Would you have these G VVS1 one-caraters recut?

[Phoenix]

I have two 1-caraters which are not ideal cut and have been thinking for yonks now abt having them recut. One is a 1.00ct IGI stone and the other is a 1.03ct GIA stone. They both have medium/ strong blue fluor so are super white. They measue approx 6.34mm and 6.60mm in diameter respectively. I've asked Brian Gavin to have a look at them and see if they can be recut. Brian's predictions are that the stones will shrink to 0.890ct and 0.934ct respectively, and the resulting diameters 6.16mm and 6.38mm. They won't be H&A but the optical performance would still improve.

If you put the stones next to each other, you can see immediately the size difference (which it is abt 0.30mm), but put them on the ears and you won't be able to tell readily...well, most people IRL won't. I always thought I'd have them recut, to match as earrings or as sidestones in a 3-ring. Now I'm not so sure, as after the recut the stones will drop below 1ct and their values will reduce quite significantly (my estimation is half - though of course I'd be happpy to be corrrected). Moreover, the recut stones will still not match unless I have the 1.03ct GIA recut further to match the IGI stone (the latter is currently very steep/ deep).

I was thinking perhaps of just recutting the 1.00ct IGI stone (my original ering) and get another 0.89ct or 0.90ct (but with a much lower clarity, say an eyeclean Si to save money) to match the recut IGI stone and have them set as earrings. The other stone, the 1.03ct GIA is actually not so badly cut and in fact is quite sparkly and as mentioned super white. The whole thing, including recutting (which is quite reasonable), a new stone and new settings (thinking of LM - pave'ed/ halo'ed, to maximise ear coverage) would set me back somewhere between $5k to $7k. This could be financed for mainly by seliing the 1.03ct uncut/ as is GIA stone.

But should I really bother? Should I just leave the whole thing alone? The values of the recut and new matched stones would be below the current values of the uncut stones, not to mention I won't have the "boasting" right of owning two 1 caraters G VVS1 any more (not to mention the lovely blue fluor effect). What do you suggest, PS'ers? Would you do it?

 

[Phoenix]

76 people viewed and not one has answered?!

I was thinking actually another alternative might be to recut the larger stone instead, ie. take the 1.03ct down a little bit so that it would come closer to the size of the 1.00ct, but both would still stay at or above the 1ct mark. That way, ithe recut stone's performance would be slightly improved and the sizes of both stones would come a bit closer together, as supposed to be visibly different as they are now.

I hope I'm not driving Brian and Lesley too crazy! In any case, I hope this gets done sooner rather than later, so I don't have time to keep changing ny mind, LOL. My indecision must be driving them round the bend - and me too!

Someone in HO suggested gettng leverback earrings. I guess if I put these babies in micropave'ed halo's and have them put on leverbacks with a jump-ring, so that they'd swing back and forth; the size difference (if there remained any) would be even less noticable, would it not?

I really hope someone can chime in. This project is important to me, as one of the stones is my original ering which I'm planning to keep forever and would really like to wear (it's been sitting at the back of the wardrobe gathering dust

), and the other reason is that I'm currently sans earrings!!

I'm getting really baaaaaaddddd withdrawal symptoms from not wearing any diamonds on my ears! (Cehra, if you're reading this, I'm totally with you there, girlfriend, us PS'ers cannot live without our bling for too long - be it on our hands or our ears, LOL).

 

[FancyDiamond]

No. Sounds like the improvement of optical performance is not as noticeable as the reduced size.

Speaking as someone who does not know much about diamonds, but have viewed several diamonds of various cut grades under all lighting conditions, I offer my humble opinion. I can readily see a significant difference between top cut (e.g. ACA''s) and poorly cut (e.. leaky ones, with fish eyes) diamonds. Anything in between, average and slight above average cut diamonds - the optical performance difference, if any, is not very obvious to me.

The size difference, on the other hand, is noticeable under all lighting conditions.

Conclusion - It is not worth the trouble, risk, and expense to go through a recut in this case.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 1/31/2010 8:57:54 PM
Author: FancyDiamond
No. Sounds like the improvement of optical performance is not as noticeable as the reduced size.

Speaking as someone who does not know much about diamonds, but have viewed several diamonds of various cut grades under all lighting conditions, I offer my humble opinion. I can readily see a significant difference between top cut (e.g. ACA's) and poorly cut (e.. leaky ones, with fish eyes) diamonds. Anything in between, average and slight above average cut diamonds - the optical performance difference, if any, is not very obvious to me.

