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Who does not like hearts and arrows diamonds?

Who does not like hearts and arrows diamonds?

“I’ve been looking at this 1.494 carat, I-color, VS-1 clarity, hearts and arrows diamond from Brian Gavin for a couple of weeks, but honestly was hoping to find something similar from my local jeweler, because the idea of buying a diamond online kind of freaks me out; but my local jeweler has not been able to provide any hearts and arrows diamonds for me to consider. The other day he told me that lots of people do not like hearts and arrows diamonds, because there is too much contrast between the arrows pattern and other sections of the diamond, but everything I read about them online seems to indicate that it is the contrast created by the hearts and arrows pattern that makes the diamonds so beautiful, so I don’t know what to think… do you know anybody who does not like hearts and arrows diamonds?”

The rarity of diamonds weighing between 1.40 – 1.49 carats:

A lot of people don’t realize how rare it is to find diamonds of exceptional cut quality and ideal proportions within the range of 1.40 – 1.49 carats, they happen to be extremely rare because the price increase that occurs in the price per carat of diamonds weighing between 1.49 – 1.50 carats makes it more profitable to produce a diamond weighing more than 1.50 carats that is only very good in cut quality, than it is to produce a diamond weighing less than 1.50 carats that is cut as precisely as the 1.494 carat, I-color, VS-1 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature hearts and arrows diamond that you are considering… which is why I wouldn’t wait too long to purchase it!

The benefit of hearts and arrows patterns in round diamonds:

I would venture to say that the majority of retail jewelers and diamond dealers do not fully understand the concept of hearts and arrows patterns in round brilliant cut diamonds, the majority of them certainly would not be able to explain how the patterns of hearts and arrows are created, which is explained thoroughly by Brian Gavin on a web site that is dedicated to teaching the diamond industry how to grade hearts and arrows diamonds.

Brian Gavin is one of the foremost experts on how to cut hearts and arrows diamonds, and on the factors that must be taken into account when grading hearts and arrows diamonds; his expertise is sought out by professionals in the diamond industry on a regular basis.

Who Doesn't Like Hearts Arrows Diamonds BGD AGSL-104072303018The reason why a crisp and complete pattern of hearts and arrows is a critical component of a round brilliant ideal cut diamond, is because the higher degree of optical symmetry that is necessary to create the pattern of hearts and arrows, results in a higher number of virtual facets, which are larger in size, and which create flashes of light known as sparkle, that will be bolder and brighter in intensity than would be created in a round brilliant cut diamond with the same proportions, but which lacks the same degree of optical symmetry. So this 1.494 carat, I-color, VS-1 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature hearts and arrows diamond is likely to outperform anything your local jeweler can show you.

And one of the reasons why this diamond is likely to outperform any of the standard round ideal cut diamonds that your local jeweler is offering you, which do not exhibit crisp and complete patterns of hearts and arrows, is because the diamond will exhibit a higher degree of static contrast.

Why is static contrast in a round diamond important?

The benefit of high levels of static contrast in a diamond, is that the difference between the light and dark sections of the diamond, will be interpreted by our eyes as sparkle, even when the diamond is being viewed in lighting conditions where it is likely to sparkle very little, such as under the fluorescent lighting that is used in so many office environments.

How Important Is Ideal Scope Image When Buying Diamonds BGD-104072303018The odds are that if you were to look at the average round brilliant cut diamond under fluorescent lighting, that it would look kind of flat and lifeless; the sparkle factor will be a bit better with a standard ideal cut diamond, but only if the diamond cutter managed to partition the upper and lower portions of the diamond properly with roughly 15% of the diamond being dedicated to the crown section of the diamond and 43% being attributed to the lower or pavilion section of the diamond; but the diamond with the highest level of visual performance will be the round brilliant ideal cut diamond which is properly proportioned, and which exhibits the highest level of optical symmetry.

The most effective way to judge the optical symmetry of a round brilliant cut diamond, is to view the diamond while unmounted through a hearts and arrows viewer, which will enable you to determine whether the diamond exhibits a pattern of hearts and arrows, and the degree of consistency and precision of the hearts, in comparison to the grading standards explained on the hearts and arrows pattern grading web site created by Brian Gavin.

Another tool that we use to judge diamond cut quality is an Ideal Scope, and this is what we used to capture the image of the diamond that appears in red above. An Ideal Scope enables us to not only judge the degree of static contrast exhibited by a diamond, but also provides insight into the degree to which a diamond is leaking light (they all leak a little bit) and in this particular instance, we’re able to see that the 1.494 carat, I-color, VS-1 clarity, Brian Gavin Signature hearts and arrows diamond is cut for maximum light return.

The only way to ensure that the round brilliant cut diamonds being offered by your local jeweler are comparable to a Brian Gavin Signature hearts and arrows diamond, is to limit the options to those which are graded by the American Gem Society Laboratory (AGSL) with an overall cut grade of AGS Ideal-0; with an ASET image that exhibits a high degree of red, with only a little bit of green, and an arrows pattern which is blue; and then examine the diamond through a hearts and arrows viewer and an Ideal Scope to judge the degree of optical symmetry.

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