Shopping Discussion

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Poll: What is most important in your ONLINE diamond shopping experience?

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Newbie
Sep 29, 2020
1 posts
Hello. I have a 14k white gold engagement ring that was my mother's. She had it aparised in 98 for 11,800.im now looking to sell the ring and matching wedding band. But I'm unsure of what I should be asking.

Thank you
Karson
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Jul 29, 2013
1475 posts
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Wpgleafs wrote: Thanks for the info! Bluenile seems to have the GIA report attached so I'm wondering your thoughts on the following diamonds again just to see if during my search I am pointing myself in the right direction when it comes to quality of diamond - especially if I am considering purchasing online. I wish to pair with a rose gold setting so from what I understand, the colour G H I can pair better than anything colourless (and of course it depends on the colour of the clamps on the setting too!). Basically I'm looking for a diamond of 0.7k or larger with an excellent cut and has a good colour and clarity (say H or I or better for colour and VS2 or better for clarity). You said the pricing for the last few seem high for the specs so I'm wondering what a "fair" pricing would be for them!

Diamond #1: https://www.bluenile.com/ca/build-your- ... gView=true

Diamond #2: https://www.bluenile.com/ca/build-your- ... gView=true

Diamond #3: https://www.bluenile.com/ca/build-your- ... LD13603692

Thank you for all your help! This process is very exciting and having somebody provide this knowledge is so awesome!
Your very welcome!

The first diamond has a good face up size as it is cut shallow and has a shallow crown. The only disadvantage to this is that you sacrifice some sparkle and fire in favor of added brilliance and a touch larger look of size.
Both the color and clarity are in a range where you dont have much to worry about. I would say VVS2 is a bit overkill at this size but, to each their own. Pricing seems fair.

Second diamond seems very similar to the above in specs, despite being larger it faces up about the same size and costs more for lower clarity.

The third diamond has proportions more in line with what you would choose for a diamond with high color. ie steeper crown and deeper depth both characteristics tend to show more color so I would avoid this one considering its an I color with those specs.
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
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Jul 29, 2013
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aholl50 wrote: Sorry. I requested the reports and here's what I got.
Diamond https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-6406691
Depth 60.70%
Table 58%
Crown Angle 32.0°
Crown Height 13.50%
Pavilion Angle 41.0°
Pavilion Depth 43.50%
Star Length 50%
Lower Half 80%
Girdle Slightly Thick, Faceted, 4.0%
Culet None
Year 2018
Measurements 6.33-6.35x3.85
My concern is its been sitting around for a couple of years.

I changed my mind and went with another from blue nile - https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD14013460
As far as I can tell the porportions are similar though the carat is different. The price for the blue nile is

Depth 60.40%
Table 58%
Crown Angle 33.5°
Crown Height 14.00%
Pavilion Angle 40.8°
Pavilion Depth 43.00%
Star Length 45%
Lower Half 75%
Girdle Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted, 3.5%
Culet None
Measurements 6.14 x 6.18 x 3.83 mm
Stock Number LD14346786

Thanks again.
The James Allen diamond was likely sitting about because it is a bit low for SI1 with the main inclusion right in the middle of the table. As well I would think there is something off with the cutting as even though it is shallow and has a shallow depth
it still faces up average for it size. The proportions were a good choice for I color as this would likely help to mask the color a bit.

The second diamond has nice specs. The only two things I dont like are low star facet percentage (45%) which is why you see the arrows in the video looking very thick. Nothing wrong with the diamond but I find many tend to like them smaller.
Also it is a pretty low SI1 with a sizable dark inclusion in the crown area. Hard to say if it will be eye clean but definitely you would see the inclusion from the side or bottom of the diamond. In the range definitely closer to SI2 than VS2. For the price I would say it
average value
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
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KarsonP57301 wrote: Hello. I have a 14k white gold engagement ring that was my mother's. She had it aparised in 98 for 11,800.im now looking to sell the ring and matching wedding band. But I'm unsure of what I should be asking.

Thank you
Karson
Hi Karson

With appraisal values they can vary wildly form appraiser to appraiser, and tend to be especially high if they are issued from an employee of the place selling the ring. My advice would be to take the ring and band to a Graduate Gemologist appraiser and ask them for a fair value appraisal so you can get a non inflated idea of what the value is. They will definitely be able to give you an idea of what to charge for the ring. This will also depend on who you are looking to sell it to. You will get more trying to see via classified sites then trying to sell to some one in the trade.
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
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Aug 7, 2010
86 posts
53 upvotes
Edmonton
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Jul 29, 2013
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no name wrote: Hi @thediamondshopper ,

Can you help me to understand the pros and cons between these diamonds below? And which one has the best value? Much appriciated!

