Brightness over Fire

[diamun]

Hi again,

After researching, I'm familiar with the ideal %'s for a brilliant round and the H&A grading. Is it possible to get a diamond (for an engagement ring) that reflects more white/blue light than the orange/red? What specs determine this? I'm guessing the color can affect it, i.e. a D-F will reflect whiter light? Would there be any other considerations? Examples would be helpful too.

I'm searching for a 1 carat, VS1-VS2 range, single diamond for an engagement ring that sparkles blue/white the most (ideal cut) and shows the least amount of warmth/fire. Thank you.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 12/21/2009 11:34:36 AM
Author:diamun
Hi again,

After researching, I'm familiar with the ideal %'s for a brilliant round and the H&A grading. Is it possible to get a diamond (for an engagement ring) that reflects more white/blue light than the orange/red? What specs determine this? I'm guessing the color can affect it, i.e. a D-F will reflect whiter light? Would there be any other considerations? Examples would be helpful too.

I'm searching for a 1 carat, VS1-VS2 range, single diamond for an engagement ring that sparkles blue/white the most (ideal cut) and shows the least amount of warmth/fire. Thank you.

Hi diamun

I think what you are looking for is a diamond which shows more white light or brilliance? You can start by looking for stones with a shallower crown angle along with a slightly larger table. Also fluorescence of medium to strong might give the stone a more ' plugged in' look that might be to your taste. You could also consider the 60 60 types ( 60% depth/ 60% table) if the critical angles are within good range, this type of diamond might work well for you. I would look for crown angles of around 33 deg or less, coupled with a pavilion angle of around 40.7 - 41 to try to minimize obstruction which shallower stones can show. If you go below 32.5 deg for crown, avoid those stones with very thin girdles as these can sometimes be durability issues if coupled with a shallow crown angle.


D - F will be crisp and colourless so these grades could be particularly suitable. If you could view some colourless diamonds which have proportions similar to those mentioned above with medium or strong blue fluorescence that would be great as that would give you a good idea whether this is the type of diamond ' recipe' that you are looking for, hopefully that will give you a point of reference to try to find what you want.

If you have a Jareds closeby, go and view their AGS0 Peerless to see if these are to your taste as an exercise.

Also with strong or very strong blue fluorescence, make sure this doesn't make the stone look cloudy in some lights by checking with the vendor or an appraiser, this is rare but best to check.

No fluorescence but this is a well proportioned diamond as an example which might be along the lines of what you are looking for.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6274/

Need the report for this one but it has potential

http://www.jamesallen.com/diamonds/F-VS2-Premium-Cut-Round-Diamond-1199676.asp

 

[FB.]

Although I can't remember them, there are some specific proportions that cause a greater return of certain light colours - it depends on the angle at which the light reflects among the facets.

A good recipe for a diamond that has more brightness and less fire would be to have a larger table, flatter crown and deeper pavilion. Something along the lines of:

Crown angle: 33.0
Pavilion angle: 41.0
Table: 59-60%
Depth: 58-61%

The benefit of the above proportions is that the stone should have a slightly larger diameter for it's weight, due to the 1-2% shallower depth than your average Tolkowsky cut.

But that angle combination sits on a cliff-edge; just a small increase in either crown or pavilion (or a rounding-off error) can dramatically downgrade the light performance. Definitely don't go for a stone that's exactly on a carat boundary, because you can bet that the cutter compromised the beaiuty to attain the weight. 1.02ct or more should be safer, since the cutter had a little extra weight to play with, to create a good stone.

If the stone had strong or very strong blue flour, that would change the stone to a distinct lilac tint in bright daylight.

Going for a D-F body colour would minimise any yellow or "warm" tints in the stone and, when combined with strong fluor, the stone may be referred to as a "blue white" for obvious reasons.

 

[oldminer]

Diamonds don''t really reflect light in colors other than whatever color light is lighting them up, BUT they do separate light into spectral colors and transmit that light back to the eye. The kind of lighting they are in, the way they are cut, the body color of the diamond, the transparency, color and strength of UV fluorescence, less than transparent inclusions, all have a varying effect on the actual and very individual outcome. Fire, the creation and play of spectral colors, is most influenced by the type of light hitting the diamond. You will likely get more fire from less diffused, more pinpoint bright white lighting. Cut can be a bit altered to maximize fire, but going overboard to create a play of spectral colors will not be a positive event for most consumers.

Diamonds which are well cut inherently give sufficient fire, spectral display, when exposed to proper lighting conditions such that few people would opt for a less well cut choice which gives a tiny bit more fire at the expense of some other appearance attribute. I think fire is a poor metric either for categorizing quality or one to use for selection of most diamonds. Certain cuts, like Old Euro, Old mine, and some fancy shapes, can give you larger flashes of color than standard modern cut rounds. By picking a high fire cut type such as these you may find a way that works for your particular sense of beauty.