Blue Nile Reviews Of Hearts And Arrow Diamonds

Q:

Hi Liz,

I read your Blue Nile reviews, but I still am limited to purchasing from them as I want to use their Blue Nile credit card and my girlfriend also really likes a Monique Lhuiller setting. Could you help me find a 1.00ct, G or better color with VS1 or better clarity?

I do prefer a Hearts and Arrows diamond, so would be looking at Blue Nile’s Signature diamonds. My budget is less than $10K.

Here are a couple I found:

1.00ct G VVS1 for $8,895.00: http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD06056210

or this 1.07ct G VVS2 for $9,898.00: http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD05354427

Thanks,

Will

A:

Hi Will,

As you know, not all Blue Nile’s Signature diamonds have the best hearts and arrow optical symmetry. I wrote about this in another Q&A where I compared it to a Brian Gavin super ideal H&A diamond. However, I understand that you need to purchase from them so I will do my best to find you the best for your specs and budget.

I took a look at both of your diamonds, and I actually prefer this 1.07ct G VVS1 for $9,557.00: http://www.bluenile.com/diamond-details/LD05865161

Blue Nile Signature Diamonds from Left: 1.00ct G VVS1, 1.07ct G VVS2 and 1.07ct G VVS1

If you refer to the GCAL report for each diamond, you’ll see a picture of the corresponding hearts and arrows image for each diamond. I’ve gone ahead and cut and pasted the heart image for you see side by side. If you remember from my Hearts and Arrows article, we are looking for hearts that:

1. Have eight equal sized hearts that are both uniform in size and symmetrical
2. Be separate from the arrow heads (V’s) with a small gap that are all equal in size and symmetrical
3. Pay special attention to the cleft in the heart. This shouldn’t exceed more than about a third of the length of the heart and should be uniform in shape for all eight hearts

The 1.00ct G VVS1 has heart points bleeding into the arrow head and uneven clefts in the heart. The 1.07ct G VVS2 is an improvement, but still imperfect heart shapes that are inconsistent in size. The final 1.07ct G VVS1 actually has a perfect hearts image and therefore my recommendation would be this diamond. Let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

Liz