Hearts and Arrows with a naked eye

[Whodunnit]

(first off, I''m new here and apologize in advance if this has already been covered a million times, but I haven''t had any luck in finding this answered)

A bit of a beginner question, I''ve read a great deal on this site and others about H&A and I keep reading that once the stone is set, the hearts are no longer visible... When viewing various ex/id cut stones in person (viewed from the top) occasionally I find ones where at certain angles in good lighting a heart shape shines clear and bright. Actually, I found one where the heart shined brighter than any other angle it seemed! These hearts from what I can tell are in the same location as the ones that are commonly talked about with H&A stones (viewed from the bottom) but only one shows at a time as you rotate the diamond around its axis at an angle to the light source.

My question is, is this the same as the hearts that we''re talking about from H&A? Will it go away once set, and if so why? (the light shining back seemed to be reflected light entering in through the table, not from the bottom/sides. If no, what depth&table%''s or other dimensional qualities should I be looking for to produce such a feature in the future?

Thanks in advance for your help and time!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/13/2009 9:43:07 PM
Author:Whodunnit

(first off, I'm new here and apologize in advance if this has already been covered a million times, but I haven't had any luck in finding this answered)

A bit of a beginner question, I've read a great deal on this site and others about H&A and I keep reading that once the stone is set, the hearts are no longer visible... When viewing various ex/id cut stones in person (viewed from the top) occasionally I find ones where at certain angles in good lighting a heart shape shines clear and bright. Actually, I found one where the heart shined brighter than any other angle it seemed! These hearts from what I can tell are in the same location as the ones that are commonly talked about with H&A stones (viewed from the bottom) but only one shows at a time as you rotate the diamond around its axis at an angle to the light source.

My question is, is this the same as the hearts that we're talking about from H&A? Will it go away once set, and if so why? (the light shining back seemed to be reflected light entering in through the table, not from the bottom/sides. If no, what depth&table%'s or other dimensional qualities should I be looking for to produce such a feature in the future?

Thanks in advance for your help and time!

I think we mean that the hearts patterning in its entirety won't be visible when a diamond is set, you might still see a heart pop out if you were looking for it with a set ring, if the angle of the stone and lighting was right and of course depending on the setting itself, prong postioning and so forth.

 

[Whodunnit]

Gotcha. That''s exactly what I was wondering. Thank you!

I (think) I''ve noticed that some hearts show up with both the left and right halves shining evenly and at the same time, while others (most?) shine with one side or the other more brightly. Do you know if there''s some way I can tell from diamonds online if they''d be more like the former the latter?

Being a bit short on money, perhaps I can find a diamond that has at least one clear heart, and orient it so the heart shows up at the desired angle (perhaps in-line with her finger, 12:00 position). Any thoughts on that?

Thanks again for your help!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/14/2009 11:36:08 AM
Author: Whodunnit
Gotcha. That''s exactly what I was wondering. Thank you!

I (think) I''ve noticed that some hearts show up with both the left and right halves shining evenly and at the same time, while others (most?) shine with one side or the other more brightly. Do you know if there''s some way I can tell from diamonds online if they''d be more like the former the latter?

Being a bit short on money, perhaps I can find a diamond that has at least one clear heart, and orient it so the heart shows up at the desired angle (perhaps in-line with her finger, 12:00 position). Any thoughts on that?

Thanks again for your help!

This is a tricky one....Very cute idea though! What you need to find out more about this is a vendor with in house diamonds and all the images who can help you further and let you know if this is feasible. You can find diamonds which have uneven hearts and maybe a decent one so it could be an option, better yet if we could find you a h&a or near h&a diamond that might work. What is your budget for the diamond?

 

[Whodunnit]

Thanks for getting back to me. Any tips on how to message you back directly? I''d rather not post personal or financial info online and I can''t find any messaging function in this forum. Am I missing it?

 

[Ellen]

Date: 7/15/2009 6:03:09 PM
Author: Whodunnit
Thanks for getting back to me. Any tips on how to message you back directly? I''d rather not post personal or financial info online and I can''t find any messaging function in this forum. Am I missing it?

Not missing it, there isn''t any. Sorry.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/15/2009 6:03:09 PM
Author: Whodunnit
Thanks for getting back to me. Any tips on how to message you back directly? I'd rather not post personal or financial info online and I can't find any messaging function in this forum. Am I missing it?

Sorry, as Ellen says no message function on the site, just bump your thread and I will appear

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Just read your question, and it is unclear to me.

You say that you are observing a heart-shape reflection when looking at a round brilliant diamond through the top?

In that case, this is not in any way one of the hearts that is visible through the bottom in a H&A-diamond. I do not know what you are observing, but definitely not the same thing.

The reason why hearts are not visible anymore, is because they are only visible through the bottom.

Now, you might ask, if you cannot see them when set, how can they be beneficial. Well, H&A shows symmetry in cutting, and it is easier to observe issues of the symmetry in the hearts-view than it is visible in the arrows-view.

Live long,

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/16/2009 7:59:03 AM
Author: Paul-Antwerp
Just read your question, and it is unclear to me.

You say that you are observing a heart-shape reflection when looking at a round brilliant diamond through the top?

In that case, this is not in any way one of the hearts that is visible through the bottom in a H&A-diamond. I do not know what you are observing, but definitely not the same thing.

The reason why hearts are not visible anymore, is because they are only visible through the bottom.

Now, you might ask, if you cannot see them when set, how can they be beneficial. Well, H&A shows symmetry in cutting, and it is easier to observe issues of the symmetry in the hearts-view than it is visible in the arrows-view.

Live long,

Ah ok, I think I read this wrongly, I thought the OP meant seeing a heart from the bottom. I am not sure if I know what he means though Paul unless it is this - you might have seen this effect not necessarily with a h&a diamond, but with some you can see what looks a bit like a heart in the centre of the virtual faceting, my diamond does this. I could be wrong but on reflection this might be what is meant.

 

[Todd Gray]

I think a little clarification is needed as to what causes the hearts and arrows pattern to begin with... The arrows are a reflection of the pavilion main facets which are the eight pointed star pattern extending from just above the culet (bottom point) of a round brilliant cut diamond up towards the girdle edge and the hearts are a reflection of the eight kite shaped bezel facets located on the top of the stone. The pattern is skewed into hearts due to the pavilion angle and each pattern is only visible from the opposite direction of where the actual facet structure lies on the surface of the diamond. Thus it is not possible to see the hearts pattern when the diamond is mounted because the setting blocks the lower half of the diamond. You might be seeing "hearts" in the form of virtual facets created by tilting a diamond at certain angles...