The size difference, on the other hand, is noticeable under all lighting conditions.

Conclusion - It is not worth the trouble, risk, and expense to go through a recut in this case.

OOooooh, finally! A reply!!

Thanks.

I'm a bit confused though, you say the size difference is notieable in all lighting conditions and the optical performance difference only under certain lightings. I totally agree with you there. But why the conclusion for no recut? Not even of the larger stone?

I'd like to avoid having to purchase yet another 1ct, if possible.

ETA: neither stone is of top-cut/ ideal cut or H&A, so nowhere near an ACA. In my also non-expert opinion, they're of average cut, not totally horrible, but the GIA stone IS better cut than the smaller IGI stone. The optical performance diference *is* noticeable but only when they're put next to each other. I should also emphasize that it is the size difference that has bothered me the most. Would you still draw the same conclusion then?

 

[FancyDiamond]

Date: 1/31/2010 9:01:12 PM
Author: Phoenix

OOooooh, finally! A reply!!

I''m a bit confused though, you say the size difference is notieable in all lighting conditions and the optical performance difference only under certain lightings. I totally agree with you there. But why the conclusion for no recut? Not even of the larger stone?

I''d like to avoid having to purchase yet another 1ct, if possible.

No recut because the optical performance improvement will be SMALL (not even hearts and arrows) and not READILY noticeable, and you plan to use the daimonds as studs/earrings. For studs/earrings, size is more important. If you want more sparkles, consider adding a halo or jacket. Let the ACA or equivalent melees help in the sparkling department.

 

[FancyDiamond]

Just to add that the size difference will not be noticeable when the diamonds are worn on different ears.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 1/31/2010 9:09:04 PM
Author: FancyDiamond



No recut because the optical performance improvement will be SMALL (not even hearts and arrows) and not READILY noticeable, and you plan to use the daimonds as studs/earrings. For studs/earrings, size is more important. If you want more sparkles, consider adding a halo or jacket. Let the ACA or equivalent melees help in the sparkling department.

Again, totally agree with you there.

But I'm thinking of having the larger GIA stone recut so as to bring its size closer to the smaller IGI stone (*this* is a mind clean issue for me). Totally agree that ACA or equivalent melee in the micropave'ed haloes will do the trick in helping the earrings sparkle!

 

[iheartscience]

Are you planning on selling the stones at some point? If not, I don''t see why the possible reduction in value is an issue. If I were you I''d get them both recut to match each other (even if that means losing more carat weight on the GIA stone) and then halo them and put them on leverbacks. I bet once they''re recut closer to ideal cut the added sparkle coupled with the size-enhancing halos will make the size difference negligible. I can''t wait to see what you end up with!

 

[Dreamer_D]

How bad are the cuts right now? Like, can you post pics or an HCA score or an IS image? I know it is asking a lot. It is just that if they are already pretty good then the gain in optics may not actually be that noticable.

I really think that if you left them as is and set them in dangly earings you would *never* notice the size difference. The human eye just isn''t precise enough to notice a .3mm difference in size when the two objects are 8-10 inches apart and in motion.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 1/31/2010 10:37:13 PM
Author: thing2of2
Are you planning on selling the stones at some point? If not, I don't see why the possible reduction in value is an issue. If I were you I'd get them both recut to match each other (even if that means losing more carat weight on the GIA stone) and then halo them and put them on leverbacks. I bet once they're recut closer to ideal cut the added sparkle coupled with the size-enhancing halos will make the size difference negligible. I can't wait to see what you end up with!

Yay, another reply. Thank you!

Well, the IGI certed stone, I will never sell since it's my original ering (I don't think DH would ever let me, ha ha, even if I wanted to, which I don't). The GIA stone, i was toying with the idea of reselling it to finance this whole project, which comprises of:

- recutting the IGI stone to about 0.80/0.90ct (about a few hundred dollars) - this should maxmise its optical performance, but again it still wouldn't be an H&A (or that's what I'm led to believe)
- buying another stone - I was planning on a 0.90ct stone, F colour or G with med/ strong blue fluor, and a very very eye-clean Si1 or Si2 to match the recut stone. I looked around on various websites and this new stone should be about $3-3.5k
- selling the 1.03ct GIA since this is quite a nice stone as it is. I've been quoted a selling price of between $5k to 7k
- setting the two 0.90ct's into micropave'ed halo's, possibly with dangles/ leverbacks. Am waiting for the quotes to come back from both BGD and LM, but am hoping that it won't be more than $2k

So, I'd like to break even or just pay a small difference (hopefully not more than $1k). I know this way, the end results would be two beautiful and sparkly earrings, but in *my mind* I would still know that the other 0.90ct (the new one) is only Si quality?

