Trying to figure out the princess shape

[ekys]

I'm sure this is an annoying type of Newbie first post, so apologies in advance.

I have been researching diamonds online for some time now, knowing that I'd be looking at buying a ring this year.

Having eventually talked to my partner and discovered that a princess shape is what she likes, I've been a little bit thrown.

I can't get my head around what I should be looking for in depth, table and girdle or measurement ratio.

From what I've read (although admittedly not understood well ) the depth should be 59-70%, the table 53-65% and the girdle thin to thick. The measurement ratios around 1:1 to 1:1.09. The main issue is, I haven't actually seen any diamonds that fall into all those criteria and still sit with the other characteristics I'm looking for which would be minimum for each of Excellent cut, VS1 clarity and H colour.

So are any of these particularly important or is there something else I'm missing? There doesn't seem to be a HCA method of evaluating a princess cut, so maybe I'm missing something obvious?


Really appreciate thoughts and comments...

as an example, one of the diamonds I've looked at is below and the ring is a platinum pave

Shape Princess
Carat 1.01
Colour G
Clarity Vvs2
Cut Excellent
Certificate GIA
Measurements 5.62x5.47x3.96
Culet None
Polish Very Good
Symmetry Very Good
Depth % 72.4%
Table % 76.0%
Fluorescence None
Girdle Medium

http://www.goldenet.com.au/1.01-carat-princess-cut-diamond-ha900-10-23817.html

 

[JulieN]

the only important thing is a picture.

 

[ekys]

Thanks for that.

So outside of the 4Cs I should just keep an eye on girdle and use ASET images?

Bah, I wish Australian online suppliers gave ASET.

 

[kenny]

AGS lab grades the cut of princess shape diamonds.
GIA does not.

I'd look for one that got AGS's top grade of AGS 0.

AGS is in Las Vegas Nevada USA.
Their online member-jeweler look up only works for USA postal codes but it says they have international partners.

I'd call them.

https://www.agslab.com/dealers/ags_dealer_locator.php

Another option is to look for a branded princess cut.
Solasfera makes one.
Whiteflash makes one called ACA. They are in Texas USA, but can ship to you.

Here's an AGS report for a princess cut that got the top AGS 0 cut grade.

 

[sturgeon123456]

Thanks for that.

So outside of the 4Cs I should just keep an eye on girdle and use ASET images?

Bah, I wish Australian online suppliers gave ASET.

James Allen True Hearts princess line, some are nice but they are all deep...

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/p2/?CaratFrom=1.00&CaratTo=15.00&Cut=TrueHearts&PriceFrom=200&PriceTo=999000&Sort=Carat%20asc,%20DefaultOrder

heres a specific stone I like the faceting of.....its a 2 chevron princess cut plus it looks like a good performing stone

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.07-carat-i-color-vs1-clarity-sku-283662

 

[sturgeon123456]

AGS lab grades the cut of princess shape diamonds.
GIA does not.

I'd look for one that got AGS's top grade of AGS 0.

AGS is in Las Vegas Nevada USA.
Their online member-jeweler look up only works for USA postal codes but it says they have international partners.

I'd call them.

https://www.agslab.com/dealers/ags_dealer_locator.php

Another option is to look for a branded princess cut.
Solasfera makes one.
Whiteflash makes one called ACA. They are in Texas USA, but can ship to you.

Here's an AGS report for a princess cut that got the top AGS 0 cut grade.

HMMMMMM It appears we think alike Kenny

 

[Gypsy]

GIA does not grade princesses for cut. Only AGS does.

The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king. With fancies though (anything other than a round brilliant), that is a little complicated. But no other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut.

There really is no other way to determine if you have a good princess is to see images of the stones, see the stone in person, and then you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.

That's what an ASET image does. http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance Please read.
And ASET shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return That is why you won't see us recommending vendors like Blue Nile, as they do not provide images or ASET images for their diamonds. James Allen and Good Old Gold do this. So do Brian Gavin and Whiteflash and High Performance Diamonds. If shopping in person, they will have the ASET scope for you.

Here is what I mean. Compare these two:

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.00-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-295886
G color
VS2
Depth 76.3
Table 69
Ratio: 1.01
Excellent polish
Good Symmetry
Girdle Medium

http://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/princess-cut/1.00-carat-g-color-vs2-clarity-sku-283672
G color
VS2 clarity
Depth 76.2
Table 69.9
Ratio: 1.02
Very good polish
Very good symmetry
Girdle Thin to Slightly thick

Numbers are VERY close right? And the first one has a better girdle. And while the symmetry on the first one is only good, that's not a disqualifier with princeses.

Now look at the pictures. The first one is a VERY dark stone, and frankly a dog as far as princesses go. Second one is an AGS0 with ideal light return and is very bright, with just enough patterning to provide contrast.

In summary. If you go to BE or GOG they will have an ASET. And they will show you how to pick stones in person.

 

[ekys]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Very helpful, especially the link.

Really appreciate it, I feel a lot better about choosing now.

 

[ekys]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Very helpful, especially the link.

Really appreciate it, I feel a lot better about choosing now.