There’s no perfect angles or number, let alone any definition of SIC. You best gauges are scopes.
Here are 6 stones of which only 3 are SIC.
Would slight misalignment bother u? That is if u can even spot them
By JP SIC standards, 2 and 6 is out. It's not SIC.
5 is questionable.. but cant see the full picture.
1, 3 and 4 are SICs unless there is more info from the cropped out images.
I think ppl are misunderstanding the purpose of the Aset.
What you see as a straight line or example, bezel leakages, even if it's slightly larger than other areas, when you tilt your diamond, do you think that straight line gap will remain the same width?
At different angles when viewing your actual diamond, these so called small leakage areas or lines, will expand the more you tilt your diamond. Similarly, other issues like symmetrical errors, uneven girdles (painting/digging) are all amplified and is much more amplified the more you tilt the diamond. When you use the Aset, small problems looks like its small because it's only on face up view like the pictures we see. But it will all be magnified at tilts or when moving your ring.
Have to agree and disagree on some of your points.
I'm an old schoolmate and customer of JP (through casey) but I did speak with Paul a long time ago, he's the one who is the most technical amongst the JP partners.
I hope I’m not doing them any wrong by stating so but as of what I remember when we did speak.
"There’s no perfect angles or number,"
True and not true. Diamonds are evaluated under mainly 2 lighting sources, one that you can see your diamond white with contrasts, the other that you can see fire and scintillation.
Eg. A higher crown would have a better performance under a spotlight, but suffer with contrast/leakage under white lights.
The true is also for the reverse. A lower crown will have better performance under white light but suffers under spotlight. The question is, how to find the balance of both? (via proportions, or what we all use is the HCA).
Definition of SIC
This I agree with you, James Allen and many other brands anyhow label.. even VG cuts/ obviously bad cuts or whatever as Super ideals. It's just how strict they are. Out of all, JP's standards are definitely one of the highest if not the highest, which is why everyone recommends them.
What defines JP's SIC?
This we probably will never know exactly, but what I can share (I hope this is not confidential, and if so I will remove my post if it is). As conversed with paul before, they consider in their SIC standards:
> HCA
> Color - they dont take lower end spectrum of any color, e.g: F- G- etc. only the higher end spectrum. They also don’t accept any other hue other than yellow.
> Clarity- most of you should know I guess, if you went for their education course.
> Scope analysis - light return/ facet alignment or aka symmetry needs to be top notch. Those spikes you see around the corners, degree of painting digging etc. lower girdle facets in relation to stars lengths must be considered (bezel leakage would be considered here also)
Fluorescence none- they don’t take any risk at all for this and there were much more that I don’t remember, and if I do I’m not sure if it is confidential.
What makes a JP's Ideal cut?
This we all do not know, or rather, I dont. But we do know there are definitely symmetrical errors etc etc. Are all those other factors applied above in their SIC here? I’m not sure. JP's ideal though, is still very high in standard no doubt.
"You best gauges are scopes"
Yes and no. If small misalignments on the arrows/girdles/hotspots(stars) inner hotspots all keep adding up, it would definitely impact a diamond's beauty for sure. Consider again diamonds are not seen just in a white light, but in a spot light.
Here’s the problem, that the experts in Pricescope agrees as well. Scope photos are all analyzed purely face up. Small misalignments may look "unimportant" in face up value in scopes. But in actuality, and I think we fail to see the whole point of this:
That are our diamond rings only seen from face up? Parallel eye down to the diamond? Do we stare are it permanently just like that? When showing off a diamond ring we don’t say, hey look at my diamond only from face up, obviously.
And these slight misalignments, how much do you think it would affect
1. The diamond performance under 2 lighting environments
2. When the diamond is tilted, which it will, how much bezel leakage is seen from that tilt due to misalignments? Would the middle area start leaking light at different areas like the corners under the table? Why do my girdles not look as bright? (overly painted ->refer to JP's newest video on utube)
For this reason, you must ultimately ask yourself if you want the best of the best, or potentially problems that you or your wife may see underperforming as time goes by. When you start noticing why does this not look bright from this angle? etc. That’s the real question imo when considering JP SIC vs JP Ideal. (everyone is different in terms of whether you can notice these differences or not irl and not just scopes alone. Not all our eyes are as sharp or our ages differ affecting our sight. One's diamond ring is not only for you and hers to see but others as well).
