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Overwhelmed and looking for better understanding of this diamond

A

alphabet753

Rough_Rock
Joined
Apr 11, 2023
Messages
6
Good day everyone!

I have been working on purchasing a diamond for my girlfriend. Generally we are on the frugal side of frugal (not perfect, getting there). I’ll start by saying she has always wanted a true ethical, natural diamond. We have a deal where I’ll buy her a diamond ring, she’ll buy me a grand piano, and those will be our one-time big purchases for each other. =)2

In searching for as ethical as possible, I came across Botswana DTC that seems to track diamonds from start to finish (at least better than not knowing anything at all). My jeweler found a diamond through them and I thought it was beautiful - emerald cut, 2.01 carat, VS1, G color, no visible inclusions, no hue.

However, the Botswana cert that comes with it does say cut is “very good” and not “excellent”.

My girlfriend and I went to see the diamond in person and find it to be beautiful, but we didn’t have anything else to compare it to. Will it just not be as “shiny”? I could definitely still see the hall of mirrors effects and it flashed the light from above. I also held a blue paper behind it and couldn't see the color change (someone told me to look for this).

I posted the diamond details online on Reddit and people said they didn’t like it. Something about the table being off compared to the depth and there are better cuts out there. When I dug further, they said it “wasn’t that bad” once I specified the sourcing I was looking for, just that there is “better out there”. I am honestly trying to figure out if this is a VERY BAD cut, or if there's just better out there at a slightly higher price point. Given the specifications we are looking for, we have to give up on something -- my girlfriend wasn't a fan of the J color (she noticed the yellow too much), and there was an E color but had a huge inclusion in the middle of it that was very visible ... this diamond is clear!

Hoping someone here knows more than I do about diamonds and can comment on the cut scenario. I will say that this diamond fit my budget well and others than had the EX cut rating were 20 - 25% more.

Here are the details:

Lab : GIA
Rap.($) : 15500
Shape : EM
Carat : 2.01
Color : G
Clarity : VS1
Shade : WHT
Cut : VG
Polish : EX
Symmetry : EX
Fluorescence : NON

Measurements​

Table % : 68
Depth % : 67.1
Length : 8.55
Width : 6.26
Depth : 4.2
Ratio : 1.37
Crown Angle : 46.85
Crown Height : 10.15
Pav Angle : 55.62
Pav Height : 54.64
Girdle : MED - STK
Culet : NONE
Laser Ins. : GIA 5456616850

Inclusion Details​

Center Natts : CN0
Side Natts : SN0
Center White : CW1
Side White : SW2
Table Open : N
Crown Open : N
Pavillion Open : N
Eye Clean : Y
Heart & Arrow : -
Brilliancy : EX
Type2 Cert : -
Country of Origin : DTC
Key To Symbol : Feather
Report Comments :Clouds are not shown.

Here are some videos:

https://imgur.com/a/aBpEID9

Again, I realize it isn't perfect. But is it a 2/10 or a 7/10? Thank you!
 
Hi @alphabet753

I'm not an Emerald cut expert...but it does look to be flashing nicely all the way down into the center. I dont believe GIA gives a
cut grade for emerald cut diamonds so this may just be an arbitrary value that someone along the way gave it. the depth may
be slightly over what is considered Ideal but that personally doesn't bother me. Its more about how everything is working
all together. I'm going to see if I can get @Karl_K to comment. He is our step-cut expert around here.

You do know that diamonds must go through the Kimberley process to make sure they are ethically sourced, right? Are you
trying to go above and beyond that?

My only concerns...
- looks to have a low crown
- a couple of steps look like they go dark at the same time (may not be an issue if its just briefly)
 
I definitely think you might be going overboard with needing to know the entire "chain" of your diamond. As said above, all diamonds need to go through the Kimberly process. So if you buy from an established jeweler then its ethically sourced.

Beyond that, I think the stone is pretty good. Maybe a 6.5 or 7/10 I like that its lively, but I dislike how the center steps all turn "off" at the same time.
 
Video confirms the numbers.
With the large table and shallow crown your going to get large to very large flashes with little to no smaller and medium flashes.
Looks like it should be bright and looking at it with blue under it and looking for the areas you can see blue through the stone is a good test.
So I would say it passes the leakage test.
There are more lively stones out there.
I don't like doing x/10 because it is always arbitrary and needs more info like face up stills and or aset images and more video..
 
Minor leakage over the culet, not enough to be a bad p3 angle issue. (black in very center in ASET)
The large blue area on the right should be red like the left side in ASET.
The still image is not helpful because the camera is too close.
Its not awful, but there should be better ones out there.
This is one of those that its hard to say its great but hard to say its really bad so im going to break my own rule and say 6/10
 
Karl_K said:
Minor leakage over the culet, not enough to be a bad p3 angle issue. (black in very center in ASET)
The large blue area on the right should be red like the left side in ASET.
The still image is not helpful because the camera is too close.
Its not awful, but there should be better ones out there.
This is one of those that its hard to say its great but hard to say its really bad so im going to break my own rule and say 6/10
Click to expand...

Thanks @Karl_K. I appreciate your input. The issue I have is that my girlfriend has her heart set on a Canadian OR Botswana DTC stone (long story, can't change her mind at this point), which has left us with a small amount of diamonds to search for. We go to an online website, for example, and filter down to VS1 or better, F or G color, EX cut, etc. with Botswana DTC or Canadian sourcing and there are two stones left.

The jeweler is charging me $20k for this stone, which is under Stone Algo's price. There was another stone with E color that was $25k ... definitely has a better cut. There were other options like a J color stone which was too yellow for her (she noticed in person) and an E color that had an inclusion in the middle, which she definitely noticed.

I guess my girlfriend's thinking is that she's choosing an emerald so she's not expecting it to be super flashy. And my girlfriend DID notice the yellow color of the J and the inclusion of the E, but didn't seem to notice anything "wrong" with this stone in person other than the extra black lines but it didn't seem to bother her. She thought it was a "beautiful stone".

I'm so torn as to what to do. I could have them keep searching, but that'll delay the proposal, and my guess is anything with a better cut that is just as clear and white as this stone would be more expensive. I really like the $20k price point.
 
Here is a still image from further away:

still.jpg
 
Karl_K said:
That she loves it and feels it will make her happy is really the most important thing.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Did the still image from further away help at all? The jeweler did comment that it was at an angle.
 
The stone is ok. Not great, but certainly not terrible. The fact that your GF loves it and it ticks boxes that she has in her mind makes a huge difference. She is the one wearing it and who has to love it. Are there better performing emerald cuts out there? Absolutely. But will they fit all of her criteria? Probably not.
 
@alphabet753, I'm not an expert, just a diamond lover...I think the stone is pretty and I like the G VS1 specs. I feel the most important line in your posts is that your girlfriend loves it and thinks it's beautiful. That really is the most important thing. I know cut and performance are stressed on PS but your girlfriend is happy with this stone and it meets all your criteria. Come back with pics!!
 
Thank you for all the help!
 
lovedogs said:
I definitely think you might be going overboard with needing to know the entire "chain" of your diamond. As said above, all diamonds need to go through the Kimberly process. So if you buy from an established jeweler then its ethically sourced.

Beyond that, I think the stone is pretty good. Maybe a 6.5 or 7/10 I like that its lively, but I dislike how the center steps all turn "off" at the same time.
Click to expand...
 
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