HCA rating Very Good but GIA Excellent cut diamond

[jayy178]

Hello there,

I am looking at a Round diamond on BN with following specs:

carat: 2.01
Triple EX
Clarity: VS2
Color: H
Table: 57%
Depth 62.7%
Pavilion: 40.8%
Crown: 36.5%
Culet: None
Flour: Medium

GIA classifies this as Excellent, but on HCA it receives only a Very Good rating (3.7). Is this something to be concerned about? I really just care about the fire and brilliance of the diamond and want it to have that sparkle that we all wish for!.

Thanks.

 

[jayy178]

Is the crown angle too steep causing HCA to give a worse rating?

 

[Karl_K]

Yes, crown angle is to steep in relation to the pavilion angle.
I agree with the hca on this one. There is better out there.

 

[hawk25]

I agree, there's better out there. GIA's Excellent cut grade is relatively wide compared to AGS ideal cut grade, so don't buy based on a GIA Excellent grade alone.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Absolutely agree with others. Keep looking.

 

[jayy178]

I guess its a factor of beauty for the price. I've compared several diamonds out there with same GIA grades but different angles that are HCA < 2, but prices jump several thousand. Haven't been able to find something similar with better HCA in $20K price range.

 

[thediamondshopper]

From your first post saying that fire, scintillation and sparkle are of utmost importance you are going to want to focus on cut, and while the stone in question may look nice in person it is not an optimal cut. What I would suggest is 1 of 2 things, look for a 1.9 or so with similar girdle dimensions to the 2.01 you are considering (it is the girdle dimensions that determine face up size not the carat weight), it shouldnt be hard to find as the 2.01 is cut fairly deep, so there will be many 1.9's with 60-62 depths that will have a similar face up appearance. The second option is to drop to an SI1, there are many that will be completely eye clean and will look identical to a VS2 without magnification. Tinkering with the size and clarity a bit will give you many more options and you may even find an AGS 000 in your budget which many here will agree is the way to go if available.

 

[jayy178]

to the regular person looking at this, will this still look beautiful? I honestly don't care about hearts/arrows, but just want it to look great. When comparing various diamonds in person, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between diff colors and clarity but did only see "GIA Excellent" cuts so hard to compare with something HCA worthy

 

[hawk25]

The words 'beautiful' and 'look great' are very subjective terms, especially for regular consumers and diamonds. For example, watch this video with the sound muted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp94DI3xTA0

You might have said that the first few diamonds shown looked great and beautiful. I'd imagine quite a few average consumers would say that. That's because they haven't seen what an ideal cut stone looks like. So to their eyes, a GIA good cut grade stone would look great. But what happens when they discover the difference higher cut grades makes? Would they still think their stone looks great and beautiful? I think this is what PSers try to help people avoid.

To get the best performing stone for your money, it requires more than what the average consumer thinks they need. In your case, it requires more than just a GIA certificate. So in the end, you could buy that BN stone and you'll probably be happy with it. But we're telling you there are other stones you can buy that will sparkle more than that BN stone will.

So with that knowledge, it's up to you on what to do next.

 

[ice empress]

The words 'beautiful' and 'look great' are very subjective terms, especially for regular consumers and diamonds. For example, watch this video with the sound muted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp94DI3xTA0

You might have said that the first few diamonds shown looked great and beautiful. I'd imagine quite a few average consumers would say that. That's because they haven't seen what an ideal cut stone looks like. So to their eyes, a GIA good cut grade stone would look great. But what happens when they discover the difference higher cut grades makes? Would they still think their stone looks great and beautiful? I think this is what PSers try to help people avoid.

To get the best performing stone for your money, it requires more than what the average consumer thinks they need. In your case, it requires more than just a GIA certificate. So in the end, you could buy that BN stone and you'll probably be happy with it. But we're telling you there are other stones you can buy that will sparkle more than that BN stone will.

So with that knowledge, it's up to you on what to do next.

Thanks hawk25 for posting that video! It was very interesting and informative!

 

[jayy178]

agree on video..great video to represent differences!