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Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solitaire

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dmiller369

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 12, 2013
Messages
11
OK, i'm 23 and a first time rock buyer.
I've put in hours of research learning the whole 4 c's along with allot of other things.

I have decided to buy my oval diamond online through Brilliance and im going to have a place in town set the stone in a Tiffany style band.

as of right now, the two stones i am looking at are as follows...

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.90-carat-oval-g-color-vs2-clarity-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12242264

http://www.brilliance.com/diamonds/0.91-carat-oval-f-color-vs1-clarity-ideal-cut-gia-certified-loose-diamond-D12243995

im terrified of buying online cause i have a feeling the diamond is going to come to me with some issue that your typical 4 c's don't cover.

Are the table depth and girdle within a reasonable spec? anything seem weird to you? would the diamond look flawless? Any other advise would be greatly appreciated.everyday im learning things that shows the 4 c's isn't all that matters.(florescent, certifying company, etc.)

also a local jeweler kinda scared me with the whole online thing. they said i could be buying a fractured diamond. is this true? even if its certified through a company like GIA.
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I got my 2+ carat oval from Brilliance and am quite happy with it. Had them set it, as well. Are you not happy with their setting options?

The first diamond is a little deep, but I have an antique .79 ct. that is over 70%. The depth isn't a deal breaker, but it does mean that the diamond will look smaller than a diamond with similar dimensions but less depth.

Brilliance will not be selling you a clarity-enhanced diamond with a GIA cert. An online search of "GIA clarity enhanced" will bring up several articles that say that GIA will NOT cert a clarity-enhanced diamond.

You don't get photos or ASETs from Brilliance like you do from some of the preferred vendors here on PS, so just be aware of that. Ovals (and other fancy shapes) are harder to buy than rounds because you can't buy them by the numbers.

If you look under the Knowledge tab, there is an article on oval diamonds with suggestions for dimensions to look for.

liz
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

Libby's right, you really need to "see" fancy shaped stones to make a final choice because the numbers (and even ASETs) can be confusing at times.

I wouldn't buy an oval online without being able to see actual pictures and videos of the diamonds I'm considering. For starters, I'd need to see how appealing the faceting patterns are to me as well as how noticible or distracting the bow-tie is.

I also don't know what the website is referring to when they list them as having an "ideal" cut. I think that's the website's opinion, because GIA will not have that designator for these stones.

Good Old Gold is very good at choosing fancy shaped stones, so I'd suggest you take a look at their educational & comparison videos on YouTube just so you can begin to learn what to look for in a high performing oval (it's completely different than a high performing round ;)) ). They also post a bunch of data and analysis on their website, so you can begin to see what appeals to you in an oval and the corresponding ASETs, etc. that would match up with them.
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

yes i agree, contact good old gold, They dont have a lot in there inventory but you contact them say something like "id like an eye clean stone G or higher as large as you can get for under $XXXX" (whatever your budget is )

If you have a little extra for your budget i would pick a vatche setting. They have jsut beautiful settings, including a nice tiffany repro
http://www.dvatche.com/index.php?page=collection&catID=2,18&startRow=6&id=158
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

well that's not what i wanted to hear. haha. better now than never i guess.

what web site do you recommend for a loose diamond search that is?
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

http://www.goodoldgold.com/


james allen is a good place too, but they didnt have any nice .9+ for under 4k
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

James Allen web site...wow

now with respects to girdle, how important is it that it falls into the specs of some web site?
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I believe, in regards to girdle, its best to avoid extremes "ex thin" "extra thick"

Whats your budget for the entire ring?
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

As I see it, many more things come into consideration before I consider the girdle. Is it bright and lively? Pleasing shape and decent spread?
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

Julie,

That's a pretty cushion, but it's about $600 or $900 more than either oval and it faces up smaller by 1 mm in length (both ovals) and .3 mm in width than the second oval.

liz
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

well I'm a mommas boy and i respect my mothers opinion very much. being a college student, my budgets not very high and my mother (also a financial advisor/broker) keeps backing me of the higher price rings. ill be pulling my money out of stocks.she says 2k. I'm going to spend about 4,000. my girlfriend wouldn't care if it was a 300.00 ring.but obviously i'm going to spend more than i should for her.

some rocks i like on jarred Allen have some extreme girdle.

http://jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diam...ected:3|ps:12||DiamondID:195915,191070,185630
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

why so low on clarity?
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I am the same age, but i am also a mom, so im going to have to agree with your mom a little bit dont spend too much, you can always upgrade later. Plus a little less now can go toward a nice diamond wedding band later

I know its smaller, but i like this one, and still faces up nice
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.75-carat-E-color-VVS2-clarity-sku-179123

hey sell a tiffany repro, but i am not sure if it would be that flattering for an oval
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/solitaire/18k-white-gold-six-prong-knife-edged-solitaire-engagement-ring-handmade-item-2537

this one is very lovely and would be cute
http://www.jamesallen.com/#!/engagement-rings/solitaire/18k-white-gold-double-claw-prong-engagement-ring-item-5816


and so low in clarity because you can go low and still have it eye clean... (now i know the one i opsted is higher clarity, but it doesnt need to be) as long as its eye clean, then you dont have to pay for higher
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I have read multiple places sI1 and SI2 are visible to the unaided eye. am i misunderstanding something.
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

Its a little more complex than that.there are are a lot of different kinds of inclusions. Some more noticable than others. Also different cuts show or hide inclusions better yhan others. An emerald cut with those big windows show inclusions easily. Diamonds like Ovals with so much faciting hide incluaions better. There are a lot of factors that go into it, more than just a simple explaination from a website. You are more likely to have visable inclusions at that grade. But not Always
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

Hi there, first of all, congrats!
I have just purchase a oval last week, so i can totally understand what you are going through. Ovals are gorgeous to look at and they are larger face up compare to other shapes, they have bold sparkles like rounds and yet they have interesting crush ice flashes, they sits long on the finger and enhances the finger length which is very appealing. I am just in love with them.

