Cartier Cut

Are you sure that the report from Tiffany is GIA? Or is it a Tiffany report?

Also, don''t think that all of Tiffany''s diamonds score all ''Excellents'', because they don''t. However if you want a diamond with particular specs just get Tiffany or Cartier to search their inventory for you.

Cartier is also European so they may prefer a slightly different cut...not sure.

I agree that the cut should be excellent, ideal etc for the mark up though.

I'm glad you brought this up as I'm in the same boat in many respects. First of all I'd like to echo the original poster's sentiments on how informative PS has been in my search for an engagement ring.

As for the topic itself, I too did an extensive comparison between Tiffany and Cartier diamonds. Although I don't know how many diamonds WestSideStory looked at, I would have to say that no sweeping generalization can be made about who has better cuts. Without getting into the whole online vs. BM issue or whether it's worth it to purchase as these particular retailers, I would say that just by comparing a single diamond from each retailer would not provide an adequate representation of their products.

For example, at Tiffany, I got the specific numbers for several of the half dozen or so diamonds in the price/quality range I wanted and was surprised with the results. One was a 1.52 G VS1 with excellent cut, symmetry, and polish and was priced in the $26K range. This diamond did very well on the HCA getting a score around 1. As for the more expensive alternative which was about $30K, it was a 1.52 F VVS2 with excellent cut, VG symmetry and VG polish. This more expensive stone faired considerably worse on the HCA, getting something in the neighborhood of 4.

Similarly, I had narrowed it down at Cartier to a handful of stones. Without getting into details (as I realize my post is getting long), some of the diamonds did very well on the HCA while others did poorly despite being deemed excellent by GIA cut standards.

Having shopped both stores, I would say that both offer beautiful diamonds but like many other retailers, they offer varying degrees of cut quality. For anybody interested in purchasing from either, make sure you let the SA know that cut is important to you and they can help you find what you want. I wouldn't say Tiffany is better than Cartier in terms of cut or vice versa. It really depends on the particular stone. Beyond that, the choice could very well be a matter of taste. Hope this helps.