Purchase advise.. which diamond studs have better cut?

[bprincezz]

Hello,
I am buying a pair of diamond studs off Blue Nile (got approved credit with them). I am really concerned about the cut and Blue Nile has "Ideal" cut and I cannot tell the difference between other "ideal" cut diamonds. How can I tell which one will have a better cut? I really want them to sparkle and shine!

Overall, I've narrowed it down to two pairs (GIA certified).

1) The first set is 1.46 (.73 each) Ideal-cut, I-color, SI1-clarity ($4,642)
Here's the GIA report if it helps...http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pag...&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=5176843301

2) The second set is 1.36 Ideal-cut, H-color, VS2-clarity ($4,730)
Here's the GIA report for this one http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pag...&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=2165532078

Any help/advice is much appreciated.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Put the table, depth, crown angle, and pavilion angles into the HCA:

https://www.pricescope.com/tools/hca

You want the score to be 2.0 or under. The HCA is a screening tool and helps identify stones that are good prospects. However, we'd then want Idealscope images to see the light return and possible leakage. Blue Nile doesn't provide that or pictures of the stones, so you are basically buying blind. So you do at least need to choose stones that fall into the less than 2 range on the HCA. In that range, a lower score (such as 1.0) is not better than a higher one (like 1.. It just helps identify stones that would be in the ideal cut territory numerically. With SI1 stones, I'd have to have photos because some SI1 stones are not eyeclean.

To make the search easier, I generally look for:

table: 54-58
depth: 60-62.3
crown angle: 34-35.0
pavilion angle: 40.6-41.0

 

[heididdl]

Yes both stones all just slightly outside the idea cut with the depth being depper than ideal 62.3 and the crown angle on both stones are beyong 35 .....

 

[heididdl]

Yes both stones all just slightly outside the idea cut with the depth being depper than ideal 62.3 and the crown angle on both stones are beyong 35 .....

 

[bprincezz]

Thank you both for the advice!!! I ended up finding a MUCH better pair and CHEAPER ($4,497 just for the studs).

I ended up buying a 1.31 CT (.66 each) F color and SI1. One of the studs is a 1 on the HCA and the other one is .7 !! Yay!! Well, that is if I used the HCA calculator correctly

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pag...&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=6167591104

http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pag...&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=5161557199