Should I replace my 1.50 F VS2 Round?

[Fly Girl]

I have a question about my stone. I got it about 7 years ago and was told then that it was "well cut". I was never sure just what that meant, although it is a very sparkly stone and I have always gotten compliments on it. I thought I had lost my ring, but I found it recently (and reimbursed the insurance company). Now, I''m wondering about ideal cut, and were I to change out my diamond, would an upgrade in cut be noticeable?

Round
1.50 carat
F VS2
Lab GIA (May 14, 1999) + Sarin report
Polish: Good
Symmetry: Very Good
Med Blue Fluorescence
7.31 x 7.41 x 4.44

Table: 60%
Depth: 59.8%
Crown Angle: 32.7, 12.9%
Pav Angle: 40.0, 41.6%
Culet: None, Small 1.1%
Girdle: 2.1 Sl Thick - 3.5 Thick

I ran the HCA and it comes out to be 2.6 or 2.8 (depending on if you use angles or %s) Very Good, with Light Return Good & Fire, Scintillation & Spread Excellent. (So, my jeweler was right..it is well cut.) So I could improve light return. What does that mean as far as looking at my stone? About the only thing I have noticed with it so far is that I HAVE to keep it clean (like I must clean it daily, and I am not normally such a neatnik) or the lights within go right out.

 

[AdaBeta27]

It may or may not be worth getting an ideal. How much money would you lose on the old stone, and how much is that bit of extra performance worth to you? Diamonds don't have to be ideal to make pretty jewelry. Maybe a more open type of head or mounting would improve light return by letting more light in the back.

Generally HCA between 1 and 2 is what's recommended. Your stone has a thicker girdle than the HCA assumes and I'm not sure how that distorts your score. Maybe yours is higher scoring (lower performance) than what HCA predicts. The experts will have to address that.

Does your 1.5 look dark in the center? If so, it might be a "head shadow" or pendant-type diamond. You can search PS and find several discussions on those. Something closer to ideal cut and less shallow would be a little brighter. But remember that most of the public is always seeing your diamond at arm's length (equivalent to seeing a pendant) and they might all be saying "Wow, what a rock!" while you're needlessly worrying that yours isn't ideal.

The 2 no-cost tests I'd do:
1. Clean your ring, have someone else put it on, and see how it looks to observers, not just the wearer.
2. Go to a store that stocks top AGS cut grades and compare yours side-by-side to several of those.

I have a large spready shallower "head shadow" diamond set in boxy fishtail head setting. At first sight, I did not like it's darker center at all. But that stone looked absolutely firey and gorgeous on someone else's hand. And that's what everyone else sees when I'm wearing it. Nobody's ever commented on the dark center. The general public knows size but not nuances of cut. To me, wearing it, this stone shows more brilliance than fire, though, and the fire is at the outer edges. It's a very elegant European cut diamond (not Old EuropeanCut) but definitely not the same look as today's H&A ideals.

 

[Shay37]

Date: 1/19/2007 10:37:45 PM
Author: AdaBeta27
It may or may not be worth getting an ideal. How much money would you lose on the old stone, and how much is that bit of extra performance worth to you? Diamonds don''t have to be ideal to make pretty jewelry. Maybe a more open type of head or mounting would improve light return by letting more light in the back.

Generally HCA between 1 and 2 is what''s recommended. Your stone has a thicker girdle than the HCA assumes and I''m not sure how that distorts your score. Maybe yours is higher scoring (lower performance) than what HCA predicts. The experts will have to address that.

Does your 1.5 look dark in the center? If so, it might be a ''head shadow'' or pendant-type diamond. You can search PS and find several discussions on those. Something closer to ideal cut and less shallow would be a little brighter. But remember that most of the public is always seeing your diamond at arm''s length (equivalent to seeing a pendant) and they might all be saying ''Wow, what a rock!'' while you''re needlessly worrying that yours isn''t ideal.

The 2 no-cost tests I''d do:
1. Clean your ring, have someone else put it on, and see how it looks to observers, not just the wearer.
2. Go to a store that stocks top AGS cut grades and compare yours side-by-side to several of those.

I have a spready 2ct shallower ''head shadow'' or pendant stone. At first sight, I did not like it''s darker center at all. But that stone looked absolutely firey and gorgeous on someone else''s hand. And that''s what everyone else sees when I''m wearing it. Nobody''s ever commented on the dark center. The general public knows size but not nuances of cut.

Fly Girl, this is a great piece of advice. You could also go into a room with a mirror and stand across the room from the mirror and see how your ring looks to you in the mirror. Move it all around. Sometimes I forget how big my ring looks until I see it like this (sparkly too)

shay

 

[Fly Girl]

Thanks. I have been wearing my ring everywhere looking at it in all kinds of lighting conditions. Finally, I found one place where I can see the "head shadow" effect. It was in the bathroom of my mother''s hospital room. (She was in overnight for observation, but is home now and doing fine.) Everywhere else my ring looks great...no head shadow. No wonder I never noticed it before.

So, I''ll keep it for now. But I know if I eventually trade up, I''ll look for an ideal cut. And, I guess I will have to check it out in hospital bathrooms!!!