Fire, brilliance, sparkle...what makes the colors flash?

[rmkwebdesign]

Good news! I got my diamond from James Allen this morning, a 1.16 H SI2, round brilliant, AGS ideal cut, JA eyeclean. It looks very nice!

I''ve a some questions. Some of you will remember I was originally considering a HOF or ACA diamond, but was encouraged to spend less money for an ideal cut instead. Looking at the JA round brilliant I just got, I see lots of brilliance and scintilliation.

However, the fire from the diamond (if I''m understanding correctly that fire is not "sparkle" but "rainbow color flashes" seen) is not nearly anything like I saw in the H&A diamonds I''d looked at. There is, of course, some fire in the stone...I do seem some rainbow colors in the stone when slowly turning it. But not anything like the H&A''s I''ve seen in B&M stores. Some of those diamonds, the it looks like confetti there are so many colors.

My questions are these:

1) How much of the difference is due to lighting conditions? The difference between B&M jewelers (where I saw the H&As) and my office (where I''m at now with the new JA diamond, where there is primarily flourescent lighting)?
2) How much of the difference is specificly related to the H&A specific cut? Was I unknowingly giving up overpowering rainbow colors by leaving the H&As and going with a round brilliant?
3) Is the fire differences only a preference? I liked the many colors I remember seeing in the fire of the H&As, but do others dislike that? Is it fad or trendy?

Now...this does not mean that the diamond isn''t beautiful. On the contrary, it is very brilliant, and the scintilliation is wonderful. It sparkles a lot! Just differently as it relates to colors as the H&As I saw. I''d love to hear people''s thoughts and comments.

BTW, the diamond I got is this, the specs below:

Shape: Round
Carat weight: 1.16
Cut: Ideal
Color: H
Clarity: SI2
Certificate: AGS
Depth: 61.7%
Table: 55%
Polish: Ideal
Symmetry: Ideal
Girdle: Slightly thick, faceted
Culet: None
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.73*6.87*4.18

 

[oldminer]

I'd promise you that if you put the diamond into typical retail jewelry store type overhead intense pinpoint spotlighting that you will see lots of fire. Fire is a component of beauty much affected by lighting conditions. Diamonds of fine cut ALL have fire, just like ALL prisms break light into spectral colors. Once the angles and facets are in place, you can't help but make dispersion. ONLY lighting of the right sort is required if the facets and angles are in the right configuration for a fine cut diamond.

Garry Holloway has created a predictive tool to tell when a particular diamond may have more fire than another under his estimated lighting model. If fire was important to you, then one of his most firely models might have been a good choice. Truthfully, I prefer a diamond with the right BALANCE of expected fire and not any type of strange, extra firey style. Diamonds have a certain "best" look to me, and any great variance on that disturbs my eye rather than creates a thought in my mind that more fire is a better look. It is a personal preference, however.

I relegate "fire" as a secondary attribute of beauty. Brilliance, Sparkle and Intensity (light Return, scintillation and contrast) are the PRIMARY measures of light behavior. Fire is going to be present in fine diamonds. More under certain lighting and less in other lighting conditions. Fire is a little like the small mole above Cindy Crawford's lip. She is undoubtedly beautiful. The mole adds a certain "interest", a "je ne sais quoi" to her otherwise flawless appearance. Some folks may find it distracting and other folks may find it a highlight. Obviously, it is a secondary attribute of her appearance, but we do notice it.

Diamond sellers all try to make a case for their proprietary cut stone. You can't shop the price of a diamond which you can only buy in one place. If the branding is effective and the beauty of the branded stone consistently excellent, then you are paying for a certain assurance which you are getting. Buying a more generic diamond allows better shopping for price differentiation. If you shop well, the visual difference to a branded diamond may be little to not at all. We can't tell how well you did, but all ideal cuts are far better than the commercial diamonds sold to the masses.

 

[Lord Summerisle]

Date: 8/24/2007 3:02:20 PM
Author:rmkwebdesign
My questions are these:


1) How much of the difference is due to lighting conditions? The difference between B&M jewelers (where I saw the H&As) and my office (where I''m at now with the new JA diamond, where there is primarily flourescent lighting)?

i think theres your answer. Try taking your diamond into a jewellers store, its often joked a jewellers store lighting can make a lump of coal sparkle

I think this video help to show how lighting can change the appearance: GIA Diamond Doc vid on Pricescope

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 8/24/2007 3:45:12 PM
Author: Lord Summerisle



i think theres your answer. Try taking your diamond into a jewellers store, its often joked a jewellers store lighting can make a lump of coal sparkle

I think this video help to show how lighting can change the appearance: GIA Diamond Doc vid on Pricescope

Exactly! Take your diamond into a jeweler and compare it to a H&A cut and see if you can tell the difference.

 

[Ellen]

Yep, house lighting doesn''t do much. Besides a jewelry store, take it in grocery store with high ceiling fluorescent lighting, resturants with low lighting, elevators with pin lighting, sunshine.....

 

[rmkwebdesign]

K, ty everyone. I''ll look at some different lighting conditions.

 

[rmkwebdesign]

You all are quite smart! I took the diamond to some pin lighting and WHAMO it comes to life. Very interesting what different lighting does.