Need Help Between Two Diamonds

[f22cb9]

Hello All,

I've been doing a lot of research and tons of reading on this forum,I want to say thanks to everyone for all the amazing information.

I am ready to purchase an engagement ring for my gf of almost 11 years, we've been dating since high school and it's time.

I originally placed an order on BN and was ready to make the wire transfer when I did some more reading and stumbled into the HCA tool. I then searched for another diamond and place an order on that last night. At this point, I've concluded I don't know as much as I thought I did, so I better ask the experts here.

Diamond 1, HCA 3.7:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD03066785

Diamond 2, HCA 0.7:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD04181368

Which of the two is the better diamond if cost are equal? Which one is going to have the most sparkle (fire?)?

 

[JulieN]

I'd get a Signature Ideal, at least there is a picture I can look at.
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD04364562?click_id=883864622

 

[Lorelei]

Hello All,

I've been doing a lot of research and tons of reading on this forum,I want to say thanks to everyone for all the amazing information.

I am ready to purchase an engagement ring for my gf of almost 11 years, we've been dating since high school and it's time.

I originally placed an order on BN and was ready to make the wire transfer when I did some more reading and stumbled into the HCA tool. I then searched for another diamond and place an order on that last night. At this point, I've concluded I don't know as much as I thought I did, so I better ask the experts here.

Diamond 1, HCA 3.7:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD03066785

Diamond 2, HCA 0.7:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD04181368

Which of the two is the better diamond if cost are equal? Which one is going to have the most sparkle (fire?)?

Hi F22 and welcome!

Personally, I would keep looking, the first diamond could show light leakage which isn't what you want, the second might be ok but I wouldn't buy it without an Idealscope image at least as this proportion combo might make the stone look dark on occasion.

Take a look at the diamond Julie posted, she knows her stuff or if that isn't suitable for you we can see what else is out there that might fit your needs.

 

[f22cb9]

Thanks for the advice. Hoe does going down to a color H grade, but stepping up to a signature ideal cut sound? It keeps me in my budget of max $12.5K for a 1.25+ ct.


*EDIT* how do these look?

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD04473859

http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD04440147

Thanks.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Does it have to come from Blue Nile? I was interested in the 1.37 but it has a HCA score of .6 but it is out of the ideal cut area. So I am not sure what that looks like and would want an idealscope image and magnified image of the stone.

I'd suggest a superideal cut (hearts and arrows stone) instead because there is no guessing in what the stone will be:

http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3172006.htm

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/12081/

 

[darkadam]

Pardon my newbie question, but why is a HCA of 0.6 out of the ideal range ? Is there an ideal range for HCA ? Also how is it out of the ideal cut ? is it because of the 34 CA 40.6 PA combination ?

 

[Lorelei]

Pardon my newbie question, but why is a HCA of 0.6 out of the ideal range ? Is there an ideal range for HCA ? Also how is it out of the ideal cut ? is it because of the 34 CA 40.6 PA combination ?

DS won't be on till later, so I will just jump in here, basically stones scoring below 1 on the HCA can sometimes suffer from a darkening effect when worn in a ring, especially when viewed closely. This is because these often have shallower crown and pavilion angles that can cause an effect described above known as obstruction. The viewer's head and or body shadow the stone at close inspection causing the darkening effect. Some 34/40.6 combos could be perfectly fine depending on the cut precision, but an Idealscope image is really essential for these stones in order to ascertain if obstruction is going to be a problem or not.

 

[darkadam]

DS won't be on till later, so I will just jump in here, basically stones scoring below 1 on the HCA can sometimes suffer from a darkening effect when worn in a ring, especially when viewed closely. This is because these often have shallower crown and pavilion angles that can cause an effect described above known as obstruction. The viewer's head and or body shadow the stone at close inspection causing the darkening effect. Some 34/40.6 combos could be perfectly fine depending on the cut precision, but an Idealscope image is really essential for these stones in order to ascertain if obstruction is going to be a problem or not.

Understood ! Thank you very much for clearing this up for me !

 

[Lorelei]

DS won't be on till later, so I will just jump in here, basically stones scoring below 1 on the HCA can sometimes suffer from a darkening effect when worn in a ring, especially when viewed closely. This is because these often have shallower crown and pavilion angles that can cause an effect described above known as obstruction. The viewer's head and or body shadow the stone at close inspection causing the darkening effect. Some 34/40.6 combos could be perfectly fine depending on the cut precision, but an Idealscope image is really essential for these stones in order to ascertain if obstruction is going to be a problem or not.

Understood ! Thank you very much for clearing this up for me !

Very glad to help!

 

[WinkHPD]

Pardon my newbie question, but why is a HCA of 0.6 out of the ideal range ? Is there an ideal range for HCA ? Also how is it out of the ideal cut ? is it because of the 34 CA 40.6 PA combination ?

DS won't be on till later, so I will just jump in here, basically stones scoring below 1 on the HCA can sometimes suffer from a darkening effect when worn in a ring, especially when viewed closely. This is because these often have shallower crown and pavilion angles that can cause an effect described above known as obstruction. The viewer's head and or body shadow the stone at close inspection causing the darkening effect. Some 34/40.6 combos could be perfectly fine depending on the cut precision, but an Idealscope image is really essential for these stones in order to ascertain if obstruction is going to be a problem or not.

And Wink hollers FOUL!

The HCA does favor shallow cut diamonds a bit too much, but many extraordinarily well cut diamonds can score in the 0.6 - 0.9 range with none of the symptoms of looking dark once mounted, etc.

The HCA is a rejection tool. Once you have decided that the diamond is good enough to look at, which for most of us here is 2.0 or less you can no longer make a choice based on where in that 2.0 or less the diamond falls. At that point we need to look with other tools to see if the "chalk outline" of the diamond lives up to the potential. ( I have seen a few gorgeous diamonds with much higher HCA's too, but the HCA does allow for a quick rejection without having to do the work on dozens of dogs to find the one exception.)

John Pollard has a great sequence of events. In it he states that an HCA is like a chalk outline of the body, after that you need to see a picture and decide if that looks good enough to take "her" on a date.

I do agree with Lorelei that I am not a fan of 40.6 pavilion angles, because if they are even a little bit too big an average deviation to get that average of 40.6 there will be some problem areas in that diamond.

Wink

 

[f22cb9]

I am learning so much here, thanks!

Sort of selecting one that already has already been properly documented (currently considering a JA H&A), what are some crown and pavilion angles that might tip off a good performer?

 

[f22cb9]

How does this one look? Hoping this one is worth ordering and taking a look under and ideal-scope.

GIA 5176798024
Price $10.8k

Measurements
6.94 - 6.95 x 4.29 mm
Carat Weight
1.26 carat
Color Grade
G
Clarity Grade
VVS2
Cut Grade
Excellent
Depth
61.8 %
Table
56 %
Crown Angle
34.5°
Crown Height
15.0%
Pavilion Angle
40.8°
Pavilion Depth
43.0%
Star Length
45%
Lower Half
75%
Girdle
Medium to Slightly Thick, Faceted, 3.5%
Culet
None