the clueless newbie really needs help...

[cluelessL]

so i just stumbled upon this board and have been reading the posts for several hours...
can someone please explain how to figure out if diamond is ideal cut? what dimensions should i be looking for?
i understand carat, clarity, and color...but i''m just not really sure about cut.

sorry about the stupid questions, but can someone please point me in the right direction?

 

[valeria101]

Well, you may want to try the tutorial here (about rounds mostly, but the fancy shapes page is good too)... Then, it is really that much easier to talk about a certain diamond than the theory behind "ideal" in general.

For starters, there is no general standard for "Ideal cut" so the word means different things for each shop. So it may help to get an idea what the chatter is all about before considering how far you want to go.

Not sure if there is a "right direction" as you say: just your choice and a price for everything ultimately.

Hope the 0.2 helps

 

[perry]

Welcome!

To answer your questions: Not quickly: Please start with the tutorial. It took me several rereadings and several days to figure it out. Also, check out the HCA and IdealScope sites (under tools).

It is really a matter of ratio''s, with several possible (for a round brilliant cut). The HCA quickly gets you to diamonds that are in the better looking class (under 2 in HCA space). A 1.8 might look better to you than a 0.6, but both will look better than a 2.5 (or worse).

One thing I should ask: How much time do you have and how much energy do you intend to put into learning about diamonds and cut.

Please note that this site predominantly focuses on what I call the "Super Ideal Cut" ... Diamonds that have "life" in normal lighting.

If you need to purchase right away or do not want to burden youself with a lot of education, and you want a diamond that will perfrom very well in normal lighting for a fair price please go directly to Good Old Gold or NiceIce (check both sites) and chose the diamond (s) you want. Those companies only stock the best of the best.

If you can take a week or two to learn things there are another half dozen sites that carry a range of diamonds - including some of the best of the best that you can learn to enough to pick out what you want at perhaps a bit better price.

Finally, if you have weeks (to months) to apply yourself - as I have done, you can then learn enough to sort through another dozen sites out there, know what you are looking for and what compromises you are comfortable with - and probably save a bit more.

You can also ask for help in the later 2 stages I mentioned above.

May you and your loved one end up with the diamond of their dreams...

Perry

 

[JohnQuixote]

Hello CL. Not stupid questions at all.

Simply put, the most important measurements to have to gauge Ideal Cut as defined by the AGS - commomly accepted as Ideal here - are Table %, Depth %, Crown Angle, Pavilion Angle.

With this info you will get plenty of feedback from PS regulars.

 

[JohnQuixote]

A diagram I have reflecting "Ideal" proportions (some slight variations may exist).

Edited: I am"remote" today - this is what I had on the laptopimus. See Rhino's below for mo' updated (then get ready to update again in '05!)

 

[JohnQuixote]

And a discussion of "Ideal" proportions on the PS tutorial,

Linked here.

 

[Rhino]

Not my intent to correct my dear friend Sir John but that is the old AGS ideal scale (prior to 2000, the primary difference being the tolerances for pavilion angles). Here is the newer updated ideal parameters although this will be considered outdated in about a year from now.

The finest ideals are those with the best optics and both GIA and AGS will be changing their cut grading systems next year to reflect this. If you'd like to learn more about this check out the tutorial here on PS and you may want to browse our chapters on cut as we address many chapters to the optical properties and appearance of diamonds in various light conditoins.

Kind regards,

 

[JohnQuixote]

Thanks Rhino. I''m remote today - different files.
I found a groovy picture of Yoda.

 

[strmrdr]

While both Sir John and Sir Jonathon both gave the the ags standard I can tell you for a fact their personal standards on what is ideal is much tighter than ags''s

I very much prefere niceices definition of ideal to the ags one by a wide margin:

Total Depth between 59 – 61.8% (only effects the diameter of the stone)
Table Diameter between 53 – 57% (least critical factor)
Crown Angle between 34.3 – 34.8 degrees
Pavilion Angle between 40.6 – 40.9 degrees
Girdle: prefer 0.7% thin up to 1.8% medium, faceted
Culet: GIA none or AGS pointed (same thing, different terms)
Polish: GIA Excellent / AGS Ideal (the highest from each lab)
Symmetry: GIA Excellent / AGS Ideal (the highest from each lab)

The only change Id make is add some of the minor facet measurements into the mix.