Besides that score, the Hearts and Arrows look great too. Clarity looks good too. What do you think?

From your comments throughout this thread, I do realise you recommend briangavindiamonds as a top choice compared to whiteflash, enchanteddiamonds etc when buying online? For their good Hearts and Arrows standards?

Yes, Brian Gavin Diamonds cut the most consistent Hearts among all the vendors in the states. In fact, Brian Gavin co-founded WhiteFlash before leaving the company and form his own company.

WhiteFlash inventory sometimes will still have a bit of hit and miss, but since they have the largest AGS inventory, it is not something surprising to have something like that in the mix. Good thing about WhiteFlash is that their customer service and after-sales service is actually very very good.

High Performance Diamonds carry the Crafted By Infinity brand. This brand also cut some pretty solid Hearts. However, sometimes the images portrayed in their website is not that good and does not justify the real quality of their diamonds. Nonetheless, what makes Crafted by Infinity a strong competitor is that their diamonds have a consistent look as they have a proprietary formula to make sure of that. Hearts and Arrows is just a by-product of their well-cut diamonds, their true consistency is in terms of performance.

Of course, other vendors can have similar diamonds as well, and usually the rule of thumb to increase the fire is to have a smaller table and also shorter lower girdles.

Enchanted Diamonds mostly run on virtual inventory. Majority of the diamonds won't come close to what the other super ideal vendors are offering. However, their prices are pretty good for typical GIA diamonds, especially those of larger sizes.

Do we have Lowyat guys successfully getting their diamonds from Brian Gavin? Also, lastly, any comments about AGS versus GIA?

This post has been edited by tzehan_dk: May 30 2019, 04:11 PM

Yea. Quite a few. I have 2 small ones personally. 0.2ct each. I also got few referrals from Lowyat too. That being said, in case you are buying, appreciate you can use my referral link: http://www.briangavindiamonds.com?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link).

Here is some information regarding AGS vs GIA: https://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamond-gra...arity-and-color.

General consensus is that one grade apart for colour/clarity is common for both labs, and it can go either way.

GIA is still the most well-recognized lab.

AGS is more advance in terms of grading cut quality.

AGS fluorescence negligible = GIA fluorescence none/faint.

Since the stone you are interested in is 1 carat and above, you will get the GIA diamond report with the clarity plotting diagram. However, if your diamond is smaller, GIA mostly will only provide a diamond dossier without the clarity plotting diagram, while those US super ideal vendors still provide a full-plotting diagram as they opt for the top range report from AGS.

If you are buying over RM 30k. One day max wire is RM 30k, therefore you need to split into two days.

If you are transferring using MoneyMatch, other than the original REF_ACOO for first time user RM 30 off, you can try my other referral code to get another RM 25 off for subsequent transfer, I think it is working, so it is worth a shot. Will PM you.

Any idea when Brian Gavin is doing another sale/discount for their diamonds?

Usually year end.

They have it occasionally as well now and then. Do note that their discount does not apply to black by Brian Gavin collection.

Also, it already include 3 percent wire discount as well.

Black is too costly. Looking at BG Signature collection anyway. Thanks for the help. Will keep in mind of your referral code if making a purchase.

No problem. And thanks!

This is a beautiful 1.085ct diamond from WhiteFlash:
https://www.myengagementringexperience.com/...-of-1085ct.html

Hi All Sifu,

I'm actually looking at proposal ring at around 5k budget (inclusive of diamond and ring).

I went to Audrey website and noticed a lot of diamond that is quite attractive but would like more of your opinions:

https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=7326822374

https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2327667887

https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2327156297

Personally i would prefer the below as the carat size is 0.42, but the only thing is the color is I which i'm not sure whether it will be colourless?

https://www.gia.edu/report-check?reportno=2317590340


Also, i'll be visiting physical stores such as Love & Co, Wah Chan, Poh Kong, TOMEI, and others. Is there anything that I should be aware when visiting the stores to ensure that I'm not being charged overpriced?

