need advice on this stone

[jacklock]

Hi all,

I have gone to a couple of jewelers around the boston area and have also consulted bluenile on the internet. After speaking with bluenile, they recommended the following diamond:

GIA Report:
Round Brilliant 6.63-6.66 x 4.07mm 1.08 carat F color SI1 clarity
Depth 61.2% Table 55%
Girdle Thin to Medium
Culet None
Polish/Symmetry Excellent/Excellent

Sarin Report:
diam 6.66mm (6.65-6.67)
depth 4.08mm 61.3%
crown 34.6'' 15.5%
pavil 40.9'' 43.2%
table 3.67mm 55%
culet 0.7% ver. small
girdle 0.7thin - 1.2thin

At first glance, the figures seem close to that of Tolkowsky''s figures for maximum brilliance. Bluenile''s price is $6165 for this stone. Brilliance is very important to me so I should be placing most emphasis on the cut of the stone.

I consulted the diamond hotline (Diamond Cutters Internation) found in Fred Cuellar''s book "How to Buy a Diamond" and gave them all the dimensions and specs. The gentlemen I spoke with said that this was a warped stone since the crown height + pavillion depth + max girdle thickness does not equal the total depth. In fact, its off by 1.7% As it is a warped stone, the gentlemen said that it would only yield about 40% light return despite being ranked as an "Ideal" cut by bluenile. He also said that the stone is only worth about $4500. Additionally, according to Fred Cuellar, no stone over 61% in total depth should be considered Ideal.

Can anyone comment on this? My budget for the diamond is about $6200 and I''m looking for a well proportioned F color VS2/strong SI1 diamond around 1 carat. Additionally, I am not entirely comfortable purchasing online. Unfortunately, the jewelers that I have been to around the boston area carry considerable markups.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Jack

 

[Giangi]

What mr Cuellar said is 100% $hit!

This diamond looks very nice and it will surely blow out most local stones! As you marked the proportions are beautiful... Is it h+a??
The 1.7% difference is extremly common and almost all diamonds have it. Don't worry about that.

BTW, Is this SI 1 eye clean?

 

[diane5006]

HI ...you are the 3 or 4th Boston person I have seen recently...I am Boston too...

As for on-line...

There are many good vendors here...Good old Gold, NiceIce, WhiteFlash, and DBOF (diamond brokers of FLorida) to name a few...

Bluenile may be a bit pricier than those...use the pricescope search to look and compare...

As for the warped queation...I think there has been some question in the past regrarding Fred and stones being warped unless you buy form him...search the previous threads to see...or someone else may have the info handy

Look through the pricescope tutorial and look at Good old golds web site to get information about stones...

I am dealing with good old gold and like them a lot...I have heard good things about the others I had mentioned as well...

Good Old Gold (www.goodoldgold.com) is located in Long Island...they have a store and 'real' inventory as well as an internet presence...and not tooo far for a road trip...from Boston...

Best of luck in your search

 

[jacklock]

----------------
On 6/2/2003 1:25:11 PM Giangi wrote:

What mr Cuellar said is 100% $hit!

This diamond looks very nice and it will surely blow out most local stones! As you marked the proportions are beautiful... Is it h+a??
The 1.7% difference is extremly common and almost all diamonds have it. Don't worry about that.

BTW, Is this SI 1 eye clean?
----------------

There is a small needle near the edge and a feather on the table. The comments section of the GIA cert says Clarity grade is based on a cloud that is not shown. What is a cloud and will this affect the brilliance?

 

[pqcollectibles]

Hi Jack!

Welcome to the Forum!

First thing you need to do is toss Fred Cuellar's book and his diamond hot-line number in the garbage can. The only thing warped about this diamond is his brain. The $4500 you were quoted may be a broker's price.

This diamond is FANTASTIC!!! It has an HCA rating of 1.6, below 2 weeds out all but the top 5% of diamonds out there. Excellent Fire, Excellent White Light Return, Very Good Scintillation, and Very Good Spread. And, it's soooooo round!

The average Price Scope vendor price for a similar diamond is $5,485. Blue Nile almost always tends to run higher.

If you want to continue with this diamond, I would recommend you ask for a copy of the Cert plot and review that first. Then check with Blue Nile about the types of inclusions, black carbon spots, white crystals, clouds, etc. While SI1's tend to be eye clean, you don't want any surprises.

Another thought is check the Price Scope listings. I found a similar GIA Certed diamond, 1.09 carat, F, SI1, ex polish, ex symmetry listed with Abazia's for $5,572. The stock number is 1476777 if you'd care to check it out.

Whatever you decide, you've found a veeeerrrrry nice diamond!

 

[Giangi]

Probably it won't. But none can tell you without seeing the diamond... Call them and ask for a verbal description...

 

[pqcollectibles]

Definitely call BN about the inclusions.

The cloud could be a transparent inclusion or a cluster of pinpoints. It could or could not impact the brilliance. Depends on size and location.

I would also be concerned about the feather on the table. Not structurally, but visually. Does it run with the facets cut or across/against them. If it runs with the facets, you probably won't even see it. Against is a different story.

Some things to check on. You might want to consult/enlist a professional appraiser to evaluate this one for you.

 

[jacklock]

Hi All,

Thanks for the great replies! I noticed there seemed to be some strong opinions on Fred Cuellar's book. So I decided to do a search on him. Now I can see why. It appears that the vast majority of people on this board feel his book is rather self serving.

On another note, if i decide to purchase this stone from bluenile, I will have 30 days to decide if I wanna return it no questions asked. I would think that I should take this to an appraiser and also get a sarin report. Unfortunately I dont think I have access to one here in boston. A friend of mind took his to Just Appraisers in NYC. Would it be possible to take it to a jeweler and ask to borrow their 10x loupe? I would think this may not go over well but how else can I look at it 10x?

-jack

 

[pqcollectibles]

You could ask BN to ship the diamond directly to one of the Price Scope Appraisers. They are totally free standing, independent appraisers who work for you. They report directly to you.

If you decide you would rather see the diamond first, have BN send it to you. If you like what you see, then ship it USPS Registered Mail to an appraiser. It only costs about $15 for shipping and your package travels by Postal Armored Truck. No worries about theft!