Diamond A: https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD14535576
A GIA 6217164535 BN LD14535576.JPG

Diamond B: https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD14544190
B GIA 5366325091 BN LD14544190.JPG

Diamond C: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-7212376
C GIA JA SKU 7212376.jpg

Diamond D: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9601569
D GIA JA SKU 9601569.jpg

Diamond E: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-7251067
E GIA JA SKU 7251067.jpg

Diamond F: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-7620314
F GIA JA SKU 7620314.jpg

Diamond G: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-8404803
G GIA LA SKU 8404803.jpg

Diamond H: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9521014
H GIA JA SKU 9521014.jpg

Diamond I: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9842194
I GIA JA SKU 9842194.jpg

All GIA reports can be also found here: imgur.com/a/egAVOw7

Thank you for your time in advance!
I’d suggest reading the thread summary and then if you can narrow down to 1 or 2 I would be happy to give you some feedback.
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
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Newbie
Aug 7, 2010
86 posts
53 upvotes
Edmonton
thediamondshopper wrote: I’d suggest reading the thread summary and then if you can narrow down to 1 or 2 I would be happy to give you some feedback.
Thanks @thediamondshopper for pointing me to the Thread Summary. I have went through the information (even though I am looking at cushion cuts, I think I have captured the intent on the criteria) and narrowed down the three options:

Diamond A: https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD14535576
A GIA 6217164535 BN LD14535576.JPG

Diamond H: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9521014
H GIA JA SKU 9521014.jpg

Diamond I: https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9842194
I GIA JA SKU 9842194.jpg

What are your thoughts on these three diamonds?

I like Diamond A because it has a bigger carat weight for similar price, not sure what I have missed. Diamond A has strong blue fluro, would this make the diamond look whiter, since it is colour I?

Diamond H and I's cut is supposedly better than diamond A (Ideal vs. Very Good). Diamond H's colour is above the others (Colour H) and has a bigger face (but also deeper depth - not sure if this will effect it's look).

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!
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Jul 29, 2013
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With Cushion cuts they are very very difficult to shop for as there is so much variation in the cut.
The first thing I noticed about all three is that they are very deep cut, cushions are cut deeper than rounds typically but these are deeper than average.
You can see the effects of this coupled with probably steep crowns and wavy girdles in the videos where the tables especially the ones from James Allen have little to no light return.

One thing to look into is the three main types of cushion cuts

1. Cushion modified Brilliants: least expensive, deeper cut with a smaller face up size for its carat weight.
Less brilliant and more light leakage also known as crushed ice look. These are about 90% of the cushions on the market.
They are cut for weight retention and not so much for beauty which is why I rarely suggest them unless they are way above average.

2. Cushion Brilliant: Most expensive. Similar faceting to a round brilliant, with pavilion facets reaching the edge of the diamond.
They have a larger face up size for the same carat weight and much better brilliance and sparkle.
They are much rarer than modified brilliants say 1 for every 50-70.

3. In between "hybrid cuts", have some elements of both. Usually have similar light performance but smaller face up size compared
to a cushion brilliant. This is the style Tiffany uses. These are more readily available than cushion brilliants and some times we can find
a great blend of value and look with these.

I would say that these are all modified brilliants. For diamonds under 1ct it will be hard to get the necessary info to tell which are which as you are not given the clarity plots that shows the bottom of the diamond and the facet arrangement.

You can always ask if the pavilion facets extend out from the girdle which is a characteristic of hybrid cuts and modified brilliants.

With cushions if you are going for H-I color you will need a well cut diamond as cushions especially poorly cut ones will show much more color than rounds do. My general suggestion to you would be to drop the clarity in favor of higher color and not to go with
a cut other than a brilliant or a hybrid cut.
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
**If you find the thread useful please give it a thumbs up**
Newbie
Aug 7, 2010
86 posts
53 upvotes
Edmonton
Thanks for the educate and detailed response @thediamondshopper ! would you say these are hybrid cuts?

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-8340754
JA 8340754.JPG

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-6321856
JA 6321856.JPG

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-8527923
JA 8527923.JPG

I think I can see the pavilion facet hitting the girdle in these three. Am I right? The depth on the third one seems fairly shallow than the rest (which means it is better as it has shows more table? But I see the report is from 2016 - why is it not selling?)

