Question about HCA Score and Depth

[MedicalMystery21]

Hello, this is my first post here on PS! I have a question regarding HCA scores of super ideal cut diamonds in regards to their depth. After extensive searching, I have narrowed down my quest for the perfect diamond to a few WF ACA stones. I thought I had my mind made up on a stone until I entered the stones into the HCA tool, just for fun/educational purposes. All of the stones I was considering were under 2 and they all received "Excellent" marks in all of the categories except "spread." However, the stone I was leaning towards gave "Very Good" results for brilliance and scintillation as opposed to excellent. It also gave the highest score of 1.8... Not only that, but the X in the diagram was outside the White Box that is supposed to be the AGS ideal zone??? Should this be a red flag? I did some research and found out that the HCA punishes deeper cut stones. Do you think these cut proportions are enough to alter the sparkle of the stone on a visual level?

I am very new to this, so pardon my ignorance. Any other advice on the stone is welcome!


http://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3186645.htm?

 

[chrono]

The HCA is an elimination score so any number under HCA 2.0 could be nice. It doesn't mean that a stone that is 1.8 is any better or worse than a stone that is 0.8. That said, it also requires that one follow up with an Idealscope picture to make the final selection. In this particular case, I see no issue with the IS, and the IS trumps the HCA any day, anytime.