Aset Images of Diamonds I am Considering

[Merty]

The pictures do not match the gemologists recommendations Which I feel is a little strange. JA recommends diamond number 180852 and a close second is 30840 which is literally the darkest of the 3. She just said larger bowtie is why it came in second. Also they did not recommend item 180851 at all due to poor light. I think they got the pics mixed up so I called and they said no and that Aset images are just a tool and not all gemologist find it helpful when looking at the diamond and seeing it with their own eyes.

 

[JulieN]

I think the ASET of the one they recommended looks pretty darn good....

 

[Merty]

Thank you but is it true that aset images are just a tool and cant really provide much help if a gemologist looks at them?

 

[JulieN]

In a very short answer, yes. There is no accounting for taste.... Like I can make the most awesome ratatouille but if my friend doesn't like vegetables he won't like it no matter how awesome.

It is possible that the reviewer mixed up the second and third choices, I've seen mixups before... In the video, the second one has a bowtie that is still present when tilted, the third one has no bowtie in the video.

But that doesn't really matter if it is the first one they are recommending. It is very easy to make a decision when the reviewer and the ASETs agree...

 

[YoungPapa]

Aset images are just a tool and not all gemologist find it helpful when looking at the diamond and seeing it with their own eyes.

Hi Merty,

The above statement is true. The hardest part of our gemologists job is when they look at a few diamonds, pick their favorite, then take ASET images and find they don't match up exactly (or sometimes at all) with what they liked. I think, however, there are a few pretty good reasons why things don't always match up.

1. It's not all about the color 'red'.
Yes, red is best in an ASET, but green is also light return. When we compare diamonds in the New York office, we're surrounded by lots of windows and light colored walls. Because there is plenty of indirect light, I think a diamond that is 60% red, 30% green in an ASET is going to look pretty comparable to a diamond that is 60% green, 30% red. That's just a guess, but it makes sense. We could try comparing diamonds in a more 'controlled' environment, but that's the purpose of the ASET. We want to communicate what we see in real world viewing.

2. Gemologists are people, and people have personal preferences.
We have a couple GG's that love antique cushions. We have another couple that love 'crushed ice'. As hard as we might try, it's difficult to be entirely objective when looking at diamonds. That's why a good CSR is going to quiz you beforehand about what is most important to you.

3. We are comparing diamonds in whole, not just looking at 'performance'.
If you have two 1.00ct K-VVS1's and a 1.25ct F-SI2 sitting in front of you, it's hard not to notice the difference in size and color. Even if one of the K-VVS 'perform' slightly better, would that be enough to trade off significant size and color? These relative differences are completely lost in ASET imagery, where every diamond is exactly the same size and color.

4. An ASET image is an exaggeration of a truth.
Just like highly magnified images can make a VS2 look scary, highly magnified ASET images are a blown-up representation of light return and only reflect a static moment in what is the much larger 'life' of a diamond. A little darkness under the table, for example, often disappears the moment the diamond is tilted the slightest bit.

For these reasons (and others I'm sure), we're starting to move away from ranking diamonds and sticking to as much objective material as we can. If we look at a couple diamonds and there is a clear winner (or clear loser) we'll always make that known. If, however, we look at a couple diamonds and they are all beautiful but just have different personalities, we're a little 'stuck' on what to recommend. If we do make a recommendation (like we did in your case), my advise is listen to the GG. They are a very experienced group of professionals and they truly want to help *you* pick the prettiest diamond.

Hope this helps.

 

[YoungPapa]

In a very short answer, yes. There is no accounting for taste.... Like I can make the most awesome ratatouille but if my friend doesn't like vegetables he won't like it no matter how awesome.

It is possible that the reviewer mixed up the second and third choices, I've seen mixups before... In the video, the second one has a bowtie that is still present when tilted, the third one has no bowtie in the video.

But that doesn't really matter if it is the first one they are recommending. It is very easy to make a decision when the reviewer and the ASETs agree...

What she said

 

[Merty]

Thanks I feel better about it now. this site is sooo informative. Have a great evening!!!

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Aset images are just a tool and not all gemologist find it helpful when looking at the diamond and seeing it with their own eyes.

Hi Merty,

The above statement is true. The hardest part of our gemologists job is when they look at a few diamonds, pick their favorite, then take ASET images and find they don't match up exactly (or sometimes at all) with what they liked. I think, however, there are a few pretty good reasons why things don't always match up.

1. It's not all about the color 'red'.
Yes, red is best in an ASET, but green is also light return. When we compare diamonds in the New York office, we're surrounded by lots of windows and light colored walls. Because there is plenty of indirect light, I think a diamond that is 60% red, 30% green in an ASET is going to look pretty comparable to a diamond that is 60% green, 30% red. That's just a guess, but it makes sense. We could try comparing diamonds in a more 'controlled' environment, but that's the purpose of the ASET. We want to communicate what we see in real world viewing.

2. Gemologists are people, and people have personal preferences.
We have a couple GG's that love antique cushions. We have another couple that love 'crushed ice'. As hard as we might try, it's difficult to be entirely objective when looking at diamonds. That's why a good CSR is going to quiz you beforehand about what is most important to you.

3. We are comparing diamonds in whole, not just looking at 'performance'.
If you have two 1.00ct K-VVS1's and a 1.25ct F-SI2 sitting in front of you, it's hard not to notice the difference in size and color. Even if one of the K-VVS 'perform' slightly better, would that be enough to trade off significant size and color? These relative differences are completely lost in ASET imagery, where every diamond is exactly the same size and color.

4. An ASET image is an exaggeration of a truth.
Just like highly magnified images can make a VS2 look scary, highly magnified ASET images are a blown-up representation of light return and only reflect a static moment in what is the much larger 'life' of a diamond. A little darkness under the table, for example, often disappears the moment the diamond is tilted the slightest bit.

For these reasons (and others I'm sure), we're starting to move away from ranking diamonds and sticking to as much objective material as we can. If we look at a couple diamonds and there is a clear winner (or clear loser) we'll always make that known. If, however, we look at a couple diamonds and they are all beautiful but just have different personalities, we're a little 'stuck' on what to recommend. If we do make a recommendation (like we did in your case), my advise is listen to the GG. They are a very experienced group of professionals and they truly want to help *you* pick the prettiest diamond.

Hope this helps.

Hey Jim,

Could I get a little more insight in your point 1, about the color 'red' not being so important?

It seems to be that you are saying that your NY-offices with an abundance of indirect light in the end hardly make any difference between red and green in the ASET. Then, you go on saying that the observations in this particular 'real world viewing' are most informative.

Working myself in probably a similarly lighted diamond-dealing-office, I do not get what you are saying. This environment does not lend itself to judging fire and scintillation, so you are missing that aspect of the real-world-viewing. Granted, ASET is judging brightness only too, so no fire nor scintillation either, but the point is that the environment can hardly be considered a representative real-world light environment.

In any case, I would argue that the specific environment of your NY-office may not give a noticeable difference between stones with mostly red in ASET compared to stones with mostly green in ASET, but that this will be noticeable in most real-world-environments, while your office (or my office for that matter) does not lend itself to truly seeing a huge difference.

Looking forward to your reply.

Live long,