for a classic round brilliant stone, excellent/ideal is really what you need to stay at.
An I is still considered near colorless, and you can go down to as low as SI1 and still have a stone that is eye clean.

here are two stones, one is in your ideal specs, one is an excellent cut thats color and clarity are just out if your specs. see the difference?
http://www.jamesallen.com/search_results.asp#h

 

[maxpower123]

alright, what about some revised specifications of


carat: 1.25-1.75 (around 1.50 would be ideal)
cut: Excellent
clarity: vs2-vs1
color: I-G


Want it to appear face up as large as possible, for the carat size

 

[justginger]

alright, what about some revised specifications of


carat: 1.25-1.75 (around 1.50 would be ideal)
cut: Excellent
clarity: vs2-vs1
color: I-G


Want it to appear face up as large as possible, for the carat size

Better, but if you want much larger than 1.3, something else will have to give. Either your color moves down towards J, your clarity drops to an eye clean SI1 or 2, or perhaps both.

OR consider buying secondhand. Ask to see a copy of this stone's cert: http://diamondbistro.com/category/2...D!-GIA-153-carat,-H,-SI2-round-brilliant.html

 

[Niel]

question; would you consider a different shape? Fancy cuts are less expensive, and some will face up bigger as well, allowing you to reach that 1.5 ct mark as well as it will face up the largest.

 

[maxpower123]

alright, what about some revised specifications of


carat: 1.25-1.75 (around 1.50 would be ideal)
cut: Excellent
clarity: vs2-vs1
color: I-G


Want it to appear face up as large as possible, for the carat size

Better, but if you want much larger than 1.3, something else will have to give. Either your color moves down towards J, your clarity drops to an eye clean SI1 or 2, or perhaps both.

OR consider buying secondhand. Ask to see a copy of this stone's cert: http://diamondbistro.com/category/2...D!-GIA-153-carat,-H,-SI2-round-brilliant.html

sent them a message, awaiting response.

in the mean time, what do you think of this diamond? seems relatively cheap for the specifications, is there something I'm missing? http://www.b2cjewels.com/dd-3254695-1.34-carat-Round-diamond-I-color-VS1-clarity.aspx

 

[maxpower123]

has to be round, girlfriends ideal diamond is one of those "tiffany's round cut solitaires"

 

[Niel]

you could find a smaller one that performs a bit better, but here is one that fits your current budget and specs and hits the 1.5 mark

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/
ETA: its says you have to call but if you hit reserve it says that diamond is about 9500

heres a nice J thats at least over 1.3

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/

 

[Niel]

that stone scores over a 3 on the hca calculator, and looks to be a bit deep. Ideally you want under a 2.
https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca
(you get those numbers off the gia report)


I wouldnt buy a diamond without pictures and Idea scope images, so you can make an informed decision. Good old gold provides you a lot of info on there diamonds.

 

[Niel]

this one is great!! i would reall recommend reserving it, the flour will help it look whiter
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.522-j-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104062571030

 

[maxpower123]

this one is great!! i would reall recommend reserving it, the flour will help it look whiter
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.522-j-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104062571030

how much more white would the flourence make this J? what would you say it is comparable to

 

[Niel]

i couldnt say, it has a different effect for different stones. you can reserve it and have them review it. probably even set it next to an i so you can visually see the difference in color.

 

[maxpower123]

alright, what about some revised specifications of


carat: 1.25-1.75 (around 1.50 would be ideal)
cut: Excellent
clarity: vs2-vs1
color: I-G


Want it to appear face up as large as possible, for the carat size

Better, but if you want much larger than 1.3, something else will have to give. Either your color moves down towards J, your clarity drops to an eye clean SI1 or 2, or perhaps both.

OR consider buying secondhand. Ask to see a copy of this stone's cert: http://diamondbistro.com/category/2...D!-GIA-153-carat,-H,-SI2-round-brilliant.html

here's the gia report for the stone

https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/getReportData.do?&reportno=13294547&weight=1.53

apparently it doesn't have a cut grade??

 

[Niel]

hmm strange. I dont know i think some of the options here are nice I would contact good old gold, ask them to compare the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/ 1.3
and the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/ 1.5

they would probably would make you a video. And theres a chance you might not even be able to tell the difference in light performance.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

hmm strange. I dont know i think some of the options here are nice I would contact good old gold, ask them to compare the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/ 1.3
and the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/ 1.5

they would probably would make you a video. And theres a chance you might not even be able to tell the difference in light performance.

Excellent options and advice!

(I would not pursue any second hand stones that don't indicate the diamond is excellent/ideal cut.)

 

[justginger]

hmm strange. I dont know i think some of the options here are nice I would contact good old gold, ask them to compare the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/ 1.3
and the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/ 1.5

they would probably would make you a video. And theres a chance you might not even be able to tell the difference in light performance.

Excellent options and advice!

(I would not pursue any second hand stones that don't indicate the diamond is excellent/ideal cut.)

I agree. I didn't have time last night to check GOG, so missed these options. Contact them about these two.

 

[maxpower123]

hmm strange. I dont know i think some of the options here are nice I would contact good old gold, ask them to compare the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/ 1.3
and the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/ 1.5

they would probably would make you a video. And theres a chance you might not even be able to tell the difference in light performance.

Excellent options and advice!

(I would not pursue any second hand stones that don't indicate the diamond is excellent/ideal cut.)

I agree. I didn't have time last night to check GOG, so missed these options. Contact them about these two.

will do thx everyone

I've found a couple more im curious about, what are your thoughts on:

http://www.eternitybyyoni.com/1.28-H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-AGS-104058226002/ds-679015/

 

[justginger]

hmm strange. I dont know i think some of the options here are nice I would contact good old gold, ask them to compare the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/ 1.3
and the

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/ 1.5

they would probably would make you a video. And theres a chance you might not even be able to tell the difference in light performance.

