H&A or Star 129?

[vintagelover229]

So after much advice from EVERYONE here I went to Jared''s (with much complaining by my fiance). A few ppl said that I should look at a H&A because the flashes might be smaller than I thought. I did look at one and I liked it, they are beautiful. So I re-checked out the video on GOG on the star 129 compared to the H&A. I love them both and they are both so beautiful...but if I can get a bigger diamond in the H&A vs. the star 129...I think I am going to do it. My question is...there are so many ppl that say they are "H&A". How can I tell what H&A are good compared to the other ones? What should I look for in a H&A cut? I''m really confused. What do you think makes one better than the other? What are the % I should be looking for etc? Any help would help. I''m going to find out Tues. the prices on the 129''s and the sizes and so I would like to know what I''m working with. 2500.00 is my max budget for a stone, and I would like something .7-.75. THANKS!

 

[bem3231]

I''m glad that you''ve opened yourself up to consider H&A''s along with the Star 129. If you look under the ''knowledge'' tab at the top of the page there is a section on Hearts and Arrows that might be useful to you. Good luck!

 

[Sparkalicious]

Redrose,

Here a couple of links that might assist you with gaining more info about H&A.

Click here

Good luck!

 

[lumpkin]

See if your local Jared carries AGS0 ideal stones. They will definitely be H&A. I can''t remember what Jared calls their AGS0 ideals, but they have their own name for them. If you don''t want to buy on-line I''d definitely check into those. I saw some at our Jared and they are gorgeous in person!

 

[vintagelover229]

Yeah but they wanted 4100.00 for a .7 stone and I can get that for less online, but thanks!

 

[lumpkin]

Oh, I''m sorry, I thought you were NOT buying on line.

 

[Sparkalicious]

Redrose,

I used the Pricescope Diamond Cut Quality search tool above, here is a link if you would like to try it yourself.

I found the following diamond you might like. It is a Whiteflash, A Cut Above H&A. They even have pics of the hearts you can pull up to see yourself.

0.708 H/SI2, $2,374, Bank wire price.

Just to be safe, if you do like it, you may wish to check with WF that it is "eye clean" or that no inclusions are visible to the unaided eye.

Good luck with your continued search.

 

[door knob solitaire]

I am late to this conversation Here's another to consider...it is a 4 star Expert Selection...SI1 G $2240...but it is a beauty. Still a White Flash knockout!!

 

[gulliverseyes]

I recommend you buy an ideal scope and go to as many stores as you can to see diamonds. I did this and found many with very nice symmetrical hearts and arrows shapes, although not branded H&A. My understanding is that the near perfect H&A symmetry may help with light return, but the cut will make way bigger of a difference, if that''s what you''re after. Keep in mind, the H&A is more about the symmetry, there may be non-H&A diamonds that rate better when you crunch the numbers regarding cut.

At first I loved the shape of the near perfect hearts and arrows look, but after, decided I really liked the natural look of a less symmetrical diamond. I recently bought one that was far from H&A, and to me, it''s randomness is very natural - like icicles.

If you chose to stray from H&A, you can still get a great cut with great light return ... for less money. Or, you could get one that looks H&A to your eye, but may be an accident ... for less money. You really need to look at many to see what you like.

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 2/3/2008 8:47:38 PM
Author: lumpkin
See if your local Jared carries AGS0 ideal stones. They will definitely be H&A. I can''t remember what Jared calls their AGS0 ideals, but they have their own name for them. If you don''t want to buy on-line I''d definitely check into those. I saw some at our Jared and they are gorgeous in person!

actually not all AGS0''s are H&A''s although most will show some sort of pattern. H&A''s are cut to certain specifications. Whiteflash has their A cut Above line which are all H&A''s. GOG has them too and they are marked on their website. I do agree with lumpkin that checking out the AGS0''s at Jared''s would be a great idea and you can see what an ideal cut stone looks like. I think maybe it''s the Hearts on Fire (Kays???) that are the branded hearts and arrows stones of the chain stores...

 

[Lorelei]

Redrose, I have been following your journey and I wanted to mention that Good Old Gold also has superb heart and arrow diamonds, as Jon has already been helping you with your search, and you have a good working relationship, why not contact him about his H&A diamonds to see what he could offer?

Here is a useful tutorial also.

http://www.goodoldgold.com/ShapeTutorials/RoundHeartsArrowsTutorial/

 

[vintagelover229]

I''m planning on doing that but they don''t reopen until Tuesday. I am going to see what the prices are on the star 129 and then compare size, cut clairty, etc to the H&A prices and get the biggest, best cut, etc. I can get out of the 2. My fiance said he doesn''t like all the little sparkles of the 129 and he said it kinda looks fake to him, lol. but i like it and thats all that matters. i did look at the "peerless" AGS0 at jareds, their H&A diamond under the idealscope. It was very very cool. But like my fiance stated...i am going to be wearing one where ever i go so ppl can see that? not really, although for the price they wanted for it I probably should attach one to my glasses! lol anyways, I also like the eighternity or something like that, it sparkels a little more than the H&A so I might ask about that one as well...idk, I like the round look but I want SPARKLE! WOO HOO!

 

[bem3231]

Stephanie - did you happen to read about my experience comparing an Eighernity to traditional 56 facet rounds? It''s here:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-follow-up-to-my-post-on-gog-and-their-awesome-videos-and-answers-to-ellens-questions.77820/

There''s also a previous post that I made in December - the link can be found within this post. From my post you will learn that 56 facet rounds (H&A or otherwise) will have a different ''sparkle pattern'' depending on their lower girdle facet length. It might be a good option for you - get more pinfire flash but without the premium cost of a proprietary cut.

Just an idea!

 

[lumpkin]

Date: 2/4/2008 9:50:04 AM
Author: redrose229
I''m planning on doing that but they don''t reopen until Tuesday. I am going to see what the prices are on the star 129 and then compare size, cut clairty, etc to the H&A prices and get the biggest, best cut, etc. I can get out of the 2. My fiance said he doesn''t like all the little sparkles of the 129 and he said it kinda looks fake to him, lol. but i like it and thats all that matters. i did look at the ''peerless'' AGS0 at jareds, their H&A diamond under the idealscope. It was very very cool. But like my fiance stated...i am going to be wearing one where ever i go so ppl can see that? not really, although for the price they wanted for it I probably should attach one to my glasses! lol anyways, I also like the eighternity or something like that, it sparkels a little more than the H&A so I might ask about that one as well...idk, I like the round look but I want SPARKLE! WOO HOO!

Oh, but if you go that route, *you''ll* know it''s there, and if it''s an ideally symmetrical pattern you won''t always need the scope to see it. The hearts and arrows make a very distinct contrast pattern that I can see without the scope an awful lot of the time, and it''s VERY cool (and I don''t quite have ideal symmetry)! It really is a lot of fun to see, so if you don''t get the star 129 or the solasfera, I''d definitely want a H&A pattern. If you are really trying to save money and aren''t as stringently seeking the AGS 0, you might check out some GIA or EGL (I know, PS blasphemy) stones, but I have seen some really nice ones and if the stone is cut to Tolkowsky proportions with an H&A pattern, the more recent EGL reports will say so. If you go with an EGL stone, you may want to up your color standards because supposedly they are more lax on color grading.