The devil made me do it

[Shappy]

Bought a stone in January before reading Pricescope. It was a J, SI 1, 1.15, nice cut but not ideal. After reading pricescope I realized I had seriously "underbought". (Not according to my husband who thought a new diamond would cost $1,000). Anyway, I contacted the vendor about upgrading and they were most gracious and gave me full trade-in value, even though I was 2 months past the return time. I bought an I, SI 2, 1.54 ct.ideal cut. Cost was over 2 times what I had originally bought. I didn''t want to tell my husband but when I finally did he didn''t even get mad at all. (I guess that''s why we''ve been married for 30 yrs). Anyway this is seriously out of character for me, I never spend money on myself.
Anyway, it arrived today and all I can say is WOW!! It is gorgeous!! Even my husband who takes absolutely no interest in these things keeps telling me how beautiful and brilliant it is. If I can ever figure out how to take decent close-ups I''ll post a picture.

Thank you pricescope group for all your input. I don''t think I would have had the nerve to do this without reading all these posts.
My 2 cents worth--this is an SI 2 and it took me 30 minutes with a 10x loupe to find the inclusion so there is no way me or anyone else would ever notice it with the naked eye (and I have perfect vision.) The brilliance is the most outstanding characteristic of this stone.
I was feeling kind of guilty about this but not anymore. I love this ring!

 

[Nicrez]

YYYYYYAAAAAAYYYYY Shappy! Congrats on pampering yourself! Mandatory pictures are required of course! YO GO GIRL!

 

[aljdewey]

YAY - Shappy! Nice job!




I, too, am very partial to SI2 stones that are eye-clean. They represent an AMAZING value. I've had my SI2 stone for about 3 months now (1.24), and I've spent *countless* hours gazing at it through the loupe wihtout being able to see the inclusions.




I FINALLY started to find them under mag this past week.....but they are *very* subtle and hard to make out. If SI2 stones were more widely available, that's ALL I'd buy from now on!




Can't wait to see your pics!

 

[hoorray]

Well done Shappy! Now that it's a done deal, just enjoy wearing your new sparkling baubble, and don't look back!

My hubby pretends to not care about diamonds, but he will periodically, out of the blue say something like "wow, your ring really is beautiful". He secretly loves it

, he is jut afraid to outwardly encourage the behavior!

 

[dberg]

This is interesting to hear. I thought the general train of thought was to not go lower than SI1. I will need to start looking at more SI2's in the future. Good to know... I'm glad you love your new rock!

 

[aljdewey]

----------------
On 3/25/2004 10:55:39 AM dberg wrote:





This is interesting to hear. I thought the general train of thought was to not go lower than SI1. I will need to start looking at more SI2's in the future----------------

Hi, Dberg......I think the reason most folks don't go below SI1 is because it takes a bit more diligence in reviewing the stone. I think the other major factor is that people are less comfortable with the notion of an SI2 stone they can't see themselves, so in an online buying situation, they tend to stick with "safe" bets and not go below SI1.

I personally think that having a really good vendor can overcome this. If you can trust your vendor to be honest, then rely on HIM to be your eyes, and you can consider stones in the SI2 range.

I, too, said "Oh, I won't go below SI1." I happened to call Brian at Whiteflash regarding an H, SI1 stone, and he said, "I think you should consider this other SI2 stone. It's actually CLEANER than the SI1 - I think the grading on these should have been reversed. The SI1 looks like an SI2 and the SI2 looks like an SI1."

He said the inclusions were dark and more noticeable in the SI1, and the SI2 inclusions were wispy, white, and diffused. He said it was totally eye-clean. I decided to take a leap of faith and trust his judgment. BEST decision I ever made! The drop in price going SI1 to SI2 is *significant*.....enough that I went from the 1.10ct up to 1.24ct for about the same money!

I think there are a few keys when going SI2. First, have a good vendor who is candid and communicative. Deal only with stones that your vendor has inhouse and can review while you speak. I think stone size also comes into play - I noticed a few .38 G, SI2 stones, and the inclusions were tiny black & white crystals....but due to the small stone size, the inclusions were *completely* eyeclean.

SI2 stones are like a well-kept secret - they offer a *tremendous* value for the dollar if eye-clean.

 

[diamondlil]

Good for you, Shappy.

I can't wait to see the pictures. I could not agree more, SI2 stones are an excellent value if you can find one. I would have no problem even buying an I1 if it was eye clean, but I know these are extremely few and far between.




DiamondLil

 

[diamondlil]

----------------
On 3/25/2004 11:11:57 AM aljdewey wrote:

I think there are a few keys when going SI2. First, have a good vendor who is candid and communicative. Deal only with stones that your vendor has inhouse and can review while you speak. I think stone size also comes into play - I noticed a few .38 G, SI2 stones, and the inclusions were tiny black & white crystals....but due to the small stone size, the inclusions were *completely* eyeclean.

----------------

This is a very good point, Aljdewey. A vendor who does not have the stones in-house won't be very willing to order in a few SI2 stones to eyeball them for you only to have to send them back because the majority of them are not eye clean. They would rather try and sell you an SI1 or VS2 stone. They cost more and there is less effort involved on behalf of the vendor.

I remember a thread recently where someone was frustrated because he specifically wanted an eye-clean SI2, and he was having difficulty finding a vendor willing to do the leg work -- very frustrating.

DiamondLil

 

[Jennifer5973]

Shappy, post pics! It sounds great. Congrats! There's nothing like truly loving your diamond!

Al, great points about the "investment" it takes to get the good SI stones, but it sure pays off...

 

[winyan]

Congrats Shappy, and may you have more than another 30 happy, healthy years with your DH and your stone!

win