Quick opinion: comparison of 2 diamonds

[arf7ea]

2 diamonds at Whiteflash:

Diamond A: 1462549, Round, 1.030, G, SI1, 6.48-6.52X4.01,
Table 56%, Depth 61.7%, Polish VG, Symm VG, Girdle T-M, Culet None, Fluorescence Faint, GIA cert
Price $4,226.00

Diamond B: 1227713, Round, 1.000, G, SI1, 6.40-6.46X3.97, TP 55%, DP 61.7%, Polish: (empty), Symm VG, Girdle MED TO SL, culet none, Fluorescence none, GIA cert
Price $4,357.00


A, B, or neither? I'm a newbie, so any feedback or suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

[Mara]

Try to have Lesley get you the crown and pavilion angles so that you can run the diamonds through the HCA (Holloway Cut Advisor) and see what they score for fire, scintillation and brilliance..that might help you envision the stone more since you have not seen it. Also it might help rule one out. But if they are both nice..then you have to make a decision between the two. Has Lesley given an opinion between the two?

 

[LesleyH]

Arf7e:

Give me a call in the morning and we can discuss these 2 diamonds.

LesleyH
www.whiteflash.com

 

[arf7ea]

One of the independent appraisers often recommended on this site, Bill Lieberum (consumers gem laboratory), www.diamondclearinghouse.com, has an article on his site entitled:
"The Holloway Cut Adviser -Why It Doesn't Work and Why It Should NOT be relied on"

Is the Holloway Adviser a good tool to use?? And is there any way to get the crown and pavillion angles from a dealer/broker if they only have a GIA cert form? Thanks.

 

[Mara]

You can see if the dealer/broker has a Sarin report on the diamond which will have the crown and pavilion angles for you to input.

Did you give Lesley a call, she might be able to help. Or email her.

On the HCA--I'm sure one of the experts can attest more to this (or you can run a search in the archives on 'HCA' in the subject line to read more), but my feel is that while it's not the end-all-to-be-all in diamond hunting, it can definitely help you weed out some undesirables. From some posts I have read, people seem to feel that many times the HCA does mirror what their eyes see.

You can also see if Whiteflash or whoever you decide to deal with has Brilliance Scope or Ideal Scope images so that you can actually see the light return and scintillation for yourself in images of the diamonds. This might help go a long way when making the final decision. There are a few vendors online (look at the 'search by cut angles' link on the pricescope homepage) who put all of this info up for you to see right away. Also GoodOldGold does this..if we were to purchase again or were still looking with the knowledge I now have, I definitely would only purchase from a co like this that had a Sarin, BrillianceScope or similar, blown up images of the diamonds etc. Anything to help you feel more like you are looking at that stone in person..it's a big decision, you don't want to make it blindly or based on what a broker/seller/dealer says.

Anyway I will stop babbling..but run a few archive searches and read up on what has been said in the past on HCA and who are those who support it in general and who doesn't..then you can form your own opinions. I definitely think it's worth your time to run your diamonds through the HCA, though it is not a definitive answer by any means, its just one more tool in the larger scheme of things that might help you make the decision.

Good luck!

 

[arf7ea]

Thanks, i did give Leslie a call and she's gonig to get back to me soon.

 

[Serg]

Hi,arf7ea

Thanks for link. Very interesting.

Most of the statements in Rockdoc page are correct. However, because he mainly considers the flaws, his article creates incorrect idea of reality.

It would be more objective to compare merits and demerits of HCA to AGS grading system on grading of the cut parameters.

As a result of such comparison it would be clear that HCA has much less flaws than AGS grading system and has certain merits, which AGS lacks.

Therefore HCA is more effective for the cut grading based on available parameters.

At the same time, we should remember that parameters often do not describe a real diamond correctly and do not show most of the symmetry deviations, which are important for accurate cut grading and taken into account in AGS grading.

However, if we consider a class of symmetrical diamonds then HCA is much more effective than AGS grading system because it has more merits while flaws remain the same.