first off, wanting to say hi.
Some background: I''m searching for a center-diamond for a ring, round brilliant, from 0.3 to 0.7 carats (big range, i know, but it''s more important to fit her finger and have a ring design i like). If anything i''d go smaller and better, but that''s just me.
And now some questions:
1) Super ideals/branded, are they still worth it? I see there have been several threads about this in the past. But they are all generally several years old (the acronym "8*" is unfortunately unsearchable). So in ''02 the Eightstar was better than anything, and yet much more expensive. Has the rest of the market improved in these last few years? What about HoF? I guess i''m wondering why they''ve stopped being mentioned? Do you know any jeweler that used to carry the 8star or another brand and dropped them, and if so, why they did so? Which would you recommend?
2) Polish, I work in semiconductors so I notice polish because i''m doing it daily on the sub-micron level. When looking at several local stores i''ve seen lots of terrible polish, with visible scratches and or a buffed appearance. One of the jewelers had a HoF fire diamond to show me, it was only 0.25 and "i" color, but it was so much smoother than any of the others i''ve seen. Do the super-ideal companies use a finer slurry when they''re polishing? And is this part of the major difference of the super-ideals to normal stock?
3) This is a geek question, does anyone know how diamonds react with corrosive gases like xenon-difluoride. I was just thinking of etching our wedding vows into the diamond or the ring with an FIB (ion beam), but maybe it would be better to use a laser instead (yes i have lots of toys at work, and the diamond will definitely be inspected in a SEM once it is purchased).
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Oh, and i''m going to be posting this same post on a few other boards, just so i can get a more rounded opinion. Just so if you see it on another message board, it''s still me.
Some background: I''m searching for a center-diamond for a ring, round brilliant, from 0.3 to 0.7 carats (big range, i know, but it''s more important to fit her finger and have a ring design i like). If anything i''d go smaller and better, but that''s just me.
And now some questions:
1) Super ideals/branded, are they still worth it? I see there have been several threads about this in the past. But they are all generally several years old (the acronym "8*" is unfortunately unsearchable). So in ''02 the Eightstar was better than anything, and yet much more expensive. Has the rest of the market improved in these last few years? What about HoF? I guess i''m wondering why they''ve stopped being mentioned? Do you know any jeweler that used to carry the 8star or another brand and dropped them, and if so, why they did so? Which would you recommend?
2) Polish, I work in semiconductors so I notice polish because i''m doing it daily on the sub-micron level. When looking at several local stores i''ve seen lots of terrible polish, with visible scratches and or a buffed appearance. One of the jewelers had a HoF fire diamond to show me, it was only 0.25 and "i" color, but it was so much smoother than any of the others i''ve seen. Do the super-ideal companies use a finer slurry when they''re polishing? And is this part of the major difference of the super-ideals to normal stock?
3) This is a geek question, does anyone know how diamonds react with corrosive gases like xenon-difluoride. I was just thinking of etching our wedding vows into the diamond or the ring with an FIB (ion beam), but maybe it would be better to use a laser instead (yes i have lots of toys at work, and the diamond will definitely be inspected in a SEM once it is purchased).
-------------------
Oh, and i''m going to be posting this same post on a few other boards, just so i can get a more rounded opinion. Just so if you see it on another message board, it''s still me.
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