Most people evaluate a diamond strictly in terms of the stated characteristics such as Carat Weight, Color, Clarity and Cut. In addition, most people look at a diamond strictly from the perspective of the outer shell and to what extent the diamond is or is not "sparkly" for lack of a better term to describe visual performance. Considering the Brilliance, Dispersion and Scintillation is certainly a good place to begin the evaluation process, however evaluating the optical symmetry of a diamond with the help of a SymmetriScope™ | Fire Scope™ | Ideal Scope™ | ASET™ | can provide you with valuable insight beyond the characteristics stated on a lab report. In fact, we will go as far as to state that an experienced diamond grader could tell you a lot about the potential visual performance of a diamond based solely on images of the diamond as seen through a SymmetriScope™ | Fire Scope™ | Ideal Scope™ | however we will also state that enough variables exist with in the use of these devices to cast a shadow of doubt upon every educated opinion. We will discuss the ASET separately...

Before we explore the subject of Optical Symmetry much more, we should state that the SymmetriScope™ | Fire Scope™ | Ideal Scope™ | are different brand names for similar optical devices which are designed to assist in the evaluation of optical symmetry within the facet structure of the diamond. While the SymmetriScope™ | Fire Scope™ | Ideal Scope™ | have different names and look a little different, we feel that they are essentially the same concept in terms of design concept, use and function... Thus you may call the devices by whatever name you choose: a SymmetriScope™ | Fire Scope™ | Ideal Scope™ | because as far as we're concerned they are pretty much all the same, the intended purpose is basically the same and we don't have a preference for which device is being used. We happen to have a SymmetriScope™ in our gemological laboratory, so we tend to default to the use of that brand name when describing the device.