Hearts and Arrows?

[IrvineCA]

Can someone tell me what "hearts and arrows" mean on a diamond?

IrvineCA

 

[Regular Guy]

Wow, Irvine, fresh as the driven snow.

Welcome to Pricescope, where many of your questions are ready to be answered, I think.

Look above, on the line that says: Home Forum Prices Knowledge....under knowledge, you''ll want to read the tutorial, and, re your question, the piece called: Hearts & Arrows.

Just below that, on the bar that says: Pricescope your diamond, you''ll find Pricescope effectively provides to you the rapnet resource you''re looking for, particularly since, as a person who is not a vendor, licensed to do business, Rapnet -- probably even to one willing to subscribe -- would generally be unavailable to you. Not that it''s not a bad idea to become a Realtor, in order to help you buy a house...just that Pricescope effectively does much of that work for you.

Best,

 

[denverappraiser]

Good advice Ira,

You''ll also find lots of discussion in the forum about Hearts & Arrows that you can access using the search box near the top right hand corner of the page or even by just paging through the headlines looking for interesting questions.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[phoenixgirl]

Here''s an example of a H&A vs. non H&A stone . . . click on the Ideal Scope image to the top right of each picture to see the difference in symmetry

Non H&A stone

H&A stone

You''ll notice that these stones are both 1.03-1.05 E VS2 from the same vendor, and the H&A costs 40% more. I''m not saying that the H&A''s always cost this much more (a non H&A can still have good light return, but this one doesn''t), but that you should be prepared to pay a premium.

I can''t speak for everyone of course, but if I had about $6250 to spend, I''d rather get an H SI1 H&A than that E VS2 with no symmetry. Most people looking at the stone on your finger would just see the sparkle and would never detect the slightly lower color or clarity.

 

[JohnQuixote]

Good input from prior posters.

Ira's realtor comparison I especially like. As Pheonixgirl notes, there is a premium for a H&A level of precision that can vary (more rough is polished away and more time spent to acquire this level of symmetry) which may or may not suit your taste/budget. Some of the info Ira pointed to and a few different illustrations (why you see the 'arrows' effect in diamond photos for instance) can be found here.