Opinions on Princess Cut Diamond

[bluez_rocker]

Hello everyone I''m new here and trying to get some opinions on the best cut for Princess Cut Diamonds. I have found one I am very interested in, but need some opinions on it.

Shape: Princess
Carat: 0.72
Color: D
Clarity: VVS2
Measurement: 4.94-4.93-3.63
Table: 81
Depth: 73.6
Polish: VG
Symmetry: VG
Fluorescence: N

Is this stone going to have lots of fire and brilliance. Thanks for your feedback. Adam

 

[moremoremore]

no.

I'm so busy at work right now so can't expand...but put on your seat belt....

 

[verticalhorizon]

Time being tight for me too, I will add these bits and hopefully others will fill in.

With a princess of that size (not small by any means), you can drop both color and clarity and move up in size without adding much to your price.

B/c the facets on Princess cuts are so small (compared to a round brillant), it can hide inclusions. Princess cuts tend to hold more body color however (esp. in the corners), so keep that in mind too.

I'd bet you could find a modestly priced G VS2 or SI1. Hard to tell, cause you didn't mention original price in your post.

Use the PS.com search engine and modify some of the creteria, just for chuckles. You may have your own specific reasons for going D VVS2 and that's your prerogative. Princess cuts are a challenge. Read as much as you can.

 

[moremoremore]

that table is just crazy big in relation to the depth. It's going to be a flat, dull stone....do a search on this site or goodoldgold.com or whiteflash.com to read up on fancies...

 

[Nicrez]

If you are absolutely insistant on a "colorless color" I would take the color down to an F....I personally have seen some very white G colored princess stones, but frankly, I would make sure that they are cut WELL!!!


Here's a chart that will help you rank the stones you see (in numbers only):
http://diamonds.pricescope.com/fnc1.asp

I would concentrate on princess stones with depths NO DEEPER than 73%, and get a stone with a table that is about 1-3% LESS than the depth. Corwn height should be generous at about 8-12%, and when those things are not present, you can have two big problems:

One, your depth is too deep. And if you table is not in a good ratio, you will have so much of your money wasted on the carat weight hiding in the bottom of the stone that you never see, and you will be paying for a smaller looking stone than you could get with your budget.

Two, if you get a table that is too large, light will go into the stone, and not reflect back properly, and the stone wil leak light. It may even have a dead zone in the center of the stone with little to no sparkle, and may appear white but have little to no rainbow sparkles... Do a search on princess stones on this forum and you will see how many times people have seen stones in stores, and how many times those stones were cut terribly and these people look at the suggested parameters and find a PERFECT stone for them...

Also, never never buy a princess stone with extremely thin girdle or extremely thick. It's a sign of poor cutting and also can chip if too thin, or be a waste of money if the carat weight is hiding in the girdle and not well distributed through the stone...

Good luck!!!

 

[researcher]

Sorry to say MMM and VH are correct. Have you gone to http://www.gemappraisers.com yet? If not, that should be your first place to look. Some additional hints are as follows:

Look for a stone with a table that's less than (or at most equal to) the depth.

Try to keep the T/D measures in the mid/high 60's to low/mid 70's (never a depth OR especially table larger than 75%)

Consider stones with color from D-I (as long as they all face up white--you can ask the vendors about this (stones with fluorescence in the G-I range can be quite white!), and consider stones with clarity in the VS-SI range as long as they are 100% (and I mean 100%) eye clean.

You also need to be aware that crown height/angles and pavilion angles will sometimes tell more about the stone's performance than any of the other factors.

Check out this site created by White Flash for some additional information on princess cut stones: http://www.princess-diamonds.com/

 

[researcher]

Sorry to disagree with you Nicrez as I know you know your stuff, but my stone scored a VH-VH-VH on the Bscope and outshines every princess I have come across and it has a depth of 74.1%. I would therefore NOT limit a search to stones with depths lower than 73%--the AGA charts state that the 1A cut stones can have a depth of up to 75%, and I would agree with that. Also, I would not go lower than 10% on crown height (the new AGA standard as stated by Dave) UNLESS the combination of crown and pavilion angles is otherwise perfect. There are always exceptions to the rules, but in general crown height tends to have a big impact on the brilliance of princess cut stones. Finally, I tend to agree with Jonathan that some of the best princess stones have a table that is about 5% smaller than the depth, so I would not limit myself to the 1-3% (although finding at least that difference can truly help). But, these are just my opinions

So, bluez_rocker, you can see why people are constantly saying you need to see fancy shape stones for yourself to judge their performance. We all have different takes on what makes for a great performer. The best thing you can do is go take a look at stones with different numbers in person, and decide for yourself what combinations you like. Or, you can post the specs on a few stones, and when everyone finally agrees on one, you know you've got a winner (the only problem is, when you post the specs and everyone likes the stone, you have to have called it in already or someone reading this thread can steal it out from under you--it happened to me 3 times).

Good luck with your search and let us know if you have questions!

 

[Nicrez]

Actually researcher I agree with you. As princess stones are cut without any stict standards, MANY stones can be cut well, ABOVE the 73% depth. But the nagles that depend on it's brilliance are the crown and pavillion angles, and even the experts don't have numbers for those...

A 5% difference may make a nice stone, but from what I have seen and noticed, princess stones are known to have larger tables than any other stone. Unlike a round brilliant, they are difficult to find in that magical ratio...

Realistically speaking, you will find stones cut with depths in the 80's and tables that FAR eclipse their depths. Some REAL DOGS...But keeping a high crown above 10% may be ideal, but quite a rare find...

Hate to admit it, but you have to LOOK at the stones to determine. If you can, narrow down your fields by the parameters above. BUT SEE stones with all these parameters, as found in the AGA charts, and see which one you prefer. In the end, it should be your eyes that do it, as for right now, you will be the only pro to determine what the best stone is...GIA still has a few more years to go before they determine what IDEAL princess stones truly are...

God luck!

 

[moremoremore]

you've gotten some good advice! That stone will actually face up huge...not holding a lot of weight underneath b/c it's not that deep but the table is huge...if you look at GOG's web site, they have tons of stones with those depths...And the gals have it right...you have to see the stone to know if it's a good cut.