This post has been edited by eoahud: Jun 7 2019, 03:15 PM

There are no images nor videos. It is not recommended to buy blindly like that.

Could you provide some recommendation? I though Audreys is a trusted seller for diamonds?

They are of course well-trusted. Been in the Malaysia scene for quite a long time.

What I meant was you need to at least have the diamond pictures or videos to make a better decision, if not the actual diamond on-hand. I am able to find the diamonds you mentioned on Enchanted Diamonds, this mean the diamonds are considered virtual inventory and Audrey does not own them. However, they may be able to get the actual pictures or videos for you.

First of all, all the diamonds do not have my preferred proportions, but that is entirely personal because I prefer to stick to WhiteFlash parameters in general:
https://www.whiteflash.com/a-cut-above-diam...id=myengringexp (affiliate link).

I won't comment that much on the proportions for now, rather, I am more interested in the price:

GIA 7326822374, 0.36ct, G, IF, Strong fluorescence is listed as RM 3,879.25 on Audrey's site as of now.
GIA 2327667887, 0.35ct, E, VVS1 Medium Blue fluorescence is listed as RM 3,748.94 on Audrey's site as of now.
GIA 2327156297, 0.40ct, H, VVS1, Faint fluorescence is listed as RM 3,939.06 on Audrey's site as of now.
GIA 2317590340, 0.42ct, I, VVS1, Faint fluorescence is listed as RM 3,591.94 on Audrey's site as of now.

Now, the price on Enchanted Diamonds are as below:
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view...amond-085Z6Z8Z0 - USD 790, converts to RM 3315.57.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view...amond-529474140 - USD 770, converts to RM 3231.63.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view...amond-5281Z5317 - USD 810, converts to RM 3399.51.
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view...amond-657873157 - USD 740, converts to RM 3105.73.

And yes, shipping is free to Malaysia. No taxes on loose diamonds. So as you can see, if you buy the diamonds you selected, and get your ring setting set at https://memoryjewellery.com/category/engagement-ring/, which starts from RM 1499.00, you can stick to your budget of RM 5000.00, with some change. However, if you buy from Audrey's in this case, you will go beyond the price, unless Audrey's charge you lesser for the ring setting.

Of course, we have to understand Audrey's provide one-stop service for everything, so the extra spent for peace of mind may be worthwhile too, for some. Besides, Audrey's can probably price-match the price provided by Enchanted Diamonds. If they can't, I believe ZCOVA can. I have heard from one of the forumers that ZCOVA price-match the price on Enchanted Diamonds for his diamond before.

So, this is how Virtual Inventory works. Everyone can source from the same supplier - Audrey's, Enchanted Diamonds, ZCOVA, etc.

There is another jeweller known as The Gem Tribe (you can Facebook them). They do some rather beautiful settings and they source the diamonds locally here in Malaysia, by looking at the real thing. They might be able to fit your budget. I cannot comment on their diamond selection much, but I would say different people have different preference on their selection parameters. The Gem Tribe selects diamond by using their experience and expertise as a GIA Gemologist, so I would say I have to respect that. Ultimately, this is a best time for consumers because as a consumer, we have more options.

Again, back to the original topic, as I mentioned, we don't know how is the cut unless one of the jewellers listed above manage to get the images or videos of those diamonds. But base on your budget, allow me to show you some of the options with some excellent cut quality:
https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link). Although this piece falls under the standard signature quality, but its cut quality is already much better than most diamonds you can find in the virtual inventory. I would say it provides quite a good value. You can try to ask fro free shipping and see if it is possible from them, if not, you may need to fork out extra USD 50+- for shipping.
Assuming shipping is free, this stone is USD 867, and it converts to RM 3638.74.

You can also aim to go higher carat with this:
https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link) - USD 837, and this converts to RM 3512.83.

https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link) - USD 854, and this converts to RM 3584.18.

Both are J colour. Facing-up, it will still look pretty white. This is based on my experience with a 0.2ct J colour Brian Gavin Diamond. The colour is more noticeable from the side-view of the diamond, but usually people won't view the diamond from the side that much.

