Obssessed with HCA score , a question for ALL!

[sparkles]

Argh, the elusive HCA score of 1-2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its driving me mad

Found an eyeclean stone with price and color within parameters. Its not a shabby stone, has arrows and faint blue. Alas, the stone scores in the high 2''s.

So to achieve the a better HCA (Found a . I have to go up in clarity and up $7k.

Reality check - Am I being neurotic or is it justified to pay another $7k for a better hca score

 

[Regular Guy]

Ummmm.....

What''s limiting your selection?

Time or resources?

 

[Lorelei]

The HCA is an elimination tool, and is like a pass or fail system with anything under 2 " passing" - however once you get a score under 2 which is considered to be cherry - you need other tools such as an Idealscope image, ASET or other cut analysis technologies to make a decision, you cannot buy or judge a diamond by the HCA score only - it just tells you the stone is worthy of further consideration. The HCA can't actually "see" the diamond, it is a predictor or estimator of how a certain set of measurements are likely to perform.

If you have seen the diamond in question and your own eyes like what they see, then that is the main thing - the HCA can only predict how a diamond may look based upon a set of measurements - if you love it then maybe it is the right diamond.

 

[sparkles]

time !!!! I am aware of the results other tools need to be viewed for an informed decision.....its a pain that atone cshould be written off cause it scores over 2 on the hca.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 9/17/2007 12:03:28 PM
Author: sparkles
time !!!! I am aware of the results other tools need to be viewed for an informed decision.....its a pain that atone cshould be written off cause it scores over 2 on the hca.

I was adding my thoughts here, but you posted before you saw them. I wouldn't necessarily write off a diamond that I had seen and loved if it didn't score well on the HCA, if I thought it was beautiful and everything else was right about it, then I would still strongly consider it.

Perhaps we could be of further assistance if you posted the numbers of this diamond and any others you are considering, or Idealscopes etc if you have them?

 

[Ellen]

sparkles, what do YOU think of the stone? Does it sparkle well? is it nice and bright? does it make your heart go pitter patter?

And, have you compared it to the other one (.?

 

[Ty Cobb]

HCA is just for comparing stones site unseen. A stone can be lovely and score horribly on HCA. Are you doing this online or have you actually seen said stone. Seriously, HCA is not by any means the be all end all when it comes to diamonds. It still comes down to how the stone looks to you.


I have seen horrible looking 2.2s. great looking 3.1s, and a 1.7 that I wouldn''t give to my dog. Only reason I put the info into HCA was I was wondering if it would score above a 10, only to find out it scored below a 2.

 

[sparkles]

I haven''t compared the two side by side but did get a chance to see a .8 next to it. And any stones under 1 seem dark in the middle to me! The only other stones I can find with a HCA of 1.5 are I''s with mb fluoro and the vendor knows me well enough to tell me I would not do well getting an I. I noticed color in a smaller stone that was an I mb.

I''m waiting on the idealscope and aset images of the hca 2+ to post here.

 

[Regular Guy]

Don''t close one eye in looking at it!

Garry''s on record for saying he''d take a revised HCA up towards 0 - 3...and may do this at some point.

Meantime...he''s just like Jeweler''s Mutual on this (you''ll have to take them on their word).

 

[Rhino]

We field emails frequently from folks who are obsessed with HCA scores. For the record, I daily use tools similar to what Garry has used to develope the HCA plus others in the assessment of diamond optics. Some of the rarest and most beautiful diamonds in the world score over a 2.0 on the HCA and there are diamonds that score under a 2.0 that I wouldn''t touch with a 10 foot pole. Don''t let a score of over 2.0 discourage you if you have evidence demonstrating that the diamond has outstanding optics.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 9/17/2007 12:12:41 PM
Author: Ty Cobb
HCA is just for comparing stones site unseen. A stone can be lovely and score horribly on HCA. Are you doing this online or have you actually seen said stone. Seriously, HCA is not by any means the be all end all when it comes to diamonds. It still comes down to how the stone looks to you.


I have seen horrible looking 2.2s. great looking 3.1s, and a 1.7 that I wouldn''t give to my dog. Only reason I put the info into HCA was I was wondering if it would score above a 10, only to find out it scored below a 2.

Would love to know more about that one Ty, or any other exceptions.
Rhino used some dogs on his site to show why HCA does not work, but they are dogs with whatever proportions.