Surprised by HCA score

[mlitchfield187]

Good morning,

I am hoping to get an opinion on a diamond that I am considering buying. I have been trying to educate myself and learn about diamond cut so that I can find the best diamond for my money. Based on everything I have read about diamond cut ideal proportions, I expected to enter this one into the HCA tool and have it come back with a very poor rating. Thus, I was quite surprised when it came back with a rating of 1.2. I was even more surprised to see it score Excellent in all 4 categories as normally I only ever see a Very Good score for Spread. I understand that HCA is only an elimination tool and and that it requires further examination. However, I am trying to figure out whether to shortlist it as one of the ones that I ask James Allen for an ideal scope. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-di...i-color-si1-clarity-excellent-cut-sku-2850903

Depth %: 60.3
Table %: 59
Crown Angle: 33
Pavilion Angle: 40.8

 

[HappyNewLife]

It's a 60/60 stone. There's tons of info about those on PS and also at other vendor sites, including whiteflash. I personally have had 2 60/60s and they were both great. The nice thing is that they can be pretty dang sparkly and fall into AGS ideal cut parameters, but save you a lot of money. The only thing I didn't love about them was that the flashes were mostly white, there wasn't much fire in the sparkle. I'd ask JA for an idealscope (after reading up on 60/60 stones), and if it passes, it could be a great option!

 

[Lorelei]

It's a 60/60 stone. There's tons of info about those on PS and also at other vendor sites, including whiteflash. I personally have had 2 60/60s and they were both great. The nice thing is that they can be pretty dang sparkly and fall into AGS ideal cut parameters, but save you a lot of money. The only thing I didn't love about them was that the flashes were mostly white, there wasn't much fire in the sparkle. I'd ask JA for an idealscope (after reading up on 60/60 stones), and if it passes, it could be a great option!

Hi Mlitch,

Happy offers great and sound advice, I'd so as she suggests with the Idealscope image which JA can provide on request, then post it here for review, there's a couple of things just to verify that the image should show. Also ask what the performance is like, fire, brilliance, contrast, scintillation and also there's a grade making cloud noted, just check that's not interfering with transparency or brilliance ( unlikely but best to check) and we'll see what happens!

 

[HappyNewLife]

here's the Whiteflash article on 60/60 stones:

https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/diamond-education/60-60-diamonds-1503.htm

 

[gm89uk]

It's just worth noting a great idealscope means great light return, not great fire

 

[Lorelei]

It's just worth noting a great idealscope means great light return, not great fire

Did anyone suggest it did? Sorry, didn't see that mentioned.

 

[gm89uk]

Did anyone suggest it did? Sorry, didn't see that mentioned.

This was a reply to the OP regarding his surprise with HCA scoring well (not a reply to any of the above posts). To elaborate, HCA essentially measures potential light return, I don't find it particularly useful to measure fire and scintillation. Even a 32/40.4 will score excellent on HCA but not suitable for an eRing. Likewise, the idealscope of shallow stones may pass with flying colours but may not reveal other possible issues with the stone, such as reduced fire.

The stone the OP has selected seems a nice 60:60 stone. However the 13% crown height will certainly give it a different flavour to a standard tolk stone.

I'm sure it'll have a nice idealscope, but it's just to make the OP aware of the differences between the two which are nicely pointed out in the WF article.

 

[mlitchfield187]

Thank you all very much for your responses! I did not know about 60/60 stones, thanks for the resources to help me learn more about them. I appreciate the feedback, this website and forum is helping alleviate some of the stress around buying an engagement ring.

 

[mlitchfield187]

To follow up, after reading more about 60/60 diamonds, I ended up not shortlisting this one as one of the 3 that James Allen will provide Ideal Scopes for. I'd love to hear your opinions on the ones that I did request.

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/help-comparing-diamonds-for-e-ring.239842/

Thanks again HappyNewLife, Lorelei, and gm89uk.