Diamond question

TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others

C

Camswife

O.G.
Nov 26, 2010
92
8
#1
Hi everyone, I'm fairly new here. Lots of reading but trying to get into posting. So I was browsing diamonds and found a 1.90 ideal cut round si2 j color for 5k. Any idea why so cheap? Saw a 1.78 not ideal round si3 j color for 10k! Why the drastic price change? Any input is appreciated :D many TIA!
 
#2
Camswife said:
Hi everyone, I'm fairly new here. Lots of reading but trying to get into posting. So I was browsing diamonds and found a 1.90 ideal cut round si2 j color for 5k. Any idea why so cheap? Saw a 1.78 not ideal round si3 j color for 10k! Why the drastic price change? Any input is appreciated :D many TIA!
Click to expand...

Are the stones certified? With what association? What are the other specs on the stone? These are questions you should be asking. Have you seen these stones in person, if not, then I would look at the clarity a little closer. IMHO, I would go no lower than an SI1 for clarity.
 
#3
SI3 is basically an I2, and as Ame would say, would "look like frozen spit." So ITA with AntiqueShopper and would not get anything below an eye clean SI1.
 
#4
The reason those diamonds must be so cheap is that they (esp. the second one) are not certified by the GIA and they are low color and clarity. SI3 is a clarity grade used by the EGL. GIA does not recognize the SI3 as a category. Their clarity scale goes straight from SI2 to I1.
 
#5
Both are EGL. I saw the 1.78 in person it was stunning I didn't see anything wrong with it. Very sparkly. I guess I don't know enough about diamonds (insert shamed face here).
 
#6
HAH! yes!

SI3 is actually a "made up" clarity grade by EGL (not EGL USA) because it "sells better" than the I1 it actually is. There are many I1's out there that are still quite nice, and very well cut, the clarity just isn't ideal to most. I1 just scares people off. I2 and below is DEFINITELY frozen spit!

An ideal cut stone around those size parameters in a J SI2 is roughly 10K assuming a reputable lab, likely GIA. I would wager that one listed for $5k is probably treated somehow, or is an EGL or some other really low caliber lab cert. Another reason is probably that one is not actually ideal cut. That's a term that gets thrown around a lot and despite there kind of being "universal" numbers that identify a well cut stone, a lot of vendors use it to get the attention they want to their goods whether or not they really are well cut.

Frankly neither option is appealing to me. And while i don't know which vendors you found those at, neither is worth the price shown!

For the record EGL and EGLUSA are two totally different entities.
 
#8
Camswife said:
Both are EGL. I saw the 1.78 in person it was stunning I didn't see anything wrong with it. Very sparkly. I guess I don't know enough about diamonds (insert shamed face here).
Click to expand...
NO SHAME!

EGL can be just fine! In many cases a perfectly great stone is graded by EGL (USA) because they needed a paper faster than GIA could supply it. And your eyes are the final official judge. Paper is paper. Let your eyes tell you. That stone is a tad overpriced for an EGL paper though. By a grand or more.

But EGL USA is where you want to focus the EGL search. Much more stringent. IME, EGL USA is a little loser on color but really strict on clarity, where EGL "OTHER" will be...who knows where! GIA is kind of the standard simply because they marketed themselves right. AGS(or AGSL) is another great one, they are the only one that truly "grades cut quality". GIA puts their opinion on their paper but I have seen some "excellents" that are serious dogs.
 
#9
FWIW: My stones have been EGL USA. SK's stone is EGL (USA?). Neither of us have any complaints and no one has had anything negative to say out loud to either of us!
 
#13
Check the Fluorescence as well, strong fluorescence lowers the cost of the diamond. Make sure the culet is none or small and the girdle is thin to thick, neither of the two extremes. I am also shopping, asking a lot of questions and doing my research, so good luck!
 
#15
VivianYY said:
Check the Fluorescence as well, strong fluorescence lowers the cost of the diamond.
Click to expand...
That is also true, my stone is medium to strong blue, which I personally LOVE. In an I-K stone it can offset some of the overall warmth of the stone (still usually only visible from the sideview and bottom view) and make it look whiter to the eye. It does help the pricing a LITTLE because some folks don't like it. Strong Blue you have to be careful with though because in some cases it "clouds" the stone with a milky haze.

Camswife said:
I just checked and it says cutlet none, flourensence none but girdle is slightly thick-thick does that mean anything? I'm sorry I know none of this :(
Click to expand...
Yes that means that it faces up smaller because more of the weight of the stone is in the girdle/lower half of the stone versus if the girdle was thin to medium or medium, where it would face up "normal" for that carat weight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top