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yellow diamond help

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isolpj

Rough_Rock
Joined
May 3, 2004
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Hi All,

I am looking for any help / ideas on the following two fancy yellow diamonds:

1) cut cornered, rectangular modified brilliant.
6.05 x 5.38 x 3.51
1.01 carat
65.2% depth
68% table
slightly thick to extremely thick
Culet - none
polish - good
symmetry - good
clarity - VVS1
Origin - natural
Grade - fancy yellow
distribution - even
fluorescence - none

2) 1) cut cornered, rectangular modified brilliant.
5.67 x 5.32 x 3.57
1.02 carat
69% depth
64% table
extremely thin to very thick
Culet - none
polish - good
symmetry - good
clarity - VS1
Origin - natural
Grade - fancy yellow
distribution - even
fluorescence - none


they are similar diamonds, and only around a $100 price difference. One of the main differences that I see is the difference in depth % and table % between the two. What effect will this have on the diamonds?

Any help is much appreciated!

isolpj
 
I don't know anything about yellow diamonds, but I do know that you want to avoid extra thin girdles because they can chip easily and extra thick girdles because they face up smaller than their size. Both the table and the depth affect the brilliance of the stone, while the crown and table affects the fire of the stone (steeper crowns and smaller tables = more fire). As for the table and depth, you usually want to find a stone with a table smaller than the depth.

There's a great tutorial here on PS, as well as on Good Old Gold that explains things a lot better than this novice can!

Good luck!
 
Fancy diamonds are almost always cut to enhance their color. It looks like those two fancy yellow's were cut deeply to make their color appeareance darker.


Cut means actually little for fancies. What you should look after is the color. It's all about color. As long as you keep the make into the 'decent' range, you probably won't do much wrong. The main problem I see with these stones lies in the girdles. They are very uneven and this may cause some problems during the setting process & may be more fragile and likely to break.


Out of the two, the one I like better is the first. The girdle is not as wavy, it has nicer proportions, it's VVS 1 and should be noticeably rectangular. I suspect the second stone you choose won't look neither really rectangular not square. Of course this is only my opinion and is based on the paper. You'd need to see these two stones, or at least get some pictures. Not all fancy yellows are created equally; some are a little darker than others and vice versa.
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Actually, for the shape these stones are not deep at all! It's hard to believe that cut is not significant for these stones--how interesting! I can understand going a little outside of the boundaries to get a deeper color, but don't you still want the stone to be an amazing performer?
 
You make some good points, researcher. Of course cut has its importance, but it's definitely a secondary factor. Getting a nice make is always a plus, but it's not the fist thing I would look for when searching for a fancy colored diamond.


Ever wonder why there are so little round brilliant shaped fancies? It's because RB's, usually, enhance the color appeareance... No cutter would like his fancy pink diamond to face up like a fancy light because of the cut. Shapes like radiant, oval, marquise and heart tend to make color a bit more pronounced, and that's why you see so many. Besides, cutting a fancy is usually much less weight-consuming than cutting a round.


Thick girdles and pavilions, steep crowns and different facets placement are all tricks played by the cutter to put in evidence the color.


To sum up, cut has its importance in fancy colors, but is not nearly as much relevant as it is in rounds, and the same for clarity. The first factor should be the color... Clarity & Cut can make some difference, but the first thing you'll notice is definitely the shade/hue of the stone, don't you think so?
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As Giangi said, cut in colored diamonds should be in service of the color. After all, a good deal of value here is in the color, so you want something that will maximize the color saturation. If you're paying for a pink or a blue or a yellow, you don't want a diamond cut to maximize white light or fire that will detract from that color.
 
I also like the first one better. It appears that it is much longer which will have a bigger visual appearence and you are getting "more of the diamond" for your money and less lost carat weight.
 
thanks for the all the feedback! I am a little confused on some of the comments. Namely "Cut means actually little for fancies. What you should look after is the color. It's all about color. As long as you keep the make into the 'decent' range, you probably won't do much wrong" Can you explain what this means. The color is a fancy yellow, or am I missing something? Also, what is the make - what does it correlate to in the GIA report from above?

Thanks
 
When I was looking at fancy yellows I was told that in addition to the primary grade of fancy, fancy intense and fancy vivid, that the secondary modifying hue was also very important in the appearance of the stone, be it brown, green or something else. In looking at some of them loose, and it is a challenge since they are not plentiful, I would say that they look much lighter loose then when set. A light yellow looked totalyy washed out.
 
Hi!


Since I made that particular statement, let me try to explain it.
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Not all fancy yellow diamonds look the same. Some are a little darker than others. This may be due to the rough's color or the cutting style. Cutters often add long facets in the pavilion faceting diagram of radiants because they tend to make the color a little darker.


Also, not all fancy yellows are 'pure' yellow. Often they do have very minimal different hues: brown and orange are the most common. What I am getting at saying is that paper will tell you very little when it comes to fancy diamonds. I would say that pictures would be the most useful tool in order to make a selection.


Most fancy yellows are either set in yellow gold rings or yellow gold prongs, and this, as Noobie pointed out, will dramatically increase the deepness of the color appeareance.




So, as you see, there are a lot of factors to consider when selecting a yellow diamond, and cut plays a fairly minor role.
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