Branded vs AGS 0

[johnaa]

Hi Everyone,

Great forum, thanks for all of the great information. Been looking for a while and still have a lot to learn. My question is, do the branded diamonds i.e.; Princess of Hearts, Square H&A, A Cut Above Princess, out perform and are they worth the premium over AGS 0 princess diamond?

 

[Skippy123]

Johnaa welcome to Pricescope. Some AGS0's are ACA but not all. Brian the cutter at WF selects the best AGS0 and GIA stones which are hearts and arrows and the best of the best. This thread maybe helpful to read about the differences and what makes the ACA cut https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-cut-above-vs-expert-selection.36476/

This thread maybe interesting re the Princess of Hearts https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/princess-of-hearts-on-gog.67851/

This thread shows pictures of all the different square cuts https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/square-cuts.37130/

 

[johnaa]

Skippy thank you for the reply. The threads are great.

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johnaa

 

[DiamondExpert]

Be aware that not all AGS0 Princess cuts are created equal, just as are not all AGS0 round brilliants.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

You need to make two distinctions:

1. There is a difference between proprietary-cuts and standard-cuts, in the sense of facet-arrangements. Generally, proprietary-cuts command a premium, simply because there is only one source, who has to set up the complete promotion and distribution. On the other hand, an intelligent cutter of a proprietary-cut will make sure to create his design in such a way, that his basic cost is lower, generally by creating a design, where less of the rough weight is lost in cutting.

2. Various brands have different brand-strategies. Some will create a brand, with heavy and expensive promotion of the brand, and will try to win this back with a high brand-premium. Other brands have the same or similar pricing as unbranded stones, and the brand serves as a sign or as a seal of quality, and as such, the brand should make repeat-sales or referal-sales easier.

Your question contains two positions, that one automatically assumes, but which are not necessarily true:

a. A brand is more expensive than unbranded. This is not necessarily true, and in some cases, it might be the other way around. A ''Ford T'' for instance stood for a very high quality for a lower price.
b. A brand outperforms unbranded. Again, this depends on the brand-strategy and not on the fact whether a brand is used. It all depends on what the brand stands for.

Now, this does not mean that an unbranded stone with the same basic characteristics is the same as most branded stones. Some brands contain characteristics, that are missed in traditional diamond-reporting, going from grading-reports up to concise vendor-information.

Sorry to confuse you in this way, but I cannot help it.

Live long,

 

[february2003bride]

Date: 1/12/2008 11:32:24 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
Be aware that not all AGS0 Princess cuts are created equal, just as are not all AGS0 round brilliants.

So true! When I was searching for my AGS000 round, I was surprised at the number of AGS0 rounds that didn''t fall into an acceptable HCA range!