What in the cut to change to improve the sparkle? GIA incl.

[sparkleenvy]

So in light of our milestone anniversary, we are looking to upgrade the engagement diamond for one that sparkles more, emits light better. From reading these boards, I understand the cut makes the biggest difference, but the measurements below already seem to be pretty good and I don't know to what degree to change each category to make the sparkle improve noticeably. For example, should I try to find a stone with the polish that is better than "Very good"? Depth going to x%? Table between X and Y%? Or is it just the craft of cutting that makes the difference, I should go to certain jewelers? Thank you.


GIA report

round brilliant
6.92-6.95 x 4.14 mm
1.18 carat

depth 59.7%
table 55%
girdle: thin to medium
culet: small

polish: very good
symmetry: excellent

SI1
F
Medium blue fluorescence

 

[MissGotRocks]

Re: What in the cut to change to improve the sparkle? GIA in

What are the crown/pavilion angles on this stone?

Try using the tools tab at the top of the page and go to HCA. Input your stone's depth, pavilion angle, crown angle and table size. This is a tool for weeding out poorer cut stones; you're looking for a score of 2 or below.

This stone is a little shallow in depth - you're looking for something in the 60.5 - 62 depth range.

 

[sparkleenvy]

Re: What in the cut to change to improve the sparkle? GIA in

Thanks so much PP. My GIA report is from 2003 and it doesnthave any other info than above. It doesn't even have a category for cut. So I can't tell if it's an excellent cut or not. Should I get a new GIA eval to find out pavillion and cut etc.? If yes, do GIA? Or something else? I gather EGL(?) appraisal isn't as good.

 

[cflutist]

Re: What in the cut to change to improve the sparkle? GIA in

Check out either of these Crafted By Infinity diamonds.
They are SuperIdeal Hearts and Arrows diamonds and are cut to very exacting tolerances.

They will sparkle and have more scintillation than you have ever seen before.
I trust them so much that they are cutting a custom cut-to-order diamond for me right now:

1.12 F-SI1
http://winkjones.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity-new&id=1296

1.12.G-SI1
http://winkjones.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity-new&id=1258

Both of these are of similar weight, color, and clarity that you have posted.

 

[Gypsy]

Re: What in the cut to change to improve the sparkle? GIA in

Reading for you: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/likelihood-of-finding-a-signature-super-ideal-diamond.174235/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/likelihood-of-finding-a-signature-super-ideal-diamond.174235/[/URL]




And basic information:
The entire purpose of faceting a diamond is to reflect light.
How well or how poorly a diamond does this determines how beautiful it is.
How well a diamond performs is determined by the angles and cutting. This is why we say cut is king.
No other factor: not color, not clarity has as much of an impact on the appearance of a diamond as its cut. An ideal H will out white a poorly cut F. And GIA Ex is not enough. And you must stick to GIA and AGS only. EGL is a bad option: [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/egl-certification-are-any-of-them-ok.142863/[/URL]
So how to we ensure that we have the right angles and cutting to get the light performance we want?
http://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/diamond-cut
Well one method is to start with a GIA Ex, and then apply the HCA to it. YOU DO NOT USE HCA for AGS0 stones.
http://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/holloway-cut-advisor
The HCA is a rejection tool. Not a selection tool. It uses 4 data points to make a rudimentary call on how the diamond may perform.
If the diamond passes then you know that you are in the right zone in terms of angles for light performance. Under 2 is a pass. Under 2.5-2.1 is a maybe. 2.6 and over is a no. No score 2 and under is better than any other.
Is that enough? Not really.
So what you need is a way to check actual light performance of your actual stone.
That's what an idealscope image does. http://www.pricescope.com/wiki/diamonds/firescope-idealscope
It shows you how and wear your diamond is reflecting light, how well it is going at it, and where you are losing light return. That is why you won't see us recommending Blue Nile, as they do not provide idealscope images for their diamonds. BGD, James Allen, GOG, HPD, ERD and WF do.

The Idealscope is the 'selection tool'. Not the HCA.
So yes, with a GIA stone you need the idealscope images. Or you can buy an idealscope yourself and take it in to the jeweler you are working with to check the stones yourself. Or if you have a good return policy (full refund minimum 7 days) then you can buy the idealscope, buy the stone, and do it at home.


Now if you want to skip all that... stick to AGS0 stones and then all you have to do is pick color and clarity and you know you have a great performing diamond. Because AGS has already done the checking for you. That's why they trade at a premium.


ON COLOR:
It is important to remember is that color is graded FACE DOWN. Where there is NO light return. Not face up where there is light return and refraction. You wear diamonds set. FACE UP.

Within one color grade, even the labs can't agree on the color grades of stones and something could be a "high" H or a "low" E. So... no. Not really. Within 2 color grades it is hard. Not impossible. But very hard. And it gets harder once set. If you are talking ideal rounds, or any stone with ideal light return and no sharp corners it gets harder still because the ideal light return masks body color.

Generally we say to be conservative stay above H. But many people, knowledgeable people, buy I and J and even K stones. The best thing you can do is go see IDEAL CUT STONES (this is key) for yourself, like Hearts on Fire stones, and see what your personal color tolerances are.


If you are talking fancy shapes without ideal light return (because there is no 'ideal' for EC's Radiant, etc) it's a bit different.

This is how I think of it.

Ever gotten one of those HUGE paint fan decks? Where there are literally 100s of colors of whites? And when they are RIGHT next to each other you can TOTALLY tell that one is bluer/colder and one is a bit warmer and which one is one is TOTALLY warmer. One there's one that's slightly greener. One that's slightly pinker? But really. They are all white?

Then you pick one after agonizing over this white or that white and when it's on the walls and people are like: Oh. You painted again. And it's STILL white. Great.

And you're all... BUT it's BLUE white. Or it's a WARM white now. It used to be ____ white. It's TOTALLY different.

It's like that. You are talking about shades of white. D is colder... J is warmer. But it's all white.

YES. If you have an accurately graded F and an H THAT HAVE THE SAME PERFORMANCE you are going to be able to tell them apart when you compare them side by side. Just like you would be able to tell if you painted your walls a warm white, but painted the crown molding a cold/straight white. But both are STILL white, you only see the contrast because of the proximity. But it's very slight, you could set an F center with G sides and never tell the difference. And even H sides depending on the setting and the size of the sidestones... especially with round brilliants.


I want you notice all the qualifiers thought. I'm talking about stones with the SAME performance. An ideal H will out white an F that has compromised light performance from a poor cut.

NOTHING impacts the appearance of a diamond as much as cut. CUT is king.

You want the shinest whitest and brightest diamond out there: Cut is King. No other factor, not color or clarity or anything else impacts how white bright an shiny a stone is.