Why is the virtual loop on JA not as clear as vendors such as WF and GOG?

[diamun]

The diamond images at 40x on Whiteflash and Good Old Gold are so clear and clean

. The James Allen 40x images are always less crisp and less clean looking

. I'm having a hard time comparing diamonds on the JA site with others because of this. Is it due to the photography technique used by JA? I would like to buy from JA because the setting I like is from there; however, I'm leaning towards WF due to the image. Any advice?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 1/21/2010 10:08:24 AM
Author:diamun
The diamond images at 40x on Whiteflash and Good Old Gold are so clear and clean

. The James Allen 40x images are always less crisp and less clean looking

. I'm having a hard time comparing diamonds on the JA site with others because of this. Is it due to the photography technique used by JA? I would like to buy from JA because the setting I like is from there; however, I'm leaning towards WF due to the image. Any advice?

Hi diamun

The loupe images aren't as far as I am aware designed to present the diamonds to their best advantage, they are plain and basic shots which are designed to allow potential buyers to get an idea of the inclusions of a stone. JA can also provide Idealscope for rounds and ASET for fancy shapes on most of their diamonds and normally their True Hearts brand have both Idealscope and hearts images loaded ready for viewing.

Both vendors have an excellent rep and you could go with either with confidence. I would say though if an upgrade might be a future consideration, both vendors have upgrade policies but you might want to read the terms and conditions of each and factor that into your decision if applicable.

 

[stone-cold11]

yap, IS/ASET will be a better comparison of the light performance of the stones from different vendor.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I woudn''t worry about that too much, it doesn''t really give you much information about the diamond anyways. But I agree with you, FWIW.

 

[Laila619]

I wouldn''t worry about it either. James Allen is a very reputable company, and if they have the setting you like, I''d go with them for the stone as well.

 

[denverappraiser]

Taking good photographs is difficult and time consuming. WF and GOG are apparently working harder at it, at least on some of the stones they sell.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Appraisals in Denver

 

[Rhino]

Just a point of note ... clarity grading under a microscope is determined under darkfield illumination. Our photographs demonstrating clarity are the only ones taken under these conditions.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Date: 1/21/2010 10:08:24 AM
Author:diamun
The diamond images at 40x on Whiteflash and Good Old Gold are so clear and clean

. The James Allen 40x images are always less crisp and less clean looking

. I''m having a hard time comparing diamonds on the JA site with others because of this. Is it due to the photography technique used by JA? I would like to buy from JA because the setting I like is from there; however, I''m leaning towards WF due to the image. Any advice?

Every company does there own thing. There are worse and better than JA.
Many feel that since cut is their marketing PoDiff that thier photo''s should show the brilliance of their stones more than anything else. Some do a shocking job of showing color.
Some use off the shelf technology, some design their own and guard it closely.

It is not the best approach, but most attempt to do the best for everyone.

The Cut Group (Serg, Yuri, Janak and GH) are working on a standardized lighting box and camera set up that we believe will overcome many of these issues. But will the horses go for a drink?

 

[Karl_K]

if you get the full size images from JA they arent that bad.
I like them a lot actually now that I have learned to read them.
The small images from the loupe are less useful but ok most of the time.
The biggest downside is lots of head shadow and no side lighting.
The new loupe system doesn't allow you to download the full images but they are available on request.

WF and GOG spent 10s of thousands of dollars and 100s of man hours perfecting their photo setup.
JA bought a system designed for taking them.
It is the difference between a few thousand dollar system and spending a ton of time and money perfecting your own system.
The JA system is useful but not as pretty as the gog/wf setup.

 

[diamun]

Thank you for all the replies. Yes it would be nice if all was standardized. I guess it makes sense if one vendor is spending more resources on the photography of the diamond itself. From reading it does appear that all 3 vendors are good vendors and I won''t be disappointed with either one of them.