Stone dark in the middle

[paulyg]

Newbie here. Been lurking (and learning) some. Went to a local B&M yesterday and one of the stones I was shown seemed to have a "dark" area in the middle when it was sitting on the tissue paper and on the display case. Is this normal? Was it just b/c of the particular light situation? OR does a dark center mean the depth% is too much (paviion angle too high)? It was a princess so the table depth stuff is more complicatd and subjective. I just want to learn. I looked at the reported table and depth %s but can''t remember exactly what they were. They were both in the lower 70% range.

I had my idealscope in my pocket but was afraid to take it out and use it. They didn''t have what I was looking for anyways.

 

[neatfreak]

I don''t really know the answer, but it could have been something obstructing the light, like your head. But there are a TON of really badly cut princesses out there, so it could have just been really bad light leakage...

 

[chrono]

I can only think of 2 reasons:
1. Head obstruction: when viewed up close, your head creates a shadow thus the dark area is seen in the diamond. This effect will go away when the diamond is viewed further away
2. Badly cut: no resolution unless the stone is recut.

 

[gwendolyn]

Did it look like this? https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/nail-head.21400/

If so it seems like it would''ve been due to the cut.

 

[Breezee]

Date: 8/9/2007 4:01:24 PM
Author: gwendolyn
Did it look like this? https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/nail-head.21400/

If so it seems like it would''ve been due to the cut.

How deep is "too deep" as far as the pavillion is concerned on princess cut diamonds to avoid this dark spot??

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

The nail head affect caused by an observers head blocking or obstructing light sources rarely if ever happens in a princess cut - in fact there is usually not enough of it in poorly cut stones to add contrast.

It is very likely the stone had a lot of leakage.

 

[paulyg]

Cool. That means I made the right decision.