Please help with this diamond and the HCA scores!

[Logan Sapphire]

I have a diamond I''m interested in. It''s round AGS Hearts on Fire, F, .83 ct, SI-1. I haven''t seen the diamond yet but the jeweler informs me it''s eye-cleann (I''m assuming this is true for the moment). The stats are:
Diameter: 6.04-6.07 x 3.74
Crown angle: 35.1 (15.9%)
Pavilion angle: 40.8 (42.9%)
Girdle- .7%-1.4% faceted
Florescence: None
Culet- pointed
Polish and Symmetry- Excellent
He''s asking for $4000 but I think I could negotiate that down.

When I run it through the HCA using angles, it comes out excellent for the light return and fire, and very good for scintillation and spread, overall a 1.8 excellent in the TIC range.

However, I''m not sure how to input the % because I don''t know specifics about the culet other than it''s pointed. If I do it with 0% or .45% (which is the range for under a carat and pointed) I get either a 1.2 or 1.9.

My question is, do the numbers say this is worth the $4000? Or even $3700? I know it''s one thing to run the numbers and another to see it, but I want to know if off the bat this is worth pursuing.

Thanks.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Angles are best for HCA - do not bother with %'s.
As for the $'s - you can search for high cut quality diamonds to compare in Search by Cut Quality on the front page.

 

[hoorray]

The stone is probably beauiful. (The few Hearts of Fire diamonds I have seen have all been beautiful, but come with a premium.) I've also read that HoF dealers are pretty much mandated their prices by the manufacturer, so I don't know how much negotiating room you may have.

A quick search shows lots of diamonds in this range for the same or less money. You could probably bump to a G color ideal cut stone and get a larger stone for the same or maybe less $$ from one of the internet vendors. Plus you would save the sales tax that you pay in a retail store. You are looking in a range where you'll find lots of choices, so I wouldn't necessarily jump on the HoF until you have evaluated your options.

 

[Mara]

Hearts on Fire are very beautiful....but in my opinion not worth the markup. The markup is something like 40% from what I was looking at..when we were looking. So definitely not worth it. But if you love the stone, the numbers are good..so it should be stunning.




Also HOF vendors do not really negotiate on stones..or so they say. I have heard that HOF sets the pricing and then the vendor really is not allowed to play with that...though maybe that is wrong. But don't expect to get alot of $$ off...esp with a branded stone.




Only you can answer if it is worth the $$. The stone is going to be lovely...regardless of what you choose!

 

[DoctorZ]

I looked into HOF diamonds before buying from SuperbCert. All of HOF stones were beautiful. I did not buy from them because they were simply too expensive. One thing that I DID notice... all of the HOF stones scored less than 2 on the HCA (one of them scored 0.5).

Regarding the pricing. Mara mentioned that there is pressure from the company to fix pricing. This is somewhat true. HOWEVER, I was quoted three different prices from different HOF dealers for the exact same stone. Two prices were about the same, and the third price (a mall store) was about 10-15% higher. I was shocked. I felt cheated by the mall salespeople who assured me again and again that the prices would be exactly the same regardless of the HOF dealer. (and that their prices were rock bottom anyways) I called the HOF headquarters in Massachusetts, and they told me that all the prices should be similar. When I called one of the other HOF dealers, they explained that their prices were lower because of lower overhead, and that it is illegal for the parent company to force the dealer to sell at a certain price.

By the way, each dealer has access to every stone in the entire HOF inventory. If you are looking for a particular weight, color, etc, the store can look it up in the computer among a list of available HOF inventory. If the stone is not on hold, it can be shipped to the store near you so you can view it locally. If you come across a stone that you must have, I would first call several other dealers and get their prices...they may very well be lower than your original quote.

(when I revealed the lower prices to the Maul store, they were extremely defensive, and after a few days, they called me and told me they could 'match' the price because they got special permission from the HOF headquarters. I could not trust them.)

Needless to say, that's when I said, enough is enough....

and I went with SuperbCert. My fiancee and I are very happy that I did.

 

[magna2]

HOF diamonds are beautiful diamonds. Whether they are worth the markup is up to you to decide. You would not be able to negotiate much on the HOF diamond since they are sold within a suggested price range from HOF company.

If you are willing to pay the markup associated with the HOF also look into 8* which are comparably priced and also claimed to be the most perfectly cut diamond.

Personally I would just go with other vendors super-ideals that cost much less and is just as beautiful if not more.