Post by Anniversary Girl » June 4th, 2006, 5:54 pm
Hello,

My ten-year wedding anniversary is coming up, and my husband would like to give me a new stone, as my original stone was recently chipped badly. (Never knew that was even possible.)  We have it narrowed down to a couple of stones and were hoping for some helpful input from the resident experts and anyone else with an opinion!

Both score high on the Holloway Cut Advisor (great tool, by the way, thank you, thank you!!!), but the girdles are different and we''re not sure how important the girdle is, what thickness is best, and how much they affect the sparkle of the stone.  Each stone is roughly the same size and price and costs a pretty penny, so we want to be sure we''re making the most informed decision as possible before moving forward.

Stone #1:

F
VS1
Table: 58
Depth: 61.2
Crown Angle: 35
Pavillion Angle: 40.6
Culet: None
Polish and Symmetry: Excellent
Flourescence: None
Girdle: Medium to slightly thick, faceted
HCA: 1.0 - Overall Excellent.  In TIC range.
HCA Specific Category Breakdown: Ex, Ex, Ex, Very Good

Stone #2:

F
VS1
Table: 57
Depth: 62.2
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavillion Angle: 40.8
Culet: None
Polish and Symmetry: Excellent
Flourescence: None
Girdle: Thin to slightly thick, faceted
HCA: 1.4 - Overall Excellent.  In TIC range.
HCA Specific Category Breakdown: Ex, Ex, Ex, Very Good

Stone #3:

E
VS1
Table: 57
Depth: 62
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavillion Angle: 41
Culet: None
Polish and Symmetry: Excellent
Flourescence: None
Girdle: Medium, faceted
HCA: 2.0 - Overall Very Good.
HCA Specific Category Breakdown: Ex, Very Good, Very Good, Very Good

On a side note, we were all set to buy a Blue Nile "Signature Stone," but after putting the specs through the Holloway Cut Advisor, we were shocked to see it didn''t score very high.  It seems strange that the stones we''re now considering with much higher HCA scores aren''t "Signature Stones."  Is the whole thing just a marketing ploy?    Hmmmm...

Anyway, thanks in advance for your input.

Anniversary Girl