Mark,
I fought this question for a little while also. I''ve had the opportunity to see numerous stones from different vendors and brands along with my girlfriend in person. Every stone I''ve seen with the exception of the Signature superbcert princess diamond, have had a square, traditional table. Although, regardless of diamond specs, the superbcert stones looked or performed as others say substantially better. My girlfriend knew nothing about what I had noticed (square vs. roundish table). Although, every stone she saw in person she compared to the superbcert in terms of overall sparkle and always mentioned how "white" these stones looked in comparison with others of equal color grade (We shopped only in D-F range). I thought the same also, but I wanted her to like the stone she would be getting as opposed to me guessing, which I''m not good at. When comparing superbcert stones with each other you could only notice differences in color when not face up (which is how it would be set), so a G color when mounted would appear as colorless as an F, this could yield a better rated color stone at a cheaper price (if that makes sense). And again, they all seemed to have something other stones I saw did not......and I''ve seen in person and compared alot out there.
Again this is from my personal perspective, have you had the opportunity to see a superbcert princess in person?
Have you considered bringing your girlfriend along to look? She may love or hate the look.
Mark,
My girlfriend follows this and another diamond forum...so for now I''ll refrain from answering your question directly (AKA haven’t popped the question yet). Although, I am a put your money where your mouth is type of person.
To me the round table feature or modification to a princess cut may provide a better diamond in terms of appearance overall. How many people will actually be able to look so closely at your diamond and be able to tell if it has a roundish table??? Or will they say…. WOW that diamond is gorgeous!!! This statement is just from what I’ve evaluated for my purchase. Other brands and vendors may offer something to your and your girlfriends liking. Barry offers plenty of reports (b-scope) and explanations of why he has his product cut to a certain spec. For me the “performance” information he provided correlates into what I consider a great looking diamond.
Both my girl friend and I look at major purchases such as a diamond differently then say other consumers. We both like the fact that she’ll end up having a unique diamond that isn’t cut or doesn’t look like everyone else’s stone. As a guy I think it’s great that my girlfriend will have a diamond that other people will notice and ask, “I’ve never seen a diamond sparkle like that!” or “Where did he find something so beautiful?” With that said, I don’t buy items just to be different, or if no one makes those comments I would be extremely pleased with the stone, and in this instance we have to like the product.
Since you and Barry have had discussions, maybe you could arrange seeing the diamond in person, at say an appraiser in your area??? If you have to purchase the stone, as long as there is a money-back guarantee and you have insurance on it, maybe that would work for you.
To me buying a diamond is more like a mutual agreement, you could never get this at a mall store and rarely at a brick and mortar you do not have a relationship with. These online vendors live in “glass houses” they have to be honest and have professional courtesy to sell a stone, if one person is treated wrong, everyone hears about it. And since there is so much personal subjective decision making involved it has to work for you, the consumer as well.
Hope this helps you out!!!
Correct, Gary, but not completely.Date: 7/29/2005 9:02:05 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
It''s just a Princess with a small table...nothing wrong at all. In the photo the focus is at the level of the table, and this may be throwing your eye off.
Personally, I like Princess cuts with small tables and crowns >10% deep...lots of dispersion...![]()
Correct.Date: 7/30/2005 3:38:43 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
Paul: Are you saying that this IS a cutting modification from the normal Princess faceting pattern? Seems to me that it is just that the cutter has made the sides of the table equivalent in length - regardless of the motive, which presumably to save weight as you say.
You have to remember that a princess-cut is not a round brilliant.Date: 7/30/2005 3:38:43 PM
Author: DiamondExpert
Also, it seems that the amount of dispersion is a function of both the angle of reflected light and the length of the light path in the diamond, so that a diamond with a higher crown (greater pathlength) and smaller table (larger crown facet area) will likely have more dispersion than a shallow crowned, larger tabled stone - assuming the pavilion is cut properly. Isn''t this true?
Paul,
You brought up weight retention regarding the stones being discussed. If this was the cutter or brands intention wouldn''t a larger table in regard to princess cuts yield a bigger looking diamond in general???
I''m a nut to learn something new, when I think of cutting a diamond. I look at information such as the ray-tracing Gary posted in another thread. If you choose to cut a princess shape and as an example sever a stone in half, wouldn''t that initial cut be your table??? If so at this point cutting away from this table would yield a smaller looking diamond in general, losing more of the rough. Just from a lay perspective it appears cutting diamonds in the manner superbcert does, would produce a cut that sacrifices carat weight as opposed to retaining it, if that’s the case then the benefit has to be in performance. I''ve read somewhere that the fire, sparkle, etc. of a diamond is a correlation between several of the diamonds proportions (crown angle, pavilion depth, table size???)