3 replies to this topic

[purpleeagle]

some GIA's read next to girdle: thin to medium, and others next to girdle read: thin to medium, Faceted? is there a difference? aren't all girdles faceted? with each diamond with 58 facets?

[denverappraiser]

The girdle profile of a typical diamond has many peaks and valleys. GIA measures the thickness at the valley for their report and they will give a range from the thinnest point to the thickest point so it will say something like Thin - Thick. If they are all the same, it will just say one. The scale goes:

Extremely Thin
Very Thin
Thin
Medium
Slightly Thick
Thick
Extremely Thick

Girdles are finished in several different ways. The choices at GIA are:

Nothing
Polished
Faceted

Other labe will use other words to describe these things.

Neil

[purpleeagle]

Then would a Faceted Girdle cause the diamond to have more facets then the normal 58 facets, and therefore be a more desireable diamond then a polished girdle?

[denverappraiser]

Facets on the girdle don’t usually count when people are describing the facet pattern. In any case, more facets don’t cause one stone to be more valuable than another.

Personally, I like polished and faceted girdles because they tend to collect less grunge and are easier to clean. There are other choices that aren’t described on GIA reports. The girdle is rarely part of customer requirements and it generally doesn’t have much of an affect on the dealer prices.

Neil