Excellent options and advice!

(I would not pursue any second hand stones that don't indicate the diamond is excellent/ideal cut.)

I agree. I didn't have time last night to check GOG, so missed these options. Contact them about these two.

will do thx everyone

I've found a couple more im curious about, what are your thoughts on:

http://www.eternitybyyoni.com/1.28-H-VS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-AGS-104058226002/ds-679015/

This stone is smaller than, in both weight and face up dimensions, the 1.3 from GOG, costs more, and has less analytical work done (in terms of imaging light performance and provided documentation). Why pursue it and not reserve the GOG stone instead? This is beautiful, in budget, is larger than 7mm, and has all the bells and whistles of light imaging already provided. http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9974/

Reserve it while you're thinking or a lurker looking for something similar is going to snatch it up.

 

[maxpower123]

Slightly worried about the J coloring on that one, will it not have a noticeable tint to it?

I guess I'm also not understanding how that stone wouldn't look better, when its labelled "ideal" across the board, as opposed to excellent, very good, etc, with the 1.33 J one on GOG

 

[justginger]

Contact GOG and ask one of their associates about the coloring. They can even put together a video for you, showing it next to an H or I colored diamond, so you can visualize the practical difference.

The practical difference in these two lies in the polish. If you look at the AGS PGS results on the GOG diamond, you'll see that, like the yoni diamond, it receives ideal gradings on all aspects of the cut except the polish. To me, this is a minor difference and not one I would fret about. Perhaps others are more concerned with that than I am, a matter of opinion that you must form for yourself.

And in another vein of analysis, the yoni diamond scores poorly on the HCA. I know some people don't mind a poor HCA where an AGS 000 has been given, but I'd prefer BOTH to be great when I'm spending big bucks on an engagement ring.

If you're put off the J color, what about the BGD that was suggested earlier? http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/d...1.522-j-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104062571030 It's 1.5 carats, in your price range, and has strong blue fluoro to help boost the face up appearance of color.

 

[Niel]

Slightly worried about the J coloring on that one, will it not have a noticeable tint to it?

I guess I'm also not understanding how that stone wouldn't look better, when its labelled "ideal" across the board, as opposed to excellent, very good, etc, with the 1.33 J one on GOG

ideal an excellent are both just the top grade for different grading labs. gia top is excellent. ags grades ideal as the top. and a VG in polish is fine, its ideal/ ex in symm and cut you want to rreally aim for. I would reserve all three stones asap so no one else gets them 8 believe me people lurk on here more than youd think. no harm in reviewing all three. even if it ends up being too low you havnt lost anything because you were having those other two looked at anyways.

i think you can just click reserve right on the website

 

[justginger]

Additionally, there are select vendors that come highly recommended on PS for very good reasons, including superior availability of imaging and analytical information (as you can see on GOG's website), incredible customer service with in-depth personal attention to questions and concerns, and lifetime buy-back and upgrade policies. GOG, WF, and BGD are all known for providing all of these services. A quick glance around Diamonds by Yoni shows me that there is little immediate information, and are no lifetime guarantees of any kind - so further down the track if you need to sell the diamond, you'll have to search for a buyer and take a ~50% loss (versus using GOG's buyback policy, being able to sell to them for certain, and only losing 25% of the purchase price)...and if you want to upgrade the diamond to a larger size, better color, higher clarity, whatever, you'll have to sell on the secondhand market (presumably take a loss as described above), and then start over again. If you go through a vendor with an upgrade policy, you send your original diamond back, receive every cent of what you paid for it in credit, and just pay the difference in price for the new stone.

Think about what services you expect your vendor to provide. If the things above are important to you, I suggest you stick with the highly recommended PS vendors.

 

[Niel]

keep in mind color looks different depending on your monitor, but this may be helpful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vI3Tkd3VQU

 

[justginger]

keep in mind color looks different depending on your monitor, but this may be helpful

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vI3Tkd3VQU

Good find, nielseel! In real life, an ideal cut J looks whiter than the diamonds on 95% of the populations' fingers.

And note, max, that the video came from GOG - one of the hundreds of informational videos they've put together for the diamond community and prospective customers.

 

[epark84]

Hi Neilseel, I came across another diamond that you recommended with similar specs:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/

I like that the GOG is I color.. Could you say whether this or the Brian Gavin is a better overall choice?

Brian Gavin
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.522-j-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104062571030

I know this is getting repeptitive, but thank you again

 

[CharmyPoo]

I know it is a bit confusing on the all "grading" but think about it like school grades. Every teach marks differently so someone's A could be someone else's B. Also, an A could be a range of 90% to 100% - a 100% is better than a 90%. This is the same with diamonds - different labs have different criteria / strictness. An Ideal / Excellent range is a range - diamonds may be scoring at a bad combo / low end of the range which results in a lower HCA score which takes in stricter criteria.

 

[justginger]

Hi Neilseel, I came across another diamond that you recommended with similar specs:

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/9964/

I like that the GOG is I color.. Could you say whether this or the Brian Gavin is a better overall choice?

Brian Gavin
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds/diamond-details/1.522-j-si1-round-diamond-ags-bl-104062571030

I know this is getting repeptitive, but thank you again

I prefer the BG stone. The grading lab on the GOG stone is EGL, who are known to grade soft. It may SAY it's an I, but in reality it may be more like a J or K by GIA/AGS. So you're not really comparing apples to apples here. Plus the BG has the cool fluoro, and it faces up bigger than the GOG stone. For me, BG is the winner, so long as it is eye clean.