Just to summarise what I found after visiting 3 different big name stores looking at 0.5ct round diamonds..
De Beers F/VS2 (Triple Excellent)
Depth 61.9%
Table 56%
Crown: 34.5%
Pavilion: 40.8
HCA score 1.3
Cartier F/VVS2 (Triple Excellent)
Depth 61.5%
Table 59%
Crown: 33.5%
Pavilion: 41.6
HCA score 5.3
Tiffany F/VS1 (Triple Excellent)
Depth 61.8%
Table 59%
Crown: 35%
Pavilion: 41.2
HCA score 4
Overall experience. All their solitaires have beautiful settings, the service in Cartier and De Beers was excellent. Tiffany was a bit difficult to get the grading report details to know the cut. I was being assured that it was of the highest cut standard and you couldn’t get any better. It took 2 weeks of nagging and emailing for them to get the report, as the SA had to email the internal grading lab to get the information. I found it very strange that they didn’t have this information themselves in store.
Overall lesson that I learnt was that you aren’t guaranteed an excellent diamond from a big name store. Even the big brands can get a mixed bag of good and bad diamonds. And like others have mentioned already, you really are paying for the name and you get better value online as you can get the exact diamond that you want (for less). If anyone reading this was looking to get an e-ring from a big brand, I would say not to take the SA word and check the grading report against the ideal cut proportions and HCA score (not over 2). And to also ask for advice on here because it helped me a lot!
De Beers F/VS2 (Triple Excellent)
Depth 61.9%
Table 56%
Crown: 34.5%
Pavilion: 40.8
HCA score 1.3
Cartier F/VVS2 (Triple Excellent)
Depth 61.5%
Table 59%
Crown: 33.5%
Pavilion: 41.6
HCA score 5.3
Tiffany F/VS1 (Triple Excellent)
Depth 61.8%
Table 59%
Crown: 35%
Pavilion: 41.2
HCA score 4
Overall experience. All their solitaires have beautiful settings, the service in Cartier and De Beers was excellent. Tiffany was a bit difficult to get the grading report details to know the cut. I was being assured that it was of the highest cut standard and you couldn’t get any better. It took 2 weeks of nagging and emailing for them to get the report, as the SA had to email the internal grading lab to get the information. I found it very strange that they didn’t have this information themselves in store.
Overall lesson that I learnt was that you aren’t guaranteed an excellent diamond from a big name store. Even the big brands can get a mixed bag of good and bad diamonds. And like others have mentioned already, you really are paying for the name and you get better value online as you can get the exact diamond that you want (for less). If anyone reading this was looking to get an e-ring from a big brand, I would say not to take the SA word and check the grading report against the ideal cut proportions and HCA score (not over 2). And to also ask for advice on here because it helped me a lot!
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