Proportions a' la engineer: For (maximum)2 brilliance and dispersion, the proportions of a diamond must fall within certain tolerances.  The term "proportions" simply describes the relationship between the elements or sections of the diamond design.  There is a rating system used within the industry to describe the proportions grade based upon the balance or ratio between each section of a diamond. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that a diamond is "all that" simply because it has ideal proportions and a lab report. The reality is that there are certain combinations of angles and degrees that result in maximum light return and many ideal cut diamonds border on the edge of being near ideal.

Do we have your attention? We want to be sure that you absorbed that last sentence, so we're going to phrase it another way... Just because a diamond has "ideal proportions" does not mean that it exhibits maximum light return.

Here's the trick... The Ideal Cut Proportions Rating is based upon a range of acceptable proportions and as with most 'ranges' the range for ideal cut has a high and a low end. Based upon years of diamond buying experience spent sifting through literally thousands upon thousands of diamonds, we have determined that the center region of the range tends to produce diamonds with the highest degree of light return and we have dubbed this range "Super Ideal". The term "Super Ideal" by our definition is used to describe a round brilliant ideal cut diamond within the following range of characteristics:

Total depth between 59 - 61.8%
Table diameter between 53 - 57%
Crown angle between 34.3 - 34.8 degrees
Pavilion angle between 40.6 - 40.9 degrees
Girdle: thin, medium or slightly thick (or combination thereof)
Culet: GIA none or AGS pointed
Polish: GIA Excellent or AGS Ideal
Symmetry: GIA Excellent or AGS Ideal

Now this is not to say that you can not find non-ideal and standard ideal cut diamonds that exhibit levels of brilliance, dispersion and scintillation equal to the visual performance of a Super Ideal Cut Diamond... Not at all. Merely that it is easier to find and ideal cut diamond that exhibits a high degree of visual performance within the aforementioned center range of the ideal cut classification.

Note that the Pavilion Angle is the most critical of all the angles of a diamond as it is the reflective surface that reflects light back out the top of the diamond. We consider the Crown Angle to be the second most critical angle on a diamond. Similar visual results to Super Ideal Cut Diamonds can often be found in diamonds with opposing degrees of depth for these two angles, in other words a diamond with a deeper Pavilion Angle such as 41.2 degrees with a shallow Crown Angle of 33.9 degrees. Or a shallow Pavilion Angle such as 40.4 degrees with a steeper Crown Angle such as 35.3 degrees. While selecting a diamond with proportions that fall within the range that we have defined as "Super Ideal" tends to make the selection process easier because it narrows the field of possibilities, it is possible for other combinations of proportions to yield similar results which is why you will find diamonds with proportions outside of "Super Ideal" listed for sale on our Private Reserve. Diamonds listed for sale on our Private Reserve have been personally evaluated by our staff and have been selected based upon their visual performance and internal characteristics.

We don't play with non-ideal cut diamonds because it seems like we have to sift through a thousand diamonds to find one or two that meet our expectations from a visual perspective. With ideal cut diamonds, we tend to retain about 60% of the diamonds that we bring in for physical evaluation. Note that this number is based upon the diamonds that we bring in for evaluation after sifting through the stacks of lab reports sent to us by the cutters for consideration. So our rejection rate is about 40% of the diamonds that we physically inspect, our cutters tell us that we're the strictest in the business. Visit our Private Reserve to see the diamonds that made it through our strict evaluation process. Every one of the diamonds listed in our Private Reserve is currently on-hand and available for immediate delivery. We only list the diamonds that we personally own, unlike our competitors we don't list virtual stones.

There are two ways for you to verify that a diamond [1] has ideal cut proportions and [2] has the right critical Crown and Pavilion angle measurements mentioned above. The first is to consider a diamond graded by the AGS Laboratory and which has been graded as having an Overall Cut Rating of AGS Ideal. The second option is to consider a diamond graded by the GIA Laboratory as having Excellent polish and symmetry [that's the highest grade available from the GIA for these characteristics] accompanied by a Sarin DiaMension Computerized Proportions Analysis indicating that the diamond has ideal cut proportions. The Sarin produces a report complete with all of the degrees, angles and percentages required to determine whether the measurements for all five sections of the diamond meet the criteria for the ideal cut rating. This is information that most diamond cutters have at their fingertips, but which most jewelry stores don't ask for or don't want to share with you... Hmmm, we wonder why? Could it be because they prefer to sell diamonds to the masses who don't understand the importance of proportions? Considering that the Cut of a diamond controls 98% of it's brilliance, why would you want to settle for anything less?

