Need honest opinions on my round diamond purchase.

[kjbrew01]

I have been reading this forum ever since I started looking for a ring for my fiance. I started really reading a bit late in the purchaseing process and because of that I was basically at the mercy of the jeweler I purchased the stone from. Now I know a little bit more, at least I know enough about what information to request and as such I am wanting to see if the jeweler maybe didn't give me the best deal. I have friends looking for stones and am trying to decide whether to refer them or not. Also I guess I am trying to justify to myself that my future wife has a good stone since I looked at 10 diamonds before settling on this one. Thanks to everyone on this forum, its a huge help for people looking for diamonds.

Round Brilliant
6.56-6.60 X 4.0-mm
1.09 carat
color J
Clarity SI-2
Cut: Excellent
Total Depth 62.2%
Table Size: 58%
Crown Angle 35.0 Deg
Crown Height 15.0%
Pavilion Angle 41.2%
Pavilion Depth 43.5%
Star Length 50%
Lower Half 75%
Girdle medium to slightly thick faceted 4.0%
Cutlet None
Polish very good
Medium blue fluorescence.

It only got a 3.7 on the HCA which is mainly why I am worried.


When I purchased the stone I did not see the cert sheet, and the diamond was eye clean and I could only detect some of the inclusions. The cert sheet makes the diamond look a lot more included then I thought it was which disappoints me. I can get a picture of the GIA sheet showing the inclusions if you all would like.

again thanks, and to summarize I am trying to determine if this jeweler is honest enough to take my friends to. The jeweler said this was a great cut, and my bracket for ring selection was 1 to 1.25 carat, H-J color and SI1-SI2 so it fit my target.

 

[kjbrew01]

Here is a picture

 

[NoobInNeed]

I''m quite new to diamonds, but I just plugged your stats into the Holloway Cut Advisor and it came up with a 3.7 total visual performance. I believe people on this forum suggest 0-2.

 

[kjbrew01]

Yea sorry Mike I already did that and meant to include it in my first post. I didn't know about the HCA until after I purchased the diamond. I told the jeweler that cut was of up most importance to me and since it was a excellent GIA cut I figured I was safe, but apparently not.

Also if you go off of pavilion percentage it is a 2.7 which is better but still not the best.

 

[stone-cold11]

From the numbers not that good, probably slight leakage under the table if you try hard enough and knows how and what to look for.

Inclusions, no point looking at the clarity plot, it is an SI2, expect it to have a lot of doodles on the clarity plot.

 

[yssie]

Is it better than what the majority of people out there are wearing? Yes.


Is it a perfect stone by PS standards? No.


What do you want to hear kjbrew? People aren't going to respond telling you that you made a bad decision or that you got a fantastically good deal, because, well, we don't know enough to judge either, and you're defending your stone and your purchase - noone's going to argue against you, people here are just too nice

Seriously, unless you're looking to start over just enjoy your stone, and refer the people you're wanting to help to PS pre-purchase

 

[kjbrew01]

Thats the kind of information I was looking for. I am not to bent out of shape that its not that great. Trust me I will be looking for a right hand ring in the future so I would like to learn as much as I can. The HCA seems like a great tool for round cuts. What this tells me is I definitely should take it upon myself, to really research the diamonds I look at even if a jeweler that is well trusted says they have a good cut, especially if I am looking for a really good diamond. I plan on getting either a ASET scope or an Idealscope before my next purchase.

So to continue the learning could someone provide what about the dimensions are hurting the cut quality, ie is the diamond to deep? My thinking says it needs a shallower pavilion angle which would mean the diamond is to deep as it sits.

Another question would be how much about cut can you tell by eye without the help of IS and ASET scopes? Leakage on the edge of the diamonds I have noticed before, but inside the table what would that look like?

 

[stone-cold11]

Yap a slightly smaller pavilion angle (PA) and maybe a larger lower half (LH).

35 CA should work well with a 40.8 PA and a 75% LH or a 41.0 PA and a 80% LH. Assuming perfect symm.

 

[yssie]

+1


or for a different look keep P and drop C to sub33

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 3/30/2010 3:50:40 PM
Author: kjbrew01
Another question would be how much about cut can you tell by eye without the help of IS and ASET scopes? Leakage on the edge of the diamonds I have noticed before, but inside the table what would that look like?

