Another Hearts and Arrows question......

[derekinla]

For the experts, vendors etc..... How often do see just hearts and no arrows, or just arrows and no hearts? When I mean "no hearts" or "no arrows" I really mean the hearts and arrows are not as perfect as the corresponding half.

How do these stones look?

 

[niceice]

It's about 50/50 for ideal cut diamonds not cut specifically to exhibit a crisp and complete pattern of Hearts & Arrows. Usually if the hearts are crisp and complete, then the arrows are slightly off or vice versa. However it is not the presence of a pattern that controls most of the light return, it is the combination of proportions themselves... Thus we don't consider the presence of an H&A pattern really important at all, people who have followed our site over the past few years will have noticed a switch in our focus from H&A to precise angles and degrees... We have noticed that the presence of an H&A pattern does not necessarily add anything to a stone, in some cases we feel it actually detracts from a stone... What is important is to keep the total depth of the stone under 61.8% and the crown angle between 34.3 - 34.8 degrees with a pavilion angle of 40.6 - 40.9 degrees... Other combinations certainly work, but are more difficult to ascertain without actually seeing the stone for yourself... Not a problem for us because we physically evalute EVERY diamond that we sell, but a challenge for many people buying off the internet from vendors who merely list the numbers for various diamonds and then have them drop shipped from their supplier... For instance, an ideal cut diamond with a crown angle of 35.0 degrees and a pavilion angle of 40.9 degrees 'might' be quite lively, but it might not, this is where a set of trained eyes can be an invaluable asset. Understand that just because a diamond has proportions that fall within the 'right' range does not necessarily mean that it will perform optimally because of variances in the grain structure of a stone, however it is more likely to do so than a diamond cut outside of this range... H&A patterns aside, we recommend buying by the numbers first and patterns second because they offer nothing visually unless you carry that little scope around with you.

 

[Daniela]

In response to Robin and Todd, who gave very sound advice I might add, I just wanted to say one thing. The arrows that I have in my stone are so pleasing and VERY visible to me. Even my mom, who didn't know anything about hearts and arrows stones when I showed her my engagement ring, noticed them. I see flashes of arrows every day, and I love it.

So if you ask me, scope aside, I still love my arrows. But it all depends on what you want!