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Which is the Best Value (in your humble opinion)

DreamingOfDiamonds

DreamingOfDiamonds

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 4, 2018
Messages
145
A smaller carat size with little to no imperfections, clarity, icy white color, excellent cut or a larger stone with more imperfections, warmer color, not so excellent?

Which do you prefer & why? I'm starting to lean towards smaller carat sizes now in my old age lol...
 
B. Because, unlike with a colored stone, the extreme quality differentiators in diamonds are barely eye-perceptible; IF vs VVS makes no difference to me.
 
My personal priorities ...

With Fancy Colored Diamonds, color is #1.
With D-Z diamonds, cut is #1.
With both D-Z and FCDs carat is my lowest priority.
 
#1 for me.

What does “best value” mean? if you mean good resale value, nothing but large near-perfect high color or fancy color investment diamonds will get you that. If you mean “prettiest” that is a matter of taste and fashion style. I like white diamonds in most settings but am happy with low color diamonds for antique-style rings. “Price per wear” depends on taste and lifestyle. I have a beautiful 2 carat asscher but only wear it once a month. And a >1 ct princess that I never wear. My two most worn diamonds are a 0.5 ct. earth grown and a 1.21 ct lab grown. The only reason that the 1.21 ct gets worn so often is the specialized cut.
 
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oncrutchesrightnow said:
#1 for me.

What does “best value” mean? if you mean good resale value, nothing but large near-perfect high color or fancy color investment diamonds will get you that. If you mean “prettiest” that is a matter of taste and fashion style. I like white diamonds in most settings but am happy with low color diamonds for antique-style rings. “Price per wear” depends on taste and lifestyle. I have a beautiful 2 carat asscher but only wear it once a month. And a >1 ct princess that I never wear. My two most worn diamonds are a 0.5 ct. earth grown and a 1.21 ct lab grown. The only reason that the 1.21 ct gets worn so often is the specialized cut.
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True, I guess it's subjective to whoever and their tastes. Just wanted to hear fellow PSers thoughts, carry on :D
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting bang fo buck within reason, and a layperson will judge bang by carat weight. Would I want a 3 carat salt and pepper stone over a .3ct Whiteflash ACA? Definitely not. But many others will opt for carat. For me, I've got my big (relative) stones now, so I'd rather have an ideal cut under 1ct.
 
Obviously within reason, but I’m in the “size matters” camp. I would rather set a minimum colour and clarity I’m willing to live with, and then try and maximise carat while balancing cut (I personally would never buy a “super ideal” stone because I don’t care about the minor symmetry and cut differences unless it was the same price as a non super ideal, super hot take and personal opinion on this forum, I know; but cut for me needs to be “good enough” without being perfect; and I tend to like shallower “brighter vs fierier” stones anyway).

This doesn’t mean that I’d buy something that was hideous and huge; obviously I would set some minimum standards for the other three (eg GIA Ex for rounds, for fancies as long as it looks good to the eye it’s okay; H-J if I want colourless, clarity SI1 or higher; no grade setting clouds) but I definitely would take the larger I vs the smaller F, for example, all else being equal.

PSers are perhaps a different breed, but most people I know would probably act similarly. Size is usually the most visible aspect of a diamond to casual perusal, and a lot of people as a rule DO care about what others think.
 
I would not associate "warmer" with "not so excellent." Excellence of the diamond is neither within parameters of a color nor clarity. Those are preferences. I prefer size. Someone else might prefer a color. None of those is better or more excellent.
 
For me personally with white diamonds, in descending importance: cut, colour, clarity and carat.

My mind clean is the best cut in G/H and even I colour, VS/SI clarity as long as it is eye clean, in the biggest size possible for the budget I have in mind.

For old cuts, the cut and colour are less important if the stone is old and not just in an old cut like OEC.

Each to their own.

DK :))
 
daisygrl said:
I would not associate "warmer" with "not so excellent." Excellence of the diamond is neither within parameters of a color nor clarity. Those are preferences. I prefer size. Someone else might prefer a color. None of those is better or more excellent.
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Agree - the marketing behemoths convinced the world that colorless diamonds are the only way to go. I really think stone buyers miss out when they ignore lower colors that aren’t officially colored diamonds. The value of color and cut quality can get you so much in a M or lower.
 
caolsen said:
Agree - the marketing behemoths convinced the world that colorless diamonds are the only way to go. I really think stone buyers miss out when they ignore lower colors that aren’t officially colored diamonds. The value of color and cut quality can get you so much in a M or lower.
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It amazes me still that 50+ years of diamond marketing tactics hasn't seemingly changed much...the usual buzzwords are thrown around like hot potatoes: icy, forever, timeless, quality, perfect, et al.