But there are few thing you should keep in mind.
First the width to length ratio, this is important to me because that is what most ppl will notice right away, this is totally up to your liking, but i highly recommend seeing the stone in person if not you can take a ruler and draw it to scale and see if you like that proportions, personally i like to stay btw 1.5 to 1.6

Second, for fancy cuts like ovals the cut is almost always the most important thing to consider, that is why many ppl here stress on seeing the stone in person. It will dramatically alter how vivid the stone is, also eliminating the bow tie effect. if a stone is cut too deep it why appear darker in general, if too sallow it will have little bow tie but it won't have bold strong sparkles it will appear doll. A little bow tie is ok because that to me is a defining characteristic of an Oval.

Third, if you can find a eye clean stone Si1 is good enough of a clarity. It is important to note what kind of inclusions there are and where they are located on the stone, feathers needles are fine as long as they are clear inclusions. i have seen GIA cert vs1 stone with a black inclusion that is very noticeable ones you learn their locations, that to me is unacceptable. so please be careful there are stone out there that have really appealing numbers but in reality have some really undeniable problems. You pay what you get, if you see something out there are that is too good to be true, it most certainly is.

Color is a relatively easy one, most cost effective region is from G-I, anything low it will show tainted color, anything high you are just paying for rarity that you won't be able to see in reality.

One thing i noticed while searching for my oval is that there isn't many options out there like the other more popular shapes. With ovals, you get what you can find, and beautiful oval is harder to come by, this is why time is your best friend. If you are not in a rush take as many time as you can to research and actually go to store and jewelers to look at ovals in person so that you would know what beautiful ovals should look like. Learn its features and its faults, learn what a bow tie looks like in person. I highly recommend good old gold's oval diamond youtube videos, they have been very help to me.

All the best, Good Luck
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I only link SI1/2 that I think have a good chance of being eye-clean.

Some might have inclusions visible to the naked eye, but if they are not obvious, if they are white, or off to the side, many people feel like they do not detract from the beauty of the diamond.
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

ok so here are my new questions...is having faint or any florescent a bad thing? i don't want the rock to look blue i don't think.

also you say that cut is very important with an oval but its my understanding that ovals don't have a cut rating.

as far as bow ties go. on jakes allen you can see the bow ties pretty well on some rocks.
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

dmiller369|1360802884|3379578 said:
ok so here are my new questions...is having faint or any florescent a bad thing? i don't want the rock to look blue i don't think.

also you say that cut is very important with an oval but its my understanding that ovals don't have a cut rating.

as far as bow ties go. on jakes allen you can see the bow ties pretty well on some rocks.
Click to expand...

Flour is rarely a bad thing. it CAN on occasion, make a stone look milky or oily. However, thats only about 1% of flour stones, and usually only at strong blue. a quick inquiry with the gemologist reviewing whatever stone you pull from JA will tell you if it has any negative effects, but i wouldnt be too concerned. They will tell you if anything is making it look milky.

Cut is important, but you are right not exactly to the extent of a round. The cut is important meaning you want to see one that was cut well enough to avoid a bowtie, and mean the stone is bright and lively, but the "numbers" arent as important as they are with a round.

And your right, ja is good because you can see if the cut is good or not
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I think this one looks fairly dead, not sure if just dirty, or the tilt, no clouds listed as inclusions... http://jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.91-carat-D-color-SI2-clarity-sku-191777

I've seen some really high clarity ones look "veiled" like that, so best to just check with JA if you otherwise like it.

For an oval, you are looking for something that has a lot of action across the belly, some near the tips. Like this one: http://jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/0.90-carat-H-color-VS1-clarity-sku-155725

Really something about this one that speaks to me , but I don't know if the haziness is because it is not clean, not in focus, or due to clouds http://jamesallen.com/#!/loose-diamonds/oval-cut/1.03-carat-G-color-SI2-clarity-sku-191832
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

the second link has a very bold bow tie and the 3rd link has black spots on it, or so it seems.

does james allen have any discount coeds running? and do they have a 30 day money back?
 
Re: Looking for an engagment e-Diamond for my GF. oval solit

I promise, that in the land of elongated shapes, that is considered a small bow tie. You won't see it all the time, only when you look at it quite closely. Usually the bowtie is a source of bold flash... rounds have 4 of them.

I can see very small black inclusions in the SI2 from the back/side, not from the front. These videos are also zoomed in enough that I can see girdle inscriptions if they are there...

Pick 3 or 4, eliminate any that aren't eye-clean, and a gemologist review. 60 day returns, you get a discount if you pay by wire, a further one for being a Pricescope member.
 
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