5 replies to this topic

[dano28481]

Hi everyone!

I need your help. I have found a diamond that I am interested in for just under $5k. It is an EGL cert and the specifications are below:

Carat: 1.24ct
Color: D
Clarity: SI 1
Cut: Very good
Polish: Very good
Symmetry: Very good
Fluoresence: Slight Blue
Depth: 63.7%
Crown: 16%
Table: 56%
Facet: Medium

I know that EGL isn't the best certification. So my questions are:

1. Should I take it or pass?
2. If I took this to be GIA certified, how could they grade it. (ie.what could be the worst case scenerio?)
3. Does Slight Blue Fluoresence matter?

Thank you so much for everyone's help. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say.

[denverappraiser]

Worst case scenario? Ah, therein is the rub. It's hard to imagine anything below I/I-1/Good cut/strong Blue fluro. I would be surpised if it's better than F/SI2/VG. Yeah, that's a big range, and that's the problem. If you could just 'discount' EGL to convert their grades to GIA it would be easy.

For most people, slight blue fluro does not affect anything at all in terms of the beauty of the stone and it has no significant affect on the price.

Do we have anything else to go on, like have you seen it and/or are you buying it from a dealer who has seen it?

Edited by denverappraiser, 14 September 2011 - 03:12 PM.

[davidelevi]

One other point/question: you say "Facet: medium". That doesn't make sense. Would it be "Culet: medium" or "Girdle: medium, faceted"? The former is not a particularly good sign in a modern stone; the latter is OK.

Other than that, your only guide as to "what" you may be actually getting is in the price. Which indicates that the stone is at the bottom of the range that Neil suggested: GIA 1.2x I/I1 go for about $4500-5000.

Does it make it a bad stone? Not necessarily, though I1 are by definition highly included and eye-clean ones are quite rare. Make sure you have a good return period with no penalties, and train yourself to recognise a well cut diamond by going to Tiffany and asking to see their selection of stones. (Or to Jared's and focusing on the "Peerless" range).

[dano28481]

Thank you very much for your help so far. I made a mistake. The Girdle is Medium, not the Facet. I have not seen the stone, this one is online. It is on brilliance.com. Does anyone know anything about them? I have looked at some stones in person and I know that I at least want something that is SI2 I Very Good or better. I was hoping that this one would be.

[davidelevi]

The problem is: do you want a diamond that is I/SI2/VG based on whose standards? If GIA's, this is unlikely to be it.

On the other hand, to land a 1.2x GIA I/SI2/VG that is decently clean, you need to spend about $7-8000, not less than $5000.

[LaurieH]

To get a rough idea of *just* how good you can get for your budget, I'd advise opening up a tab with the Diamond Finder tool (top of the page) and plugging in your basics and seeing the results you come up with. Keep revising here and there til you're in the ballpark that you want to be in. Keep in mind GIA and AGS are going to be the most accurate and most consistently graded stones, and because of that, they're going to command a higher price. EGL will *appear* to be cheaper for the same thing, but even if they're putting the same letters and numbers on their certs for Color and Clarity, they're going to be priced closer to their ACTUAL GIA graded counterparts, so if you're seeing D SI1 EGLs priced at the same as G SI2 GIAs (just as an example), you'll know what you're *really* getting. Just make sure that's what you really *want*.

Good luck and happy hunting.