Oval cut ratings

[dmaillet]

I was told that ovals do not have the same ratings as the round cuts. In other words, round diamonds are the only ones that have the classes of ideal, premium, good, very good.

Can someone tell me the ratings for oval diamonds, and if the above statement is true. What is a good oval cut dimensions.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/5/2009 11:26:44 AM
Author:dmaillet
I was told that ovals do not have the same ratings as the round cuts. In other words, round diamonds are the only ones that have the classes of ideal, premium, good, very good.

Can someone tell me the ratings for oval diamonds, and if the above statement is true. What is a good oval cut dimensions.

You often in fact see ideal cut, premium cut etc used by vendors for ovals and other fancy shapes but these are as with rounds no guarantee of a well cut diamond.

There are various proportion configurations which can result in a well cut oval however images such as ASET and photos are essential to get a good idea of beauty and performance. ASET is explained below.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=education-performance

A good way to approach buying a fancy shape such as an oval is to use this chart to eliminate the ones with the bad proportions

http://diamonds.pricescope.com/fnc3.asp

But then make sure you are using a vendor who can supply ASET and photographs to help you as you can't really judge a fancy shape diamond by the numbers, your own tastes and preferences too come into play. That is why if you are working with online vendors, stick to those who have in house stones or can call ones from the virtual listing in for evaluation, otherwise you are really buying blind.

Also don't get hung up on the numbers if you love a particular diamond which doesn't quite match up, your own eyes are the ultimate deciding factor and particularly if you have compared some diamonds in person to know what you like.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Date: 8/5/2009 11:26:44 AM
Author:dmaillet
I was told that ovals do not have the same ratings as the round cuts. In other words, round diamonds are the only ones that have the classes of ideal, premium, good, very good.

Can someone tell me the ratings for oval diamonds, and if the above statement is true. What is a good oval cut dimensions.

HI dmaillet,
It is true that ovals are not graded by cut as rounds are.
Lorelei gave good advice, commonly given here- however there are many different ways to look at this.
Personally, I feel good photos and video are FAR more useful to someone in your position as compared to ASET images.
The chart linked to is also not accepted by many knowledgeable people in the trade as it''s attempting to categorize cut into classes such as "Ideal" or "Premium".
As we''ve already mentioned, such titles simply don''t apply to fancy shapes so my advice is to ignore the chart, and find a dealer that can provide the images, Videos ( and ASET if you desire), and has the stone in hand to evaluate for you.