Quality of the James Allen True Hearts Diamond
True Hearts Logo
The first thing I noticed immediately was that the marketing of the James Allen True Hearts diamond is subtler than other online vendors. This at first glance may seem to be an oversight on their part but the fact that in their diamond search function, their signature True Hearts range is simply stated in a button labelled “True”, as opposed to the other more familiar cut grades of Ideal, Very Good, and Good. It seems to me fairly easy for an average consumer to perceive this as a representation that the True Hearts Diamond is a true H&A diamond. While it is perfectly fine for James Allen to say this, consumers should be reminded that there is no official standard for what H&A is and I will be looking into whether the True Hearts still hold up to the Prosumer Diamonds standard of H&A.
So lets have a look at what James Allen says about their True Hearts Diamond. When I mouse over the “True” button, a description of what True Hearts is given. James Allen states that the True Hearts:
“Exhibit the near flawless Hearts and Arrows pattern of perfect optical symmetry that maximizes the diamond’s fire, brilliance, and light dispersion.” (Emphasis Added)
The ‘flawless’ H&A and ‘perfect’ optical symmetry and ‘maximising’ of light performance is qualified by the word ‘near’. This is an important point because it distinguishes those vendors who market their diamonds as having perfect H&A with James Allen who is marketing their True Hearts diamonds, which are actually near-perfect H&A. The part of this statement that I have a problem with is that although a diamond’s fire, brilliance, and light dispersion is affected by optical symmetry, it is arguably the proportions of the diamond that affects the diamond’s light performance primarily.
The full marketing material on the True Hearts diamond is hidden in the education section of James Allen’s website. James Allen stresses the fact that they provide actual pictures of the diamond’s H&A pattern and that you can see for yourself the perfect optical symmetry.
They go on to say that every True Hearts diamond is an ideal cut diamond. What this means is simply that the diamonds are graded excellent in cut by the GIA or AGS0 in cut grade. There is no information given on whether the True Hearts are hand selected for a narrower range of proportions than simply the full range of GIA excellent. The only further bit of marketing puff suggests to you that the True Hearts are “the most perfect of diamonds”. Now lets go on to test these claims!
Table 1
Table 2
As usual, I selected six 1ct GVS2 diamonds for comparison. I could not find a particular pattern to these diamonds that I find convincingly representative of the True Hearts line. It seems to me that there are no specific criteria for narrowing the parameters for the proportions and therefore no branded look to the True Hearts diamond; each True Hearts is unique. The only thing that I could say about the True Hearts in terms of proportions is that they are consistently cut with a thicker girdle and therefore the spread of the diamond is reduced and you can see that 1.028 ct diamond falls short of a 6.5mm diameter.
However, James Allen provides what appears to be an idealscope image of the arrows view, although I have not found marketing material referring to the idealscope. However, on inspection of the html and flash elements of their website, it does seem that they label this image as an idealscope image. I selected the two diamonds that I was most concerned with from the above selection to have a closer look at their idealscope images.
Idealscope 1.04Idealscope 1.028
The image on the left is the 1.04 ct with a 34.0/40.6 CA/PA and the right image is of the 1.028 AGS diamond with a 35.3/40.8 CA/PA. If you read my tutorial on diamond grading certificates, you will know that the AGS stone would have been a 35.5 degree CA on a GIA lab report. I have to say that I am impressed because even these two diamonds that are on the edge of what I am comfortable with appear to have decent light performance with no visible leakage. The diamond on the left, which by the lab report would seem at risk to a shallow/shallow combination, has excellent light return and no visible leakage under the table. The diamond on the right also does not have leakage under the table but is right on the edge having partial light return.
1.04 actual image
1.02 actual image
You can see from these images that each diamond has a different contrast pattern under the table facet and whichever diamond you prefer is a matter of your personal preference. All I can say is that both of these are beautiful diamonds.
Finally lets have a look at the hearts images of both diamonds.
Hearts 1.02Hearts 1.04
Unless you are going to scrutinise these diamonds to the nth degree, I can see there are only minor flaws from slight yawing that should put off only the most particular of diamond prosumers. Both these diamonds are likely to be considered as H&A across the industry and they indeed are H&A diamonds to me.
Price
James Allen does not mention a Pricescope discount on their site but there have been reports that they do offer a discount when asked so make sure you do that. They also don’t list a bank wire price so its not a bad idea to ask them for one either as most vendors have a further discount on a bank wire. Now lets compare James Allen’s True Hearts prices to some of the other branded H&A that I have already reviewed.