Originally, I *was* planning to have BOTH stones recut to 0.90ct and then reset them. However, I looked up the price difference between 1.03ct G VVS1 and 0.90ct G VVS1 and I was shocked! It basically halved the value of the stone. And THEN, I'd still have to come up with $2-3k to recut and set them.

ETA: Actually, now that I've typed it all up, I can see that I'm just splitting hair really. The monetary difference between the two projects would be only $2k max (assuming my estimation of Leon's quote is in the right ball-park). The only remaining thing to do is for me to get over the mental hurdle of having the 1.03ct GIA stone being reduced to a mere 0.90ct!

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 1/31/2010 11:42:44 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
How bad are the cuts right now? Like, can you post pics or an HCA score or an IS image? I know it is asking a lot. It is just that if they are already pretty good then the gain in optics may not actually be that noticable.

I really think that if you left them as is and set them in dangly earings you would *never* notice the size difference. The human eye just isn't precise enough to notice a .3mm difference in size when the two objects are 8-10 inches apart and in motion.

Thank you, Dreamer. You're not asking a lot at all!

I appreciate your taking the time to post and advise me.

I am going to post a pic of the two earrings next to each other. You can clearly see the size difference there. On my ears, I *shouldn't* notice the size difference and it's true most people don't. It's just that it's a "mind-clean" issue for me.

They're not so badly cut, well...perhaps the IGI is (very steep deep)..the GIA isn't so bad. I don't have IS images but I do have Sarin results and Brian's predictions (both the Sarin and predictions have been provided by Brian and Lesley. Thank you).

Arrggghhh...I'm having problem posting pics. Would you mind terribly if I posted them later? Have to run to my Chinese lessons now. Thank you.

 

[elle_chris]

I wouldn''t do it for earrings. Essentially what you''re doing is putting money into something that''s going to be worth less. If it was for a ring, I might consider it, but for dangly earrings, no way.

I don''t think a side by side comparision is a realistic way to see the size difference because you''ll be wearing them on your ears, with your head in between.

 

[LilyKat]

My humble opinion as a non-diamond expert:

I''d leave them well alone. Have each 1-carater set into a pair of earrings and enjoy their uniqueness. So what if they don''t sparkle quite as much as they could? Or if there''s a little size difference? I''m willing to bet no-one will ever know unless you point it out (and probably not even then). I get what you''re saying about "mind-cleanliness", but to me, this is pushing it to extremes. Also, with earrings, you won''t be focusing on them and scrutinising them all day (as you would with a ring), so I don''t think it will bother you as much as you fear.

Unless the cut is so truly terrible that you''d be embarrassed to wear them - I''d just leave them as they are.

 

[Phoenix]

Dreamer, I'm sorry I'm still having problems posting...don't know what's going on there!

Elle and Lily, yes, I know I'm obsessing a little (oh ok, maybe a lot, LOL)! Lily, the stones are not terrible cut at all. They do sparkle quite a lot. They're just not ideal cut and it is the size difference that bugs me more than anything else.

Anyway, I spoke to Lesley yesterday and apparently Brian took the smaller IGI stone with him to Antwerp so we don't know if it's already been recut or not!

If it has been, then I guess that that is already a done deal! I'm scheduled to speak with them again on Thursday when Brian will be back in the office, so I shall find out. I told Lesley they'd better move along and not give me too much time to keep changing my mind back and forth!

Will keep you all posted. Thanks for your input and opinions.

 

[KerriLynn]

IMHO I would say don''t recut the stones, IRL no one will be able to notice the size difference and having them recut will not only cost you, but will also reduce the value of the individual diamonds, so it seems like a lose lose situation to me.

I don''t want to offend you, but have you considered selling both stones in their current condition, and using the money to buy two new stones of the same size, clarity, color, etc.? You might even be able to get more bang for your buck that way. I''m sure that your IGI stone holds a special place in your heart, but if your not a terribly sentimetal person, it''s something to consider. I hope this helps!