Question about hearts and arrows

[janetjoan64]

If on a Gia report under additional Inscription its written H&A does that mean the stone is a true hearts and arrow stone or just that it exhibits certain characteristics of one? Thanks in advance!

 

[Dancing Fire]

If on a Gia report under additional Inscription its written H&A does that mean the stone is a true hearts and arrow stone or just that it exhibits certain characteristics of one? Thanks in advance!

no,you can inscribe anything on the girdle.i.e.,JanetJoan64...

 

[John P]

If on a Gia report under additional Inscription its written H&A does that mean the stone is a true hearts and arrow stone or just that it exhibits certain characteristics of one? Thanks in advance!

DF is correct. It simply means that whoever submitted the diamond to the lab requested that specific inscription. It may or may-not exhibit the characteristics. It may or may-not have precise patterning. The submitter could have asked that the diamond be inscribed "D, Flawless, H&A" and none of those terms have anything to do with the lab-grading that was performed. It could as easily have been inscribed "Joanie loves Chachi."

In a glass-half-empty case the submitter may even have requested that H&A inscription so a consumer reading the lab report would incorrectly assume GIA gave the stone some kind of recognition for H&A. This request is coming increasingly from cutting houses with a stake in the Asia-Pacific pipeline because Chinese consumers buying RBs in common sizes today are aware of H&A diamonds (far more-so than their western consumer counterparts). Other major labs in China do grade H&A and often provide H&A photos on the grading report. As a result, retailers in that market prefer GIA reports they carry to also include the term "H&A" even if it's meaningless. Not surprisingly, these diamonds also make it into the USA pipeline.

If you're looking at the diamond live you can request to see it in a H&A viewer. If you're shopping on the internet ask the seller to provide the actual H&A images for that diamond. Sellers should be willing to do this if they are advertising a diamond as "H&A."

As a prerequisite, be sure the proportions and angles conform to known performance parameters. The most important part of high performance in a diamond relates to the pairing and consistency of cutting angles used in its geometry. If that is in place then (and only then) the precision cutting which results in the crisp alignment of all facets in 3D space can create the "H&A" layer of intrigue, performance and value.

 

[janetjoan64]

Thanks for the info!