How to Properly Interpret BrillianceScope Results
in Light of the New Cut Grading

Our latest research has taken us down some unexpected and rather peculiar paths which have taught us some new truths about the BrillianceScope not yet published. On the surface it may appear to be slightly conflicting regarding past perceptions drawn about BrillianceScope results and what they mean to the layman or gemologist consulting this data. With a proper understanding of how to interpret the results, the tool becomes even more powerful of a device in determining what your personal preferences actually are once a full understanding of how to interpret these results are brought to light.  As a matter of fact nobody will consult these results on our site anymore until they read through this short tutorial.

In this chapter we will be exploring some of these new discoveries and most importantly how they fit into the current scheme of things with regards to the new cut grading by AGS and GIA.

Before we begin this statement is of utmost importance.

The highest results on the BrillianceScope do not mean it is the most beautiful diamond to your fiance.

Yes.  You heard me right.  This is one of the most common misperceptions about BrillianceScope results.  When you view diamonds, whether they are in our store or via the net your personal preference may be for a more contrasty stone that does not get a triple VH rating.  It all depends on where your personal preference lies.  You (or your fiancé) may like with a stone that scores a High/Very High/High, or if you're looking at Ideal Princess Cuts may even be for a Low/Medium/Low! :)  That's right!  With the rounds we've tested to date we've found perfectly beautiful ideals that score as low as Medium/Very High/High and as high as Triple Very High's.  Some folks prefer the appearance of one over the other and neither is a bad choice really.  Why?

The BrillianceScope is ultra sensitive to light return.

Here is a comparison of 2 stones we recently tested on the BrillianceScope and their optical signatures via DiamXray™ technology.

Red & black demonstrate facets that are functioning as reflectors while whites and pale reds are indicative of leakage.

Diamond 01	Diamond 02
To read more on this study regarding the sensitivity of the BrillianceScope click here.

Each of these diamonds display superior optics and there is absolutely no difference when it comes to human eye observation.  However many folks are lead to believe that the stone on the right has an inferior appearance due to the lower score in "white light return".  This is a misconception about BrillianceScope results which do not correlate to human eye observation.  It is true that the diamond on the left has a more rare optical signature and slightly higher intensity light output but this minute difference between the 2 diamonds are not and can not be observed with the human eyes.

This actually demonstrates both a strength and weakness of the BrillianceScope.

• The strength is that it demonstrates just how sensitive the BrillianceScope is to light return.

• The weakness is that what most people think correlates to human eye observation is not necessarily true.

If you've read through our chapters on cut and have familiarized yourself with the optical metrics of brightness, fire, contrast, leakage & scintillation you'll note that I've been correlating all the graphics with contrasting checkerboard patterns.  For sake of clarification and reference here is the entire mosaic of checkerboards with their corresponding graphics.

	Brightness at the expense of Contrast	Lower brightness due to weaker hemisphere lighting	Brightness because of leakage contrast in office lighting	H&A AGS/GIA Ideal  with bold flash. Large contrasty flashes and appearance in ambient and direct lighting.	As we move up the scale the *arrows* get thinner however more smaller pin flashes are added to the mix...	thus increasing the squares on the checkerboard.
Static image
Checkerboard correlation

Most of the stones in the above chart fall within Ideal ranges on either the AGS Scale, GIA Scale or both however BrillianceScope results can vary quite dramatically depending on the mosaic of light as it exits the crown.

Here is the bar graph of the BrillianceScope and how it best correlates to these metrics.

Diamonds that display a mix of broad flash combined with pin flashes get marks on Bscope that will generally always be to the far right. It is a natural assumption that any results showing a lower score is an inferior diamond.  This, again is a false assumption.

Let's do a rundown of what we typically find when we perform our analysis with regards to round brilliant cuts.

This first example is of a Solasfera Diamond.  It is also known as 10 cut and is a hybrid super ideal cut having Hearts & Arrows optical symmetry yet deviates from traditional cutting in that it has 10 crown bezel facets combined with 10 pavilion mains (10 hearts/10 arrows in contrast to traditional 8 Hearts/8 Arrows) and is 91 facets as opposed to the traditional 57.  A complete tutorial and review of this diamond can be found here for further study.

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
ASET displays an excellent distribution of contrast (blacks) combined with a superior saturation of reds (indicating light entering from the 45-75 degree zone, optimal).	The optical signature of a Solasfera diamond via DiamXray reveals intense saturation of dark reds & blacks. This translates into a metric of extremely high intensity output which appeals to many people upon viewing yet not all.	Because the BrillianceScope is ultra sensitive to light output and its intensity, a diamond with this signature pegs all meters on the BrillianceScope. This doesn't necessarily mean it will be your personal preference though.

