arrows at the same time?

[poorman]

Are you supposed to be able to see all the arrows on an H&A diamond at the same time? I can see the all the arrows however I have to move around to see each one.

The pictures of H&A on pricescope show perfect hearts and arrows. If a diamond has H&A but are not perfect like the pictures is the diamond still good?

 

[pricescope]

Poorman, welcome. Are you looking at the arrows in H&A scope? Then you should see them all.

 

[Magnum]

My diamond is a little small at .614 carats, but in diffuse light (light coming from all different directions) I can make out all eight arrows. They are not perfectly defined unaided by any magnification, but I can make them out because they are darker, while the rest of the stone is whiter. In direct light, with one strong light source behind me, I have to do what you're talking about to get the arrows to light up with a big flash. At most, i've been able to get two or three arrows at a time to flash light and show the arrows at the same time. When you see all the arrows lit up in a brilliancescope, that's because they use a circular ring of light around the diamond, which isn't really a naturally occuring effect. By spinning the diamond around, you are seeing each arrow light up as the light enters at the right angle, and in effect making a ring of light from a single point of light by spinning the diamond. Hope this helps, and if it's inaccurate at all, I'm sure one of the experts can correct me.

 

[Magnum]

P.S. Leonid is correct. If you are looking through a H&A viewer, you should see all the arrows at the same time if it's a true H&A stone. My response assumed you were looking at it with the unaided naked eye. And yes, a diamond is still good if it's not a perfect H&A. It may be exceptional. I have bought two stones recently. One is a H&A and one, while displaying some good arrows, is not a true H&A. They are both amazing looking stones.

 

[Patty]

I think it depends on your light source. I can easily see all 8 arrows in the H&A viewer or Idealscope. In natural light, I often see just half or 2/3 of the arrows at once, and then when I move the ring, I see the rest. If I hold the ring "just so" I can see them all in natural light.

 

[poorman]

I am using a H&A viewer however my light source is one bulb. I will try looking at it under natural lighting. I can see eight hearts just fine. Some of the hearts do have small clefts. But I can't see all eight arrows at the same time. Am I looking at it wrong? Can you have 8 good hearts but only 3 good arrows?

 

[valeria101]

I guess you could have some imperfect arrows corresponding to the harts with large cleft (if what I think you see and what you actually see are close enough). However, could it be that the stone gets tilted?

Is tit still good / Well, sure that. The H&A pattern was just a side-effect along the road to create the most brilliant round diamonds, and it is a sufficient but not necesary condition to achieve great brilliance. Did you see the Reference Chart on the Ideal Scope's site? It does illustrate quite well the view that H&A and light return are not one and the same.... To each his own. And I surely doubt that the last fraction of a hart's cleft makes the difference between the worst and the best diamonds: there's more to it, I suppose...

 

[poorman]

Thanks for the info everyone. I actually looked at the stone with more lighting and can see the eight arrows more clearly. This one is a beauty.