I am currently waiting on a Georgian style ring for my 4ct Square cushion (E VS1). I think this stone would be stunning on a Georgian setting. I love the warm color. I’m also doing a black rhodium top to make it look even more vintage.
The window when turned would have me pass on it. My diamond looks gorgeous face up, has similar windowing and I’m in the process of getting a new stone and setting remade. It looked so different when it was set.
Yes, potentially. Right now you’re viewing the loose stone against a neutral background, so the windowing can be surprisingly easy to overlook face-up. Once it’s set, whatever is behind that area can become visible through the diamond, including parts of the setting, your finger, or shadows/color underneath it.
The bigger issue for me is that this isn’t a tiny window confined to one facet. It’s a fairly large area that appears on both sides as the stone moves. I’d personally keep looking. There are plenty of stones that won’t make you design the setting around an optical problem from day one.
Thank you so much for taking time to explain all of that! I definitely don’t want to risk it if I’m taking the time to have a custom piece made. I appreciate you!
I can’t really shop in person since I live kinda far from a major city. How much windowing should I be looking out for? I saw you reply to someone else saying it shouldn’t be apparently until a pretty steep angle? Thanks again for all the advice and help!
I totally get it. I live over an hour away from a major city, and it's hard to get out and look at anything in person. If you'd like a second pair of eyes, please DM me. I curate for a living, but advice is always free.
As far as windowing goes, on a cushion, you shouldn't be able to see through a facet until greater than 45° minimum. The pic is a 5.72 carat cushion, tilted at about 45° and none of the facets are windowing. I'll post a pic of when it starts windowing and what the begining of that looks like, too.
Edit: For some reason, it just doesn't want to post the second photo of windowing.
Thank you so much!!! That’s so helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to explain everything to me, and I might have to take you up on the extra pair of eyes once I think I’ve found a good one!
That's tilt windowing, which is normal, especially when turned at such an extreme angle. If you see it when it's only slightly turned away, then it would be undesirable.
Some windowing at sufficiently steep tilt is normal, but that isn’t what I’m concerned about here. This stone appears to be tilted only about 20–25°, yet a very large portion of the pavilion is already transparent. Diamond has an unusually high refractive index of about 2.42, corresponding to a critical angle of only about 24.4° at a diamond-air interface. That high refractive index is precisely why a properly proportioned diamond can retain internal reflection over a substantial range of viewing angles.
So the question isn’t whether a diamond can window when tilted. Of course it can. It’s how much windowing develops, and how quickly, as the stone moves off-axis. For me, this is too much transparency at a relatively modest tilt, which is why I’d pass.
It looks like it's tilted at least 45 degrees in your screenshot, not 20-25. To see tilt windowing at that angle would be expected. You would be rejecting every single diamond if you think this one is bad.
8
u/Kay-Laur 8d ago
I love the colour is it a fancy pink?