What quality is right below H&A? Does superior symmetry = H&A?

[Lerris]

I am currently in the market for for diamond studs with the following characterstics:

1.6 to 1.8 TCW
H color
SI1-SI2 (eyeclean)

I originally was looking for Hearts and Arrows. What I have read, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that one of the most important factors of a stone being brilliant is the cut, polish, and symmetry. I went into good old gold and looked at a few H&A stones...they looked nice but I could not see these hearts and arrows. After more reading, I believe that the H&A is a marketing term and that I can save some money (or apply it to the size of the stone) by not getting H&A stones. Is this accurate?

So with all of the said, what stone is below, in supposed quality to a H&A stone that I should look for in order to put the premium from the H&A into the size instead? Is it just an Ideal cut stone where the the cut is excellent, the optical symmetry is superior, the symmetry is excellent and the polish is excellent? Or does having a stone with excellent optical symmetry make it a H&A stone? I am sorry if this stuff is repeated but I cant seem to understand this.

I went into some booths here at 47th street, where friends had previously purchased stones, and when I spoke to them about this stuff they thought i was nuts. Most of them didnt even really know what H&A is. That was very discouraging.

I also went into good old gold this past weekend, and looked at one of their stones (H&A). It was beautiful, but if i looked for an ideal cut stone that was not H&A would it be any less beautiful?

As a person who works full time, and where I like to see my stones, its hard to find the time to go to stores/dealers. By having the knowledge I am asking up front I can save time by questioning them on the phone to make sure they have what I am looking for before I go down there.

Sorry if this post is repetitive.

 

[belle]

Date: 10/26/2006 11:33:55 AM
Author:Lerris

I originally was looking for Hearts and Arrows. What I have read, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that one of the most important factors of a stone being brilliant is the cut, polish, and symmetry.

cut (crown, pavliion angles, combined with depth and table) is the most important factor. polish and symmetry are by-products of superior craftmanship.
more on p/s https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/cut-vs-polish-symettry.36711/

Date: 10/26/2006 11:33:55 AM
Author:Lerris

I went into good old gold and looked at a few H&A stones...they looked nice but I could not see these hearts and arrows.

unless you look through a h&a viewer, they are not going to be readily visible. the hearts will never be seen without the viewer but you can catch glimpses of silvery or rainbow sparkles coming off of the 'arrow' facets in different lighting conditions.

Date: 10/26/2006 11:33:55 AM
Author:Lerris

I believe that the H&A is a marketing term and that I can save some money (or apply it to the size of the stone) by not getting H&A stones. Is this accurate?

as the popularity of high quality h&a diamonds become more and more popular, it stands to reason that the term 'h&a' will become more popular as well. just like the term 'ideal' you can get many different varieties of 'h&a' just like you can get many different variteties of 'ideal'. are you better off not getting a true h&a diamond? that depends. there are deals to be found in both realms. completely ruling out h&a diamonds is in no way going to guarantee you are getting more for your dollar. there are plenty of overpriced non h&a stones out there. focus on getting a great cut and just like the polish/symmetry, the rest will fall into place.

Date: 10/26/2006 11:33:55 AM
Author:Lerris

So with all of the said, what stone is below, in supposed quality to a H&A stone that I should look for in order to put the premium from the H&A into the size instead? Is it just an Ideal cut stone where the the cut is excellent, the optical symmetry is superior, the symmetry is excellent and the polish is excellent? Or does having a stone with excellent optical symmetry make it a H&A stone? I am sorry if this stuff is repeated but I cant seem to understand this.

there is no 'below' h&a. h&a refers only to the arrangement of certain facets that result in a symmetrical pattern. it happens that most well cut stones are going to have some semblance of h&a due to the quality of the cutting. but just because a stone is labeled h&a, does not *always* make it better. likewise, a stone not labeled h&a does not always mean it is inferior. if you want a well cut stone, pay attention to the angles. if you want to try and save money, learn about the relationship of these angles to depth and table and look for diamonds that fall into the ags0 category using the hca.
again, polish/symmetry cannot be used alone to determine cut quality. labs do not grade optical symmetry. this is part of the reason there is no 'below h&a' it is not directly correlated to quality.

Date: 10/26/2006 11:33:55 AM
Author:Lerris

I also went into good old gold this past weekend, and looked at one of their stones (H&A). It was beautiful, but if i looked for an ideal cut stone that was not H&A would it be any less beautiful?

beauty is in the eye of the beholder. only you can decide what you want to spend your $$$ on.
again, just taking out the h&a factor is not going to guarantee more diamond for your dollar. you need to decide if you want to spend your money on a well cut diamond, regardless of it has the h&a facet arrangement.

 

[oldminer]

Diamond studs are not constantly being looked on by the person wearing them. For that reason, it is acceptable to purchase a compromise in quality for earrings and spend a some of the lesser cost to increase the size a little. Some folks might wish to keep to a "standard" of quality, but probably the smart money seeks a second level stone for earrings with the extra spent on size, weight and larger appearance.

H&A is a happy accident. It is a great visual marketing tool, but not a requirement. There are many pretty diamonds with rather iffy to non-existent H&A. Your eyes can appreciate the results of good or better symmetry. Most diamonds of decent quality will score "good" or better anyway. So, the end result is to buy what you like, what you know the other person will like, and a good combination of the overall features in diamonds you can afford.

 

[Lerris]

Thank you for your responses. It is very hard for a layman to get educated on this stuff when you read online that cut is the most important thing, and then you go into all the stores, and they think im crazy for looking for ideal cuts on the ears.

Most of the places I have gone to say, that for a diamond ring, then yes a ideal cut is important, but when shopping for studs, because they are in the ear, I should either save the money or put it towards the size.

This is not an investment, but a surprise gift for my wife, so I do not want o get something of lesser quality than I should. Is it true that a high white color like an e-g with a good cut and not ideal would still look nice?

I will be looking for stones this weekend, but want to know if there certain criteria I should look for. This whole experience is way too stressful for me

 

[belle]

personally, i would not compromise on cut. that is where the sparkle comes from. if you are going to make a compromise, i would easily get lower color/clarity. a well cut j/si diamond will sparkle from across the room but no one will ever be close enough to scrutinize color/clarity.