Totally glassy, right?

[onastring1]

Ok, without having seen this in person I can only guess from the photo and the specs that it will have the glassy look...Huge table, low crown. Would it be worth buying and looking at, or not at all (probably lose about $20 in shipping both ways)?? And is an H color totally out of the question?

.78 ct
6.35x4.46x2.98
depth 66.8
table 78
crown 8.3
pav 56.3
girdle vt to m
culet n
pol vg
sym g
vs 1
H
$1379

I would appreciate any help!! I have read through dozens of other posts and have learned a lot!!

 

[Lorelei]

Hi OAS!

I am sure the EC peeps will chime in, but it is possible looking at the pic, table size and crown height that this diamond could look glassy. Also an expert would be best to evaluate the very thin part of the girdle. Does this diamond have a GIA report? An H colour isn''t out of the question on an EC for some, it depends on individual preference and sensitivity - best to see some similar shape, size, cut and graded diamonds to make that determination.

 

[onastring1]

It has a EGL USA (LA) with it...I would be mounting the stone in my "old" semi-mount in which the diamonds are no better than H I am sure. If I get to white of a stone, I am afraid it will make the rest of my ring look like crap. I have been looking at mostly G''s.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:09:23 AM
Author: onastring1
It has a EGL USA (LA) with it...I would be mounting the stone in my ''old'' semi-mount in which the diamonds are no better than H I am sure. If I get to white of a stone, I am afraid it will make the rest of my ring look like crap. I have been looking at mostly G''s.

I understand. Who is selling this diamond, is it with an online vendor, auction or jeweller?

 

[onastring1]

(cough, cough) Ebay...

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:13:19 AM
Author: onastring1
(cough, cough) Ebay...

I did wonder. I would say pass to be honest in that case.

 

[krisvrn]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:02:22 AM
Author:onastring1

Ok, without having seen this in person I can only guess from the photo and the specs that it will have the glassy look...Huge table, low crown. Would it be worth buying and looking at, or not at all (probably lose about $20 in shipping both ways)?? And is an H color totally out of the question?

.78 ct
6.35x4.46x2.98
depth 66.8
table 78
crown 8.3
pav 56.3
girdle vt to m
culet n
pol vg
sym g
vs 1
H
$1379

I would appreciate any help!! I have read through dozens of other posts and have learned a lot!!

HMMM... Price seems a little high.. H is not a bad color at all. My EC is an H color, VVS1 EGL USA cert and I believe my dept and table were ~ 65 % ish. See avatar (by the way.. i am not good @ taking pictures @ all)

I think the table is a bit large on that EC you showed.

BTW- I think you mentioned EBAY.. I am sure there are plenty of good deals out there on E-bay but I really think you should pass on this one!

 

[onastring1]

I have searched high and low with many many vendors online and the price seems very good in comparison. I don''t know what to do.

 

[onastring1]

http://www.angara.com/diamond-details.do?pID=141917

Here is another possibility.What do you think, seems like it should have some fire, from what I have read, you don''t know until you get it in front of you. I have requested a photo, do they (angara.com) send photos??

 

[Ellen]

I inherited an Emerald cut stone with stats much like yours. While I love my stone for the sentimentality, I would never actually seek one out like this.

Emerald cuts are really beautiful, when cut better. I'd keep looking.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:21:45 AM
Author: onastring1
I have searched high and low with many many vendors online and the price seems very good in comparison. I don''t know what to do.

You get what you pay for, as you know. If you use the search tool, you can find lots of other poster''s experiences on Ebay which should help you decide what to do. I would far rather get a smaller diamond from a reputable online vendor with a trustworthy return policy should it be needed, than buy from Ebay, even if it means waiting and saving up some more.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:27:17 AM
Author: onastring1
http://www.angara.com/diamond-details.do?pID=141917

Here is another possibility.What do you think, seems like it should have some fire, from what I have read, you don''t know until you get it in front of you. I have requested a photo, do they (angara.com) send photos??

Also the crown height is needed to help judge fire. This is a far better approach for you to purchase, let us know if Angara will send you a pic of this diamond!

 

[onastring1]

Just got off the phone with a rep. He said they can send both the report and an image. Will take at least a day...up to 3. I hate waiting!! Here is another possibility. I design beaded jewelry and sell a good bit to a Jeweler here locally. She can get me a stone I am sure and will let me trade for 50% of it with my jewelry. I know that her price will be higher, but with the trade, I will probably "save" a bit in the end. I will have to work my butt of though...what do you think??

