diamond experts...need help verifying how good this is

[Zeze]

Keep in mind that diamonds fell in price slightly over the past decade. What you paid 6 years ago is probably more than what you would pay today.

Didn't they skyrocket due to the rise of middle class in China that wanting diamond?

Like 20-30% increase in last 3-5 years.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I didn't.. my fiance was too busy crying.. I'd like to think it's joy not the hopelessness she has gotten herself into.

Crying after you pulled your pants down most likely? :biggrin:

 

[MagickMan]

A legit graded SI1 can be pretty good... but yeah a GGL SI1-2 is going to be tragically bad.

That's my thinking, in reality it's probably an I1.

 

[SSSnail]

Honestly, anything less than VVS1 and you might as well buy a fugazy. What makes a diamond rare? Clarity. Otherwise, it'd be just a shiny piece of compressed coal. Or fugazy.

 

[jagec]

Most over rated thing on the face of this planet.

More overrated than Twilight, Tim Tebow, the iPad, or political promises? I don't think so.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Cut is the most important C....

anyways to be sure i'm reading correctly ou bought 3 round stones with a tw of .96?

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Honestly they have you so stuck— your best girl there, tense-kneed, and moistening while her (mouth slightly open) eyes sparkle over the radiant assortment. Some salesman, perhaps an apparition, babbling about scintillation while you wash in and out of consciousness between questions of your hand-holding trip to the ice cream parlor and your annual salary. Mind fluttering between the sexual nature of floral skirts lightly brushing hard glass display cases, and the romance of dimly lit mannequins twittering on about the importance of symmetry— the anesthetic of her hand gripping your side, the impossible clarity of the luminescent glass case (a certain bend at the lower back). With her eyes in flames while shimmering baubles dance in and out of existence your dreaming hand floats an expensive pen across the face of a check.

 

[Juddog]

Honestly they have you so stuck— your best girl there, tense-kneed, and moistening while her (mouth slightly open) eyes sparkle over the radiant assortment. Some salesman, perhaps an apparition, babbling about scintillation while you wash in and out of consciousness between questions of your hand-holding trip to the ice cream parlor and your annual salary. Mind fluttering between the sexual nature of floral skirts lightly brushing hard glass display cases, and the romance of dimly lit mannequins twittering on about the importance of symmetry— the anesthetic of her hand gripping your side, the impossible clarity of the luminescent glass case (a certain bend at the lower back). With her eyes in flames while shimmering baubles dance in and out of existence your dreaming hand floats an expensive pen across the face of a check.

They might as well just say "how much do you make? Oh really? Give me your yearly salary divided by half" then go in the back and weave a lampshade out of hundred dollar bills, it would have about as much use as a diamond ring.

 

[jagec]

They might as well just say "how much do you make? Oh really? Give me your yearly salary divided by half" then go in the back and weave a lampshade out of hundred dollar bills, it would have about as much use as a diamond ring.

A hundred dollar bill is still worth $100 on the used market. Not so for diamonds.

 

[Jadow]

GIA graded SI1 can be fine and "eye clean", you have to eyeball it. After doing a metric shit ton of research, ended up getting a GIA SI1 for my wife and it looks perfect to the human eye.

 

[SandEagle]

Cut is the most important C....

anyways to be sure i'm reading correctly ou bought 3 round stones with a tw of .96?

yes sir, that is correct

 

[Zeze]

GIA graded SI1 can be fine and "eye clean", you have to eyeball it. After doing a metric shit ton of research, ended up getting a GIA SI1 for my wife and it looks perfect to the human eye.

Good man. See my post #13.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Good man. See my post #13.

Bill of goods...

 

[SunnyD]

I didn't.. my fiance was too busy crying.. I'd like to think it's joy not the hopelessness she has gotten herself into.

Well, at least you're sort of honest with yourself.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Screw diamonds. If I ever get a ring, I'm getting some sort of exotic material ring. Graphene ring would be kickass.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Graphene ring would be kickass.

Uhhh, yeah.... Do you even know what that is?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Uhhh, yeah.... Do you even know what that is?

I hope your answer isn't something stupid like "carbon" because thats freaking obvious.

Its the fact that its expensive to manufacture high quality graphene and its complexity that makes it awesome. Its that fact that makes it exotic, not the fact that its carbon.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

yes sir, that is correct

I think you did fine then. The fact that they are three smaller stones makes the importance of clarity even less. The smaller the facets the more difficult to discern the inclusion with the naked eye.

