Hi, I find your website valuable and informative for a newbie like myself. I’m trying to decide between these 2 diamonds: 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, White Flash Expert Selection round diamond or 0.304 carat, G-color, SI-1 clarity, White Flash A Cut Above round diamond. May I know what you think of them? Do you know why the Expert Selection stone missed the ACA mark? Was it light performance or defects in optical symmetry? Is the Expert Selection stone a near H&A diamond? Can you point out the differences in terms of cut, and any flaws / inadequacies detected between the two diamonds. Which diamond would you choose since both are the same price? Many thanks. — T. Guan
I think that both of these diamonds from Whiteflash are excellent choices. However, I want to address the questions which you’ve raised and point out a few inconsistencies which I noticed as I evaluated the images of the diamonds which are provided on the diamond details pages.
Is this Whiteflash Expert Selection a Hearts & Arrows diamond?
Based upon the photograph provided above which is featured by Whiteflash on the diamond details page for the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, White Flash Expert Selection round diamond I’m going to venture to say that the pattern does not meet my selection criteria for the “Hearts and Arrows diamond” cut classification, due to the slight bending of the tip of the heart located in the relative two o’clock position, as indicated by the red circle which I added to the photograph (above) as a visual reference.
I’d also like to see a bit more uniformity in the size and shape of the hearts, as well as more separation between the tips of the hearts and the arrowheads which appear beneath them in the center of the diamond.
The pavilion view of the diamond provided on the Angular Spectrum Evaluation Technology (ASET) scan featured on the Diamond Quality Document (DQD) issued by the American Gem Society Laboratory (AGSL) exhibits similar discrepancies in the pattern of hearts and arrows, so I do not feel that this is due to camera alignment or focal depth.
However as far as round brilliant ideal cut diamonds go, this one looks promising… the levels of brightness and pattern of light return exhibited within the ASET scan look great, and the diamond exhibits a pattern of hearts that is considerably better than what you could expect to see in a lot of round brilliant cut diamonds.
Whiteflash Expert Selection Diamond Review: AGS 104060182069
I have to say that I really like the overall proportions of this 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Expert Selection diamond from Whiteflash.
It has a total depth of 61.5% with a 56% table diameter and a crown angle of 34.5 degrees with a pavilion angle of 40.8 degrees and a thin to medium, faceted girdle with a pointed culet.
According to the plotting diagram from the DQD which appears to the left, the primary inclusions are indicated as being diamond crystals and clouds (clusters) of pinpoint size diamond crystals that are located just to the left of the center region of the table facet. This Whiteflash Expert Selection diamond looks great on paper, but there is one thing that concerns me.
When I first clicked on the clarity image provided by Whiteflash for this 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, round Expert Selection diamond, I was a bit confused because what appears to be the most prominent inclusions located within the diamond do not match up with the inclusions indicated on the plotting diagram from the lab report which is referenced above.
The red arrows that I added to the graphic in the 12 o’clock region points to what appear to be diamond crystals, and the one which I added to the 11 o’clock region points to what appears to be a rather extensive feather, and I don’t see anything that looks like diamond crystals in the table region of this clarity photograph.
Obviously the thing to do in this type of instance is to click on the clarity photograph to access the full size image to get a better look at the inclusions and at this size I’m barely able to detect a few inclusions within the table facet.
There definitely seems to be some sort of diamond crystals located within the kite shape bezel facet as indicated by the green arrow in the 12 o’clock position.
There is also a feather, or something that gives the impression of a feather, running across the length of the bezel facet located in the eleven o’clock position as referenced by the red arrow. Note that the “feather” or whatever it is, mirrors across the diamond and splits the arrow shaft located in the relative five o’clock position.
Whiteflash A Cut Above Diamond Review: AGS 104064815038
Something clicked when I opened up the lab report for this 0.304 carat, G-color, SI-1 clarity, A Cut Above diamond from Whiteflash. Take note of the location of the feathers indicated in close proximity to the kite shape bezel facet located in the nine o’clock region of the plotting diagram, and the feather located on the pavilion side of the diamond, as indicated by the red arrows. Do you see the diamond crystal located in the middle of the bezel facet located in the relative 10 o’clock position of the upper plotting diagram? Now imagine rotating the diamond clockwise, so that those feathers are located in the eleven o’clock position, which would put the diamond crystals in the 12 o’clock region.
