HCA Score vs the 4 C's

[Pandabear90]

Sorry, this may have already been answered already, I'm just trying to clarify and better understand.

Why is it that I'll see some diamonds with better 4c's and more expensive that score a crappy HCA score oppose to some that are less expensive and have better HCA score and may be a notch lower in the 4c's?

If what i'm asking makes any sense...

Is there a certain number I should aim for...

table, depth, crown, pavillion?

 

[FancyIntense]

I wonder the same thing myself. Good question.

I know that there is like 20% difference between color grades so going just one color grade can make the price jump.

I hope someone who knows can answer this question

 

[kenny]

Color, shape, clarity, and carat weight have nothing to do with light performance.

Reject rounds that score over 2.0 on HCA.
Get on Idealscope image on those that score under 2.0.

This has been posted a zillion times.

 

[ecf8503]

Carat, clarity and color are tangible. They are things price can be objectively assigned to. Hence the big jumps for rarity in both color and clarity. As well as carat size.

Cut quality is not as clear. An ideal cut stone will command a higher price, given that all other stats are equal, though.

The carat, color, and clarity (to a point) have no bearing on light performance - that is determined by facet angles. Many cutters prefer to cut stones to save weight, as they know if they hit the magic 1ct mark for example that there is a significant price jump. But ideal cut stones are not cut to save weight. Yet they still fall victim to the same pricing structure in terms of carat marks, clarity grades, etc. More rough is lost in the cutting and polishing process for an ideal cut stone.

You can have 2 stones, identical stats, and they will have very different looks - if one is cut to retain weight, it will be either deep and narrow or wide and shallow. Both types leak light. They look smaller and more tinted than an ideal cut stone of the same weight because the light is not being reflected back to your eye properly.

Reflector technologies (idealscope, ASET) help us determine which stones will have the best light performance - you want a stone that will look big and sparkly, right? You can have a D color IF stone that looks small and dark and not sparkly and it will get outperformed by a J color eye clean SI2 ideal cut every time. The ideal cut stone (insert color / clarity here) will ALWAYS outperform it.

Look up top - see the "Knowledge" tab? READ IT.

 

[WinkHPD]

Sorry, this may have already been answered already, I'm just trying to clarify and better understand.

Why is it that I'll see some diamonds with better 4c's and more expensive that score a crappy HCA score oppose to some that are less expensive and have better HCA score and may be a notch lower in the 4c's?

If what i'm asking makes any sense...

Is there a certain number I should aim for...

table, depth, crown, pavillion?

You can spend a few months learning a fraction of what a diamond buyer should know, or you can get out and look at diamonds, both well cut and not, preferably side by side and in various lighting schemes (to thwart the over bright and sparkly lights used in retail stores) and see what your eyes like.

I have found that when putting three to five diamonds in a slotted tray, with nothing being said about any of the diamonds other than please choose either the one you like the best or the one that you like the least, that it is nearly always that the more poorly cut diamonds are removed first from the tray and that in more than 90% of the time it is one of the top cut diamonds that is chosen as the one liked best. (The more diamonds in the tray, the more likely it is that the one like the least is chosen and removed from the tray, although a small percentage of people will go directly to the one they like the best. None of this small percentage have ever chosen the poorly cut diamond as their favorite so well as I can recall.)

The number that you should aim for is the one that floats your boat when seen. Cut is far and away more important than color or clarity in the beauty of the diamond, and size comes next. Many ladies will choose a poorly cut diamond so long as it is BIG!. As a cut snob THAT drives me nuts, but it is still true, whether I like it or not...

Wink

 

[Regular Guy]

Wink, great answer.

And....frequently enough...you just don't pay much of a premium for a better cut diamond.

Ira Z.

 

[WinkHPD]

Thanks Ira. Nice to see you posting again!

Wink