 

[NutBucket]

GIA graded SI1 can be fine and "eye clean", you have to eyeball it. After doing a metric shit ton of research, ended up getting a GIA SI1 for my wife and it looks perfect to the human eye.

"Eye clean" depends on how good your eyes are

 

[SSSnail]

Yeah, ”eye clean” counts for social gathering, but pretty much worthless in other settings.

 

[Zeze]

Yeah, ”eye clean” counts for social gathering, but pretty much worthless in other settings.

Isn't that what the worthless diamond is for? Social gathering, showing off, enjoying it, etc.

If you got something eye-clean, and ended up with bigger carat and maximum cut (most important), what's the problem than same budget spent on smaller carat, worse cut, but better clarity?

 

[SphinxnihpS]

I hope your answer isn't something stupid like "carbon" because thats freaking obvious.

Its the fact that its expensive to manufacture high quality graphene and its complexity that makes it awesome. Its that fact that makes it exotic, not the fact that its carbon.

Not what I had in mind, no.

More that graphene by definition is 1 atom thick. Don't you want to be able to see your ring?

As to your other points: It's cheap as fuck to make. Get a pencil and some Scotch tape. If you really want a graphene ring, take a pencil and draw it on your finger, and there ya go! It also completely lacks any complexity whatsoever; it is literally the simplest regular molecular structure carbon can form.

 

[SSSnail]

Isn't that what the worthless diamond is for? Social gathering, showing off, enjoying it, etc.

If you got something eye-clean, and ended up with bigger carat and maximum cut (most important), what's the problem than same budget spent on smaller carat, worse cut, but better clarity?

I guess in the grand scheme of things, ultimately the girls just want something for their friends to oooh and ahhh over.

Most of the time, a higher clarity diamond will have the better cut, I have not really seen one that have great clarity that's cut like crap. They just command better attention from the cutter. I mean, would you spend your time perfecting something that's not very good to begin with?

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Isn't that what the worthless diamond is for? Social gathering, showing off, enjoying it, etc.

If you got something eye-clean, and ended up with bigger carat and maximum cut (most important), what's the problem than same budget spent on smaller carat, worse cut, but better clarity?

Eye clean...

All gem-quality clarity ratings are eye clean. It is under 10x magnification that gems are categorized. Eye clean is marketing lingo for "Come over here to the lower cost higher markup section", or "I know you want all those fancy Vs in your certificate, but since you can't afford them don't worry so much these diamonds are really all the same as long as YOU can't tell the difference."

In other words, the store might sell you an ideal 1ct. E VVS1 for $8000 where the markup is 200% or an ideal 1ct. E SI2 for $5000 at a 300% markup. Or they use it as a point of confusion. Either way it's a bill of goods, and should be insulting.

I have said here numerous times that there are many factors in pricing/grading diamonds, they are interrelated, and all of them exist for a reason: to differentiate diamonds. None of them will have no impact on the buy or sell price.

 

[HumblePie]

I recently got an engagement ring. Thought it was decent deal. It is a radiant cut, .81 carat, listed as excellent cut/polish, SI1 clarity, and H color. Seems eye clear to me with only a little carbon spot but only if you tilt it and know where to look for it. Looking straight at it you'll never see it as it's hidden in the cut pretty damn well. Even then it's hard to see with my 10x jeweler loop. Yes I do own one.

Polish is also great on it. Was rated by the GIA (just checked to make sure). I paid $1312 for the single stone and the setting was about $300. Girlfriend loved it so can't complain.

But for the OP's question...

Doesn't sound like much of a deal to me. You get 3 stones which are all smaller than 1/3rd of a carat more than likely. So in otherwords cheaper stones. They are pretty bottom of the barrel in terms of color/clarity and can be that way and still look decent because they are rather small stones. then you pretty much paid more than what I did for my ring which I got online. Doesn't seem like all that good of a deal to me personally.

For reference, if I had to do it all again, I would do it the same. Keep an eye on the online inventory for Bluenile, USAA, and ExcelDiamonds to see what they have in stock for the price range you are looking to spend. They are all very competitive and have good stones for the diamond market. The main difference you'll run into is the settings available, which has a TON of mark up as well at retail stores. Same setting design I got was something I saw at helzberg for about $1500 which I got for $300. Only because mine was "inspired by" design of some silly logo maker that marks their shit way to far up thinking that their design in a setting is worth 100x times more than anyone else. You aren't paying for the value of the materials at that point, nor really the labor cost involved in making the setting. You are just lining some designers bank account with more money for no reason.