Polish & Symmetry, the only other way that man can screw up a stone. When we sift through the thousands of diamonds offered to us by our cutters, we automatically shred any diamond grading reports that have a Polish & Symmetry rating lower than GIA Excellent or AGS Ideal. That's right, "Very Good - Very Good" doesn't cut it and "Good - Good" is so not acceptable. Think of it as having your mother take your very brand new, black on black, Porsche to the local gas station to be hosed down by the junior high pep squad for five bucks, "because she loves you". That's Polish... Now, when your mother races through the shopping center, over the speed bumps, in first gear at 43 miles per hour, that becomes a Symmetry issue.

Color - The 2nd Most Important Visible Factor:

D - E - F Colorless: Sure fire white and a phenomenal place to be if you've got the big bucks and don't want to give the concept of color a second thought.

G - Near Colorless: This is a "no-brainer" white, and is still a safe color if you're buying off paper. Most of our clients can not determine the difference between F and G color diamonds even under the controlled grading environment provided by our GIA Gem Diamond Lite™

H - I Near Colorless: Faces up and mounts up white if the diamond has Ideal Cut Proportions as determined by either the AGS Laboratory or using Sarin, OGI, or Helium technology. A great way to get a slightly bigger bang for your buck. An H or I color diamond ill appear slightly warmer in tonal value than a G color diamond if examined closely while placed side-by-side and unmounted under a controlled light source like a GIA Gem Diamond Lite™ in a dark room, but will look the same to most people when evaluated under normal lighting conditions.

J - M & Lower: Most people are able to see color easily in diamonds that are J color and lower (L/M/N - Z) because the tonal value of the diamond will appear "warmer" than diamonds in the D to I color range. Just because a diamond is "warmer" in color does not mean that it is not beautiful. The reality is that diamond color has no effect on the actual visual performance of a diamond, the reflected white sparkle (brilliance) and colored flashes of light (dispersion) are controlled by the proportions of the diamond, not the body color. There is no right and wrong when it comes to selecting a diamond color, it is just a matter of personal preference that is probably best considered in terms of an absence of color, some people prefer diamonds which are cooler in appearance and some people prefer diamonds which are warmer in hue and thus we suggest visiting a local jewelry store to compare diamonds of different colors to determine your personal preference for color. Many people who prefer diamonds with warmer tones such as those in the J color range and lower prefer to set the diamonds in yellow gold prongs or settings because the warmth of the yellow gold metal that touches the stone will further enhance the warmer tones found within the diamond - this however is not an absolute rule since other people will prefer the look of white metal against the warmer hues of the diamond - personal preference, get it?

Fluorescence - Natures Little Whitener:

None, Inert, Negligible, Nil: A mute point... Nothing or not enough to measure. The variance in terms is merely the result of each gemological laboratory wanting to be a little different from each other.

Faint or Slight: Not enough to be concerned with even under intense black light. Faint fluorescence is really nothing more than an "identifying characteristic".

Medium Blue: Might result in an extremely light (and very pretty) lavender blue hue under intense sunlight or black light. Enhances the natural color of most diamonds and usually maeks them appear on the high side of the color grade when they fluoresce. If it is any indication of what we think about fluorescence, most of the personal diamonds that we wear exhibit medium blue fluorescence, however you won't find many fluorescent diamonds listed in our Private Reserve because people seem hesitant to buy them on-line but we used to sell a lot of them when we were face-to-face with customers in our store.

Strong or Moderate Blue: Beneficial in H - I color diamonds and needs to be visually considered on a stone-by-stone basis for D - F color diamonds... Diamonds with strong fluorescence often pick up an extremely light lavender blue hue in intense direct sunlight and look intense neon blue under a black light (it's very cool actually). If it's listed in our Private Reserve, the fluorescence does not have a negative impact on the diamond and we know this because we've looked at it!

No other color of fluorescence, such as yellow, orange, green, etc. is acceptable to us in our selection process with the exception of white which has no impact on the visual properties of a diamond.

