Girdle: Thin Faceted?

[Scarlett]

Thin Faceted girdle ok for diamond studs of approx. 1.5 cttw?

Should I be worried about chipping since I plan to wear them everday.
Or wait for the diamonds with Medium to Slightly Thick girdle?

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Thin is perfect for earrings - biggest spread and no chance of chipping once they are set.

Suggest you look for shallower spready stones

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/29/2007 10:19:45 PM
Author:Scarlett
Thin Faceted girdle ok for diamond studs of approx. 1.5 cttw?

Should I be worried about chipping since I plan to wear them everday.
Or wait for the diamonds with Medium to Slightly Thick girdle?

I see this fear of thin girdles expressed on occasion, often for naught... Remember that girdle thickness is a range. A "thin" girdle is, at the least, in the safe range for most settings (per GIA/AGS) and that girdle may be only one micron short of "medium." The AGS thin range is wider than med & stk combined, so excluding those stones may cause you to overlook some great candidates. Here is a thread with graphics if you''re interested.

 

[door knob solitaire]

Thanks John...

A thin girdle is the only thing I have learned to fear on PS

. My stone has a V thin-thin faceted girdle and I have come to fear it as if it is a leper or something. It is still loose and needs to be set, but the setting I want will only have the tips of prongs to protect it I have been reluctant to go forth after learning it is the dreaded thin girdle

. Before...I had no fear as I had no knowledge.

BEWARE OF THE THIN GIRDLE horror movie coming to a theater near you! Ugggghhh. You couldn''t pay me to see that movie! I am trembling now.

So to clarify, are you saying this is a description of a characteristic...as apposed to a warning such as dangerous curves ahead?

DKS

 

[honey22]

Oh! I was planning on setting a diamond with a thin girdle in a 6 prong solitare setting - am I making a mistake, I thought thin girldes were the ones to look for. I have been dismissing stones with medium girdles?!

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/30/2007 1:06:20 AM
Author: door knob solitaire
Thanks John...

A thin girdle is the only thing I have learned to fear on PS

. My stone has a V thin-thin faceted girdle and I have come to fear it as if it is a leper or something. It is still loose and needs to be set, but the setting I want will only have the tips of prongs to protect it I have been reluctant to go forth after learning it is the dreaded thin girdle

. Before...I had no fear as I had no knowledge.

BEWARE OF THE THIN GIRDLE horror movie coming to a theater near you! Ugggghhh. You couldn''t pay me to see that movie! I am trembling now.

So to clarify, are you saying this is a description of a characteristic...as apposed to a warning such as dangerous curves ahead?

DKS

LOL DKS. It sounds like you need some fear counseling?

Your last sentence is right-on. It''s a description and describes a range...just like VS or SI clarity describes a range of clarity.

Take a look at the thread I linked above and you can see the width of ''thin'' (AGSL) is actually over twice the range of med & stk combined. This means, statistically, there will be far more perfectly suitable AGS-graded diamonds which have ''thin'' in their descriptor.

Thin-med-stk are all considered perfectly safe for normal setting; durable enough to avoid chipping and not too thick to hide weight. If the girdle dips below the established border it can be vtn or etn. I would avoid those descriptors as averages, but just because your diamond is vtn-thin it''s not necessarily ready to explode

. Do you know how many places the vtn occurs in? There is an example of a princess with a vtn-med girdle in the linked thread which has no issues, because the vtn was caused by an indented natural in one non-vulnerable place.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/30/2007 1:09:08 AM
Author: honey22

Oh! I was planning on setting a diamond with a thin girdle in a 6 prong solitare setting - am I making a mistake, I thought thin girldes were the ones to look for. I have been dismissing stones with medium girdles?!

Honey,

Thin, medium & slightly thick are all perfectly acceptable averages. No worries.

 

[WorkingHardforSmallRewards]

Date: 8/30/2007 1:37:53 AM
Author: JohnQuixote

Date: 8/30/2007 1:09:08 AM

Author: honey22


Oh! I was planning on setting a diamond with a thin girdle in a 6 prong solitare setting - am I making a mistake, I thought thin girldes were the ones to look for. I have been dismissing stones with medium girdles?!

Honey,


Thin, medium & slightly thick are all perfectly acceptable averages. No worries.

wheew...for a minute I was in complete shock that you would call her "honey."

I just sat here staring at it thinking "no he didnt...."

and then I realized...of course, her name is honey

 

[door knob solitaire]

Working, glad you clarified that. I was offended I didn''t get a honey!

DKS

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/30/2007 2:30:08 AM
Author: door knob solitaire

Working, glad you clarified that. I was offended I didn''t get a honey!

