How important is symmetry?

[hinese]

I''ve found several diamonds with specs that I think are almost perfect for what I want, but the symmetry on them is "only" Good. How important is that...how much does Good differ from VG or EX?

Thanks!

 

[Richard Sherwood]

If you're looking to buy an ideal or premium make (near ideal) diamond, I would recommend staying with "very good" or better symmetry.

If you're more interested in maximizing size or another of the "C's" (other than cut), good symmetry on a nice commercial or fine make would be okay, in my opinion. This is a feature which isn't usually visible with the naked eye unless you get down to "fair", or "poor" symmetry.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

Hi Hinese,
I have seen many AMAZING diamonds-really well cut- with "Good" Symmetry.

What shape diamond are you looking at?

 

[hinese]

diamondsbylauren,

I''m looking for a Princess cut. The diamonds I''ve got it narrowed down to are "Premium" or "Very Good" cut, but they have symmetry ranging from Good to Excellent. Taking all the specifications into consideration, I think the Good symmetry diamonds have the best balance of specs of the diamonds I''ve seen. Of course, I''m looking online so I actually haven''t "seen" anything.

 

[diamondsbylauren]

hinese- I''m not too much into the "labels"- like "Premium" and so on- each diamond has to be judged on it''s own.
In a princess cut, symmetry of "good" can yeild a spectacular looking diamond.
Conversly, simply because a princess cut has VG, or EX on polish or symmetry, does not guarantee a great cut.

 

[valeria101]

Some shops label cut quality only based on table and depth numbers... because that''s all they (and us) see on a list of thousands of diamonds offered by some wholesaler. Perhaps those numbers have some meaning, but they do not pin down brilliance, if this is what you have in mind. If this does not matter, than ''premium'' it is.

''Guess there is a premium to pay for those labels, so it is worth asking what on Earth they mean.

Otherwise, I second what has been said: "Good" is very much ok (not that you are likely to find a ''fair'' one) and better means little compared to the missing stats that would help evaluate brilliance.


All these details come to weight on cost... but this does not mean that shopping around pays, as usual.

Just my 0.2, as usual

 

[Mara]

If it were a round I personally would keep that symmetry at least at VG but I think with a fancy that you tend to consider more options if you can find a stone that is stellar in every other way.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

in generalwith round stones I suggest symmetry is more important once the proportions are near the edge of what can be defined as the limit of excellent / very good proportions.

If you are in a really nice crown pav table combination area then very good or good optical symmetry will work well.
edited - for 1/3rd ct to 2ctish round sizes.
As size gets large (? over 5ct) then maybe symmetry should not be as good because the stone can look boring