Clarity - What your friends probably can't see:

SI2 & Lower: Generally not considered to be "eye clean" by our standards. We have seen too many lab graded SI-2 clarity diamonds where we could see minute inclusions with our eyes if we allowed ourselves to relax and focus upon the stone to justify our opinion that SI-2 clarity diamonds are rarely if ever "eye clean" by our standards, thus we feel that SI-2 clarity diamonds are best suited for engagement rings only in scenarios where both parties are involved in selecting the diamond and the reality that the diamond is not going to be 100% eye clean has been taken into consideration. It is one thing for you and your fiancé to decide together to buy a diamond with an inclusion or two that might be seen with close scrutiny to pick up a little more size than you might be able to afford in a diamond that is "eye clean" and another scenario to present her with a diamond that isn't eye clean and for her to be disappointed because she had anticipated that it was going to be eye clean... We have many clients who purchase SI-2 clarity diamonds because they find perfection in the imperfection of a diamond which exhibits inclusions that can be detected without magnification and we have other clients who would be kept up nights by a dust fragment on the surface of their diamond, the secret is knowing which end of the spectrum you and your fiancé fall into.

SI1 = Will contain minute flaws or "inclusions" that will be "readily and immediately visible" when the diamond is examined through a 10x diamond grading loupe and which are often visible without magnification once the inclusions have been identified and you know what to look for and where to find it. A great place to pick up size because we don't live under a microscope, but only if you're comfortable with the fact that inclusions may be visible without magnification. Very few SI-1 clarity diamonds meet our selection criteria because either the visibility of the inclusions or the extent of the inclusions prevent the diamond from being purchased for inventory. Thus the very few SI-1 clarity diamonds that do make it on to our Private Reserve but the ones that do tend to be quite pretty!

VS2 & VS1 = 100% Eye Clean Eye Candy that contains inclusions that are very difficult to locate under 10x magnification. A fantastic grade for engagement diamonds that will present a challenge for Mother-In-Laws who happen to carry a diamond grading loupe in their purse (we've seen it). Both VS-1 and VS-2 clarity diamonds listed for sale on our Private Reserve will be "eye clean" and will tend to face up the same in terms of what you will see with just your eyes, the inclusions will be smaller and more difficult to locate in the VS-1 clarity grade.

VVS2 & VVS1 = Wow! Wow! Wow! Time to break in the new credit card you just got and let go of some big bucks for something you'll never see! Get ready to burn your eyes out trying to locate the inclusions in this puppy with a 10x diamond grading loupe. Excellent for Triple A-A-Anal Engineers who just can't sleep at night if the shirts in their closet aren't all facing the same direction on matching cedar hangers and sorted by season, collar type and color. Extremely difficult to find the inclusion that is the "grade maker" that distinguishes the difference between VVS2 and VVS1 unless you're examining the diamond under 40 - 50x magnification and even then in some cases it's a challenge because the inclusions are often so minute that they look like dust particles.

IF & FL = Internally Flawless and Flawless = Why? Are you feeling masochistic today? What's the point? If you can't find the flippin' inclusion in a VVS1 why go here? "Because something in our life needs to be perfect" is the best excuse we've heard thus far and hey if that works for you, it works for us.

Carat Weight - It's a Size Thing!

The difference between men and boys is the size of their toys! You've been programmed to buy her a carat, every magazine and television advertisement that you've been subjected to since your birth says you're supposed to. And to top it off, now some of the diamond cartels in charge of global distribution want you to spend three months of your salary on a rock... Hmmm... Uh yea, you should do it. But before you do, consider this... According to the Diamond Promotion Service (DPS) fewer than 30% of all the women in the world will own a one carat diamond in their lifetime. Far be it from us to put you in that 30% category if you don't want to go there, our recommendation is to focus on the quality of cut first, color second, and let the size of the diamond be dictated by your comfort level when it comes to price.

Keeping it Simple:

The Private Reserve of Nice Ice contains the Best of the Best that the industry as a whole has to offer, we literally Cherry Pick the inventory of our cutters. All of the round brilliant ideal cut diamonds listed there have Ideal Cut Proportions and have Polish & Symmetry ratings of GIA Excellent or AGS Ideal. Nothing has been left to chance and you'll be a hero no matter which diamond you select because each has been carefully evaluated to ensure that it meets our criteria as a Super Ideal Cut Diamond and exceeds industry standards.

Can it really be so simple to select an exceptional diamond online?

'I can't believe that!' said Alice.
'Can't you?' the Queen said in a pitying tone.  'Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.'
Alice lauched.  'There's no use trying,' she said.  'One can't believe impossible things.'
'I dare say you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day.  Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'

From Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
And there you have it