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Interpreting a Bscope report?

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AZDiamondShopper

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Hi all,
The Bscope report shows the following areas:
White Light, Color Light and Scintillation. I have read that you have to take from one area to get more in another. Which of these areas is the most important to have a very dazzling, sparkling diamond?
Thanks,
Daniel
 

PoopEater

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This is a good question. I have also asked the question about the pictures that come along with a typical Bscope. Sometimes, I see a bscope with readings in the VH+ range for all 3 values, yet the pictures that are bundled with the report are horrible. Then, I see a bscope with not nearly as high a rating on the 3 bars at the top, but the pictures that are bundled absolutely sparkle. This makes for a VERY confusing, VERY conflicting data set, and I am still trying to figure out what to do.
 

PoopEater

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diamond has great WL, CL, and scintillation, but the pictures lack 'pop'.

diamond, which has LOWER WL, CL, and scint readings, but has pictures that look better to me.

I think I need a crash course in interpreting these results. Anyone have any insight?
[/u][/u]
 

AZDiamondShopper

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It's nice to see that someone else has the same problem I do. I'm sure someone here can explain it to us..I hope!
 

Spyder

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The bscope moves a light source over the diamond to let light shine in from every possible angle. The 5 or 6 snapshots, however, only capture 5 or 6 particular frames. So even a sparkly diamond might have been caught at a frame where it was not at its best.

It would be nice if the bscope report would include a greater number of frames, say 20 instead of just 5. Or better yet, it could provide a small video file showing the full continuum of light return, similar to these videos on the gemex site.
 

AZDiamondShopper

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So, it is better to look at the bar results than the pictures?
 

Rank Amateur

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The BS does not have the difinitive answer as to what your eyes will find appealing. You see things in stereo and with movement. The BS sees in mono with the diamond fixed. You see light as it comes from all over, the BS sees light coming symmetricallty from a ring in just 5 light positions. PoopEater said that the BS pictures in one of the linked stones "lacks pop". One would think that all the POP comes from movement and interplay of light and dark, neither of which can be demonstrated in a still pic.

Keep in mind that your eyes may not be able to tell the difference between a High and VeryHigh score. In addition, I believe that GemEx's site does not recommend splitting the grades into sub-categories (i.e. VH1, VH2, VH3), which goes to show the "accuracy" of the "grades" given by the machine.

As for which is most important, that's a whopper of a question. There is no perfect definition of what exactly "brilliance" is, so to say "brilliance" is the most important is not very specific. In low light, I like to see more colored light, with the sparkle being provided by the rainbows shooting out of the stone. Mall jewelry store lighting throws a lot of light at the stone to maximize apparent white light return and give the most first-glance bling bling. Defining and measuring scintillation has been worthy of a doctoral thesis or two.

Looking at the pictures of the different light positions might give you some insight into the preciseness with which the stone is cut. Even WL return in each of the 5 positions MIGHT mean a fine piece of cutting/craftsmanship, but can you see a difference between a VH stone with symmetrical light views and a VH stone with non-symmetrical light views? I really doubt it.

I'm also guessing that most diamonds with H or better scores will have the requisite average to above-average-informed-consumer WOW factor. A few VH's thrown in is just gravy. Three VHs will satisfy the most anal consumer - unless you tell him that one was a VH1. Then he'll ask, "Why not 3 VH3s???"

How's that?

R/A
 

Rhino

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On 4/11/2003 10:47:48 AM AZDiamondShopper wrote:

Hi all,
The Bscope report shows the following areas:
White Light, Color Light and Scintillation. I have read that you have to take from one area to get more in another. Which of these areas is the most important to have a very dazzling, sparkling diamond?
Thanks,
Daniel

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Howdy peeps. Been a little tied up the last couple of days and haven't had alot of time to play on the forums.
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In answer to your first question AZ ... you do not have to sacrifice in one area to exel in another. For example a diamond does not have to lack white light return to get better colored light return on the B'scope. Same goes for scintillation etc.

Concerning what areas are most important I would place that on *fire* and the reason is this.

A diamond acts as a prism. Between the light that's hitting off that pavilion and your eye is the substance of the diamond and when it functions in it's role as "prism" you will get the best prismatic effects from diamonds that are reflecting back intense light to the eye. So fire is key in the finest stones. Diamonds that lack intense fire I generally don't waste my time or my clients time with.

