Pricescope Cut Advisor

[AlphaRex1]

I have been quite impressed with the 'cut advisor'! Neat feature of this very informative/helpful website!!

I get the impression from the advisor that anything over 2.0 is something to be wary of. However, some stones I have seen looked great, but only rated a 4.0. Are my eyes decieving me or is the cut advisor a tough critic?

Thanks

 

[pricescope]

AlphaRex1,

IMO there are two main benefits of the Cut Adviser for consumers.



2. Find great looking diamonds outside AGS0 range and save on premium.


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I get the impression from the advisor that anything over 2.0 is something to be wary of. However, some stones I have seen looked great, but only rated a 4.0. Are my eyes decieving me or is the cut advisor a tough critic?
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According to Garry (aka Cut Nut), diamonds with HCA url>)

Just keep it in mind when comparing prices.



[/u][/u]

 

[rsilvers]

It does seem smart to look for a non-AGS0 that scores great on Cut Advistor. But what I did was get a stone that was AGS0 AND 0.8 on Cut Advistor AND had a depth of under 61.0 percent. I figure between all three I am safe

Now this was me going overboard because it was an e-ring. If it was for myself then I would look for diamonds that had good dollar-per-mm-wide ratios, and low cut-advisor but worse than AGS-0 cuts.

 

[diamatuer]

Could not agree more - why take a chance with an e-ring? I made sure the stone was 61% or less - criminal or no criminal, maybe Fred Cuellar is right.
Total depth: 61%
AGS: 0
HCA: .3 TIC

Play it safe.

 

[rsilvers]

The funny thing is, you can "play it safe" and get below 61.0%, HCA less than 1.0, and AGS000 on the net right off the bat. Save yourself (dozens of) hours of learning, and still pay less than a mid-end stone at a store.

If someone said to me "What should I do to get great quality and pay a decent price?" I would say "Search for a stone based on cut quality here https://www.pricescope.com/sift.asp and get a F/VS2 or better if you are a quality snob, a G/VS2 or better if you are smart, or an H/SI1 or better if size really matters." Only consider AGS or GIA, then just buy it at the price listed. You will have a 99% chance of doing FAR better than all of your friends who bought in a store.

Now if you study for 40 solid hours you can probably optimize this another 10% on price and get a visually identical stone, although it will not look as nice on paper (and grade matter, or else why try hard in grad school?), and you will be out 40 hours of time (although the learning was fun for me).

 

[dymonite]

AlphaRex1,

Have you considered contributing to a recent thread I started about inaccuracies of the HCA? I am looking for HCA > 4 diamonds which look good e.g. unfairly given an adverse score.

D

 

[Richard Sherwood]

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is the cut advisor a tough critic?
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Considering that 97% of all diamonds fall outside it's 2.0 and less scoring, I would have to say yes, it's a pretty tough critic.

But, definitely a standard to strive towards...

 

[Colored Gemstone Nut]

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On 1/16/2003 6:55:18 PM dymonite wrote:
AlphaRex1,

Have you considered contributing to a recent thread I started about inaccuracies of the HCA? I am looking for HCA > 4 diamonds which look good e.g. unfairly given an adverse score.

D----------------

Dymonite-I think it is important when addressing a certain issue you can elaborate on your statements like "inaccuracies" & "unfairly". I agree with Rich, The HCA is a system. Not a perfect system , but a good starting point as Richard states. The HCA however doesn't take into account one's own personal opinions. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but based on the numbers that your stones may generate is where the bias lays in how the system is set up. It's all a numbers game but remember to use your own good judgment about what you prefer. The HCA is set up to help the consumer. The system is strict yes, but remember its not intended to be used solely or relied on exclusively to choose your stone, that's up to you.

Josh Rioux
Sitka, Alaska

 

[oldminer]

The HCA does not take into account some of the facet length relationships. How long are the upper and lower girdle facets? How long are the pavilion mains? How long are the star facets? What are the irregularities of the girdle? Some of this data can be obtained with some Sarin machines depending on their programming. However, this data is not shared by any of the labs on their reports.

Therefore, the HCA is a wonderful screening tool that has a certain degree of error because the data fed into it by anyone is not fully suficient to get an ironclad result.

This is no reason to abandon the HCA, but it does explain why there are some abberations that one might call "errors". Is ther a better predictive tool out there at this time? I don't believe there is....