Heart advise needed

[billv45]

Hi All, First I''d like to thank everyone who help to flag me off that Ebay Gemhunt Heart diamond last week, thanks guys!
My GF has her heart set on a heart cut diamond and will not even consider one of the more traditional cuts. I''ve been around long enough to have learned that theses things are SOLELY for the bride and her enjoyment so she''s going to get what she wants. I''ve read various threads here and all lead me to believe that hearts leak light bad, real bad it appears. Does symmetry really matter at all in a heart cut? I mean if it''s going to leak most of the light anyway why not just go for one with a huge table that looks twice as big as it is? I also see a lot of fine tools available for evaluating stones like cutadvisor and such for rounds, are there any available for the hearts or does that lead back to my original question that cut is not that important in heart cuts? Any other advice for the heart will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

 

[Giangi]

Unfortunately there aren't tools that will tell you how is the heart diamond cut. Symmetry is VERY important in hearts. Very often you see some of them that are somewhat asymmetrycal (is this a word???

LOL).
There are no guidelines for heart shapes and your eyes must be used as the judge, but here are some important points tha will help you in making the first selection (to avoid dogs

)
Try to avoid very flat stones with 30% to 49% depth as they look almost always transparent like glass and very ugly. Often hearts are pretty thick girdles especially near the point. This is quite usual and, as long as the girdle is faceted, is acceptable. I'd avoid any table larger that 68%. I think that 65% or less looks very beautiful and well proprtiones on hearts(if ALL other numbers are OK). I'd avoid 49% or more pavilion and very low - 7%/9% - crowns as well.
Again, don't rely only on numbers, and try to ask for pictures of any stone you could be interested in...

Giangi

 

[Heyjud]

Since HER HEART belongs to you
The diamond of her dreams should be hers too

What a thoughtful guy you must be
To research the cut and the symmetry

This site is the place learn what's right
And find the stone for your hearts delight!

 

[Giangi]

Heyjud... This is too cute

 

[billv45]

Thanks Giangi,

Asymmetrical stones! That would drive me nuts; I can be anal when things don't balance. It appears that a heart shape will not be as easy to pick out as a round. The numbers you gave me suggest that good hearts can be found down to the 3B range of the cut charts and just about the only way to judge them is hands on or some really good pictures. That doesn't make the search any easier

Anyone like to lend some helpful hints to photo evaluations? I posted some pictures I thought were good last week and was told that they didn't reveal much. What do you look for?

P.S. Asymmetrical spell checks in Outlook!

 

[Giangi]

I was asking about asymmetrical because I'm not English...
What ct range are you looking at??

 

[billv45]

Around 1kt maybe a little over if I can afford it.

 

[Giangi]

OK... I'll make a little search... Hold on a few minutes... I'll be back

 

[Giangi]

What lenght to width ratio do you prefer? 1:1 is considered ideal, but it looks too long to me...

What about this:
http://63.87.243.140/showpic/showimage.dll?Cert=11837331
this one is around 5500 on dimendscaasi.com

Is HRD OK?? If yes, check out these: (they are on gendiat.com)

Certificate HRD
Certificate Number 20010572702
Date 19/04/2001
Shape Heart
Carat 1.02
Color I
Measurements 6.39 x 6.76 x 3.93mm
Purity SI1
Proportion Good
Finish
Polish
Symmetry
Girdle medium 3% faceted
Culet 0.9% polished
Table Width (%) 52
Crown height (%) 16.5
Pavilion Depth (%) 39
Depth (%)
Fluorescence Nil
Price/Carat 2,940.00
Comments
-----------------------

This one is IF/LC but the price sounds excellent...
Certificate HRD
Certificate Number 20024288003
Date 14/10/2002
Shape Heart
Carat 1.17
Color I
Measurements 7.16 x 7.26 x 3.91mm
Purity Loupe-Clean
Proportion
Finish Good
Polish
Symmetry
Girdle thin 2.5% faceted
Culet pointed
Table Width (%) 65
Crown height (%) 10.5
Pavilion Depth (%) 41
Depth (%)
Fluorescence Nil
Price/Carat 3640
Comments equivalent colour grading

 

[Giangi]

Just found these:

http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=1485436
http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=1230349
http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=874624
http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=1170964

 

[billv45]

Thanks Giangi, in what order are the measurments given, L x W x H? Those appeared to be nice stones at dirtcheapdiamonds, how does this one at dcd compare?

http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=1346344

Stock Number: 1346344
Laboratory: GIA
Carat Weight: 1.12
Color: H
Clarity: SI2
Depth: 59.7%
Table: 64%
Polish: GD
Symmetry: GD
Culet: NO
Girdle: MED-ETK F
Fluorescence: None
Measurements: 6.46x6.85x4.09

 

[billv45]

And I really like this one as the GF wants it big and clear.

http://www.dirtcheapdiamonds.com/diamond_detail.cfm?did=1508452

Diamond Details - 1508452 $3,148
Stock Number: 1508452
Laboratory: GIA
Carat Weight: 1.24
Color: H
Clarity: SI1
Depth: 51.3%
Table: 57%
Polish: GD
Symmetry: GD
Culet: SM
Girdle:
Fluorescence: Medium
Measurements: 7.54x7.52x3.86

 

[Giangi]

I'd exclude the secon one immediately. It has very low depth and girdle isn't listed. The first sounds a little better, but I'd avoid extremely thick girdles...
From what I see, the H SI 1 with 58% table, 57.8% depth ex/vg is about in your price range. It sound real nice. The girdle is thin to sl thick, which is very good and very unusual as well for hearts. In layman's terms, with an ext thick girdle, you're paying for something you can't see, but a sl thick girdle is just fine and doesn't hide any weight...
It has med fluorescence... I don't know if you like it or not. In my opinion is very cool

Stock Number: 1485436
Laboratory: GIA
Carat Weight: 1.04
Color: H
Clarity: SI1

----------

Depth: 57.8%
Table: 58%
Polish: EX
Symmetry: VG

-----

Culet: NO
Girdle: THN-STK F
Fluorescence: Medium
Measurements: 6.36x7.03x4.06

Hope that helps...
PS What about the HRD stones?

Giangi