Strong scintillation is another key factor in the beauty of the diamond and this is where the minor facets play a major role in the look of the stone. Being able to measure the minor facets and knowing and demonstrating their role is key.

My .02c

Rhino
 

Rhino

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On 4/11/2003 3:12:44 PM PoopEater wrote:

This is a good question. I have also asked the question about the pictures that come along with a typical Bscope. Sometimes, I see a bscope with readings in the VH+ range for all 3 values, yet the pictures that are bundled with the report are horrible. Then, I see a bscope with not nearly as high a rating on the 3 bars at the top, but the pictures that are bundled absolutely sparkle. This makes for a VERY confusing, VERY conflicting data set, and I am still trying to figure out what to do.

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As we're going down the list ...

I have witnessed what you have too poop and those are the results that really puzzle me. I've seen B'scope reports (no mention of names) and the 5 images didn't look so hot yet the stone got outstanding results. I can only speak for myself but our machine and the results it gets are consistent with it's pics.

The only time where this may throw someone off is in the fancies. You have to keep in mind that fancies are judged by a different set of standards than rounds.

Peace,
Rhino
 

Rhino

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Just to give you an example that has INCREDIBLE IMAGES yet the bars indicate that it's lacking something (when in reality it isn't). Check out this stone ...

http://www.goodoldgold.com/_62ct_e_vvs1_h&a.htm

It's scintillation reading is an H1. This diamond in no way LACKS scintillation and if you look at the individual images of the stone you'll see that this is one incredible rock.

This is why BrillianceScope readings must be tempered with the experience and knowledge of the gemologist *who understands* what they are looking at and how to interpret the images.

This is the one *flaw* I have found in the B'scope after having used it for over 2 years now.

Particularly in diamonds that are around the 3/4ct range and under the B'scope, when reading scintillation counts the tiny points of light as the light source moves from position to position (the 5 positions chosen by GemEx is more than sufficient to judge any diamond it analyzes btw).

So as the program is counting all the tiny points of light and it comes across a diamond like in the example above it counts those large bold splashes of light as "fewer" points instead of many tiny points and thus the diamond takes an unduly hit in it's scintillation reading when in fact the stone has some of the most intense scintillation they'll ever see in this lifetime.

Now ... does this mean we throw the baby out with the bathwater? By no means. The BrillianceScope is a sensitive and carefully calibrated piece of equipment that is, IMO the best tool we have on the market today for judging the aesthetic beauty of a diamond. I work with and have worked with all the available optical technologies available for analyzing diamonds (B'scope, FireScope(tm), IdealScope & LightScope) and time and time again ... when I give clients the Pepsi challenge in our store they ALWAYS pick the diamond with great BrillianceScope results over everything else. One client who recently was led to believe that a certain brand was "the best" came to our store and I put that brand next to one of our stones. I showed them both under many light conditions and didn't let them know which diamond was which. In every light condition they kept say ... THAT IS THE BRAND ... then in the end I showed them under critical analysis and every single time they had picked one of my handpicked cherries.
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Peace,
Rhino
 

Rhino

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On 4/12/2003 12:54:51 PM Spyder wrote:

The bscope moves a light source over the diamond to let light shine in from every possible angle. The 5 or 6 snapshots, however, only capture 5 or 6 particular frames. So even a sparkly diamond might have been caught at a frame where it was not at its best.

It would be nice if the bscope report would include a greater number of frames, say 20 instead of just 5. Or better yet, it could provide a small video file showing the full continuum of light return, similar to these videos on the gemex site.
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Hi Spyder,

Originally the B'scope had 15 positions but GemEx found that this was overkill. The 5 positions chosen cover the most crucial areas over the crown of the diamond and accurately represents how the diamond will aesthetically appear to the human eye observer. How do I know this for sure? I have here in my store the anaolgue BrillianceScope viewer which shows me every single light position conceivable and NEVER do the digital results conflict with the analogue results (the critically analysis you can see with your eye). Once I have my minor facet reports organized you will enjoy the video comparisons we'll be providing on our site showing how that makes the difference to a diamonds appearance and you'll get to correllate the digital results with the analogue results yourself right on our website. Never do they contradict.

Peace,
Rhino
 

Rhino

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On 4/14/2003 10:25:11 AM AZDiamondShopper wrote:

So, it is better to look at the bar results than the pictures?
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Both.
 
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