Maybe a silly question...how does table size affect how a diamond looks?

[Jules_248]

Does a slightly bigger table (eg. 60%) versus 55% say make the diamond look bigger or smaller (for its size). I would have thought it made the diamond look bigger but after looking at a few diamonds and their diameter sizes I''m not sure.

Any experts out there?

 

[Giangi]

Assuming you have two stones that have nice proportions, one measuring 7.42mm with a 55% table and another measuring 7.42mm with a 60% table, then usually the second will look very slightly bigger. But the sparkle will be very different.

 

[Jules_248]

Thanks Giangi...I may have not asked my question correctly.

What I meant was, let's say you have two diamonds both 2 carats and one has a 60% table and one has a 55% table. Will they look the same size? If not, which one will look bigger?

Maybe there is no way to tell this without knowing the diameter sizes but I'm not sure.

Thanks!

 

[Giangi]

Oh I see.

Let's have some possible scenarios...
#1 is 2.00, has 55% table and 64.8% depth; #2 is 2.00, has 60% table and 54.9% depth. Now, they are both very badly cut stones, and #2 will look a lot bigger.
If you have towo nicely cut stones, both weighing 2 cts, one with 55% table and 61.1% depth and a thin to medium girdle and the other w/ 60% t and 59.2% d and thin to medium girdle, #2 will look bigger.
But it's really impossible without knowing depth, diameter and girdle.

 

[aljdewey]

Jules: Giangi did actually answer your question most correctly, and that's because "not all 1 ct/2ct are created equal".




For instance, you can have two diamonds, each exactly 1 carat. But the dimensions of the well-cut 1 carat might be 6.50mm, and the poorly cut 1 carat might be 6.22mm. Carat measurement is a weight, not necessarily a size/dimension. Think of it this way: a 5-lb box of nuts and bolts will be much, much smaller than a 5 lb. box of air filters, which take up much more room but are still only 5 lbs. by weight.




What Giangi has said to you is this: If both diamonds are equal in dimension, the one with the 60% table will look larger, but it won't have the same sparkle factor that the 55% table does.




Because not all equal-weight stones are cut the same, it's tough to tell you if it's always true that 60% table will look bigger.




If you have a well-cut diamond with a 55% table, that may still visually appear larger than a poorly cut stone with a 60% table that has a lot of weight in the pavilion and poor diameter.




Does this help?

 

[JC]

It's hard to say without actually seeing the two diamonds. However, I will say this. Most round diamonds that have a table percentage of 60% will appear larger due to having a larger spread on the top of the stone. Although, it won't sparkle as much as the diamond that has a table percentage of 55%. If you are considering 2ct sized diamonds than you have already achieved a large diamond. So why not go for the sparkle at that point?