A random 1.04 GVS2 True Heart was listed as $8,450. A quick check on Blue Nile shows that a 1.04 GVS2 Signature Ideal costs $8,922. On Whiteflash, a 1.015 GVS2 ACA costs $9,074. It appears that James Allen is cheaper than both Whiteflash and Blue Nile on comparable stones and seems to offer great value indeed even without any discount applied. When comparing similar carat stones on price, make sure you have a look at the difference in diameter, I have a suspicion that James Allen stones will be slighly smaller than some other makes for the same carat due to a thicker girdle.
Information Provided
James Allen True Hearts diamonds come in both GIA and AGS certified stones. This can add a certain element of confusion for their consumers, as it is one more thing to decide between. To discover your preference, you need to stay tuned for my next tutorial on the differences between the cut grading at GIA and AGS as well as other commonly believed differences between the labs. For this review, I won’t suggest that either is better than the other. Suffice to note that AGS diamonds come with a platinum light performance report that includes an ASET, which is nice for those that want a bit more light performance information on their diamond.
As seen in this review, James Allen provides an idealscope image and hearts image on their True Hearts line. If you don’t know where to find these images, look for this button and mouse over the hearts and arrows images.
True Hearts icon
From viewing many of these images, there are no issues that I have with their photography setup.
On top of all this, James Allen also provides a 40x magnified actual photograph of the diamond. This image can be useful for looking for any dark and obvious inclusions if you are looking at SI quality stones. However, just remember that many inclusions by their very nature require you to focus past the surface of the diamond in order to see them. In VS quality stones, I would not place too much weight into these pictures except for identifying any characteristic inclusions that are near the surface of the diamond.
James Allen also provides a video of the diamond as it rotates through 360 degrees. This is meant to allow you to determine whether the diamond is eye-clean. James Allen’s definition of eye-cleanliness is “clean to an unaided eye in a face-up position from a distance of 8 to 10 inches”. They also say that if you have questions regarding the eye-cleanliness, you can contact their gemmologists to assist you. I think this is important especially if you are looking for SI quality stones. Ask their gemmologist to show you where the worst inclusions can be seen on the diamond. Under the kind of magnification James Allen provides, I would be surprised if a professional gemmologist is unable to identify any over a 360 degree rotation of the diamond.
Finally, on their non-branded stones, James Allen also allows you to choose up to 3 diamonds to get idealscope images.
Ease of Searching for a Diamond
James Allen’s Website is among one of the best that I have used. It provides a very useful filter that allows you to type in values or drag the bar if you wished. There are different view options that allow you to view thumbnails of the diamonds or in list view. Impressively, the website is just as fast and snappy in either view. In list view, you can quickly see the table, depth, and fluorescence information but you cannot see the measurements unless you actually click into the diamond. However, James Allen does provide all of this information including the crown and pavilion angles and girdle thickness without needing to access the lab report. Accessing the lab report is also very quick and easy and you will need to do this if you want to find out the lower girdle length.
The only issues I have with their site is that the background they use in their pictures make it very difficult to determine light leakage just from looking at the actual image. In my opinion, a light-grey background will make it more difficult to see leakage because the color of the background is similar to the color of the light being returned. One other thing I have noticed but cannot be certain about is that diamonds that are DEF seem a lot whiter than those that are GHI, probably due to lighting rather than actual color of the diamond. It would not surprise me if this were to enhance the look of the more expensive diamonds. Please just remember that information is only as good as the ability to properly interpret it.
Value Adding Information
James Allen provides a lifetime warranty that covers leaning, polishing, prong tightening and rhodium plating if you pay for the shipping of your ring to them and back. This warranty also covers the loss of side stones in your ring if the loss was not caused by damage. James Allen stresses the point that this warranty is not an insurance and you will still need insurance to protect against damage, theft or loss.
James Allen provides free FedEx worldwide shipping and has a 60-day return policy and they even pay for the return shipping for US customers, which is nice. This return policy is excellent and is above average for the industry.
James Allen also provides an upgrade policy, which is the same as Blue Nile. That is a 100% credit for spending double the price of your first time. This I would rate as below average for the industry. They will also provide you with a free quote you’re your other diamonds that are GIA/AGS/IGI certified diamonds over a half carat if you are looking to trade-in.
Conclusion
I have been thoroughly impressed with James Allen and I think that it provides a good compromise between Blue Nile’s business model and those of Whiteflash and Brian Gavin Diamonds. The True Hearts definitely live up to what they are marketed as, and I would even say that in my opinion that they are marketed conservatively. The only caveat is that not all True Hearts are made equally and you really have to look for those that suit your preference. This fact however may actually appeal to prosumers. For the information they provide and their pricing, James Allen is an excellent place for prosumers who want to use a little bit of effort to find their top performing diamonds at a great price. Finally, James Allen may be a great place to find your forever ring, but if you are looking for diamonds that you may want to upgrade regularly, there are other vendors that provide much better upgrade policies.
PS Diamond Guide 