Two prospective diamonds and HCA Rankings

[Anniversary Girl]

Hello,

My ten-year wedding anniversary is coming up, and my husband would like to give me a new stone, as my original stone was recently chipped badly. (Never knew that was even possible.) We have it narrowed down to a couple of stones and were hoping for some helpful input from the resident experts and anyone else with an opinion!

Both score high on the Holloway Cut Advisor (great tool, by the way, thank you, thank you!!!), but the girdles are different and we''re not sure how important the girdle is, what thickness is best, and how much they affect the sparkle of the stone. Each stone is roughly the same size and price and costs a pretty penny, so we want to be sure we''re making the most informed decision as possible before moving forward.

Stone #1:

F
VS1
Table: 58
Depth: 61.2
Crown Angle: 35
Pavillion Angle: 40.6
Culet: None
Polish and Symmetry: Excellent
Flourescence: None
Girdle: Medium to slightly thick, faceted
HCA: 1.0 - Overall Excellent. In TIC range.
HCA Specific Category Breakdown: Ex, Ex, Ex, Very Good

Stone #2:

F
VS1
Table: 57
Depth: 62.2
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavillion Angle: 40.8
Culet: None
Polish and Symmetry: Excellent
Flourescence: None
Girdle: Thin to slightly thick, faceted
HCA: 1.4 - Overall Excellent. In TIC range.
HCA Specific Category Breakdown: Ex, Ex, Ex, Very Good

Stone #3:

E
VS1
Table: 57
Depth: 62
Crown Angle: 34.5
Pavillion Angle: 41
Culet: None
Polish and Symmetry: Excellent
Flourescence: None
Girdle: Medium, faceted
HCA: 2.0 - Overall Very Good.
HCA Specific Category Breakdown: Ex, Very Good, Very Good, Very Good

On a side note, we were all set to buy a Blue Nile "Signature Stone," but after putting the specs through the Holloway Cut Advisor, we were shocked to see it didn''t score very high. It seems strange that the stones we''re now considering with much higher HCA scores aren''t "Signature Stones." Is the whole thing just a marketing ploy? Hmmmm...

Anyway, thanks in advance for your input.

Anniversary Girl

 

[JulieN]

Date: 6/4/2006 11:45:55 PM
Author:Anniversary Girl
On a side note, we were all set to buy a Blue Nile ''Signature Stone,'' but after putting the specs through the Holloway Cut Advisor, we were shocked to see it didn''t score very high. It seems strange that the stones we''re now considering with much higher HCA scores aren''t ''Signature Stones.'' Is the whole thing just a marketing ploy? Hmmmm...

"Alternatively hearts and arrows diamonds, which have excellent optical symmetry, but often HCA scores around 2, may out-perform diamonds with lesser symmetry and lower HCA scores."
http://diamonds.pricescope.com/ideal.asp

The Blue Nile Signature rounds are supposed to be H&A AGS 0s. Could you link the stone that doesn''t score well on HCA?

 

[Anniversary Girl]

Hi Julie,

Interesting. The Signature Stone we were considering, but backed off of due to its HCA score, is this one: http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00914137&filter_id=0 It scored better using the GCAL specs (2.6) than with the AGS specs (3.1). When we found the other stones that scored so high on the HCA, we thought that one of those choices would be better. Thoughts?

Anniversary Girl

 

[JulieN]

I rather like this one: http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?pid=LD00912152&filter_id=0

 

[fire&ice]

From what you posted, I like #1 the best - less depth less girdle swing. What are the mm of each stone?

 

[Anniversary Girl]

Thanks for your input, fire and ice. Much appreciated!

The stone sizes are:

Stone #1 - 2.01
Stone #2 - 2.11
Stone #3 - 2.01

Is it correct then to say that a *medium to slightly thick* girdle is ok? My last ring had a thin to medium girdle (although, this is the same one that chipped), so I wasn''t sure if a thicker girdle would affect the performance of the stone negatively or not. The HCA can''t take that into account when assigning a rating.

Anniversary Girl

 

[diamondseeker2006]

She meant the diameter of the stones (like 8.1 mm). Thin, medium, and slightly thick are all fine for the girdle.

 

[Anniversary Girl]

Oops! Amateur. Thanks for the clarification, diamond seeker.

The mm''s of the stones are:

Stone #1: 8.07 x 8.11 x 4.95 mm (2.01 c, Medium to slightly thick girdle, HCA 1.0)
Stone #2: 8.16 x 8.21 x 5.09 mm (2.10 c, Thin to slightly thick girdle, HCA 1.4)
Stone #3: 8.05 x 8.10 x 5.01 mm (2.01 c, Medium girdle, HCA 2.0)

Thanks,
Anniversary Girl