Post by Oldminer » January 8th, 2008, 7:38 am
A diamond is rightfully deemed perfect only if it is Flawless, and D Color.  The key and missing ingredient up until the past couple of years was a standard for Finest cut.

All of the standards, clarity, color and cut are still somewhat subjective and not totally absolute.  A diamond deemed properly to be PERFECT to the existing standards is going to be one heck of a great diamond, but it may not be as great, on some absolute, objective scale, as another graded PERFECT.  Even at the upper reaches of the quality and rarity categories there is a range of what diamonds fit into it.  Diamonds are not made by a cookie cutting device, but each is a work of art by a skilled craftsman and each varies from the next.  Some of the finest examples vary more than you''d expect, so we always tell people to choose the right stone for them not only with proper grading documents but also with their own eyes.

No one in this world has a standardized scale of beauty.  Most of us can easily agree on the factors that create beauty, but each one of us has a unique viewpoint on the subject.  The quest for perfection is highly prized in certain cultures and less prized in others.  Americans are notorious for choosing size and price over quality yet the Pricescope community proves there are a good number of people who are willing to concentrate on quality, too.

I often think of the many lurkers and visitors to Pricescope who wrongly think that this site is way too technical or too quality oriented.  They must visit, read and leave thinking they don''t have the money or the knowledge to search out a really nice diamond.  These folks end up getting a relatively poor stone, for a fair to poor price, from a salesperson who doesn''t give them a chance to do better.

An absolutely PERFECT diamond doesn''t exist, yet there is a PERFECT diamond for YOU just waiting for you to find it.  While we encourage fine cut and better qualities for those who can afford them, there is a world of more average qualities, from I to O color and below SI2 clarity which still can make someone very happy.  I know this flies in the face of the typically sought after stone on Pricescope, but I see some really passable diamonds in these lesser qualites from time to time and want to be sure that all visitors to Pricescope know they can be assisted here on what they can afford and what they can appreciate, PERFECTLY.

David S. Atlas, GG(GIA) Sr Mbr(NAJA) ASG(AGA)  
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