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
Again, ASET displays an excellent distribution of contrast (blues in this example) combined with a superior saturation of reds (indicating light entering from the 45-75 degree zone, optimal). Another easy qualifier for ideal status.	The optical signature of this flavor of H&A  diamond via DiamXray reveals intense saturation of dark reds & blacks. This translates into a metric of extremely high intensity output as well which appeals to many people upon viewing yet not all.	Because the BrillianceScope is ultra sensitive to light output and its intensity, a diamond with this signature causes all meters on the BrillianceScope to be in the "very high" zone. This doesn't necessarily mean it will be your personal preference though although many people do enjoy this diamonds appearance. [br103dvs2]

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
ASET displays an excellent distribution of contrast (blues in this example) combined with a superior saturation of reds (indicating light entering from the 45-75 degree zone, optimal). Another easy qualifier for ideal status.	The optical signature of this flavor of H&A  diamond via DiamXray reveals slightly less  saturation of dark reds & blacks. This translates into a metric of high intensity output as well which appeals to many people upon viewing yet not all.	The BrillianceScope results show a slight decrease in white light due to the presence of more pale reds under the table.  In direct light conditions this generally results in less pin flash and more emphasis upon broad flashes which again, appeal to some more than others. [br1003evvs2]

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
ASET displays an excellent distribution of contrast (blues) combined with a superior saturation of reds (indicating light entering from the 45-75 degree zone, optimal). Another easy qualifier for ideal status.	The optical signature of this flavor of H&A  diamond via DiamXray reveals intense saturation of dark reds & blacks yet not as many blacks as the first example.	Because of the stronger saturation of reds in DiamXray output, the white light results are naturally higher.  Fewer blacks however once again result in less pin flash placing even heavier emphasis than the above example upon broad flash.  If broad flash and bold arrows are your preference then a triple very high is NOT for you. ;) [br110gvs2]

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
ASET view still shows good saturation of reds/blues/greens and still qualifies as a new ideal. Leakage can be noted in both graphics around the 8:00 region under the table.  Black in ASET and white in DiamXray.	The slight leakage taking place under table and less pronounced blacks between the arrow heads contribute to the High/Very High/High results observed in the Bscope.	These have generally been the lowest results we recommend for rounds.  Generally all/most facets must be functioning as reflectors combined with an even distribution of blacks.  Once again this would be a hard stone to distinguish from those above even though this gets the lowest results we would recommend. [br121gsi1]

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
This diamond is a former AGS Ideal (now a "1")and current GIA Excellent (according to new system) Notable greens and lack of blues is what causes it to get the AGS rating it does.	This type of stone in office type lighting performs well (leakage contrast) but takes hits in other lighting environments and represents the outskirts of the new GIA system.	In the new scheme of things, if one  is desiring a GIA "Excellent" it is very possible to get these type of BrillianceScope results and stresses the need to see the stone you are getting and if it meets your visual preference or not. [br123fvs2]

ASET	DiamXray	BrillianceScope Results
Input	Output	BrillianceScope Output
Plenty of reds but lack of blues = a current AGS "1" for Light Performance.	A solid reflector image with very little leakage. This is a bright stone in certain lighting environments but lacks contrast.	Since the BrillianceScope is reflecting diamond appearance in direct lighting conditions these results are not bad and correlates to the environment in which it is testing. Since direct lighting does not account for the contrast observed in diamonds in more suffuse conditions the BrillianceScope does not prove to be a good indicator for the lack of contrast.

In Summary: When it comes to the analysis of round brilliant cuts, BrillianceScope results reward diamonds whose facets are functioning as reflectors.  The more light that is exiting at high angles (indicative of more smaller blacks in DiamXray) combined with strong saturations of red, the more to the right the results are going to be on the bar graph.  The less blacks and more paler the reds the lower the results are going to be.  New ideal cuts will cover the board with those on the outskirts of the ideal ranges scoring more to the left.  BrillianceScope results do not always correlate to human observation when it comes to personal preference which is why we are not showing these results on our primary information page.  People often confuse results and think that the highest BrillianceScope scores result in the most beautiful diamond.  This is not true which is why we insist on showing these results as a backup for identification purposes.  A technology, which does not work like the human brain should not dictate what appeals to your eyes which is why we emphasize the "your visual preference" first and foremost.  The BrillianceScope, while very sensitive to light return can not detect the issues of contrast that the human eyes are very senstive to and is a primary determining factor when it comes to diamond beauty in most lighting environments.