Cut Quality on micro diamonds (pave)

[JasonFaber]

It is understandable how extremely small diamonds (round pave diamonds) do not get the same care as diamonds over .20. So, other then color and clarity, are all micro cut diamonds all the same? Anotherwords, do better jewelers use better cut pave diamonds, or is there no such thing?

Just wondering...

 

[stone-cold11]

WF uses their ACA melee. Probably other vendors have similar sources as well.

 

[kcoursolle]

There is definitely wide variety in the quality of melee stones. I had a cheapie pave band that has very poorly cut stones some of which are even chipped and many of these stones are very low in clarity. My beverly k band is much better, but there is still the occasional deep-cut diamond. From what I''ve seen from WF melee and leon mege''s melee, they look like they are very nicely cut stones.

 

[musey]

Both my wedding band and engagement ring are from well-regarded designers/vendors, and the melee is beautiful in them. The melee in my (WAY pre-PS) Zales diamond bracelet is gross. Cloudy grey, no sparkle (just table reflections), many stones with huge surface inclusions. It''s appalling

That could be purely a clarity difference, but I don''t think so. Though with stones that included, I doubt the cut would make much difference anyhow!

 

[asforhim]

Huge differences exist between vendors (even amongst high-end ones). My HW e ring has much nicer melee than others I shopped for, including Tiffany and Cartier. I don''t know how they cut those little things but they sure do sparkle.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/harry-winston-pave-halo-what-about-pink-micropave-diamond-band.110982/

 

[Kelli]

I have some disgusting melee in a ring that is very special to me for sentimental reasons. It looks like frozen spit that was cut with an ice pick. Luckily, I''m going to send it to WF and they will replace the stones with their ACA melee. I''m excited to see the difference!

 

[LadyBlue]

Mostly when the stones are very small are divided by huge groups like, D-F, G-I, VS, SI

 

[amyjokerette]

Date: 4/16/2009 10:21:40 AM
Author: Kelli
I have some disgusting melee in a ring that is very special to me for sentimental reasons. It looks like frozen spit that was cut with an ice pick. Luckily, I''m going to send it to WF and they will replace the stones with their ACA melee. I''m excited to see the difference!

Ooooh, I''d love to hear how that goes Kelli! I was wondering about doing the same thing!!!!

 

[DrDiamondsGG]

Jason,
Each and every diamond is dramatically affected by its proportions and the way it interacts with light. Of course at a very small level as with melee, it is quite tedious to grade each and every stone for each one''s proportions. That said, the jeweler/designer of a piece of jewelry with melee has most certainly taken into account some proportion and value factor restrictions (e.g. table sizes similar). If it looks pretty, the jeweler/designer probably did a good job picking out the melee. The vendor of a piece of melee jewelry should be able to supply you with the color and clarity range that it uses in a particular piece.

 

[AmberGretchen]

I''m a huge fan of WF ACA melee - I''ve compared it directly with other, less well cut melee, and found it to be way better looking - much more sparkly and pretty

 

[JasonFaber]

Date: 4/16/2009 6:16:57 PM
Author: DrDiamondsGG
Jason,
Each and every diamond is dramatically affected by its proportions and the way it interacts with light. Of course at a very small level as with melee, it is quite tedious to grade each and every stone for each one''s proportions. That said, the jeweler/designer of a piece of jewelry with melee has most certainly taken into account some proportion and value factor restrictions (e.g. table sizes similar). If it looks pretty, the jeweler/designer probably did a good job picking out the melee. The vendor of a piece of melee jewelry should be able to supply you with the color and clarity range that it uses in a particular piece.

Yes, color and clarity is usually always stated in pieces of jewelry, but cut quality is something that never talked about in melee diamonds. I just cannot fathom seeing a cutter meticulously cut each and every diamond for a pave setting. I almost want to hang myself thinking about it. Is it done by a machine or are they hand cut?

 

[DrDiamondsGG]

Jason,
Each melee diamond is not "graded" the same way a 2-carat RB is. By "grading" I mean sorting. Various methods are used to ensure that, in well-crafted jewelry, each melee stone matches the others. They would not be assigned a grade such as "Excellent," but they certainly are "graded" by the jewelers. Sorting melee is a job that someone had to do - some of my friends in India tell me the horror stories of having to sort hundreds of melee stones. As far as cutting method, they''re hand- and machine-cut. You''d be surprised to see how small of a stone a human can facet. I''ll leave that job to those who can do it much better than I ever could!

 

[musey]

Date: 4/16/2009 10:13:00 AM
Author: asforhim
Huge differences exist between vendors (even amongst high-end ones). My HW e ring has much nicer melee than others I shopped for, including Tiffany and Cartier. I don''t know how they cut those little things but they sure do sparkle.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/harry-winston-pave-halo-what-about-pink-micropave-diamond-band.110982/

Interesting! I haven''t compared, I should take my wband (1.9 pointers) in to Harry Winston and compare. Though I suppose I wouldn''t want to depress myself if the diamonds are far less sparkly

 

[iraweissman]

Hi Jason. I used to work for one of the worlds largest diamond manufacturers. When I worked in their New York office, I ran the division specializing in small round diamonds (1/2ct and below). I personally have sorted numerous 100ct+ parcels of 1 point diamonds (10,000 stones per parcel!). I can tell you that there is an enormous range in qualities out there. What matters most with stars (until about 3 points, diamonds are called "stars". from 3-7 points, they are called "full cuts" and 1/10 and 1/6 sized are called "melees") is their cut, not so much their clarity (as long as it is within reason and the rough material is clear and has life).

 

[Lorelei]

Jason there is a big difference to my eyes between my WF ACA melee and others that I have seen, the ACA''s are little firecrackers and come alive in all kinds of lighting.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 4/17/2009 2:18:34 AM
Author: iraweissman
Hi Jason. I used to work for one of the worlds largest diamond manufacturers. When I worked in their New York office, I ran the division specializing in small round diamonds (1/2ct and below). I personally have sorted numerous 100ct+ parcels of 1 point diamonds (10,000 stones per parcel!). I can tell you that there is an enormous range in qualities out there. What matters most with stars (until about 3 points, diamonds are called ''stars''. from 3-7 points, they are called ''full cuts'' and 1/10 and 1/6 sized are called ''melees'') is their cut, not so much their clarity (as long as it is within reason and the rough material is clear and has life).

Wow - cool insight, thank you for sharing that experience with us. So I guess the WF ACA melee that so many of us are fond of must be exceptionally well-sorted (i.e. they must pick the absolute top stones from those parcels) then, yes? Its amazing how much one can learn on this site...