Picture?

[eddie]

In the attached picture what do the black areas in the diamond denote. Is that where light is not exiting the diamond. Will that have an effect on the brilliance of the diamond?

Thanks

 

[denverappraiser]

That''s called the bowtie. Use the search box at the top right corner of this page and you''ll find 7 pages of discussions on this issue. There''s not much that I could add that hasn''t already been said.

Neil Beaty
GG ISA NAJA
Independent Appraisals in Denver

 

[eddie]

Neil,

Still a little confused. I did the search and most of the threads dealt with fancies other than princess cuts. It was my understanding from what I saw that the bowtie effect is good. I also got that you would want to stay away from dark areas in the middle. Based on that I would assume to stay away from this diamond.

In your opinion, if I use the AGA standards for Princess cut diamonds and only buy one that receives a 1A grade should I be pretty safe as far as brilliancy goes if I am staying higher than a VS1 clarity grade.

I am going to get Sarin reports for three diamonds on bluenile and only have the GIA report and these pictures of the actual diamonds on what they call the GCAL report. So I am going down the list of the diamonds that get 1A grades and fall in my carat and price range. That is why I want to better understand what I am looking at in these pictures.

I appreciate your help.