Thanks!
Sr. Member
Aug 5, 2008
500 posts
350 upvotes
Just wanted to leave my 2 cents here:

The Diamond Shopper (Aaron) was great to work with and incredibly helpful in selecting a diamond that fit my requirements. I went to Aaron with my criteria (including table/depth/crown angle/pavilion angle specifications) for a diamond and a budget, and after helping me refine my requirements, he came back to me the next day with six options (all with GIA reference numbers so I could look up their grading information). He provided his insights which helped me narrow it down two of them, and then went back to his supplier to get some additional details that would help me break the tie. He can also make pretty much any setting you want. He was great at answering all the questions I had and was very transparent. At no point did I feel pressured about anything (he has no incentive to sell you one stone over another, so it’s really about getting you what you want).

Pro tip: Read through this thread! Particularly the thread summary and probably the first 50 pages or so where Aaron gives 15 or so diamond tips and goes into detail on basically how to evaluate a diamond yourself and what to look for. Knowing what you are looking for makes a huge difference!

Also happy to answer anyone's questions about the whole process. Happy hunting!
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Apr 23, 2006
3141 posts
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Hi @thediamondshopper,

I am wondering if you could shed light on these two similarly sized diamonds. The 1.67 carat diamond cost lower than the 1.65 carat diamond. One notable difference is that the 1.65ct is E colour, while the 1.67ct is F colour. Colour aside, do you see any other specifications that make the 1.65ct one a better choice? Thanks in advance.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9835563

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9835099
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Feb 15, 2006
255 posts
15 upvotes
Thank you thediamondshopper for your time to continue to support the thread.

Would appreciate your input on the 3 stones that I have narrowed down in my search:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Thank you!
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Jul 29, 2013
1475 posts
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no name wrote: Thanks for the educate and detailed response @thediamondshopper ! would you say these are hybrid cuts?

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-8340754
JA 8340754.JPG


https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-6321856
JA 6321856.JPG


https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-8527923
JA 8527923.JPG


I think I can see the pavilion facet hitting the girdle in these three. Am I right? The depth on the third one seems fairly shallow than the rest (which means it is better as it has shows more table? But I see the report is from 2016 - why is it not selling?)

Thanks!
Hi,

Yes these all look like hybrid cuts to me as well. The first 2 have alot of light leakage in the table but are still better than what you would get with modified brilliant cuts.
How are you selecting these, are you entering a size or color and clarity grade and just picking the cheapest options? With diamonds usually the cheapest options for a given set of specs will have issues that outweight the benefits of the lower price.
The last diamond looks to have a milky appearance which is probably why it is priced how it is and has been sitting around for so long.

The thing with these online sites is that they just list every diamond they can and dont remove diamonds with issues so if you dont know what your doing there is a good chance you will end up with a diamond that has major issues.
This is especially true for cushions as they are the hardest to shop for.

Good luck!
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
**If you find the thread useful please give it a thumbs up**
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j4y-T wrote: Just wanted to leave my 2 cents here:

The Diamond Shopper (Aaron) was great to work with and incredibly helpful in selecting a diamond that fit my requirements. I went to Aaron with my criteria (including table/depth/crown angle/pavilion angle specifications) for a diamond and a budget, and after helping me refine my requirements, he came back to me the next day with six options (all with GIA reference numbers so I could look up their grading information). He provided his insights which helped me narrow it down two of them, and then went back to his supplier to get some additional details that would help me break the tie. He can also make pretty much any setting you want. He was great at answering all the questions I had and was very transparent. At no point did I feel pressured about anything (he has no incentive to sell you one stone over another, so it’s really about getting you what you want).

Pro tip: Read through this thread! Particularly the thread summary and probably the first 50 pages or so where Aaron gives 15 or so diamond tips and goes into detail on basically how to evaluate a diamond yourself and what to look for. Knowing what you are looking for makes a huge difference!

Also happy to answer anyone's questions about the whole process. Happy hunting!
Thank you for the kind words!!!
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
**If you find the thread useful please give it a thumbs up**
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Jul 29, 2013
1475 posts
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ak-47 wrote: Hi @thediamondshopper,

I am wondering if you could shed light on these two similarly sized diamonds. The 1.67 carat diamond cost lower than the 1.65 carat diamond. One notable difference is that the 1.65ct is E colour, while the 1.67ct is F colour. Colour aside, do you see any other specifications that make the 1.65ct one a better choice? Thanks in advance.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9835563

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamon ... ku-9835099
Absolutely

So the first diamond has some big advantages over the second.

