Q&A: Wants Best Price for 3/4ct D/E/F Color VVS1/VVS2 Clarity Round Brilliant Super Ideal Hearts & Arrows

Hi Ira, Congratulations on your large family! I’m one of 5 and so many siblings when growing up was a real blessing! We’re all slowly getting married ourselves now. The only problem with such a large family is that I’ll have to memorize an abundance of new birthdays for nephews and nieces!

I have a quick query about diamonds you may be able to help with. I have been doing several weeks of research to select a perfect diamond for the woman I hope to spend the rest of my life with.

My brother in law recommended a US jeweler he used to buy his crystal and, given the criteria I value (clarity & cut above size) they suggested: 0.74ct E/VVS2 H&A AGS000 for $5200 Yet on James Allen I find: 0.72 Carat E-VVS2 Hearts & Arrows Ideal Cut Round Diamond AGS certified Ideal 0 $3960. Could there be diamond-specific reasons for the apparent difference in price? Or would they all be related to fat markups?

Some jewelers I’ve spoken to say that 2 diamonds of the same specifications could appear very different, which seems to defeat the purpose of a grading system!

With all very best wishes, M

Hi Ira,

Thanks very much for your lightning fast reply!

They are a typical bricks and mortar jeweler who has worked with my brother in law’s family for the longest time. I know they regularly do trips to Antwerp to select diamonds themselves, but I suppose that’s true of several. They have one branch as far as I’m aware. I don’t know if they wholesale but they only have a modest web presence.

I hope this helps.

Thank-you very much. I’ll read it carefully.

Greetings from yesterday in California.

Hi Ira,

Thanks very much for your quick reply and apologies for the delay of mine. Things have been a little hectic around Thanksgiving here!

Thank-you for the diamond suggestions.

I doubt very much that Z. (my better half) will be all that surprised when I propose but she has commented when friends got engaged that her ideal stone is a little smaller than the ones they had. Hence I thought a ~0.75ct one may be perfect.

I am a protein crystallographer by profession so spend a lot of time looking at protein crystals under high magnification. By X-ray exposure, imperfect crystals never deliver the goods so I was hoping for a diamond as close to flawless as possible (not that I’d ever put it in an X-ray beam!). With a 0.75ct stone, there may be a little room in the budget for enhanced clarity. I also like the symbolic aspect of giving as close to a perfect stone as possible.

Hence I was looking at the VVS2 one. I appreciate that by eye they are indistinguishable but I’d certainly put it under a microscope. What I’m wondering is how variable these gradings are. Would the same AGS gemologist ever grade a diamond VVS2 one day and VS1 the next? And is one gemologist’s VVS2 another’s VVS1?

I asked the jeweler here in the states about whether the price discrepancy could be made to vanish. They said they inspect and hand select all diamonds by eye and so on and that AGS cut gradings are not what they were. And they said the 0.74ct VVS2 was a great price at $5200, short of getting a branded diamond. I note the certificate date is several years ago. Is this something to worry about?

I’m sorry about this bombardment but I’m really grateful for your help.

All best wishes from California.

Thanks very much for this Ira. I did notice the Internally Flawless ones!

I did suspect a little bit of fear was being used to justify a high price. Indeed, when I started this, an uncertified SI1 of 0.9ct was being offered there for $5500 and this jeweler said most of their customers go for the Hearts on Fire stone.

I mentioned one diamond in a past email:
https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-VVS2-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1253637.asp

Could you look at it? Without the loupe I see a feather on the kite at 12 o’clock and I see I prick on the kite a 5 o’clock and 2 on the table at 6 and 9. Could this be dust? The table ones do worry me.

Regarding the certificates – on James Allen most have been certified in the last few months. Should it set alarm bells ringing if it’s older than this?

On a separate matter perhaps I could ask your opinion on a setting.

Do you think a 0.75 odd ct stone is too small for a 6 prong solitaire like:

https://www.jamesallen.com/engagement-rings/solitaire/diamond-solitaire-rings.html

I like it simple and elegant and I like 6-fold symmetry but it may look a little silly if the stone is too small. The specifications state 0.5 – 5.99ct (I wish!) but I’m not sure the setting will look a little crowded at the lower end.

With all best wishes & thanks again for all your help.

Thanks Ira.

I’ll certainly do that.

…..

Hi Ira,

It’s done! I’ve selected a diamond and I’ve just emailed James Allen to hold it for me! I’m so excited I’m shaking!

I’ve actually gone a shade down in weight to 0.63ct but up to vvs1. Z has often mentioned that some diamonds (like my sister’s) are too large so I think 5.55mm across would be just perfect.

https://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/E-VVS1-Ideal-Cut-Round-Diamond-1194958.asp

You know – I think it’s just what I and Z will want.

Thanks a lot for all your help – your website really has been the most spectacular resource. I’ve passed it on to several people already.