Help! Branded vs. Nonbranded daimonds please educate me.

[soal1]

Hi all,

I have a few questions I need help with.
1.) Are there non-branded diamonds that are just as equal in quality when being compared to similar spec branded diamonds? Common sense would tell me yes.

2.) If there are diamonds that are non-branded that are equal to branded diamonds then why do people want to pay the extra $. I know people pay extra for a luxury car like a Mercedes. But you can tell but looking at a car what type of make and model it is. But I can''t tell a branded diamond from a non branded diamond if they have equal specs.

3.) The reason I''m asking is because I am looking to purchase a loose diamond and do not know if I want to pay the extra $ if the only difference is because the diamond is branded. For example, I see that WF and BN have branded diamonds. I believe they also have diamonds with the same specs that are not branded on their sites. Why should I pay more for the diamond that is branded? Also if they do have diamonds with the same specs on their websites then why do they not brand all the high quality diamonds? Is it too time consuming?

Lastly if branded diamonds are no better than no branded diamonds are these specs. I got this info from a past post.

Depth - 60 - 62% - although my personal preference is to allow up to 62.4%
table - 54- 57%
crown angle - 34- 35 degrees
pavilion angle - 40.6- 41 degrees
girdle - avoid extremes, look for thin to slightly thick, thin to medium etc
polish and symmetry - very good and above
note - with crown and pavilion angles at the shallower ends ( CA 34- PA 40.6) and steeper ( CA 35- PA 41) check to make sure these angles complement in that particular diamond - eyeballs, Idealscope, trusted vendor input - check as appropriate!
From expert John Pollard.
"As the above implies, configurations depend on each other. A little give here can still work with a little take there.
With that said, here''s a "Cliff''s Notes" for staying near Tolkowsky/ideal angles with GIA reports (their numbers are rounded): A crown angle of 34.0, 34.5 or 35.0 is usually safe with a 40.8 pavilion angle. If pavilion angle = 40.6 lean toward a 34.5-35.0 crown. If pavilion angle = 41 lean toward a 34.0-34.5 crown.

I thought if I used these specs and use the cut advisor I should get a great daimond regardless if it is branded or not.

Any info would be great.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

An ideal cut hearts and arrows diamond is an ideal cut hearts and arrows diamond, so no, the brand is irrelevant. I''d never pay the premium for Hearts on Fire, for example. However, WhiteFlash''s ACA''s are very reasonably priced (much lower than HoF), so I''d consider theirs along with Good Old Gold and Brian Gavin. All of those really specialize in ideal cuts and have a good selection or can access what you''re wanting. In addition, these three vendors offer a trade-in policy that really is comforting to those of us who later may want a larger stone or a different shape stone. I know you aren''t thinking of that at this point, but it is still a good idea just in case!

 

[stone-cold11]

Branded diamonds brings with them consistency in performance and usually optical symmetry, a more important part of consistency. Unbranded one might be just as good, but you will just have to search through more of them. Also, unbranded usually do not have their Hearts image taken, so if you are set on a H&A, that will be more difficult to find.

 

[the tree sees]

Soal,

Specs and the Holloway Cut Advisor are helpful in eliminating stones, but you really should see an ASET, Idealscope, & Hearts (if branded as H&A, as are WF''s ACA) to determine optical symmetry and performance. WF and other vendors choose their best-performing diamonds to bear their brands. Whether you yourself can hand-select a diamond that happens not to bear one of those brands is another question that I can''t answer.

 

[soal1]

Thanks guys, well is a "hearts on fire" daimond the same as a "hearts and arrow daimond"? Are they pritty similar in quality? Since I think the "hearts and arrow daimond" costs less but with similar quality according to the wonderful people here.

Also I don''t know if I can trust someone to tell me a daimond is "eye clean" when it is a S1 since this is subjective. So should I just be safe and get a VS2 or VS1.

I want to by a loose daimond for about $3500 that is eye clean. Possibly are branded daimonded from WF. Feel free to give any suggestions on a great daimond in this price range.

Again thanks for everyones time.

 

[stone-cold11]

Hearts on Fire is a H&A stone that is marketed under that name.

Clarity depends on your comfort level.

What color range are you looking for?

EDT:

0.80c H VS2 just within budget.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6028/

0.81c G SI1 just within budget.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6027/

0.83c I SI1 for 2.6k
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-2097579.htm#

 

[the tree sees]

Soal,

Hearts on Fire is a commercial brand that makes H&A diamonds. They tend to be good quality, but you pay a considerable premium because they're sold only in brick-&-mortars. If you choose to buy online but want to get a sense of quality, you might want to stop in a B&M and check out their HOFs; those should compare nicely to a WF ACA, a Brian Gavin Signature, a GOG H&A, or an HPDiamonds Infinity.

As for eye-cleanliness, you can trust any of these vendors to give you a frank assessment of a stone, so long as you describe what your definition of eye-cleanliness is.

I also have to recommend Brian Gavin, whom I just ordered an e-ring from. His website isn't up and running, but Lesley will tell you what stones match your criteria and budget;From what I understand, BGD only sells H&As, and both Brian and Lesley were previously an instrumental part of WF.

 

[soal1]

The color range would be G and H. Somone recomended that I can go as low as I but it this to low of a grade for a nice dainmond. Or will there be little difference in the cut. Thanks for everyones suggestions.

 

[the tree sees]

P.S. - If you want to learn more about optical performance and symmetry (precision), HPDiamonds has good explanations:

Performance

Precision

Hope this all helps.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Date: 6/23/2009 7:11:44 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Hearts on Fire is a H&A stone that is marketed under that name.

Clarity depends on your comfort level.

What color range are you looking for?

EDT:

0.80c H VS2 just within budget.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6028/

0.81c G SI1 just within budget.
http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond/6027/

0.83c I SI1 for 2.6k
http://www.whiteflash.com/hearts_arrows/Whiteflash-ACA-cut-diamond-2097579.htm#

Ditto...I like the H VS2, personally because I don''t like to worry about the inclusions.

 

[the tree sees]

Re: color,

I posted this info for someone else but will repeat it here --

If you want to know more about clarity & color, I recommend Good Old Gold''s tutorials at http://goodoldgold.com/4Cs/. Jonathan at GOG ("Rhino" on this forum) also has some great videos, including two intros to color:

Part I

Part II

Btw, here''s an example of what a color J stone looks like. (The blue is just the reflection of this fellow PSer''s shirt):
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/forgive-me-i-cant-resist-posting-some-pics-usin-my-new-cam.117658/

The stone I''m waiting on from BGD is an I color. I''ll post it when I receive it within the next couple weeks.

 

[soal1]

Stone Cold, I like that daimond from white flash that is a .83 but will the I color grade make the daimond have less "fire".

 

[the tree sees]

Soal,

No. Color is different from light performance; watch the GOG videos I just posted, especially the last shot in the second video of all the beautiful diamonds covering the color spectrum.

 

[Allison D.]

Soal, the color of a diamond won''t have any impact on the fire (or lack of). Fire is influenced by cut; well cut stones exhibit more fire than less well-cut stones.

Keep in mind that shallow stones generally display more white light than fire, so you''d want to avoid stones with a shallow/shallow combination (crown and pavilion) if you want to see more fire.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 6/24/2009 12:55:10 PM
Author: Allison D.
Soal, the color of a diamond won''t have any impact on the fire (or lack of). Fire is influenced by cut; well cut stones exhibit more fire than less well-cut stones.

Keep in mind that shallow stones generally display more white light than fire, so you''d want to avoid stones with a shallow/shallow combination (crown and pavilion) if you want to see more fire.

Ditto Allison.