1. it is better cut, borderline for hearts and arrows but nicely cut. Where is a the second diamond the crown is quite steep for the pavilion. I attached an image below that compares the ASET images for these three diamonds. An ASET image essentially color codes
the light coming off the diamond so you have something tangible to compare the cuts by. You can see from the image the 2nd diamond you linked to has much more less bright areas especially in the table which is one of the most obvious areas for light leakage.

2. The second option appears to have a grey tinge to it, you can see how it looks a bit darker and more silvery. This could be from the video lighting but I think it is much more likely that the diamond has a grey tinge which typically significantly lowers the value and can mean
the diamond is a from a much older production when the technology wasnt as good.

A couple things overall, both options are quite expensive for what they are. As well you could likely save your self some money going with lower color and especially clarity with absolutely no change in how the diamond will look to the naked eye.

Image
Images
  • RFD 2316.jpg
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
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Jul 29, 2013
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ss7 wrote: Thank you thediamondshopper for your time to continue to support the thread.

Would appreciate your input on the 3 stones that I have narrowed down in my search:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Thank you!
Hi,

Your very welcome! Glad the thread has been useful.

I think the first and third are the same diamond.

the first option has well suited specs for I color. The crown is shallower, the depth is thin and the table is a bit bigger. This will help in reducing the appearance of color everything else the same. I cant really offer much on the color as the Blue Nile videos are so low res
that you cant make out any tinges. You would want to make sure there are no brown/green tinges. Also with medium fluoresce there is a small possibility the the diamond is milky so you would want to confirm that as well. With diamond with fluorescence the graded color
by GIA takes into account the fluorescence because they have UV in the grading environment so it is possible with out UV the diamond may look more like a J color especially from the side. If everything checks out the price seems fair, not the best not the worst.

The second diamond is a dud, it has a steep crown and a deep pavilion so it will have light leakage which will impact the look of color. Also at exactly 1ct you can tell that they push the diamond up to 1ct by padding weight in the crown pavilion, depth and girdle.
So essentially this cut this diamond for weight not beauty. It faces up at 6.35mm which is the size of a nice mid .9ct in which case your better saving the money and getting a nice .9.
*Please read the Diamond Thread Summary on page 1 before posting especially the first 5 points :)*
**If you find the thread useful please give it a thumbs up**
Jr. Member
Aug 8, 2015
121 posts
156 upvotes
Hi DS,

I'm looking at oval cuts to set in a yellow gold ring, and this one caught my eye as a possible value with its face-up size and clarity: 1.58 ct oval VVS2

I know VVS2 is likely overkill, but it seems nice and the bowties aren't too prominent in the video. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks.
Newbie
Jul 8, 2017
10 posts
5 upvotes
Hey thediamondshopper,

Would love to get your input on these two diamonds:

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD14402345

https://www.bluenile.com/ca/diamond-details/LD14268338

Going through this thread has been very informative and great.
My ideal diamond to get is an H or I colour, with a max budget of $10,000. My SO is fixated on carat weight alone for sizing but I'm beginning to understand that I can look for wider diamonds that aren't necessarily "heavy". Just like the two options I've linked, they are very similar in size but different carats.
I understand they are J's but I might consider it as well. However I believe you've mentioned that a J on bluenile with a strong fluorescence could be lower in person?
Sr. Member
Jul 2, 2013
794 posts
220 upvotes
Aurora
Hi @thediamondshopper ,

I have heard back from 2 different jewelers about a double halo engagement ring that we wanted to have recreated from Peoples https://www.peoplesjewellers.com/145-ct ... V-19989388

Can you comment on which is the better deal or if either is a fair deal at all?

Jeweler A: Center stone .50 ct Canadian emerald cut diamond of SI clarity and I colour. The accent diamonds will be significantly higher clarity and colour at SI1-Vs2 clarity, F-G colour, this colour and clarity will give maximum brilliance. Setting 19k white gold. The price for the engagement ring and matching band with 1.50 cts twt will cost $3850.00 plus taxes.

Jeweler B: Offered two options -
Option 1 - Centre stone .43ct I1 E then approximate 1.00ct.stones and mount totals $3650.00 plus taxes.
Option 2 - Centre stone .50ct SI2 I and same specs for stones and mount - totals $3850.00 plus taxes.

Many thanks in advance for any input.

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