When you imagine the plotting diagram for this diamond, rotated slightly so that the kite shape bezel facet currently located in the eleven o’clock position, is rotated clockwise so that it appears in the 12 o’clock position, do you think that the inclusions within this diamond are best referenced by the clarity photograph that appears on the diamond details page for the 0.304 carat, G-color, SI-1 clarity, A Cut Above diamond which is featured to the left, or the clarity photograph provided above that appears on the diamond details page for the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Whiteflash Expert Selection diamond? I’m not really sure what to think, but it concerns me.
Especially since I do see what appears to be a diamond crystal within the bezel facet of this diamond which is currently located in the 11 o’clock position, right in the middle of the tip of the arrow, nearest the top of the stone, it’s the little white mark that cuts into the edge of the arrowhead.
Since I found myself a bit confused by the disparity of inclusions referenced on the plotting diagrams and clarity photographs for these two 0.304 carat, round diamonds from Whiteflash, I decided to look at the reflector scope images to see whether I could locate the same inclusions within those images. When I looked carefully at the Ideal Scope image provided for the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Expert Selection diamond, I noticed what appears to be the same wispy white line that looks like a feather, which I believe to be referenced on the plotting diagram for the 0.304 carat, G-color, SI-1, located in the 9 o’clock region as indicated by the little white hand positioned below it.
When I looked carefully at the ASET image provided for the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Expert Selection diamond from White Flash, I was barely able to detect the wispy white line that crosses the tip of the arrowhead, as indicated in the 4 o’clock region of this picture, just above the little white hand. Rotate this image clockwise in your mind, so that the inclusion within the bezel facet referenced is in the 9 o’clock position and I think you’ll find that it lines up nicely with the inclusion referenced in the 9 o’clock region of the Ideal Scope image above. Rotate it just a little bit more and I think you’ll agree that this inclusion appears consistently throughout the images provided for this diamond.
At this point, I don’t really know what to think… either I’m going insane and seeing inclusions within the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Whiteflash Expert Selection diamond which aren’t there; or they quite possibly mixed up the diamonds when they photographed them; or perhaps they mixed up the photographs when they added them to the diamond details pages; or maybe what I’m seeing is just a little piece of lint that was present on the diamond when it was photographed, and it just happens to somehow appear in the same relative position as the feather indicated on the plotting diagram for the 0.304 carat, G-color, SI-1 clarity, White Flash ACA diamond, in line with the diamond crystals which are indicated within the bezel facet of the same stone.
I’ll leave it up to you to decide… but I’m going to consider the images provided for these diamonds to be null and void at this point, since there is enough of a discrepancy in my mind regarding which set of photographs represents which Whiteflash diamond.
To answer your last question regarding which Whiteflash diamond I would choose, given that they are both the same price… If I were to select one of these diamonds from Whiteflash, based solely on the information provided on the Diamond Quality Documents issued by the AGSL at this point, I’d select the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Whiteflash Expert Selection diamond, because I like the overall proportions of the diamond better, and the E-color will help it face up just a little brighter and whiter than the G-color, SI-1 clarity, Whiteflash ACA diamond.
Just be sure to ask the gemologist at Whiteflash to verify the inscription located on the girdle edge of the diamond prior to shipping it out to ensure that you receive the right 0.304 carat ideal cut diamond, since it is possible that somebody mixed up the two 0.304 carat diamonds at some point… perhaps the two diamonds were being compared side-by-side, and they simply got placed in the wrong diamond parcel paper prior to being photographed.
Update on the “artifact” on photographs of the 0.304 carat:
I received an email from the client indicating that Whiteflash re-evaluated the diamond and determined that the “artifact” was visible throughout the clarity photograph and scope images for the 0.304 carat, E-color, VS-2 clarity, Whiteflash Expert Selection diamond was indeed a piece of lint. Whiteflash provided the client with the clarity photograph that appears to the left, which shows the primary inclusions without any additional “artifacts” but one has to wonder why the person photographing the diamond in the first place, did not notice this piece of lint while comparing the “inclusions” visible in the photograph to those indicated on the plotting diagram.
It just seems like something that would be part of the check-in and evaluation process covered under the ISO-9000 Certified quality assurance program relied upon by Whiteflash. But hey, we’re all human and capable of making mistakes and missing things from time to time, which is why it is important to look at each image provided for a diamond carefully and have the characteristics of the diamond you purchase verified by an independent GIA Graduate Gemologist to ensure that you receive exactly what you pay for, regardless of whether you are buying a diamond online or in a traditional brick and mortar jewelry store.
