Questions on Fire and Brillance

[ElizabethR]

I'm getting ready to replace a .71 H&A with a 1.00-1.10 H&A (Both G VS1/2)
But I'm wondering, what are the qualities in a diamond that guarantee fire and brilliance?
I'm looking at two diamonds, one is HCA 0.9 the other is 1.1. But as I'm buying online I
can't see if they have fire or not.

Any helpful advice welcomed,
Elizabeth

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Elizabeth, I think you are really safe with a H&A stone. The lighting has so much to do with whether I see fire or bright white coming from mine! Can you list the numbers on the stones you are considering?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Sounds like both stones you are considering are nice balanced cuts.

If you want to choose a diamond specifically that will favour one type of light return over the other, that is another story...

 

[diamondseeker2006]

It would be nice if they provide you with idealscope images, too.

 

[Gibson486]

Elizabeth, I think you are really safe with a H&A stone. The lighting has so much to do with whether I see fire or bright white coming from mine! Can you list the numbers on the stones you are considering?

YUP...

the HCA is a little misleading. People think that if it score excellent on all counts, it will always have high fire and whatever in all situations. This is false. In direct sunlight, you will not see much fire at all because you are blasting it with natural light. In this case, you will just see bright white and little fire at all in a very well cut stone because the lighting is so strong that any diffused light is overcome by the direct light.

 

[slg47]

Elizabeth, I think you are really safe with a H&A stone. The lighting has so much to do with whether I see fire or bright white coming from mine! Can you list the numbers on the stones you are considering?

YUP...

the HCA is a little misleading. People think that if it score excellent on all counts, it will always have high fire and whatever in all situations. This is false. In direct sunlight, you will not see much fire at all because you are blasting it with natural light. In this case, you will just see bright white and little fire at all in a very well cut stone because the lighting is so strong that any diffused light is overcome by the direct light.

actually sunlight is where I see the most fire.

 

[yssie]

1. Pics to confirm H&A, or did you see patterning through a H&A viewer in-person? H&A means very little without knowing *who* says it's H&A and how they are determining this. You don't need H&A to have a pretty stone, but you do want H&A if you're paying for H&A!

2. As Dreamer said - lighting determines the vast majority if what you see. All diamonds will show colour in some lights, and white in some lights... different proportions will show more colour or white in the "grey area" lights that don't favour one to the exclusion of the other (spotlighting, direct sunlight - where I also see colour, diffuse light). The numbers are a good starting point to say which way that particular stone will err

 

[ElizabethR]

The diamond is 1.10 G VS2.

I don't have any pictures, but the EGL report says it has 8 hearts and 8 arrows. Here are the measurements:

6.68-6.65x4.09

1.10ct

61.4
56%
15%
43%

HCA 0.9

Based on this information what do you think?

 

[yssie]

Don't have a clue how EGL determines H&A and how robust their methods are - don't pay a premium for a H&A stone w/o photos or in-person confirmation through a H&A scope.

Numbers are fine, but percent measurements are - imprecise at best - rounded and averaged, and so you don't know what range of angles went into those percentages.. Playing w/ GIA's facetware (https://www.gia.edu/facetware/), I see that for a stone w/ med girdle, 56Table, 15%crown can mean anything from 33.5-35 and 43%pav from 40.6-41, which are big ranges. Do you have any pictures?

Best to have it shipped out to you to inspect in-person before you have it set - that way you can be sure it's what you're looking for. Be sure to get an idiot-proof return policy in writing before you pay anything!

 

[ElizabethR]

The stone I was interested in sold over the weekend. So they sent me the report of another I might like.

Can anyone tell me what the red marks on the stone are?