Heart diamond cut/specs and different certification labs Q

[L1quidforce]

I am interested in a heart cut diamond. I have been reading up on diamonds in general for the last week or so and reading lots of the knowledge articles on here, including the heart shaped diamond one. I know that that particular article lists the best specs for some of the different qualities of cuts in heart diamonds. But it also seems a little unclear in that there is some overlap, for example an ideal cut is 55-60% table, whereas premium is 53-61.5%. Does that mean that premium is essentially 53-55 and 60-61.5% table?

What are the most important aspects of the cut in heart shaped diamonds out of table, crown, girdle, depth? I also noticed the article says that colour can be more noticeable, is there any cour grade you would want to cut off at specifically with a heart if you were going for a near colourless look?

Finally, which of the grading labs are likely to be best for heart shaped diamonds? Is there any one in particular or is it as for other diamonds, maybe step up a colour grade if you go with EGL? Also generally in terms of EGL USA vs EGL international is there any difference? From reading about the different labs it appeared that cut and clarity were generally similar across the board but an EGL might be a colour grade down, is that about right or am I glossing over some important differences between say an EGL vs. a GIA?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Christina...]

Re: Heart diamond cut/specs and different certification labs

Good questions! I'm not a heart shaped expert by any means, and I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in soon enough, but I can offer you some suggestions.

First, it's important to purchase your diamond from a lab known for their consistency and accuracy. GIA and AGS are both world renowned labs and you can feel confident that the stone you are purchasing is accurately described in the grading report. We do recommend foregoing labs such as EGL and some of the lesser known, simply because their grading can be off by as many as 3-5 grades. They may tell you that your diamond is an H color when it's likely to be a K. EGL stones on surface can appear to be a better value and the people that sell them will often try to convince you that they are, however its important to remember when doing price comparisons that a stone that EGL grade E VS2 would likely be graded as G (or worse) SI1 (or worse) by GIA or AGS.

Diamonds that come to a point such as hearts, marquis, princess,pears, all have a tendency to hold body color in their points, If you want to be sure that your stone remains icy white I would stay a G or better, some H's are probably fine but you would have to view the stone to determine this for yourself. Some people are more sensitive to color than others, you may find that an I looks very white to you while your fiancee can clearly see the body color.

A lot of weight is lost in stones that are cut too deep or girdles that are too thick. Many cutters cut for weight retention rather than beauty and if they are trying to hit a magic weight such as 1 ct, they may cut a thicker girdle or deeper stone. You have already found the AGA cut guidelines and this tool will serve you well when trying to find a beautiful fancy shaped diamond. Unfortunately it's impossible to buy a fancy cut based solely on the numbers alone. It does however provide you with a great guide and will make dismissing stones that fall way outside of ideal much easier for you.

When you find a stone that interests you, you will want to ask the vendor for an ASET image of the stone. This will show the predicted light performance for diamond. You can find more information under the tool tab.