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How much does a setting affect diamond performance?

kmoro

kmoro

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 13, 2018
Messages
1,083
Hi All!

I know that lots of you have played with different settings. I have too, on an extremely limited scale (3 settings, different diamonds).

I’m wondering how much an openness in the setting affects light performance. Do settings that allow more light in the sides make the center diamond shine brighter? What about bezels where just the girdle is covered?

I can’t say that I’ve noticed much difference, but I think the settings that I’ve had are/were all about equal in the amount of side coverage ... actually, I think my current setting has more metal than the other two, if just slightly.

I think Tiffany-style settings show the side of the diamond the most. Do they offer the best light performance? I know that people like them to show the color of their diamonds, but I’m just interested in the effect on diamond light performance.

Would love to know your thoughts!

Thanks! :wavey:
 
Depends on how well cut a diamond is. If most of the light gathering is from <45degrees (red on an ASET) it will perform well regardless of setting. Setting certainly can add visual illusion to enhance apparent size.
 
I have a 1.28ct CBI in a semi-bezel setting. Although the stone still looks amazing, I feel there is a slight damper on it's performance due to the bezel (I had a .8ct CBI in a 4 prong setting previously).
 
Excellent question @kmoro

I was discussing this exact topic with a client today.
It’s been my experience that modern diamonds that have good light performance are not effected by how a diamond is set. You could set an Ideal Light Performing diamond in a bezel or prong setting and it doesn’t change the way it performs. This is based on ASET science because an ASET scope tells you that an Ideal Light Performance stone doesn’t gather much light from below or close to the 180° hemisphere so what happens underneath (or slightly to the sides) it shouldn’t effect its brilliance. IF a bezel is super chunky and goes very high up the girdle of a diamond, that might change things.

In the old days, jewelers would spend hours and days opening ajour under stones. It was first because of necessity but then ended up being an ornamental, beautiful thing because they would get elaborate and pierce out different shaped ajour openings under the stones to try to bring in as much light as possible into the stone. This did make a difference in the past because stones were poorly cut and it was important to get as much light into the stones as possible.

Good luck
 
Victor Canera said:
Excellent question @kmoro

I was discussing this exact topic with a client today.
It’s been my experience that modern diamonds that have good light performance are not effected by how a diamond is set. You could set an Ideal Light Performing diamond in a bezel or prong setting and it doesn’t change the way it performs. This is based on ASET science because an ASET scope tells you that an Ideal Light Performance stone doesn’t gather much light from below or close to the 180° hemisphere so what happens underneath (or slightly to the sides) it shouldn’t effect its brilliance. IF a bezel is super chunky and goes very high up the girdle of a diamond, that might change things.

In the old days, jewelers would spend hours and days opening ajour under stones. It was first because of necessity but then ended up being an ornamental, beautiful thing because they would get elaborate and pierce out different shaped ajour openings under the stones to try to bring in as much light as possible into the stone. This did make a difference in the past because stones were poorly cut and it was important to get as much light into the stones as possible.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Thank you for taking the time to reply and explain this, Victor! Much appreciated :twirl:
 
With a well cut stone light performance is not greatly changed face up and some tilt.
However the appearance is.
When you look at a diamond your are not looking at it floating out in space you are seeing in relation to the setting, your hand and the environment around you.
Changing any of that changes the diamond appearance.
 
Karl_K said:
With a well cut stone light performance is not greatly changed face up and some tilt.
However the appearance is.
When you look at a diamond your are not looking at it floating out in space you are seeing in relation to the setting, your hand and the environment around you.
Changing any of that changes the diamond appearance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your time and explanation too, Karl_K! Yes, this makes sense ... and I think I have observed that type of difference, except I thought it was a “je ne sais pas” lol
 
kmoro said:
Thanks for your time and explanation too, Karl_K! Yes, this makes sense ... and I think I have observed that type of difference, except I thought it was a “je ne sais pas” lol
Click to expand...
Your welcome I am working on something that talks a lot about diamond appearance, it should be posted soon.
 
Karl_K said:
Your welcome I am working on something that talks a lot about diamond appearance, it should be posted soon.
Click to expand...

:wavey: Karl. By chance, did this article/discussion ever get posted? I would really love to read your thoughts on this.
 
Karl_K said:
When you look at a diamond your are not looking at it floating out in space you are seeing in relation to the setting, your hand and the environment around you.
Changing any of that changes the diamond appearance.
Click to expand...
Mine is...:P2

2.35i.jpg
 
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