What insrtuments work and what don''t?

[freaknyea]

When determining a quality Princess cut which instruments work and which are worthless?
I hear the Brilliance Scope is not all it is cracked up to be ...
Not just the Brilliance Scope though I am wondering about all that are available in determining Princess quality.
Now of course the Eyes are the final Deciding factor but other than that what is the best and what is the worst?
Hope this brings up a great topic...
Thank You...
Chris Roblee


P.S. Maybe someone will give either an example or an explanation on what each instrument does also... Looking forward to some answers

 

[strmrdr]

1> experts eyeballs

2> your eyeballs

3> ideal-scope - shows light return - has been out long enough that a lot of people know how to read them.

4> ASET scope - shows light return and angles its collected from - New and limited info avaialble. likely will take over the #3 spot.

5> b-scope - When used and applied properly

AGS cut grade is a great first filter to be used before the others are applied.

 

[WinkHPD]

It sounds as if my friend Storm is becoming slowly but surely converted into a believer in the ASET. I would go with his list with the definite exchange of the idealscope and the ASET, but then I have been around the ASET a little longer than he has. Both will give you good information to tell you what you are seeing and why a stone looks so good or so bad. Both are an adjunct to the eyes, and as was shown in another thread, a dissagreement about AGS0''s several knowledgeable people looked at an ASET and were all consistent in their opinions which if I understood correctly correlated to what live people saw in Rhino''s store.

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

P>S> Rhino, ya gotta call me man and tell me how you are getting your photos, mine are not doing so well, I only get about 2/3''ds of the stone...

Wink

 

[valeria101]

They say ASET is better for fancies... but there is no fool proof recipe to read the results! If you do get ASET pictures with the stone pass by and post them. Since this would be among the first, chances are you will get more (trully) expert advice than needed.

If you are inclined to roam jewelry shops with a ''scope, than why not - either IdealScope or Aset would serve, with the IS being easier to use, IMO.

I like the DiamCalc despite the issues with measurement & All. Even bad numbers have a way of telling things. And it may be feasible for you to get a full Sarin report (in the form of a .srn file) that DiamCalc can handle. And... I am not sure how hard it is to run the machine twice

The advantage with Sarin is that it may be easier to get by a jeweler who otherwise is tollerant to the notion of ''ideal cuts'' without giving it too much attention.

Just a thought.

It seems that ideal cuts come with most of these tests and cut quality reports in toe, not just one. At least if buying online.

Paul''s Infinity Diamonds and Exceldiamonds list many Princess cuts with several ''Scope reports. Same do NiceIce, GoodOldGold, Whiteflash, Wink (with diamonds by Infinity, so his are on the other list too) and some other Pricescope ''usuals'' I might have forgotten.

 

[freaknyea]

Wink if you ever get an ASET picture on that Princess maybe you could post it here also..
Chris

 

[WinkHPD]

I sent you the picture that I got that is about 2/3''s of the stone, what I got looks remarkably like the picture on the left in the dissagreement about AGS0''s thread, but this one pegs two very high''s and a high on the BrillianceScope, which further validates the opinion that you can not correlate the BS reading with a certain look on the ASET.

I will keep working at it, but need to go to the photo store when they are open to see if I can get a connecter to attach my camera to the ASET the way that I do to my microscope.

Wink

 

[WinkHPD]

I came down to the office to get my camera and the ASET to see if I can get an attachment. Here is the best photo I have gotten so far, it is a princess cut. Now you can see why I am asking Rhino to take mercy on me, this simply is not sufficient to supply to people.

RHINO, help me man, what is the secret to your stunning photos?

Wink

 

[freaknyea]

If anybody wants to comment on how colors should be in relation to each other on Ideal scope or ASET image on a princess stone that would be helpful. Knowing what each colors means is not too difficult but what combination in Priness stones is good and what is bad. Thank you... Chris

 

[MissAva]

You may want to read through these 3 threads and then see what you still need clarified for you! 3 HTH.

 

[MissAva]

Also while we are on the topic I was told that the Ideal Scope is somewhat flighty and can produce very misleading results. Is this true? Can you tell from pictures when this is happening?

 

[Mara]

I would say for me the two big things would be the eye and the ideal scope (when used/lit properly etc...you have to practice a bit with it first) to judge a princess cut stone. The numbers would be important as well but for a fancy I''d definitely use my eye/expert''s trusted eye and IS.

BrillianceScope or ASET or the like would be a nice to have. Just my two cents!

 

[perry]

one problem with saying to use a person "eye''s" is that unless the person is an expert or has seen a large varity of different cut diamonds (poor to well cut) they do not know what they are looking at. Many a jeweler depends on this. Even "dog" diamonds look good to the untrained eye.

I found that the Ideal Scope works best when the diamond is put into the light table accessory that is sold with it (and leveled). Really helps keep things uniform. Other than that, it takes minimal amount of time to learn to use it.

The ASAT is also neat (and I have looked at an AGS 000 princess through one, along with my idealscope)- but you need to understand more of what is going on.

Perry

 

[mdx]

Date: 9/24/2005 4:53:48 PM
Author: Wink
I came down to the office to get my camera and the ASET to see if I can get an attachment. Here is the best photo I have gotten so far, it is a princess cut. Now you can see why I am asking Rhino to take mercy on me, this simply is not sufficient to supply to people.

RHINO, help me man, what is the secret to your stunning photos?

Wink

Hi Wink

If its any help, here is a setup we found works OK. Its a Perspex frosted frame with one of Gary''s trays holding the stone. It gives you a diffused backlight using natural light.

Camera set on Macro mode

Johan

 

[mdx]

..........and here is am image of a very mediocre Princess Cut using this set up


Johan

 

[WinkHPD]

Nice photo. I have the desk top unit that is supposed to allow me to take better photos, I will keep experimenting and go back to the hand held with a set up like yours if I have to. I know the desk top can work, I have seen Rhino''s photos. Seems there is always SOMETHING more to learn each day. Thank goodness, it keeps life interesting!

Wink