Is a WF ACA really worth it?

[OffsetZ33]

Im still a newbie but have been reading and researching alot lately. I know cut is the most important quality of a diamond and the WF a cut above are one of the highest there is. But when it comes down to the nitty gritty is there an obvious improvement to a stone of this caliber to that of others in the real world? I know it is technically better, but with two stones side by side is it an easy spot to tell which is the ACA and which isnt? Id be happy to spend the money on one if it really a drastic improvement. Otherwise I can find many other stones that seem nice for less money.

As far as the ideal stone Id like to find would be a 1.25-1.45ct H VS2 (or very clean SI1) ideal cut RB with some blue flouresence (med. to strong preferrably - I love the pics of stones I see online with some flour in them, as well as it should brighten up the H grade). But there are no ACAs that fall in this catagory (or any that I can really find with any flour.). I did find a nice I VS1 ACA online however, but Id rather trade off the clarity for a step up in color. Blue nile seems to have a larger database of available stones, but most seem to be virtual and there are no Idealscope images to go by. Will I be safe with a GIA excellent cut? Will I really notice a difference between it and a WF ACA? Thank you so much!

 

[neatfreak]

Yes, WF ACA stones are exceptional. Yes you can find stones elsewhere that are just as nice, but it will take more work. You need to decide whether your time is more valuable than the premium for an ACA or not. If not, start learning! If it is, then buy an ACA and have a great time relaxing in the knowledge that you bought a great stone.

And a big fat NO NO NO to whether a GIA excellent is the same as an ACA. It COULD be, but there is no way to really know without Idealscope images, ASET images, etc. An AGS0 stone is going to be your best bet if you don't want to get an ACA and be done with it. GIA, while GREAT for other things, isn't known for being as strict as AGS on cut quality.

 

[curiopotter]

I wanted an ACA but I wanted a bigger stone with better color. The ACA's are beautiful, I've seen them in person and can definitely testify to that. BUT I didn't see any negligable difference between this one Expert Selection I was eye-balling online for a few days, so I instead bought one of their Expert Selections (after MUCH research and aggregation) and am unbelievably pleased with it.

Mine just missed the ACA by a hair. If you do your research, you can probably pick up one of the ES's for less than an ACA, and still have the beauty and sparkle that most people won't be able to tell the difference between.

Also, I don't think they rate stones with more than faint or medium flourescence as ACA. I remember exactly, but I remember Brian saying something about that when I was there.

 

[Ellen]

An ACA is a beautiful stone. The brand gives you the assurance of that. Are they more beautiful than all other stones? No. (I say that with affection, I own ACA studs)

I also own a GIA EX EX EX that I bought from GOG that went in my Ering. Is it any less beautiful? Absolutely not. They are out there. I will politely disagree with neatfreak''s insinuation that you can''t get a great GIA stone. Yes, there parameters for EX are larger than AGS, and you CAN get some real stinkers, but if you do your homework, know what good numbers are and what a good IS looks like, you can get a beauty. I did. It also happens to be branded, although that''s not advertised, as the company is not into promoting itself online.

However, there are also great GIA unbranded stones as well. Again, you just need to know what you''re looking for.

 

[echelon6]

Date: 9/11/2007 12:13:16 AM
Author: neatfreak
Yes, WF ACA stones are exceptional. Yes you can find stones elsewhere that are just as nice, but it will take more work. You need to decide whether your time is more valuable than the premium for an ACA or not. If not, start learning! If it is, then buy an ACA and have a great time relaxing in the knowledge that you bought a great stone.


And a big fat NO NO NO to whether a GIA excellent is the same as an ACA. It COULD be, but there is no way to really know without Idealscope images, ASET images, etc. An AGS0 stone is going to be your best bet if you don''t want to get an ACA and be done with it. GIA, while GREAT for other things, isn''t known for being as strict as AGS on cut quality.

My theory is even if you had the IS images and everything, the GIA Ex will always never be as good as an AGS 000 purely because if the dealer thought his stone was an AGS000 standard, he''d have had it sent to AGS in the first place. There are exceptions to this general rule of course, but the exceptions are truly 1 in 1000