 

[tberube]

please do explain "glassy." I have never understood what that meant. If you say "looks like a piece of cut glass," well then I''d have to tell you that essentially, all diamonds look like this. No?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:34:49 AM
Author: onastring1
Just got off the phone with a rep. He said they can send both the report and an image. Will take at least a day...up to 3. I hate waiting!! Here is another possibility. I design beaded jewelry and sell a good bit to a Jeweler here locally. She can get me a stone I am sure and will let me trade for 50% of it with my jewelry. I know that her price will be higher, but with the trade, I will probably ''save'' a bit in the end. I will have to work my butt of though...what do you think??

That is good news, Kudos to Angara

I know waiting can be hard, but it is well worth it in the end, I would hang tight for now and let Angara send you the report copy and pic, or also see if they can recommend any other diamonds that might suit you. Also with your jeweller friend, do you know what quality of diamonds she deals in, do you think this is a good way to get a diamond? I would proceed with caution there.

 

[onastring1]

Yeah, like a piece of glass, no fire, sparkle, brilliance.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:37:09 AM
Author: tberube
please do explain 'glassy.' I have never understood what that meant. If you say 'looks like a piece of cut glass,' well then I'd have to tell you that essentially, all diamonds look like this. No?

Hi Rubes!

I think glassy in an EC means a very flat, dull looking diamond which lacks fire and performance, due to a large table, and often coupled with a low crown height. It sits there and doesn't do much....You might get the odd big flash of the table or glare occasionally, but that is about it.

A lacklustre diamond with no personality.

 

[tberube]

well...I would have to say you should not judge an EC by its numbers alone. By the books, my EC has a large table and low crown (not QUITE as much so as your diamond possibility, but for argument sake, close). Perhaps it could have been cut better, more for sparkle and less for size. But it DOES sparkle, and it throws lots of colors around! And I find it really pretty! Not so much so as a RB, but RB''s are too sparkly for me.

Just my $0.02

 

[onastring1]

She doesn''t buy cert. diamonds. But I honestly think she is on the up and up...

 

[Ellen]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:40:57 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 2/28/2008 10:37:09 AM
Author: tberube
please do explain 'glassy.' I have never understood what that meant. If you say 'looks like a piece of cut glass,' well then I'd have to tell you that essentially, all diamonds look like this. No?

Hi Rubes!

I think glassy in an EC means a very flat, dull looking diamond which lacks fire and performance, due to a large table, and often coupled with a low crown height. It sits there and doesn't do much....You might get the odd big flash of the table or glare occasionally, but that is about it.

A lacklustre diamond with no personality.

Yes. Mine will give off a teeny bit of fire, but I get more table glare. I'll never forget when I met Dee in Chicago, we were in a high end store, and there was a big, well cut EC ring that they let us play with. The difference was stark, and stunning.

 

[strmrdr]

the main difference the large table size and low height make is in small and med scintillation-fire events.
It can still have the large events and large fire.
But it takes more direct light and brighter too trigger the fire and it may be covered by table glare.
If you move the diamond back and forth 5 degrees you will see a ton of difference but in direct lighting rotating 20 degrees the large table stone gets more life as the big flashes come out but not as much as a small table high crown stone overall.
That is why they are called glassy because the small and med fire flashes are fewer and it takes more motion too make it dance.

 

[strmrdr]

This image shows a wire frame image of an EC that is broken up by virtual facets.
virtual facets are the splitting of light return by facets interacting with one another.
Virtual facet study is ongoing and in its beginning stages.
The basic principle we are talking about here without going into details is that the larger the virtual facets generally the larger the flash caused by them. (virtual facets are just one part of the fire picture the bending of light is the other, high crowns help with that)
Notice how under the table the virtual facets are large while under the crown facets and around the windmills they are med too small. A large table has fewer small and med virtual facets, add a low crown which doesn't bend the light much and scint and fire is way down.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:42:45 AM
Author: tberube
well...I would have to say you should not judge an EC by its numbers alone. By the books, my EC has a large table and low crown (not QUITE as much so as your diamond possibility, but for argument sake, close). Perhaps it could have been cut better, more for sparkle and less for size. But it DOES sparkle, and it throws lots of colors around! And I find it really pretty! Not so much so as a RB, but RB's are too sparkly for me.

Just my $0.02

Absolutely agree, your stone is stunning and that is the advice we often give that often you can't judge an EC by the numbers, but in this case the numbers we do have result in a very dull diamond - quite unlike yours

! The numbers are best used as a guide only, along with pics of the diamond.

