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Color v clarity

brellymom

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
152
I realize this is a personal decision, but was curious as to how others might wait in: price being equal, size being important, would you go with an I Si1 3.73 HCA 2.0 or F Si2 3.63 HCA 1.6. Both have crystals, didn't see carbon spots, and I am old enough that I couldn't see much difference in either (old = crappy sight!). I've tended to not go lower than G, So the I is making me nervous. But I am just not sure about the Si2 on the F. Thoughts?
 

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
33,852
My choice would be a well cut G-H VS stone.
 

gm89uk

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,491
My inclination would be to go for a better colour. All things being equal, Once the inclusions are eye clean (to yourself) it won't get any cleaner, but you will always see the colour.
 

kenny

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
33,225
brellymom|1446077408|3943224 said:
I realize this is a personal decision, but was curious as to how others might wait in: price being equal, size being important, would you go with an I Si1 3.73 HCA 2.0 or F Si2 3.63 HCA 1.6. Both have crystals, didn't see carbon spots, and I am old enough that I couldn't see much difference in either (old = crappy sight!). I've tended to not go lower than G, So the I is making me nervous. But I am just not sure about the Si2 on the F. Thoughts?

Depends what the Idealsope images look like.
HCA is a rejection tool, not an acceptance tool.

Here's why:
Rounds actually have 8 flat sides.
Two of the numbers you put into the HCA (Crown and Pavilion angles) are each averages of 8 angles around the diamond.
If some individual angles were high but others were low the average might be just right but the diamond would look wonky.

The HCA score cannot reveal this but an Idealscope image can.
 

adom

Rough_Rock
Joined
Oct 24, 2015
Messages
41
Kenny - so when a grader is determining a diamonds cut grade, do they only work off the average numbers as well. Or would "wonky" get noticed by the grader and therefore, a stone with a good HCA but wonky, would be a lower cut grade and could be culled out by the grade assignment?
 

kenny

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
33,225
adom|1446081072|3943246 said:
Kenny - so when a grader is determining a diamonds cut grade, do they only work off the average numbers as well. Or would "wonky" get noticed by the grader and therefore, a stone with a good HCA but wonky, would be a lower cut grade and could be culled out by the grade assignment?

I think I know the right answer but I'm going to let folks answer who know more about exactly how GIA and AGS come up with their cut grades ... especially how AGS and GIA differ in cut grading.
 

sugarski

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
266
This is a great video to watch to see just how white "near-colorless" diamonds actually look when not being viewed from the side against a stark white background, or right next to a colorless diamond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcmSj8dOLRI

Personally, I would never pay a premium for an F color stone; it absolutely would not be worth it to me (as a matter of fact, I do own an F family stone, and in casual observation it looks exactly the same to me as my J earrings- admittedly I am not color-sensitive).
 

LLJsmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2012
Messages
12,633
I am color sensitive. I own an F. So if all things were equal I would choose the F over the I any day. In your case, given that the F has an HCA 2, and the I has an over 2, I would definitely choose the F. However if I really had a choice I would not buy an SI2. I don't go lower than a VS2, So I would pass on both stones altogether. If you really want to get over the 2.0 mark, consider G-H. Those should not be as pricey as an F.
 
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