Hi all,
I just purchased a diamond with the following dimensions:
Total depth: 61.4%
Table: 57%
Pavilion angle: 40.6 degrees
Pavilion depth: 43%
Crown angle: 34.5 degrees
Crown height: 15%
Lower halves: 75%
Star facets: 50%
It's a GIA excellent cut with very good polish and excellent symmetry. I knew when I bought it that there was a slight chance that the stone could exhibit over-obstruction issues if the GIA rounded pavilion and crown angles were actually shallower than reported or if there were a high variance between facets. Now that I have the stone, I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not this is the case.
The stone has beautiful sparkle, shimmer or fire depending on the lighting, and in very low light seems to almost glow in the dark. On close inspection it seems very symmetrical with well-defined arrow shafts and tips.
The thing that worries me is that when I look at it in indirect lighting, such as with my back to a window with shaded sun coming in, I can see the dark arrows pretty clearly, even from a full arm's length away. If I bring the stone up to my face, say about 8-10 inches from eyes, the arrows seem to blend together causing the whole table to look quite a bit darker than the crown. The effect is most noticeable if I wear a black shirt and wear my hair down (it's long and brown). If I wear a lighter shirt and put my hair in a ponytail, the arrows are much harder to see, and look more grayish silver than black.
Also, if I wear a black shirt and tilt the stone slightly toward me, the stone strongly reflects the darkness of my shirt, turning the entire table area black. One thing I find interesting is that the crown area stays quite bright the whole time, so the stone looks like it has a round dark hole in the middle. The effect disappears if I tilt the stone ever so slightly away from me.
Lastly, across many different types of lighting, the table tends to be slightly more dark/contrasty than the crown. I think the crown is picking up light from lots of different angles, so it's much harder to make the facets go dark unless I cup my hand in a circle around the stone and look down on it, in which case I start to see a much more distinct on/off contrast pattern in the crown area.
I have read on PS that the arrows in a well-cut diamond should not look black except in photographs or if you try very hard to obstruct them. I can see the arrows in my diamond pretty easily, especially when wearing dark clothing, even when I'm not specifically looking for them. I can't see all of them at once unless I try, but I can certainly see a flash of maybe two to three dark arrows in the right lighting, or even four to five if I hold the diamond fairly still at a half arm's length. Overall I'd say that the shafts are more noticeable than the tips, so sometimes the diamond the looks a little bit darker in the middle, as though there is a black star whose rays don't quite reach the edges.
What do you think, PS? Does all this sound normal, or should I be concerned? Thanks so much in advance for your help!
I just purchased a diamond with the following dimensions:
Total depth: 61.4%
Table: 57%
Pavilion angle: 40.6 degrees
Pavilion depth: 43%
Crown angle: 34.5 degrees
Crown height: 15%
Lower halves: 75%
Star facets: 50%
It's a GIA excellent cut with very good polish and excellent symmetry. I knew when I bought it that there was a slight chance that the stone could exhibit over-obstruction issues if the GIA rounded pavilion and crown angles were actually shallower than reported or if there were a high variance between facets. Now that I have the stone, I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not this is the case.
The stone has beautiful sparkle, shimmer or fire depending on the lighting, and in very low light seems to almost glow in the dark. On close inspection it seems very symmetrical with well-defined arrow shafts and tips.
The thing that worries me is that when I look at it in indirect lighting, such as with my back to a window with shaded sun coming in, I can see the dark arrows pretty clearly, even from a full arm's length away. If I bring the stone up to my face, say about 8-10 inches from eyes, the arrows seem to blend together causing the whole table to look quite a bit darker than the crown. The effect is most noticeable if I wear a black shirt and wear my hair down (it's long and brown). If I wear a lighter shirt and put my hair in a ponytail, the arrows are much harder to see, and look more grayish silver than black.
Also, if I wear a black shirt and tilt the stone slightly toward me, the stone strongly reflects the darkness of my shirt, turning the entire table area black. One thing I find interesting is that the crown area stays quite bright the whole time, so the stone looks like it has a round dark hole in the middle. The effect disappears if I tilt the stone ever so slightly away from me.
Lastly, across many different types of lighting, the table tends to be slightly more dark/contrasty than the crown. I think the crown is picking up light from lots of different angles, so it's much harder to make the facets go dark unless I cup my hand in a circle around the stone and look down on it, in which case I start to see a much more distinct on/off contrast pattern in the crown area.
I have read on PS that the arrows in a well-cut diamond should not look black except in photographs or if you try very hard to obstruct them. I can see the arrows in my diamond pretty easily, especially when wearing dark clothing, even when I'm not specifically looking for them. I can't see all of them at once unless I try, but I can certainly see a flash of maybe two to three dark arrows in the right lighting, or even four to five if I hold the diamond fairly still at a half arm's length. Overall I'd say that the shafts are more noticeable than the tips, so sometimes the diamond the looks a little bit darker in the middle, as though there is a black star whose rays don't quite reach the edges.
What do you think, PS? Does all this sound normal, or should I be concerned? Thanks so much in advance for your help!
) have an opinion to throw in? I guess I'm wondering if a slightly deeper pavilion angle would make a big difference, or if I would still see black reflections in the stone due to my dark hair and clothing.
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