Hearts and arrows away from the loupe

[thunkpad]

I''m twiddling my thumbs counting down the days to the 26th when I finally get to see the ring I ordered and thought I''d pose a question while I wait. I''ve ordered a stone which displays ''hearts and arrows''. I''ve seen a zillion of these in magnified pictures but never actually seen one in the flesh (the provincial jewelers in my town wouldn''t know an Ideal cut if it lept up and smacked them round the cheeks let alone a H&A). So, bearing in mine it''s a .71ct stone, how much of the arrows effect do you get to see when it''s on your finger and away from the magnifying glass, and is it something people find attractive in a stone?

 

[strmrdr]

I find it attractive and I see it in my .15 h&a in the right lighting.
Most of the time they will apear bright white and not black but the pattern will still be visible.
When you hold it close .. say 1/2 arm lenth in the right lighting the arrows will pop black or dark.
How much so and how often depends on the lgf% and the crown and pavilion angles and most of all the lighting.

 

[strmrdr]

see this article and the discussion that followed.
Excuse the poor writing in the article it was my first.

http://journal.pricescope.com/Articles/11/1/Hearts--Arrows-Diamonds---Its-not-all-about-light-return.aspx

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 4/7/2006 5:52:12 PM
Author:thunkpad
I''m twiddling my thumbs counting down the days to the 26th when I finally get to see the ring I ordered and thought I''d pose a question while I wait. I''ve ordered a stone which displays ''hearts and arrows''. I''ve seen a zillion of these in magnified pictures but never actually seen one in the flesh (the provincial jewelers in my town wouldn''t know an Ideal cut if it lept up and smacked them round the cheeks let alone a H&A). So, bearing in mine it''s a .71ct stone, how much of the arrows effect do you get to see when it''s on your finger and away from the magnifying glass, and is it something people find attractive in a stone?

Some Thunkpad thumb twiddling going on, huh?

The only time you will ever see arrows as dark as in magnified static photographs or ideal-scope images is if you held the diamond absolutely still and then blocked the light from directly above. The darkness you see in these photos is caused by obstruction Those are areas on a diamond where light would normally enter and exit from extremely high angles. The camera is blocking that direct light, so those areas go dark in the static and centered view. The same thing happens when a diamond is still and the viewer''s head is directly over it. When unobstructed (practically all of the time) those arrows are never so obvious. More on head shadow in this ideal-scope newsletter. There is also a piece in the PS video gallery on head obstruction.

The difference you see in a diamond, unobstructed to obstructed, is a measure of that diamond''s contrast. Remember that diamonds are dynamic things, not static. Much of their beauty is related to movement. With good contrast you will see a rapid-fire, on/off quality to the scintillation as the diamond moves. A nice, precise pattern of arrows with contrast is evidence of good cutting and symmetry. Good H&A diamonds are not the only ones that have this effect - many well-cut diamonds show it.

As an example of the difference contrast via obstruction makes, here are cosine squared images of 2 stones. They are identical, except that a 30 degree cone of obstruction, equivalent to an observer’s head, is present in the one on the right.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Strm, I was posting at the same time as you were. You recall the conversation that ensued from that article, don't you? Have you ever considered adding the links to those symmetry pieces?

 

[thunkpad]

Thanks for the replies - and a great discussion following your article strmdr. Can''t wait to get the stone and add my two penneth

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 4/7/2006 6:28:39 PM
Author: JohnQuixote
Strm, I was posting at the same time as you were. You recall the conversation that ensued from that article, don't you? Have you ever considered adding the links to those symmetry pieces?

Iv thought about redoing the article but its my first so I kinda want to leave it alone.
There is some poor wording that Iv thought of changing but then it wouldnt be the same.. ya know?
The links are in the follow up conversation which is linked from the article.

hmmmm maybe I should do a part 2 with more of what iv learned since then.
That would be kicken.