I need help grading a princess cut diamond. Please!

[Christy42]

I have been looking at square diamonds and decided on a princess cut. I deal with two jewelers and the one that I didn''t buy the diamond from said that it wasn''t a good cut at all. I had a lot of difficulty finding a stone that was two carats or larger, so the selection wasn''t great and I bought this two carat. ( I just can''t order one from the internet without seeing it first.) The one thing that was me making look elsewhere to start with was that the cut didn''t really show off the size of the diamond and I began to think that it was too deeply cut. The seller said that it was a very good cut, but the stats only refer to the polish/symmetry as being VG/VG. Can anyone tell from the dimensions if it really is a poor cut? I can and will take it back, but I''ve used this jeweler for a long time and will be disappointed. My understanding is that grading can be very subjective.

Here''s the info:

Carats: 2.09
Measurements: 6.84 x 6.73 x 5.28
Color: I
Clarity: VS2

 

[emmitt]

I''m new to pricescope so as I''m scaning the site, I''m answering as much as I feel I can.

My jeweler in Dallas, TX is Olschwanger Designs. www.olschwangerdesigns.com. They taught me SO much about diamond grading, I feel I should be selling diamonds.

I bought a princess cut as well. Here is what they taught me about cut:

Depth and table should be 65-70% (Princess cut) Polish & Symmetry need to be at least Good, but Very Good and Excellent are of course better. Stones should have a GIA or AGS report. An AGS serin report is a nice thing to have. A zero grade will mean you have a true ideal cut stone. Also, pay attention to the flourescence grade on the diamond.

They''ll go into greater detail with you than I. The number in Dallas is 972-458-8352. They have clients all over the country. Hope they can help. They are good people!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 12/12/2004 1:29:48 AM
Author: emmitt
I''m new to pricescope so as I''m scaning the site, I''m answering as much as I feel I can.

My jeweler in Dallas, TX is Olschwanger Designs. www.olschwangerdesigns.com. They taught me SO much about diamond grading, I feel I should be selling diamonds.

I bought a princess cut as well. Here is what they taught me about cut:

Depth and table should be 65-70% (Princess cut) Polish & Symmetry need to be at least Good, but Very Good and Excellent are of course better. Stones should have a GIA or AGS report. An AGS serin report is a nice thing to have. A zero grade will mean you have a true ideal cut stone. Also, pay attention to the flourescence grade on the diamond.

They''ll go into greater detail with you than I. The number in Dallas is 972-458-8352. They have clients all over the country. Hope they can help. They are good people!

emmitt
AGS is now grading 0 cut princess. ?

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/12/2004 38:38 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
emmitt
AGS is now grading 0 cut princess. ?

Not yet, but some numbers are out. Jonathan mentioned a sample... and at the time (recently) AGS had not released official info yet.

To the best of my understanding, garding is not too subjective: deciding what you are after is. Once you decide what you want there is always a precise way to tell the best from the so-so.

 

[researcher]

I disagree with the numbers that Emmitt posted. While those numbers are fine, they are too narrow for most princess cuts (I would have lost out on my 3+ carat princess, and it is the most amazing princess I''ve seen if I do say so myself! Dave Atlas created a chart for consumers to use to grade their stones. His website is Gem Appraisers. When you get to the site, click on "AGA cut grade charts and rules" from the left and then select "princess" from the top next to "chart". It will tell you what numbers help predict a superior stone. That being said, you really can''t tell whether a fancy shape is ideal from the numbers alone. There are many exceptions--I just saw one the other day that had, in my opinion, a table that was too large yet the stone was magnificent (the ideal scope image and BScope were off the charts). No matter what, from the information you''ve provided we really can''t help. We need to know the crown height and angles, the pavilion angles, and the table and depth %''s to even begin to guess at the quality of your stone. Also, ideally your stone would have an average "diameter" (length/width) of 7.05--yours is 6.79. So, your stone is too deep (around 78%). IMO the stone is too deep, but it may still be nice!

 

[Christy42]

I''m not sure that I understand what you think I''m after. From what I''ve read, grading in color and clarity can vary from lab to lab and again when it get''s to an appraiser. In my case it varied on cut. I was trying to find out from the measurements if this was a good cut. The diamond is clean and looks beautiful but doesn''t reflect its true size. I just wanted someone to help me with the cut info.

 

[Christy42]

Thanks. I think the stone is beautiful but deep. It doesn''t reflect the true size of the stone. It is however brilliant. I don''t think it is a bad cut and from most of the the responses I''ve received, it is a matter preference. Like you said, the numbers don''t say it all. I did the calculations and found the table to be 70% and the crown to be 19%. I am totally an amateur so these may not be right.

 

[valeria101]

Date: 12/12/2004 10:44:24 PM
Author: Christy42
I''m not sure that I understand what you think I''m after.

The first post was not meant to be ironic...

It was just meant to say that there is a wide range of coices: say, each stone may have some detraction and do something else so very well that the merit is all that matters. Not far from your conclusion in the last posts.

 

[Christy42]

Thanks, I agree with you. I have since taken it to another jeweler/appraiser. He actually bashed the ring, all the while praising one of his own. This is a very eye clean, large stone and unless I can find one I like better, I''ll be keeping it. But I won''t be buying one from him. (The biased putz.)