Diamonds guaranteed to make women swoon and engineers cry!
(Cut)3(Education)2 = Orgasmic Brilliance
If you glean only one important fact from this web site, let it be this…
98% of the beauty of a diamond is controlled by its Cut!

Practically all of the light return, the brilliance, dispersion and scintillation which people look for in a diamond is a result of the proportions; consistency of facet size and shape; consistency of facet alignment; polish and symmetry.  The majority of the diamond industry focuses on the 4C’s of Diamond Grading in terms of how they relate to selling features used to establish value and a lot of senseless babble like “isn’t this the most beautiful diamond you’ve ever seen?” and “isn’t it pretty?”

I suppose that there is nothing wrong with using vague descriptive phrases as part of the sales process, but since 98% of the brilliance, dispersion and scintillation of a diamond are dictated by the cut quality, at Nice Ice we prefer to focus on factual data which provides accurate insight into the cut quality of the diamonds which we sell.  Phrases such as “ooh” and “aah” might be effective marketing tactics on the sales floor, but they serve to tell us nothing tangible beyond eluding to the fact that the sales clerk has decided that we possess the intellect of a toddler.

It might not be romantic to purchase a diamond based upon its empirical data, but the fact is that a diamond is a crystalline structure which will deliver various degrees of light return and different types of light in the form of brilliance, dispersion and scintillation, depending on how precisely it is cut.  Therefore, it seems logical to set emotion aside and consider the technical aspects of the diamonds which are available in the current market.   Admittedly, we’re Diamond Geeks and we have a tendency to over analyze everything… Yes, it did recently take me more than half an hour to select weed killer at the local hardware store because I was comparing the components of each brand and reading online reviews as provided by the bar code scan which I took from my smart phone.  I look past the claims boldly emblazed across the front of attractive looking packages and research everything to death, I am not just a Diamond Geek, I am simply a geek who researches everything.

My passion for precision, or affliction, depending on whether you are a Citizen of Geekdom or one of the “others” who endlessly ponders the possibilities of “why is this important?” is a prominent aspect of our in-house diamond evaluation process.  We don’t sell diamonds online by simply applying a filter to the diamonds offered by the cutters via the multiple listing services available to the diamond trade, we actually bring each diamond in and look at it to determine whether the diamond meets our expectations in terms of visual performance… Then we run the diamonds through a battery of verification processes to be able to quantify the quality of the diamonds in an online sales environment.

Approximately 40% of the round brilliant ideal cut diamonds that we bring in for evaluation are rejected for a variety of reasons, including simply not meeting my expectations in terms of visual performance – despite having the required ideal proportions.  Other reasons for rejection include the diamond lacking the expected consistency of facet structure, shape and size; presence of inclusions which appear to present the potential for a durability issue; inaccurate clarity grading; inaccurate color grading, etc.

Admittedly not everybody feels that the precise nature of our selection process is warranted, this thread on a popular diamond forum started out with somebody posting the range of proportions recommended in our tutorial titled 15 Seconds to Success and asking whether it is "generally agreed that a diamond in this range will have the best cut possible with all the wonderful light characteristics that come with it?" which was followed up by a lot of people saying that my suggested range of proportions is "too strict" and "limiting" (well, perhaps for some) but the following image provides an excerpt from the thread as responded to by a diamond cutter who is quite familiar with the nature of our selection process:

Now I'm not exactly sure how being "too precise" in our selection process could ever be considered a negative in the minds of a consumer who is preparing to plunk down a huge chunk of their life savings on a rock, but I can understand perfectly why some of our competitors might not want to be held to the specifics of a selection process as precise as the one which we live by here at Nice Ice.  If like myself, you are precise in nature and enjoy researching the minor details of significant purchases such as an engagement ring, then I think you’ll find Nice Ice to be a fun  place to spend some time and learn all there is to know about diamonds.  We're fluent in engineer, rocket scientist, software designer, doctor, lawyer, computer programmer, accountant, architect, professor, nerd, and yes, even geek.  As a matter of fact, we speak geek!  So don’t hesitate to ask any questions that pop into your head, we expect you to have questions, it is part of the learning process!

If you are not a Citizen of Geekdom, you might be concerned that you’ve fallen into a realm which is too over the top for your needs… Nothing could be farther from the truth!  The reality is that my passion for precision assures your success in buying a diamond which is vibrant and beautiful because the selection process developed as a result of my “precision affliction” ensures that any diamond which we offer will truly be exceptional.

Our diamond inventory is an absolute wonderland of precision crafted "Super Ideal Cut Diamonds" that are standing by ready for adoption!  Want to see what the inclusions look like?  Wondering whether they "face-up" light or dark and how extensive they are?  We provide extensive diamond detail pages for every diamond that we represent and we are happy to answer those "diamond grading" questions for you!  

As the President and CEO, I personally welcome you to Nice Ice!  I personally hand-select every diamond in our inventory and guarantee your complete satisfaction.

-- Todd L. Gray