Princess Cuts

[Stoneferry]

Dear board. First of all I''m not into diamonds, and getting married next year and the other half has suggested the Princess cut as the diamond shape of choice.

Now first of all for your informational pleasure I live in Malta which is a small desert island in the Mediterranean. Living closer to large diamond exporters such as Israel and Belgium that would make the diamond prices here a lot cheaper right. Well I leave that for you to decide, but here are the only princess cuts that I managed to find on the island:

Clarity: IF
Color: F
Cut: Unknown
Carat: .77
Certificate: Shops'' own
Price: $8,145 USD inc ring

Clarity: IF
Color: F
Cut: Unknown
Carat: .43
Certificate: Shop'' own
Price: $1,891.67 USD inc ring

Comments welcome, lets move on...

So in my travels and reading the information gemappraisers.com it appears that Princess cuts are a ''bling'' diamond and whatever setting is bought the diamond should take the center-piece of the overall look. Not too sticky-out though because the corners are liable to snap and break over time.

Not only this, but Princess cuts tend to be a little more obscure when it comes to brilliance an cut than the round variety of diamonds. At present unless I''m willing to put up with the above prices, I have to purchase off the Internet. So my thoughts are, is it possible to purchase a Princess cut off the Internet, working out all of the credentials such as table, crown, girdle, depth etc to assess the overall quality.

This brings me onto debate number two. What is quality in diamonds? While I''ve been looking if I was a woman and my specification of choice would be the sparkle and clarity. My girlfriend however has suggested diamond color and the cut shape the important factors. So is quality down to personal opinion? Is it possible to get the princess cut, as per the main four specifications (Clarity, Color, Cut, and Carat) and get a diamond with the brilliance you would expect without actually seeing it under an imagescope? I am assuming the cut is the attribute which affects the sparkle mainly in this case.


On the other hand, it''s also said Princess cuts do not offer that much sparkle anyway so no point getting too fussed over it. Still I personally would like peace-of-mind that the gem I bought isn''t a rubbish one.


So question is, buying off the Internet. Any comments? Pot luck or is there anything I can do?

Oh by the way, I''m looking at the $1,500 USD bracket.

 

[Regular Guy]

Welcome. Nice review of background.

- You might consider this one, found here, (edited to add) for $1536 based on pricescope discount.
- Read the threads here on both Princess cuts, and recent developments with AGS. It's thought that, particularly by taking advantage of their recent research into that cut, you can ignore lots of angle stuff, and just pay for their imprimatur and cert (not so necessary with a round).
- Three places I'd be motivated to look for options are the search by cut db, noted above, Excel diamonds/SuperbCert, and his AGS0 options, and Infinity, and his vendors, compiled here.

Best of wishes!

 

[Stoneferry]

Thanks for the response, what''s the difference between AGS and AGA gradings? Ihave my AGA chart here regarding this diamond:

http://www.infinitydiamonds.be/diamond.php?ID=85

It''s an AGS-0 Ideal, however my AGA chart I got from gemappraisers.com says the depth size of this diamond is not ideal for the cut. Am I right in thinking the cut is the primary factor in the diamonds brilliance, fire, leakage etc, and both the AGA and AGS classifications address the cut?

If so is this a case of sometimes with a Princess cut the diamond can have an average or bad specification within the cut, but still be a good performer?

Is there any way around this when purchasing off the Internet?

Cheers

 

[Regular Guy]

You''ll probably find this thread helpful, including from the author of the AGA charts.

 

[ladykemma]

any reason you want flawless?

 

[Regular Guy]

Ladykema,

I think that's an E VS1, and would make an excellent pick!

(edited to add)...oh, I think you're noting the options in his first post. I think he was describing every Princess where he lives, and those were his two choices.

 

[Stoneferry]

That''s correct they''re the only two diamonds I found. They were apparently flawless but then they didn''t have a certificate at all so... Actually there was another 1.2ct Princess Cut alreaqdy set I saw, but it was about 3,000 liri (Approx 9000 USD) and it didn''t have a certificate either, so I didn''t bother looking into the specs further.

My question is, is it possible to get a decent stone by looking at the specifications only, i.e. purchase off Internet?

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 10/14/2006 6:42:15 AM
Author: Stoneferry

If so is this a case of sometimes with a Princess cut the diamond can have an average or bad specification within the cut, but still be a good performer?

Is there any way around this when purchasing off the Internet?

I think the post above explains this...so it may depend on whether you can believe it...what you read.

It should be helpful to employ a set of filters, with observed recommendations being made by people with nothing otherwise invested, i.e., reporters here on Pricescope.

Paul''s diamonds (filter one through Paul), his network of vendors (filter two), AGS (filter three). Same for other makes referred to here, with varying degrees.

But, as his been wisely said, no, you should hold the principle one first, and only count on yourself as a final arbiter. Trust, but verify. You''ll have a return period. Compare around, and use it.

Regards,

 

[Stoneferry]

Thanks for all of the information everyone