Does the depth of an AGS Ideal Princess Diamond matter?

Expressre,

I think some good while ago, Paul from Infinity addressed this straignt on...saying...well, find the post.

But, I think the phrasing of the question should be clear.

Do you want to know if depth matters for performance? Or matters otherwise?

I think you probably can't predict performance based on depth, but your target should be performance.

From that point of view:

a) Is it clear which is optically superior...presuming that's important to you?

b) If not, you may wish to get some help with tools, like an aset.

Do find the article, maybe...though...gee...re-reading your title, maybe you're already comparing two princesses that are rated for performance by AGS.

Should I say nevermind?

I'd still say, compare for performance.

Regards,

Ira Z.

P.S. Re-reading, I see the cheaper one is the G, and the color difference could well be associated with the cost difference. If this is not so much valued, this will certainly be another reason to target the less expensive stone.

P.P.S. Ok, here's the link:

http://www.pricescope.com/forum/journal-article-discussion-new/the-matter-of-depth-in-a-princess-cut-by-paul-slegers-t75602.html

nice analysis - helps a lot of people.

Written by expressre » August 4th, 2011, 1:47 pm:Im looking at two diamonds that are ideal princess cuts. The smaller of the two is much cheaper but its actually as big as some of the 1.2 carats I have looked at. Would it be a good value to buy such a diamond?

Im looking at a 1.08 G VS2 that it is a shallower diamond but has the measurements (5.74x5.76x4.00). It’s also much cheaper than the 1.13 E VS2 (5.62x5.58x4.12) that I was previously considering. Is there anything wrong with a diamond that’s not as deep? Which diamond is the better value?

My GF wants either a really high quality 1.00 or a 1.25 so Im trying to get her something in the middle because I know size will matter at some point.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

It's difficult to say which is the better value because you're talking about a similar weight and same clarity, but a 2-grade color difference. I think that might account for most of the variation in the price. Also, realize that the difference between 5.7 and 5.6 mm is only a tenth of a millimeter, almost imperceptibly small.

The article Ira linked to offers an explanation of why depth in princess cuts doesn't always correlate with face-up spread. However, in the case of your stones, the depth IS correlating with the spread...the deeper but heavier diamond (1.13 E) has the smaller spread. That's not surprising.

What depth also doesn't necessarily correlate with in a princess is light performance (the post Ira linked to touches on this as well). The interesting thing is that most AGS ideal princesses I've seen have depths in the 74-78% range, which vendors often deem too high. This is also why vendor cut grades, which are often based solely on measurements such as depth and table, are pretty much worthless. The question I would be asking myself is which diamond has the better light performance, regardless of depth? A princess with 68% depth may have worse, equal, or better light performance than a princess with 78% depth, and it's impossible to predict which one will be better. Do you have ASETs on these stones?

thanks, Claw, for appreciating my analysis, but I wonder what prompted the thought now, if you know...the thread is over 3 weeks old...

Ira Z.