A diamond without leakage you should not be able to see through the stone. So try to place the stone on a red background and look at it with one eye. If you can see red through the table, then there is leakage.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi kbrew,

The diamond is what we call steep deep, this means the crown and pavilion angles can possibly cause light leakage, having said that we have no way to tell much about your diamond from the basic numbers, depending on the overall cutting precision it is possible the diamond could show minimal leakage. The diamond isn''t '' Pricescope Perfect'' but it is certainly better than the majority of diamonds out there and it could even be quite a good stone. Theoretically a less steep pavilion angle would be better with the crown angle, between 40.6 - 40.8 degrees thereabouts to give you an idea.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/30/2010 3:50:40 PM
Author: kjbrew01
Thats the kind of information I was looking for. I am not to bent out of shape that its not that great. Trust me I will be looking for a right hand ring in the future so I would like to learn as much as I can. The HCA seems like a great tool for round cuts. What this tells me is I definitely should take it upon myself, to really research the diamonds I look at even if a jeweler that is well trusted says they have a good cut, especially if I am looking for a really good diamond. I plan on getting either a ASET scope or an Idealscope before my next purchase.

So to continue the learning could someone provide what about the dimensions are hurting the cut quality, ie is the diamond to deep? My thinking says it needs a shallower pavilion angle which would mean the diamond is to deep as it sits.

Another question would be how much about cut can you tell by eye without the help of IS and ASET scopes? Leakage on the edge of the diamonds I have noticed before, but inside the table what would that look like?

If you know what to look for its much easier, also this diamond might only show minimal leakage so its difficult to tell. Leakage inside the table looks either like a dark ring or dark patches, in unset diamonds if you hold them between the fingers and the leakage is severe, you can sometimes see skin showing through the stone which is not good.

I will add some photos to give you an idea. Below leakage can be seen in the diamond and the images. Bear in mind I am not implying your stone will definitely have leakage or that it is an extreme case, the images below are just to give you a basic idea of how leakage can look.

The image below is from James Allen, the steep deep is on the right.

 

[kjbrew01]

Thanks for information about how to detect leakage, I will certainly apply that as I help my friends look at diamonds. We stopped at a local B&M today, (not the jeweler I got my diamond from). They wouldn't give us any dimensions off of the princess cuts we were looking at, which surprised me.

 

[kjbrew01]

Date: 3/30/2010 3:58:36 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Yap a slightly smaller pavilion angle (PA) and maybe a larger lower half (LH).


35 CA should work well with a 40.8 PA and a 75% LH or a 41.0 PA and a 80% LH. Assuming perfect symm.

Wow that''s amazing how that little of variation in PA affects the lower half percentage greatly. I am going to have to go read about that some more.

 

[stone-cold11]

Date: 3/30/2010 11:56:34 PM
Author: kjbrew01
Thanks for information about how to detect leakage, I will certainly apply that as I help my friends look at diamonds. We stopped at a local B&M today, (not the jeweler I got my diamond from). They wouldn't give us any dimensions off of the princess cuts we were looking at, which surprised me.

princess and other fancy cuts will not have angles etc like the rounds because there are too many angles to consider. You cannot judge fancy cuts from the numbers anyway.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think that you did a good thing by choosing a GIA EX. Really, that is so much better than most people will do. Sure, it is not perfect by our standards, but if you like the diamond and are happy with its performance and the price you paid, good.

But send your friends to us, we can help them out!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/31/2010 12:21:42 AM
Author: Stone-cold11

Date: 3/30/2010 11:56:34 PM
Author: kjbrew01
Thanks for information about how to detect leakage, I will certainly apply that as I help my friends look at diamonds. We stopped at a local B&M today, (not the jeweler I got my diamond from). They wouldn''t give us any dimensions off of the princess cuts we were looking at, which surprised me.

princess and other fancy cuts will not have angles etc like the rounds because there are too many angles to consider. You cannot judge fancy cuts from the numbers anyway.

Ditto, and if the store is not prepared to give you even the basic proportions of the stone then I would go elsewhere personally.