GRADING REPORT CDIO053
- Identification: Natural-Colored Untreated Fancy Intense Brownish Orange
- Carat: 0.53
- Shape: Cushion 'Ideal-Cut'
- Measures: 4.55x4.49x3.26 (millimeter)
- Color Grade: Excellent
- Tone: Medium Dark 65
- Color Zoning: Lens-Only
- Clarity: Lightly Included (SI2)
- Cutting Grade: Excellent (precision ideal-cut)
> Brilliancy: 90%
> Depth: 73%
- Origin: Angola
- Treatment: None
Certificate No: AIG D94079209IL
Overall Grade: Very Good+
Comment: After working with rubies and sapphires for decades, the highly standardized grading of diamonds appears far harsher than any colored gemstones. It is a widely accepted fact that an 'ideal ruby' or a 'perfect padparadscha' does not exist. Not so with diamonds, at least for the usual white variety, on which the grading of colored diamonds is based. Why can we define an 'ideal diamond' but not an 'ideal ruby'. One obvious reason may be the subjectivity of color, yet, I have not heard of an 'ideal white sapphire' either and if there is one, he will be a lonely chap. No, the main reason is the mass of choice in white diamonds. With many millions of carats NOT reaching the jewelry market, the availability of white diamonds is so huge, that the traders can afford to present only the top 10%, of which the very best still can satisfy a giant world demand. Unheated rubies or padparadschas are so rare, that even the ugliest duck makes it to the market with a significant price, and the top 1% presents such a tiny number that connoisseurs cannot decide objectively which may be the best. And, again, if such a one perfect ruby would exist, he'd be in solitary confinement for life. Grading natural colored diamonds changes the picture. The availability of these gems is far rarer, and the landscape looks much more like the one of colored gems. See this 0.53 orange cushion as example. It is an official 'ideal cut', that means precision cutting with optimal proportions, displays a great lush color with top luster, and has only one little flaw, which is a lens-only color-zoning, not in ugly whatever but in a deeper orange. As a thought-experiment, transfer this quality profile onto an unheated ruby and you'd be looking at a top 1% gem (if you can find a precision cut ruby, that is). Yet, based on the AIG report, as a diamond, this gem seems to be simple upper middle quality. However, if you study the inventory of e.g. leibish, you will NOT find many colored competitors with significant better results, let alone many that are perfect in all dimensions, like we can expect from white diamonds. Something is askew here, just a thought, and not our problem, rather a topic for the IGIs and GIAs of the world. To summarize what was mentioned before about this 0.53: it is a richly colored sparkler, flawless except for a lens-only deep-orange stripe of color-zoning in the outer girdle, on the lower part of our images. Set in a platinum or yellow gold ring, a sunny, lively 'good-morning' will greet you every day of the week, no matter the weather. Our moderate price includes the original AIG report, free global shipping, a plot of rainforest preserved at WLT, and support for the NHRP. Let us design an appropriate ring for this beauty.
