Is This A Good Diamond?

[haider]

Hi,

Is this a good diamond?

Photographed on an overcast dull day, no lights, ring stuck in a brown box

0.82CT GIA Excellent Cut, Excellent Polish, Very good symmetry, H, VS2.

Thanks
Haider

 

[Dreamer_D]

Yes, from that you have provided, it is a good diamond. Did you pay a fair price?

 

[MissGotRocks]

Looks like a very pretty stone from the picture! Can you tell us the stats from the GIA cert?

 

[Ravinmad]

another "nice looking stone/ring" from me.

 

[haider]

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. The GIA certificate can be found here https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/getReportData.do?&reportno=16104859&weight=0.82

A bit of background to this question. It was bought fours years a go for £2000 diamond only. It's from a local jeweller that the family have used for ages. During the selection process the jeweller bought about 6 stones around the .80 carat and a .75 carat with higher colour rating and VS1 and a .90 carat with a lower colour rating and an VS2 to give us a bit of thought about going smaller but better or larger and slightly worse. They were all GIA stones rated excellent. He said for engagement rings he never used any lower than GIA excellent. He likened diamonds to champagne and said that as each champagne houses has it's own house style and you have to find out which house style is to your palate. As he put it Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon is not worse than the Veuve Clicquat La Grande Dame. It's just a matter of your taste. It came down to two diamonds after umming and ahhing fiancee REJECTED this one https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/getReportData.do?&reportno=16411383&weight=0.81 about the same price as the one we bought. We took the diamond for an independent appraisal by an FGA and DGA certified gemologist (Gemlogical Association of GB). He said it was a very good diamond. Recently a friend bought a diamond over the internet UNSEEN based on GIA GCAL report and an internet tool called Holloway Cut Adviser. He said our diamond was a 'dud' according to the Cut Adviser tool. So I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this...

Photo of the setting


Thanks
Haider

 

[ChrisES]

Seen vs. unseen is the key. HCA (https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca) is a rejection tool that you can use to narrow stones down until you have 95%ish confidence that a given stone will look good.

But HCA calculations are based on just 4 numbers (two of which are averages), meaning that it is no replacement for seeing a stone in person. While nearly all stones that score well look excellent, not all do to all people, and many stones that score poorly (such as, yes, yours) look GREAT in real life.

Ergo, while your "friend" would be prudent to not buy your stone sight unseen, I think he has no business calling your stone a dud. You've had your stone for four years - you know perfectly well if it is a dud or not, and if you think it looks great that's all you need to know.

And the photos you've posted look handsome to me!

 

[tyty333]

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. The GIA certificate can be found here https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/getReportData.do?&reportno=16104859&weight=0.82

A bit of background to this question. It was bought fours years a go for £2000 diamond only. It's from a local jeweller that the family have used for ages. During the selection process the jeweller bought about 6 stones around the .80 carat and a .75 carat with higher colour rating and VS1 and a .90 carat with a lower colour rating and an VS2 to give us a bit of thought about going smaller but better or larger and slightly worse. They were all GIA stones rated excellent. He said for engagement rings he never used any lower than GIA excellent. He likened diamonds to champagne and said that as each champagne houses has it's own house style and you have to find out which house style is to your palate. As he put it Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon is not worse than the Veuve Clicquat La Grande Dame. It's just a matter of your taste. It came down to two diamonds after umming and ahhing fiancee REJECTED this one https://myapps.gia.edu/ReportCheckPortal/getReportData.do?&reportno=16411383&weight=0.81 about the same price as the one we bought. We took the diamond for an independent appraisal by an FGA and DGA certified gemologist (Gemlogical Association of GB). He said it was a very good diamond. Recently a friend bought a diamond over the internet UNSEEN based on GIA GCAL report and an internet tool called Holloway Cut Adviser. He said our diamond was a 'dud' according to the Cut Adviser tool. So I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this...Photo of the setting


Thanks
Haider

You mean frenemy? I would never tell a friend that their stone was a dud!

 

[haider]

Seen vs. unseen is the key. HCA (https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca) is a rejection tool that you can use to narrow stones down until you have 95%ish confidence that a given stone will look good.

But HCA calculations are based on just 4 numbers (two of which are averages), meaning that it is no replacement for seeing a stone in person. While nearly all stones that score well look excellent, not all do to all people, and many stones that score poorly (such as, yes, yours) look GREAT in real life.

Ergo, while your "friend" would be prudent to not buy your stone sight unseen, I think he has no business calling your stone a dud. You've had your stone for four years - you know perfectly well if it is a dud or not, and if you think it looks great that's all you need to know.

And the photos you've posted look handsome to me!

There are many types of different diamonds like cars, Rolls Royce is no better or worse than a Ferrari they are just different. Everyone would say these are accepted as great cars regardless of taste. The issue I see here is the tool is saying a certain diamond is good and another is bad. It did say that is only worth buying the diamond we bought if price was the main consideration. That is just wrong, this tool is dangerous. The algorithm it uses to compute the result is not fit for purpose. It needs to be made clear and and say if you want a 'Holloway Cut' round brilliant this tool will help you identify such a diamond. You cannot say it will help identify 'good' diamonds from 'bad'. It's like Ferrari writing a tool that says 2 doors great car, 4 doors crap car. Then they go out and say this will help you narrow your choice down when buying cars to good cars which you can then take a look at.

 

[distracts]

The HCA is to aid in finding a diamond that specializes in a certain type of light return, where all the light that enters the diamond from the face is returned straight back up. This produces a certain kind of brilliance that many people like, which is why it's termed "ideal." If you are looking for that kind of diamond, then the HCA is an excellent tool to help you find it. If you are not looking for that kind of diamond, that is fine, as there are as many different kinds of diamonds as there are people to buy them. Even if you're looking for that kind of diamond, you may find one that the HCA rejected.

Your diamond looks fine. It may not be ideal-cut, but judging by your picture it still has above average light return. Don't be insulted by the HCA tool. And tell your friend to stop being a jerk.

 

[ChrisES]

There are many types of different diamonds like cars, Rolls Royce is no better or worse than a Ferrari they are just different. Everyone would say these are accepted as great cars regardless of taste. The issue I see here is the tool is saying a certain diamond is good and another is bad. It did say that is only worth buying the diamond we bought if price was the main consideration. That is just wrong, this tool is dangerous. The algorithm it uses to compute the result is not fit for purpose. It needs to be made clear and and say if you want a 'Holloway Cut' round brilliant this tool will help you identify such a diamond. You cannot say it will help identify 'good' diamonds from 'bad'. It's like Ferrari writing a tool that says 2 doors great car, 4 doors crap car. Then they go out and say this will help you narrow your choice down when buying cars to good cars which you can then take a look at.

There are a lot of threads on the forum about the plusses and minuses of the HCA, you should be able to find them by searching.

But I wouldn't call it dangerous. It is a tool, and it tells you that a given stone is more or less likely to conform with a certain standard of beauty. The secret is to recognize that it is a tool and has limits, and use it within those limits. I don't think your "friend" did that.

 

[AuntKiki]

Your ring looks totally beautiful and very sparkly! Great setting too!