Lucida Comparison at Tiffanys

[eyesoftexas]

First: The Tiffany Store experience
All I can say is wow – not because of the name- but rather because I was in the store for a total of 3 Hours!!!!! I compared 6 Lucidas and several round brilliant cuts in the traditional Tiffany setting. They were so patient, I never ever felt rushed and when I asked for all of the certifications on each diamond I examined they took the time to go through each report with me. When I pulled out my ideal scope, the sales lady really did not know what the toy was so she asked if I would like a graduate GIA to help me examine with the ideal scope. The gemologist was very helpful in pointing out things. They did not even push towards the most expensive rock (far from it). To close out the sale they gave me fresh cut tulips to take back to my wife today – talk about class!! (even though the price I overpaid I could have bought the corner flower stand).

The Lucida Comparison
a) 1.32 ct, I, VS1 $13,500
b) 1.27 ct, I VS1 $12,400
c) 1.31 ct, H, VVS1 $15,500
d) 1.42ct, H, VVS1 $16,700
e) 1.55 ct, H, VVS1 $18,200
f) 1.61 ct, F, VVS1, $26,200
All of these had excellent to very good polish and all had excellent symmetry per Tiffany. Visually: I noticed that the Lucida cut produces a slightly smaller looking diamond than the round brilliant cut for the exact same carat size. I expected to see a “flat looking diamond” based on everything that has been said in the forums but to my surprise these diamonds had very good brilliance and lots of fire (which I love). Then I suspected it might have been the special lights. I asked to go in Natural lights and they obliged (with only two diamonds at a time) I think that we knew the salesperson also helped since we got to compare more than your standard three diamonds at once. The Lucidas were still sparkling so I was happy. I tried real hard to tell if one was more brilliant than the other visually and could not even eliminate one. I then had the gemologist try and help and he helped narrow theoretically some that he thought might be better than the others (again he did NOT steer me to the more spendy range!!!).

Now using the ideal scope I originally thought that I was using it wrong because of the Lucidas were so darn consistent. I did notice that with my wife’s current ring it leaks like crazy even though it is a round brilliant cut. I also noticed that the two round brilliant cuts that Tiffany showed me had no noticeable leakage (they were mounted) and that they were a deeper red than the Lucidas which had more of a pinkish hue (but not light pink) and some visable light loss but not that bad. The ideal scope basically told me that they cut these diamonds very consistently and I really did not see a difference. I was able to tell a color difference – especially with the F but among the I and H, I could not tell a difference with my eyes. That said this was a tough call and I went with my gut, lined up the Lucidas and actually picked the middle 1.42ct ring. Even though it did not sparkle more than the others, theoretically the gemologist said it should have the most brilliance of the ones we were looking at. I was prepared to purchase any of these diamonds.
In conclusion: I think the service was superb and I think sometimes we get too caught up in numbers and angles and in reality I or my wife or her friends would never see the difference among the extra degree here or there – I really tried and could not!!

 

[Mara]

Congratulations....it's really good to hear a review on the Lucidas by someone who has seen an IdealScope image. Interesting to know that they are so consistent with their cut, which is excellent! The ring you chose sounds lovely.




Secondly, wow...those are some expensive rings!! $26k for a 1.61 F VVS? WOW! That would buy me a 3c H SI1 H&A RB!

Lastly, your note on this:


theoretically the gemologist said it should have the most brilliance of the ones we were looking at.


Makes me curious...why would that be, theoretically? I'm confused..if the cuts were all very similar then that would leave only size/color/clarity (in her opinion) to mean that THIS particular ring would have more brilliance...but in reality the size/color/clarity has absolutely no bearing on the 'brilliance' of a stone *as long as it's eye clean*...the CUT would make the brilliance.




If she was implying that color gives more brilliance, why wouldn't she say that the F would be the best? If she was implying that the VVS gives more brilliance...there were other VVS's to consider, so that doesn't sound accurate either. Size does not give more brilliance and this was a middle of the road size in the ones you were checking out. So what could she have meant that the 1.42 H VVS was the more brilliant in theory? A very curious (and incorrect sounding) statement from all angles?




Please do post pictures, would love to see a big yummy Lucida.

 

[finerthings]

Congratulations on your new ring!

 

[eyesoftexas]

Mara,
I may have not stated this correctly. The gemologist was looking at the total depth %, crown angles, pavilion depth/angles and polish (?) to determine which among the already excellent cuts might have a slight edge. Visually I could not tell the difference and he also said it is really extreme nitpicking at this point.
I agree that the ring was way overpriced but in the end this is what my wife wanted and she really did not care about size of the ring (to a point) and she especially did not want a huge flashy ring. With this cut I think the diamond looks like a 1.25 carat round even though it is 1.42 ct lucida cut.

 

[eyesoftexas]

One more thing I forgot to add. I have been getting a lot of messages that there is no way that the Lucida could be as brilliant as the round cut. This is absolutely true when I was comparing them to the Tiffany Brilliant round cuts. This is not true when compared to my wife's current round cut that has excellent color and only a good to very good cut. The Lucida outshinned my wife's ring and there was no comparison. The Lucida definitly has brilliance and a whole heck of a lot of Fire!!!

 

[Mara]

Okay that makes more sense in terms of them comparing the number & angles, etc. I thought they just meant by the most basic of specs..

Most fancies look smaller than RB's, but you don't buy a fancy for the SIZE most of the time, it's because you like the look.

Hence with the Tiffany Lucida, same thing! Congrats!

 

[caratgirl]

Hi Eyesoftexas,

What a nice person you are to give us all of this carefully noted information! It is nice to have someone with first hand experience looking at a lot of stones in Tiffany's. I usually browse, but have never whipped out my idealscope, or looked at a selection of stones that closely, because I knew I was not going to purchase there and didn't want to waste a salesperson's time. This should help a lot of people who either have the curiosity or want to buy from Tiffany's but aren't quite sure of the quality of the stones.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Thank you - your heart is as big as Texas.
Your wife has a nice hubby

 

[eyesoftexas]

One final note: I think the ideal scope is a very cool instrument that is pretty easy to use. I am not exactly sure of the physics behind it but you can tell the light leakage quite easily. I think this can be as valuable as any tool and it can definetly help weed out the junk diamonds. As far as the high end brilliant cut diamonds that all seem to be excellent from the cut perspective it was hard to tell a real difference and coupled with the fact that I am a novice it seemed impossible - almost like guessing or imagining which one was better.


I will post pictures of the new rock soon.