Need some perspective?

[mrswong]

My fiance proposed on May 1st and I am wondering if I could get some perspective on my e-ring?

I picked out (I insisted on coming along to choose, no nasty surprises for me on something this expensive! ) a round cut 0.4carat F VS2 GIA XXX.

I loved the ring to bits as I can't really sport anything too big (I have tiny hands/feet and have to shop for gloves & shoes in the children's department ) and I thought that my ring was perfect!

I just recently found out that my diamond's HCA score is only 3.6 and I was told that any diamond worth its salt has to be below 2.0.

I am crushed. I have not been on this forum for very long but I would appreciate some opinions from all the diamond-minded people here if I should look again for a diamond with better HCA scores.

 

[stone-cold11]

Post the GIA report and the carat weight listed on the report.

 

[mrswong]

Ok. Here goes the GIA report:

Shape & Cutting Style: Round Brilliant
Measurements: 4.71 - 4.73 X 2.94

Carat Weight: 0.40 carat
Colour Grade: F
Clarity Guide: VS2
Cut Grade: Excellent

Clarity Characteristics: Cloud

Finish
Polish : Excellent
Symmetry: Excellent
Fluorescence: None

Table: 56%
Total Depth: 62.3%
Crown Angle: 36.0 degrees
Pavillion Angle: 40.8 degrees
Crown Height: 16.0%
Pavillion Depth: 43%

Girdle: MED to STK, Faceted (3.5%)
Culet: None

Comments: None

 

[kenny]

HCA only applies to stones you are shopping for.
Any diamond no longer returnable is the best diamond in the world.

If it is no longer returnable then just enjoy what is much better than most and chalk up the education to something that may be useful if you ever upgrade.

 

[Dreamer_D]

We use the HCA to help select la creme de la creme in terms of cut quality -- stones that are likely in the top 0.01% of diamonds on the market for cut quality. It is a really useful tool *when shopping* for helping to identify those stones that satisfy the mose obsessive cut nuts out there, like many of us are here on PS.

But there are other criteria to use to assess cut quality -- like a grading report from a reputable company like GIA. You did a great job by selecting a stone that has GIA Ex for cut, that makes this diamond better cut than the vast majority out there, probably 95% of the stones on the market, or more! Does it have the sort of numbers that super cut nuts look for? No. But that does not matter to most people. You chose a stone with a great report that looked good to your eyes. Love it! And don't worry!

 

[LGK]

We use the HCA to help select la creme de la creme in terms of cut quality -- stones that are likely in the top 0.01% of diamonds on the market for cut quality. It is a really useful tool *when shopping* for helping to identify those stones that satisfy the mose obsessive cut nuts out there, like many of us are here on PS.

But there are other criteria to use to assess cut quality -- like a grading report from a reputable company like GIA. You did a great job by selecting a stone that has GIA Ex for cut, that makes this diamond better cut than the vast majority out there, probably 95% of the stones on the market, or more! Does it have the sort of numbers that super cut nuts look for? No. But that does not matter to most people. You chose a stone with a great report that looked good to your eyes. Love it! And don't worry!

Ditto. Seriously, while you could possibly get a stone that was a bit more sparkly- you already have a really lovely one. A GIA Ex isn't ugly. And yes, you do see some utterly dead duds of diamonds out there. Yours is *not* one of them! In a stone around that size, I'm not sure most people could see a heck of a lot of difference day to day IRL between the stone you have and one that fell into the "super premium" cut category of proportions. Keep it clean- I mean clean it almost every day- and it'll be lovely, promise. As Dreamer said, it's better cut than most all the stuff you see day-to-day on other people.

 

[mrswong]

Thank you so much for all your input. I am a bit relieved to know that my diamond is not a complete dud. I was perfectly happy with my ring until an aunt (not a very nice one) insisted I send her a copy of my GIA cert to "make sure I didn't get ripped off".

Then she calls me and says all these things that it is not a good diamond and that "I might as well get cubic zirconia then rubbish like this".

Well! Good to know she is just being mean and my diamond can pass muster out there in the world!

Thanks again!