shape
carat
color
clarity

Same GIA Cut Grade, Big table or small table?

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.

karenxuan

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
25
"Cut" level is determined by many factors. However, if two diamonds are of the same "Cut Grade" in GIA report, e.g. Very Good, is it true that the bigger table the better? since the bigger table makes the diamond looks bigger.

The table% of some diamonds are like 63%, 64%, 65%. As long as the "Cut Grade" is nice, these diamonds will look much more bigger than the same carat diamonds of more common table% and not worse in its beauty. Is it true?
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
42,064
Date: 3/18/2009 4:34:24 AM
Author:karenxuan
'Cut' level is determined by many factors. However, if two diamonds are of the same 'Cut Grade' in GIA report, e.g. Very Good, is it true that the bigger table the better? since the bigger table makes the diamond looks bigger.

The table% of some diamonds are like 63%, 64%, 65%. As long as the 'Cut Grade' is nice, these diamonds will look much more bigger than the same carat diamonds of more common table% and not worse in its beauty. Is it true?
Hi Karen,

Table size alone does not dictate beauty or performance. A larger table can make a diamond look bigger certainly but the important factors which drive light return are the critical crown and pavilion angles. Also as tables get larger then this can adversely affect beauty if the angles are also not in a good range.

Bottom line - regardless of cut grade evaluate each diamond as a whole, not just on one aspect such as the table size. And don't assume a certain cut grade is also going to get you a particular level of cut, again it is important to evaluate each diamond not only on how it looks with ASET and Idealscope images if available, but also the proportions of each diamond and how well they work together -

depth%
table%
crown and pavilion angles and so on.
 

stone-cold11

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
14,083
Date: 3/18/2009 4:34:24 AM
Author:karenxuan
''Cut'' level is determined by many factors. However, if two diamonds are of the same ''Cut Grade'' in GIA report, e.g. Very Good, is it true that the bigger table the better? since the bigger table makes the diamond looks bigger.

The table% of some diamonds are like 63%, 64%, 65%. As long as the ''Cut Grade'' is nice, these diamonds will look much more bigger than the same carat diamonds of more common table% and not worse in its beauty. Is it true?

I don''t think the above 2 statements are true. Bigger table will not make a diamond look bigger, that is more of the spread function, which takes into account of the depth, table, girdle thickness, crown and pavilion angles. A bigger table can just mean a shallower crown, not necessary a bigger spread. Beauty wise, I don''t think it will look good, from the cut advisor, looks like it will be easier to see fish-eye with a slight tilt of the stone than with a small stone. Go and play around with the HCA and you can see for yourself.https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
42,064
Date: 3/18/2009 5:43:18 AM
Author: Stone-cold11



Date: 3/18/2009 4:34:24 AM
Author:karenxuan
'Cut' level is determined by many factors. However, if two diamonds are of the same 'Cut Grade' in GIA report, e.g. Very Good, is it true that the bigger table the better? since the bigger table makes the diamond looks bigger.

The table% of some diamonds are like 63%, 64%, 65%. As long as the 'Cut Grade' is nice, these diamonds will look much more bigger than the same carat diamonds of more common table% and not worse in its beauty. Is it true?

I don't think the above 2 statements are true. Bigger table will not make a diamond look bigger, that is more of the spread function, which takes into account of the depth, table, girdle thickness, crown and pavilion angles. A bigger table can just mean a shallower crown, not necessary a bigger spread. Beauty wise, I don't think it will look good, from the cut advisor, looks like it will be easier to see fish-eye with a slight tilt of the stone than with a small stone. Go and play around with the HCA and you can see for yourself.https://www.pricescope.com/cutadviser.asp
Actually some believe a bigger table can give the illusion of a diamond looking larger, sometimes these will indeed have better spread. However if we are discussing table sizes which are getting into the low to mid sixties that is too big for my personal taste and the resultant trade offs in performance and beauty. Also in much smaller diamonds a larger table is considered advantageous.
 

karenxuan

Rough_Rock
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
25
I do find cases that one higher GIA "Cut Grade" is rated worse than one lower GIA "Cut Grade" in terms of Holloway Cut Advisor. This really confuses me. Which measurement should I use, the GIA "Cut Grade" or Holloway Cut Advisor?
 

Lorelei

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
42,064
Date: 3/18/2009 6:17:40 AM
Author: karenxuan
I do find cases that one higher GIA 'Cut Grade' is rated worse than one lower GIA 'Cut Grade' in terms of Holloway Cut Advisor. This really confuses me. Which measurement should I use, the GIA 'Cut Grade' or Holloway Cut Advisor?
The HCA is used for elimination, don't use it to select diamonds. What you want to do is to not really rely on cut grade or cut advisor but to evaluate each diamond in this manner.

Regardless of GIA cut grade, enter the specs into the HCA, then put all that score below 2 on your shortlist. A lower score is not better than a higher one on the HCA, all scores below 2 are considered equal pending further evaluation. Once you have your shortlist of diamonds which score below 2, then evaluate from there with ASET or Idealscope images to find the best ones, then choose according to your budget and other requirements.

Also concerning table sizes, I would make the cutoff 60% for table size initially, usually we see diamonds with table sizes of around 54- 57% to give you an idea.
 

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 3, 2004
Messages
33,852
Date: 3/18/2009 4:34:24 AM
Author:karenxuan
''Cut'' level is determined by many factors. However, if two diamonds are of the same ''Cut Grade'' in GIA report, e.g. Very Good, is it true that the bigger table the better? since the bigger table makes the diamond looks bigger.

The table% of some diamonds are like 63%, 64%, 65%. As long as the ''Cut Grade'' is nice, these diamonds will look much more bigger than the same carat diamonds of more common table% and not worse in its beauty. Is it true?
way too big
23.gif
i prefer small table in the 54-56% range.
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
Be a part of the community Get 3 HCA Results
Top