Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, finally found someone who is on the same wavelength with me! I got myself a heart shaped diamond too for my upcoming proposal cuz round diamond is too mainstream hahaha.



Now allow me to answer your questions.

1. Me!!!

2. Fancy cuts cannot be compared one-on-one with round brilliants, as both their target audience is different. Round brilliants are for people who want the most bling, while fancy cuts are for those who are after the shape - pear, cushion, oval, heart, etc. Of course, one has to sacrifice sparkle and brilliance for these unique shapes. But that does not mean that you can settle for a badly cut heart shaped diamond. Even though a heart shaped diamond might not be as sparkly as its round counterpart, the stone will still sparkle if it is a well cut diamond.

3. To be honest, do not get a heart shape of less than 0.5 carat. Anything below 0.5 will make the heart shape indistinguishable and it will look like a badly cut round diamond even from close range. However, if you cannot go beyond that size due to budget constrains, one trick is to do a bezel setting. This type of setting will accentuate the shape of the heart beautifully. Also, try and get a heart shape with excellent symmetry cuz it is very important to have an exact mirror image of both halves of the heart. Otherwise, your heart will look cacat.

Ohh yes, one more thing. The L/W ratio of your selected diamond is 0.86, which is slightly fat, in my opinion. The ideal heart shape, or "happy heart" is somewhere between 0.90-0.92. A L/W ratio of above 0.93 will make it look elongated and thin, macam your heart shape tak cukup makan hahaha. These are more suitable for pendants. But this is more of a personal preference lahh. If you think that an elongated heart looks nice, by all means go ahead.

This post has been edited by bb100: Feb 26 2017, 11:46 PM

Half half lahh. I learnt a lot about fancy cuts cuz they have all sorts of shapes there. The salesperson one by one let me see under the ASET scope haha. Then he explained why fancy cuts cannot compare with round brilliant lohh.

Some I sendiri researched online like minimum size for heart shape and the ideal L/W ratio. Researched liao then went back to JannPaul there to confirm haha.

Wow J colour bro?? You sure bro? Anything above G would be fine, but J confirm will show yellow tint, especially on fancy cuts which tend to retain body colour compared to round brilliants. I guess this one you will have to make a trip down to the shop to physically look at the stone. Maybe you would find the yellow tint to be a pleasant effect.

You also need to check on the feather characteristic to determine its location. A feather in terms of diamond inclusion is a crack in the diamond. It might occur during polishing, cutting or during formation itself. Some nasty feathers located at the edge of the diamond or at the girdle will pose reliability issues later on.

These are the areas to take note when you visit jewellery shops. If you find the shape of the heart to be pleasing to you, don't bother about the L/W ratio. That figure is only a guideline.

This post has been edited by bb100: Feb 28 2017, 01:32 PM

Yup, I agree with you. Round brilliants are way too common nowadays. I think likely because everybody is going after the bling factor.

Mind sharing a few photos of your ring bro?

4.0 on the HCA score. My suggestion: AVOID.

Why?

1. Depth: Too deep.
2. Table: Ok.
3. Crown and pavilion: Not ok. Causes the most light leakage.

Not many people can accept G colour cuz this is where the yellowish tint start to be discernible to the naked eye. But as you can see from the images below, the slight yellowish tint can only be seen if you view the diamond from the side. If your diamond is an ideal cut, you can't really differentiate from the top view because its sparkle and fire will mask its body colour very well.





Left: 0.57 G VS1. Right: 0.54 E VS1. Both are Octagon H&A.

So people will usually go for G colour diamonds to maximise their carat weight.

Ahhhh, I understand! Only the best for your future wife ehh bro?

Yes, those two are from JannPaul. One thing good about them is that they don't mind letting their customers snap as many photos as they want. I took nearly 100 shots of the diamonds + scope images I viewed over a few months there. Plus another 50 or so photos of their settings. Hahaha.

Whereas typical jewellery shops seldom allow this, something which I don't understand.

Ahhhh I see. Make sense jugak!

Very nice bro! Congrats!

You are right on the face-up size.

Magic number 0.5 there bro. Imagine this:

Boy: Would you marry me?
Girl: Yes but before that, the diamond how many carat?
Boy: Not big, 0.4x je.
Girl: HAHH??? Add a bit more become 0.5 also cannot ahh?? So damn insincere.
Boy: *Shit! Should have thought of this...*

The psychological effect is there bro, even though it is only less than 0.1 carat to 0.5. More so when your future wife compares her diamond with those of her friends. Imagine this:

Future wife: My dear dear just bought me a proposal ring. See!
Friend 1: Wah, very bling wohh!!! Want blind liao.
FW: Ya lohh ya lohh. Dear dear say this one triple excellent cut lehh!
F1: Ya ahh, how big??
FW: 0.4x carat.
F2: 0.4x only mehh? Propose must have at least 0.5 lahh. A bit more also cannot top up ahh your dear dear?
FW: *Go back he sure kena!*



-add-

I am telling this based on my experience. One of my friends proposed to his future wife with a 0.96 carat princess cut diamond cuz he was thinking of buying shy to safe some bucks and maximise cut. His proposal turned out great, make no mistake about that. But a few months after that when she started to show off her stone to her friends, the nagging began. Haha.

His girlfie did not know anything about the 4Cs. All she knew was the bigger the better. That's why.

This post has been edited by bb100: Mar 15 2017, 02:33 PM

True, but if it can make your SO super happy then why not?

Buy a loose diamond, customise your own "Tiffany setting" and buy a blue box to top it off.

You happy, girlfie happy and most importantly, your wallet will thank you.

If your girl understands then OK lahh no problem. Hope she does lahh. Cuz really, if you ask me, I will still stick with CUT IS KING.

Fluorescence on a diamond is not necessarily bad. As long as the stone does not appear hazy/murky/milky/smoky under normal lighting then should be fine. Fluorescent diamonds are priced lower depending on the type of fluorescence. Of course, as with girdle thickness, avoid the extremity.

You should consider if the diamond has faint or medium fluorescence.

You mentioned that the 0.52 carat diamond has a HCA score of 3.2. Perhaps the one with fluorescence is much better but at a similar cost.

Bro, you sure this is the one?

This is a slightly shallow cut diamond. Its crown is a bit small and its table is large. Most of the light entering the stone will leak through the table and crown, which will form a "ring of death" under the ASET scope. That's why its HCA light return grade is very good instead of excellent.

See below:



This diamond is a 0.73 E VS2 which I previously viewed at JannPaul. The salesperson told me upfront that it is a shallow cut. Note the white ring of death.

Cool bro. Congrats on your purchase!