Again, the options from Brian Gavin will blow your budget of RM 5K, but not by a lot. Personally, given such circumstances, I think I would possibly go with the 0.357ct E VVS2, unless 0.4ct is important to me.

Do note that exchange rates are provided by MoneyMatch, an award-winning money remittance company that is under the governance of Bank Negara. So you are as safe as you can get when it comes to money remittance. Besides, for first-timers, you can get RM 30 off your first transaction using my referral code REF_ACOO.

Now, if you want to go to brick-and-mortar stores, feel free to do so. You may discover some diamonds have a tremendous difference in price, but that is not because the quality is better, but more because they are more cost involved in selling diamonds in a brick-and-mortar store. But still, it is a good experience in case you want to compare. If you want to know which brick-and-mortar store offer pretty affordable price, Wah Chan seems to have a good reputation in this.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

This post has been edited by kambingkoh: Jun 7 2019, 07:39 PM

Thanks so much for your detailed explanation! Appreciate it alot.

Firstly I think I will personally visit brick and mortar stores, and if their expectation is not what i needed i will definitely go for Brian Gavin diamond and buy one of the ring setting from wah chan, tomei, poh kong, or others depending on their design.

@kambingkoh

Apparently Brian Gavin does good/perfect Hearts and Arrows for their Cushion shapes too. What do you think? Something like this.

https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...#33;prettyPhoto[gallery2]/0/

I haven't seen one before... All I can say is that round brilliant is still the most popular and has the best performance overall. But I would consider their cushion if I wanted something different than the norm. Besides, I believe this has a lower price per carat too.

Since their cushion looks more like a round too, I believe their performance should be pretty good as well. At least personally, I would buy a cushion over a princess cut.

@kambingkoh Was eyeing a diamond on BG that got sold. Am now checking these 2 out. Which do you think is a better stone? I think the HnA looks better on the 1.373c stone, but they're close, I'm not completely sure. Better clarity obviously goes to the 1.35c. But which is better overall?

https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...#33;prettyPhoto[gallery2]/0/

or

https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...#33;prettyPhoto[gallery2]/1/

This post has been edited by tzehan_dk: Jun 10 2019, 07:05 PM

Personally, i will go with https://www.briangavindiamonds.com/diamonds...?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link). I like the crown angle and the pavilion angle pairing as it is closest to the original Tolkowsky numbers. And yes, the hearts is slightly better, if we look at the gap between the VS and the Hearts. It also has a smaller table too, which usually means more crown area from a 2D perspective, so more area for the light to bend, but this is just theory.

There is a feather near the edge of this diamond. However, since this is vvs2, I won't be too worry about it.

The downside of this stone is definitely the price. There is a few hundred ringgit difference between these 2 stones, but I don't see there is much difference if terms of size from mm perspective. It is hard for human eye to track such little differences. So whether is worth or not, is really up to individual.

What I usually do in this sort of situation is always ask the consultants to help me pick one which has the best fire, best brilliance, best scintillation, whichever your preference is. If they say they can't tell any difference, then i guess saving few hundred ringgit is worthwhile with the H VVS1 stone.

Woah, this is overwhelming information, I have no clue about engagement ring but I have a budget around RM 10K?

any sifus kind to advice ? I can see a lot of pp getting via online.

https://black.briangavindiamonds.com/diamon...?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link). Try to ask for free delivery.

You can focus on size with G color as well :
https://black.briangavindiamonds.com/diamon...?a_aid=myengexp (affiliate link)

Both will break your budget a little. But they are some of th me best cut diamonds in the world. Remember to try to ask for free delivery. May get for free. If not, should probably cost around USD 50 and above.

Mind you that there is already a premium charge for such stones. To save more, you can consider diamonds from our local vendors, such as Zcova. The cut quality will usually be not as great, but they are worthy to consider if you are considering a typical GIA diamond that is not too bad. RM 8680 for 0.5ct with a ring is a pretty good price!

This post has been edited by kambingkoh: Jun 11 2019, 01:00 AM