Whiteflash ACA vs. Whiteflash Expert Selection

[NT]

Hello, I am in the process of buying a diamond and have narrowed it down to a couple of choices. My question is that is it really worth paying the premium on a WF ACA (A cut above Hearts and Arrow diamond), compared to a WF expert selection diamond that is also graded ASG Ideal 000?

The AGS lab grades both the Expert selection Ideal cut and ACA Ideal cut the same, Triple Zero, so who actually says that one is considered a Hearts and Arrow A Cut above diamond? Is it just Whiteflash that determines that?

What if I find a WF Expert Selection diamond that is AGS Ideal cut 000, and it scores less than 2 on the Holloway cut advisor, and the Idealscope and ASET images look good, should I not just go with that diamond instead of a ACA diamond that is same in every other dimension, except for higher price.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Stone-cold11]

yap, H&A is not graded by AGS, only WF determine what it choose to call H&A by it's criteria. Depends on you if you can tell the difference and what causes the downgrade for the ES stone.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

I like ES stones for the savings. WF determines if they meet the very strict criteria for the ACA brand, and H&A label. But the differences that caused a stone to "miss the boat" for the ACA class are usually, in my opinion, things that the consumer cannot detect with the unaider eye.

 

[Lightfoot]

I believe it's a personal preference. For me personally, I would not mind going with an ES instead of an ACA - and I would not consider it a compromise either. If optically they look just as good, I don't care if one is slightly less well cut. But just like some people like a certain level of color or clarity, some people like a certain level of cut.

At the same time, when I was browsing through ACA and ES stones, I didn't feel like the premium was too bad (couple hundred - I could be wrong), so if you feel you might be bothered by the classification, I don't think there's anything wrong for paying for the piece of mind.

 

[jstarfireb]

I like ES stones for the savings. WF determines if they meet the very strict criteria for the ACA brand, and H&A label. But the differences that caused a stone to "miss the boat" for the ACA class are usually, in my opinion, things that the consumer cannot detect with the unaider eye.

Ditto - in fact, I recently upgraded my pendant stone from an ACA to an ES. The sole factor that disqualified the new diamond from being ACA was medium blue fluorescence, which I was looking specifically for. Win-win.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

There are some great values in Expert Selection as well as Premium Select. I've only had ACA's myself, but my daughter's e-ring was Premium Select, I believe because polish was excellent instead of ideal (which you can't see!!). Otherwise, it has the appearance of my ACA's. She would never know the difference, so she didn't need ACA. But those of us who are more obsessive enjoy having the ACA's just because!