HCA Score Question: Girdle Percentage

[katrinab]

Hi fellow PSers,

I'm sorry if a thread about this is staring me right in the face, but I can't find anything about this and I am curious to know more about my diamond.

The diamond I selected and which has been set (patiently awaiting my SO's proposal) comes out with a HCA score of 3.6. Now I know that is a poor score and most PSers would instantly reject my stone. However, I absolutely love it and am confused as to why it gets such a high score when IMO it is beautiful. It is a 0.615ct GIA XXX G SI2. The measurements are as follows:

Depth: 62.2%
Table: 57%
Crown: 35 degrees
Pavilion: 41.2 degrees
Culet: none

HCA gives it a 3.6 overall (very good) with
Light return - very good
Fire - good
Scintillation - good
Spread - very good

Now I see on the HCA page that the result is based on a 1.2% girdle. On the GIA report for my stone it says the girdle is "medium - slightly thick (faceted) 4.0%". I also see from some other threads about HCA that GIA rounds its measurements so that could make a difference.

I guess what I would like the knowledgeable people of PS to tell me is if I am completely crazy and this should not be the beautiful stone that I can see (or think I see) or if the HCA tool is using a narrow set of parameters which does not compensate for GIA rounding and girdle thickness and therefore I am not going bonkers Compared to all the other stones I looked at this was by far the most beautiful, sparkly and fiery.

Please help! I will not be changing the stone and I really do love it, but would like to know more about how the rounding/girdle would effect my HCA score as I can't believe how high it is.

 

[JulieN]

If you love it, that's fine.

With GIA rounding and slightly thick girdle, it is possible the performance is better than HCA predicts.

 

[ChrisES]

HCA isnt't telling you it is poor. Because it scores above 2, HCA is telling you it is *less likely* to be excellant.

But it's a GIA triple x and you've seen it AND you love it, so it's FINE.

In fact, some prefer slightly higher scoring stones. The point of HCA is to help people use angles to narrow stones down to ones to bring in IS images and go from there. You're way beyond that point!