Such beautiful ratings, but which one to get!?

[erikjfkire]

Greetings,

I have been reading this forum for quite a while and I really enjoy reading all the topics. I am proposing in two weeks and I have been set on a certain diamond for a while. I now though found another diamond withen $100 in price that I am considering instead. One has an HCA rating of .6 and the other a rating of 1.4. How much difference is there? Pictures of both are attatched respectively. Why does the diamond that has poorer symmetry score higher on the HCA than the other that scored the 1.4? Which is going to show more brilliance and fire and scintillation? Comments and recommendations greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Erik

 

[erikjfkire]

Here are the measurements as well. Also, if I can have some imput as to clouds not listed on the certificate vs. pinpoints not listed and some other imperfections. The pictures are shown respectively.

Diamond 1:

 

[Rhino]

Without knowing not only the proportions but also the measurement of the minor facets the diamond that is a 1.4 could indeed have more intense light return than the .6 and vice versa. It sounds like you've narrowed it down to 2 good choices. Optical symmetry and intensity of light return is what might sway me towards one diamond over the other if I were in your shoes. Last week we had a client come in and compare just what you are and both stones were the same carat weight, clarity & color. One was a .6 and the other a 1.3 (something like that). Both had completely different briliancescope results, that being the 1.3. Without knowing which stone was which the person saw the stronger scintillation and more intense light return within the 1.3 over the .6. This may or may not be your case but it's hard to tell without any kind of optical analysis besides what you posted. Sounds like either though will be nice.

Kind regards,
Rhino

 

[Mara]

Hmm the measurements didn't come through in your post.

From the pix it looks like the one on the left has some H&A but the ends of the arrows are not crisp? The right picture looks like an ACA or SC or similar type stone. If it's an ACA type stone, could be that the minor changes made to get the excellent light return in the ACA stone modifies the HCA score a bit, seems like alot of the ACA stones score around 1.2-1.8 on the HCA rather than under 1.0.

Anything under 2.0 on the HCA should be gorgeous. The differences between the .6 and the 1.4 will most likely be so minimal to your eye you may not see them.

Please post more info so people can comment on the angles etc etc.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

You have been given good advice by Rhino and Mara, and as the inventor of HCA I have nothing to add other than that HCA does not and can not assess the symmetry of the diamond, and inspite of my comments on another purely technical post, i would probably choose symmetry over non sym. But in the pictures both look pretty good.

I think your decision should be not which diamond (they both will be beautiful), but who you feel more comfortable buying from.

 

[smaggard]

Since both are under 2, I think that the cut advisor has done its job in ruling out probable "losers". I'm not a gemologist, but having just gone through buying a stone the past few weeks I can share my experience with the HCA, possibly this can help. Also I just recently registered to post but have been reading this forum for almost 2 years...lurking

The stone I picked out I have plugged into the HCA many times. I have used the numbers given on the GIA cert, as well as the numbers on both Megascope, as well as Sarin reports. Since some of these numbers differ slightly, there are multiple combinations of these measurements just for this one stone. For example the GIA cert says the table is 57%, however the Sarin reports say 56.1%, and the depth on the GIA cert is 60.8% while the megascope and sarin reports show 60.9%.
Very close numbers indeed, yet with different combinations I can get HCA values of btweeen .9 and 1.3. Similar to your experience but this is the SAME STONE!!! See my point? Obviously this stone can't be more beautiful than itself

My point is basically that in my opinion it is impossible to truly tell the difference in beauty of these 2 stones based on a number calculated from a formula based on averages. Especially given that the formula is sensitive to minor variations (such as simply changing 60.8 to 60.9). So if you cannot decide who to buy from etc., have them checked by an independent appraiser. I had my stone sent to Bill (RockDoc) and he was incredible! He sends you enough data on the rock to keep you busy for some time!!! And as a researcher I LOVE data, especially for making such an important decision. The qualitative and quantitative data received from an independent appraiser like Bill is invaluable in my opinion and well worth the effort.
Good luck in your search, hope this helps.