Thin-crowned princess

[gemnovice]

Hi,

I''ve been looking for a really well-cut princess, and finding them pretty difficult to find.  I found this one, and according to Dave Atlas''s chart, it looks excellent, except the crown is too thin.

How important is the crown height?  What are the drawbacks of a thin crown?  (For instance, does it affect brilliance, or is it mostly a durability thing?)  Is this stone possibly okay, or should I hold out for better?  Unfortunately, I can''t really see it in person, because it''s a web vendor...

Here''s the stone I''ve been "looking" at:

1.02C, E, VS1, $6k
GIA cert
5.66 x 5.60 x 3.95
Table: 67%
Depth: 70.5%
Crown height: 7.5% (0.42mm)
Girdle: thin to thick
Culet: none
Symm/Polish: both VG

Hope you can help!

 

[belle]

hey gemnovice,
the princess you are referring to is considered to have a low crown, not thin. durability is not the issue here, it''s the overall look of the stone that will be affected. with a low crown, the stone may look flat and glassy

with a higher crown (say..>10%) you have a better chance of the stone showing some "life". i know valeria101 has a comparison pic of high and low crowned princess cuts, i will try and find it for reference......

 

[YoungPapa]

gemnovice,

7.5% isn''t the end of the world, but higher is often better. Ask the vendor to bring in the diamond and get you an idealscope photo, as well as a personal inspection. That should help you with your decision.

 

[gemnovice]

Belle and Jim,

Thanks very much--I think I''ll keep looking. Belle, I think I recall seeing valeria101''s pictures of those low-crowned stones somewhere on this forum, now that you mention it. (And thanks for correcting my lingo--I''m new to this, obviously...

).

And Jim, thanks for your advice about seeing the stones in person--I didn''t even realize that was really possible when buying from a website, but I''m close to NY and Philly so that should be doable for me.

-gemnovice

 

[belle]

hey gemnovice!
it''s a good thing you recall seeing that picture...i can''t find it! i need a better system for keeping track of information like that!

as it is, fancy cuts are tough judge with only #''s, but i do believe you can rule out some stones that have the potential for not showing well....for me, 7.5% crown gets thrown out the window....
the rest of the specs. on your stone weren''t so bad though!

keep looking.....you will find your perfect princess out there somewhere!! best of luck!!!

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Although a crown of 7.5% is rather low, and greatly reduces the chance of the stone performing well, you should not look at this figure by itself.

Some (not many) future AGS-0-proportion-combos will have a very low crown height, and these will perform better than any princess like we know them.

Live long,

 

[belle]

paul,
will you be sharing the results of your new princess cuts that were sent to ags?

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Date: 3/10/2005 11:41:34 AM
Author: belle
paul,
will you be sharing the results of your new princess cuts that were sent to ags?

You bet that I will.

I am already preparing a second article with observations during and after cutting.

Live long,

 

[belle]

I am already preparing a second article with observations during and after cutting.

super....i am looking forward to reading your observations.