Why does Brian Gavin only sell super ideal cut diamonds?

Hi Danny, I’m shopping for a diamond engagement ring… big surprise, right? And I’ve read all the hype about super ideal cut diamonds, and how they’re supposed to be all that much better than ideal cut diamonds and non-ideal cut diamonds, but then I talked it over with a friend of mine who used to work at and he told me that “a diamond, is a diamond, is a diamond…” and he told me that there is no way that I’d be able to distinguish between a diamond with very good polish and symmetry and one which is graded as GIA Excellent. But then I’m thinking that there must be a reason why Brian Gavin specializes in super ideal cut diamonds and not everything else… What am I missing? – Derek K.

What quality diamonds do mall stores sell?

With all due respect to your friend who used to work for a mall jewelry store, I have to wonder whether he has actual diamond buying experience, or is his opinion based solely upon the limited exposure that he had while working for that particular jewelry store.

I’m familiar with the retail jewelry chain that you referenced and they don’t even carry the level of diamond cut quality that would be referred to as super ideal cut, or even ideal cut by industry standards; their target market is not exactly the same as ours, and I’m not trying to be rude, it’s just a simple fact of life… there are different qualities of jewelry and diamonds, produced for different consumer groups, and our niche happens to be super ideal cut diamonds because that is what delivers the level of light return and visual performance that Brian Gavin fell in love with as a diamond cutter.

The very nature of a mall jewelry store, that is not privately owned, tends to focus on providing low cost, low quality jewelry that is designed to appeal to the broadest section of the market, which is primarily focused upon price and not quality, they are like an entry level car dealer…

Brian Gavin is more like an elite, performance based operation that specializes in diamonds of the highest production quality, and we’re less focused on price and more focused on quality...

GIA Very Good vs GIA Excellent Cut Diamonds:

Now there might be some truth to the statement made by your friend about your not being able to discern the difference between a diamond graded as GIA Very Good and GIA Excellent for the overall cut grade, because the parameters for the GIA Excellent cut grade are kind of broad, and it does not take the optical symmetry of the diamond into account.

However this obviously depends upon the characteristics of the two diamonds that are being compared… Do they have the exact same proportions? Or are the proportions at opposite ends of the spectrum? e.g. are the proportions of the Very Good graded diamond located on the edge of the threshold between Good and Very Good, or are they on the edge of Very Good to Excellent? And likewise what are the proportions of the diamond with the overall cut grade of GIA Excellent?

While the statement made by your friend might seem like a convincing argument on the surface, the reality is that it is extremely vague and leaves a lot open to interpretation… I’d be willing to accept that you might find the look of two diamonds with the exact same proportions, but with different polish and symmetry ratings to look quite similar at first glance, but if you allowed your eyes to relax and took the time to look at the degree of contrast exhibited by the two diamonds, you’d be able to discern the GIA Excellent from the GIA Very Good graded diamond…

And for the record, the diamonds featured within the Brian Gavin Signature and Brian Gavin Blue fluorescent diamond collections are not graded by the GIA, they are graded by the American Gem Society Laboratory (AGSL) because we find their grading platform to be superior, because of the additional insight provided by Angular Spectrum Evaluation Technology (ASET) we’re talking about a difference that is light years apart!