Ideal table %s for a princess?

[Fiancee to be]

Hello all,
I have one more question today and I''ll leave you all alone

. I have figured out that for a princess diamond I should be looking for a depth between 65 and 72, give or take. I know what I''m looking for as far as color, clarity, and carat also. But I''m not sure what the range of table percentage should be in order to get the best looking stone. Obviously I''d like it to look as big as possible without sacrificing quality. So if anyone has any advice on table %s or anything else I might be missing I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Fiance to be

 

[taualum23]

Hey fiancetobe, I am also looking into getting a princess stone for an engagement ring. I found this chart to be helpful.
http://diamonds.pricescope.com/fnc1.asp

Good luck!

 

[sean13]

Hi FtB,

You are on the right track as far as the depth % is concerned, but there is no ideal table % that gaurantees a good stone. In diamonds it is not one % measurement or angle that makes a brilliant stone, but rather the relation of these measurements. While there is an "ideal" range for princess tables %, the table will not be as indicative as the crown height. For any stone I would try to get a sarin report and get the full crown/pavillion set of info. That way the real experts here can tell you what you have. That being said though, we all have to start somewhere and when I was looking for a princess stone I was trying to find one whose table was a little smaller than the total depth (about 3%). As I stated earlier, this does not gaurantee anything, but it is a good start. I think the most useful tool for you will be a light scope image. This will show you visually how well your diamond performs and how much light it leaks. As always though, nothing compares to a personal visual test...these tools can''t tell you how pleasing any particular diamond is to your eye!

Sean

 

[valeria101]

Not sue what that table % can do by itself - it takes allot more to guess optics.

For everything but light return, the AGA charts on gemappraisers.com (and the "Fancy Shapes" chapter under "Knowledge" on top of this page) make a good guide. There are more or less strict versions, but you will definitely get allot of detail from AGA.

AGS is preparing cut grades for princess cuts... these are not in yet, but the system looks a bit like the HCA (link to related thread HERE) only quite a few more numbers are used to model optics for princess cuts. Just that table % by itself cannot be either "ideal" or not ideal - it simply does not tell much at all.

 

[Fiancee to be]

Thanks all, I knew more went into a good looking diamond than just those 2 numbers but I wasn''t sure how much. Once I get some actual measurements I''ll bring back my findings for some real expert advice.