DKS

Aww DKS, you''re a honey in my book.

If I had a southern drawl it would sound more charming tho.

 

[door knob solitaire]

John,

That chart and work you put into it, was incredible. I think I understand the reason for the description now. Upon that description you can acquire the distribution of weight...or spread...once you are skilled to know the rest of the equation. Some girdles actually wave in thickness or zig zag so they go from thin to thick and back to thin. The square stone you provided wasn't faceted..so its description was the same until it came to that one issue corner...right?

If your opinion is available...would you look at this: This is the setting I was referring to. I want my Vthin-thin faceted girdle to be showcased here. Now that I am not in fear of it!!! I used the chart and the information I have on my girdle and found it to be 0.9 -1.6 %...with that information and your chart...I think I am cleared for takeoff?

Oh my design won't have the cathedral wings...just the simple basket head. And the distance between the girdle and the horizontal bar/donut is what I love most about this spready look. Would you have any hesitation on this design for 2.11ct ?

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." You can quote me on that. I think it just may catch on!

Thanks, DKS...ETA: thanks for the HONEY!!!

 

[JohnQuixote]

Date: 8/30/2007 2:56:58 AM
Author: door knob solitaire
John,

That chart and work you put into it, was incredible. I think I understand the reason for the description now. Upon that description you can acquire the distribution of weight...or spread...once you are skilled to know the rest of the equation. Some girdles actually wave in thickness or zig zag so they go from thin to thick and back to thin. The square stone you provided wasn't faceted..so its description was the same until it came to that one issue corner...right?

If your opinion is available...would you look at this: This is the setting I was referring to. I want my Vthin-thin faceted girdle to be showcased here. Now that I am not in fear of it!!! I used the chart and the information I have on my girdle and found it to be 0.9 -1.6 %...with that information and your chart...I think I am cleared for takeoff?

Oh my design won't have the cathedral wings...just the simple basket head. And the distance between the girdle and the horizontal bar/donut is what I love most about this spready look. Would you have any hesitation on this design for 2.11ct ?

'The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.' You can quote me on that. I think it just may catch on!

Thanks, DKS...ETA: thanks for the HONEY!!!

Hi again DKS, honey.

You're welcome, and exactly right with regard to how the princess in that thread was treated...medium all the way 'round until it came to the single vtn point...so the range was listed as vtn-med.

As you know, the girdle of a round brilliant has 16 low points, called valleys, and 16 high points.
When GIA judges a round's girdle they're measuring at the valleys only, so 'vtn-thin' could be either of the examples below, or similar:

The top diamond has only 1 position along the girdle that goes to vtn (arrow).
The bottom diamond has several positions that go to vtn.

Either way the thinnest point(s) on your diamond being 0.9% is positive, but the descriptions on a grading report are limited. No matter what, the skill of the setter is paramount. Any diamond pro will want to analyze it (regardless of grading report) before working on it - so have it looked at. That's a beautiful setting and unless your diamond is vtn in critical places or has clarity/durability issues you should replace your fear with motivation to get that baby set and on your finger!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 8/30/2007 11:25:40 AM
Author: JohnQuixote

Either way the thinnest point(s) on your diamond being 0.9% is positive, but the descriptions on a grading report are limited. No matter what, the skill of the setter is paramount. Any diamond pro will want to analyze it (regardless of grading report) before working on it - so have it looked at. That''s a beautiful setting and unless your diamond is vtn in critical places or has clarity/durability issues you should replace your fear with motivation to get that baby set and on your finger!

You tell her.

And while I would NEVER want anyone trying this, right after I first got my ring (thin girdle, 4 prong), I dropped it from a standing position onto a ceramic tiled floor.

Nothing happened, which goes to show, they are not THAT fragile.

 

[door knob solitaire]

Awhhh....thanks ever so much John! You really should be an instructor. I have the clearest understanding on your posts.
Your patience and willingness to get into vivid detail is so helpful. I am grateful. I woke today with a little extra spring in my step....my girdle isn't dangerous after all!!! Yippeee! Through the tulips I danced! Again your tutoring gave me back my direction.

Your last entry about the round...and the image...made everything make sense.

Thanks again!

DKS

Scarlett...my apologies for hijacking your thread. You only have 4 posts on PS, by the way WELCOME!!!

and wouldn't you know it...I turned your post into being ALL ABOUT ME!! Me and my girdle. I hope you learned some insight as I did through the discussion with John. He is WONDERFUL!!!

 

[Scarlett]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I am new to this forum and don''t know much about diamonds but I am learning so much on this great forum.

door knob solitaire I don''t think you are hijacking my thread. If anything you are contributing to the girdle questions I am sure alot of newbies like myself wants to know more about.