Can someone please elaborate on this statement;
Your own personal preference may be for a diamond with an HCA score of 1.5 more rather than one with a lower score of say 0.5.
why would you rather have a 1.5 over a .5. isn't the lower the better? Or are they referring to cost preferance?
You want the HCA to be below 2.0 (excellent) and you are in great shape for visual performance for this tool. If you have viewed countless diamonds, you may be discerning to the point of having a specific number or range preference within this broader excellent range, but not too many people will fall into that category.
Most people are hoping to find the most beautiful diamond. HCA score is not a unit of beauty. It's not that someone may prefer a stone because it has a higher score, they may prefer a stone dispite the higher score.
HCA has 4 components.
Brightness / light return has 2x the weight.
Max brigtness often comes with reduced scinitillation and fire.
Larger Spread = smaller numerical results, but trades off other facotrs.
The result of these competing numbers adds up that 1-2 tends to be better for rings in most of the available proportions (you can have +2 on the shallow border too, so that is not as simple as many people make it out to be).