 

[strmrdr]

as you can see in this aset image the large virtual facets produce large areas of light return and large areas of obstruction and leakage(red, green is light return, blue is obstruction, black leakage) while the small and med virtual facets return smaller chunks.
The lack of smaller chunks is one of the factors that give large tabled ascchers and EC less fire.
Some will get fire from the high crown if they have one. (there is another factor and that is the vertical size of the higher crown facets as the stone is moved creating new virtual facets not seen face up that is a huge factor also)

so in summery a much simplified view of fire and scint in asschers and EC is 3 factors:
1: size of and number of virtual facets face up
2: bending light
3: virtual facets created by the crown facets as it is tilted.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/28/2008 10:42:45 AM
Author: tberube
well...I would have to say you should not judge an EC by its numbers alone. By the books, my EC has a large table and low crown (not QUITE as much so as your diamond possibility, but for argument sake, close). Perhaps it could have been cut better, more for sparkle and less for size. But it DOES sparkle, and it throws lots of colors around! And I find it really pretty! Not so much so as a RB, but RB''s are too sparkly for me.

Just my $0.02

you love large scint and fire events and dislike small ones therefore you love your diamond.

 

[onastring1]

Date: 2/28/2008 11:53:35 AM
Author: strmrdr
as you can see in this aset image the large virtual facets produce large areas of light return and large areas of obstruction and leakage(red, green is light return, blue is obstruction, black leakage) while the small and med virtual facets return smaller chunks.
The lack of smaller chunks is one of the factors that give large tabled ascchers and EC less fire.
Some will get fire from the high crown if they have one. (there is another factor and that is the vertical size of the higher crown facets as the stone is moved creating new virtual facets not seen face up that is a huge factor also)

so in summery a much simplified view of fire and scint in asschers and EC is 3 factors:
1: size of and number of virtual facets face up
2: bending light
3: virtual facets created by the crown facets as it is tilted.

This is like free gemology school, Emerald cuts 101 !!

Ok, so how does the layman that is on a tight budget who is looking in the 65-75 pt range go about getting the prettiest diamond for their buck? Online vendors seem to have the very best deals. But I don''t want to order and return 10 of them to get what I am looking for. The GIA''s don''t seem to mention crown. It seems the EGL reports do. And it doesn''t seem that all high(er) crowns are great from what you said the facets in them are what matter most. UGH! My brain is spinning...

 

[strmrdr]

The easiest way is too call or email Jon at www.goodoldgold.com and let him select a few and take pictures and video then we can take his info and help further..
He understands EC cuts and video helps with getting a dynamic picture of the stone.

 

[onastring1]

Thanks, I will give him a try!!

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 2/28/2008 11:26:04 AM
Author: strmrdr
the main difference the large table size and low height make is in small and med scintillation-fire events.
It can still have the large events and large fire.
But it takes more direct light and brighter too trigger the fire and it may be covered by table glare.
If you move the diamond back and forth 5 degrees you will see a ton of difference but in direct lighting rotating 20 degrees the large table stone gets more life as the big flashes come out but not as much as a small table high crown stone overall.
That is why they are called glassy because the small and med fire flashes are fewer and it takes more motion too make it dance.

Large events and large fire - that''s exactly why I would (and did) pick an EC with a large table for my Ering. That''s the look I was looking for, the diamond I love above all others! I guess it''s subjective. The ECs in my avatar have smaller tables and higher crowns than my ering EC and certainly have quite a different look. I love them for studs, but for my ering, I wanted what I suppose you''d call glassy.

I suppose that my far-from-expert point is just that you have to see an EC and possibly compare different ''styes'' of EC in person to find the one that speaks to you. I know that I looked at a lot of them before finding The One!

Good luck finding your perfect stone!

Jen

 

[tberube]

Date: 2/28/2008 11:46:02 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 2/28/2008 10:42:45 AM

Author: tberube

well...I would have to say you should not judge an EC by its numbers alone. By the books, my EC has a large table and low crown (not QUITE as much so as your diamond possibility, but for argument sake, close). Perhaps it could have been cut better, more for sparkle and less for size. But it DOES sparkle, and it throws lots of colors around! And I find it really pretty! Not so much so as a RB, but RB''s are too sparkly for me.


Just my $0.02

Absolutely agree, your stone is stunning and that is the advice we often give that often you can''t judge an EC by the numbers, but in this case the numbers we do have result in a very dull diamond - quite unlike yours

! The numbers are best used as a guide only, along with pics of the diamond.

Thank you, lorelei, you''re so very sweet! Although hearing all this information, I realize I don''t know anyone else IRL with an EC to compare mine too....so I suppose I have no way of knowing if mine is "dead" or "glassy." Perhaps it is! Either way, I still really like it, it''s pretty (and it''s mine).

Onastring - I''m really sorry for the threadjack!! I hope you can forgive me, I was inspired by your post to get more information on the same topic!!