It makes me happy when newcomers find this forum and are able to get a fast and easy "what's what" education about diamonds and end up being blown away by a G, I, J, even K color superbly proportioned diamond when they were asking about D and E color diamonds that were horribly cut "Excellent" grades that leak more than a pasta strainer.

There are still the few that are so color sensitive that only a D-F diamond will keep their mind in check (I tend to be one of those folks), but that's fine...those color grades come with a price, so a smidge of sacrificing in the other C's may have to come with that territory to meet certain budgetary constraints, but it makes me even happier when the realization occurs that almost all of those buzzwords can (and should) be cast aside so that "Cut" should always be at the forefront for most scenarios. A bit of budging on Clarity and Carat usually moves the needle in the desired direction, especially for shoppers that must stick to those very high color grades.
 
DejaWiz said:
It amazes me still that 50+ years of diamond marketing tactics hasn't seemingly changed much...the usual buzzwords are thrown around like hot potatoes: icy, forever, timeless, quality, perfect, et al.

It makes me happy when newcomers find this forum and are able to get a fast and easy "what's what" education about diamonds and end up being blown away by a G, I, J, even K color superbly proportioned diamond when they were asking about D and E color diamonds that were horribly cut "Excellent" grades that leak more than a pasta strainer.

There are still the few that are so color sensitive that only a D-F diamond will keep their mind in check (I tend to be one of those folks), but that's fine...those color grades come with a price, so a smidge of sacrificing in the other C's may have to come with that territory to meet certain budgetary constraints, but it makes me even happier when the realization occurs that almost all of those buzzwords can (and should) be cast aside so that "Cut" should always be at the forefront for most scenarios. A bit of budging on Clarity and Carat usually moves the needle in the desired direction, especially for shoppers that must stick to those very high color grades.
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Totally agree, cut is if not king, royally important. But so many buyers still never get a chance to see a ‘not‘ colorless or near colorless but not officially colored diamond. The new BG Cape collection, @Rockdiamond with his massive selection of colored diamonds (papered, officially Fancy and otherwise), Alex Park’s offering of light colored stones in the UV range that are well cut, and a few other who try hard to show off well cut lower colors should be applauded.
 
My order of preference:

Cut
Color
Clarity
Size

Unless I don't have the budget for anything close to what I want size-wise. I don't mind going down in size to a degree, but for example if I only had the budget for a .3 ct engagement ring in my preferred color/clarity range, I'd be unhappy, so I'd decrease the clarity/color to increase the size. However, I'd NEVER decrease cut, no matter my budget. Cut is non-negotiable for me.
 
My preferences listed in order are:

1) Cut
2) Color/ clarity (pretty equally)
3) Size

Cut is definitely king, but with my personal preferences. For example, I prefer thinner arrows, and a slightly larger table, as long as dispersion/fire isn't compromised. I love the stats to be in that sweet spot where GIA excellent and AGS ideal meet.

I'm super color sensitive. I love icy white D and E color diamonds, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate lower colors, especially in older cuts.

Assuming the cut is the best I can get, I will, and have, traded size for better color and clarity.

I think it's all very personal. Everyone should get what they love.
 
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AllAboardTheBlingTrain said:
PSers are perhaps a different breed, but most people I know would probably act similarly. Size is usually the most visible aspect of a diamond to casual perusal, and a lot of people as a rule DO care about what others think.
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Agree that people in general do care what others think. It will be interesting to see what people who care about what others think choose to highlight in their own collections, now that LGDs will make large sizes accessible to more people.
 
Can I choose middle of the road? I would set a budget, and pick the best cut, color, carat, clarity (in that order) that I can live with. In my case:

Cut: ideal (don't need branded super-ideal, or perfect H&A)
Color: F,G,H
Carat weight: Above 1ct for my sizeable hands
Clarity: I can live with eye clean SI clarity....the perks of getting old! :)
 
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