ideal scope image light leakage on super ideal on tilt?

[digdugger]

Hi all, i purchased a diamond which is marketed as a super ideal. The ideal scope images from the store look great. But in my own inspection, with a 6x ideal scope, there seems to be some blatant light leakage when there is a mild tilt.. when its aligned straight up it looks ok.

Is this normal or acceptable for a super ideal?

 

[MelisendeDiamonds]

Yes, it is difficult to properly backlight, align, and view a set diamond. As long as you can confirm it is the same diamond I see no cause for concern. Do you also have an AGSL grading report that you can confirm matches the diamond?

 

[digdugger]

Yes, it is difficult to properly backlight, align, and view a set diamond. As long as you can confirm it is the same diamond I see no cause for concern. Do you also have an AGSL grading report that you can confirm matches the diamond?

Hi MelisendeDiamonds,
Yes i do have the cert to verify that it the same diamond. My concern would be more of a light performance issue. I mean shouldnt a super ideal have little to no light leakage? Im assumuing diamonds are not always viewed perfectly perpendicular to the viewer. Would that mean that light leakage is visible at a tilt?

 

[drk14]

digdugger,
I think almost all diamonds have almost 100% leakge when viewed at 90 degree tilt (i.e., from the side), so it stands to reason that even the best diamonds will show some light leakage that gets more prominent the more the stone is tilted. The gradual apperance of light leakage with increasing tilt is shown in the image below, taken from the IdealScope website:

The top row is a princess cut that has good light return when viewed top down (0 degrees), and the effect of rotating up to 30 degrees is shown. The bottom is a poorly cut diamond, which has a lot of light leakage viewed top-down, and even more when tilted.

You can also see light leakage in an ASET scope, and this page has a good video and images showing the effect of tilting a stone when viewed using ASET:
http://www.ideal-scope.com/1.using_ASET_scope.asp

While you're at it, you may also want to review the following page about using Idealscope on diamonds that have been mounted in a setting:
http://www.ideal-scope.com/1.using_mounted_diamonds.asp

 

[Dancing Fire]

My dream proportion! ...can I have it!?..

 

[Karl_K]

some of what looks like leakage in the pic is a refection from light entering the scope.
It looks like the positioning is a bit off and they are not parallel to get the best pics the camera lens the, IS lens and the diamond table all have to be perfectly parallel and the girdle of the diamond in the right place then the diamond needs to be centered in the IS and the IS centered in the camera with even backlighting.
When using it in person its easy to line it up by eye not so much when taking pics.

The images are good enough to say the stone passes the IS test with flying colors.

 

[Diamond_Hawk]

some of what looks like leakage in the pic is a refection from light entering the scope.
It looks like the positioning is a bit off and they are not parallel to get the best pics the camera lens the, IS lens and the diamond table all have to be perfectly parallel and the girdle of the diamond in the right place then the diamond needs to be centered in the IS and the IS centered in the camera with even backlighting.
When using it in person its easy to line it up by eye not so much when taking pics.

The images are good enough to say the stone passes the IS test with flying colors.

+1

To expand a little bit on what Karl_K said - taking great photos with IS (and ASET) is almost an art-form in and of itself. Many vendors have spent countless hours training and/or hiring people with the specific knowledge and skill-set needed to produce the pictures you see on the top vendor sites.

Taking an IS photo with the diamond in a setting, back-lit creates so many variables that you may see reflection due to positioning of the scope, the diamond or the camera. Perhaps the position the diamond is held or the extraneous light from the room comes into play - it is very hit and miss.

Bottom line - AGS is trained to do it right. The report shows that this is a diamond with excellent light return - and so it is.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Please make sure the light is very subtle and difused. I suspect some light is entering the pavilion from a window or other light source.
You are over reacting. Hold the stone in tweezers and look at it with only the light from a diffused sheet of paper as I am demonstrating on the box the Ideal-scope came in.