Holloway, founder of Holloway Diamonds in Melbourne, developed the digital tool ‘Looks Like’ as part of his mission to ensure jewellers are getting a good deal when buying diamonds.
“I felt it was time someone did something to show how badly ripped off customers and retailers are [when it comes to diamond size and beauty],” Holloway explains.
“The GIA [Gemological Institute of America]’s top ‘Excellent’ or ‘X’ cut grade is so broad. Most 1-carat XXX grade diamonds measure under what should be a 0.96ct spread, and because they leak so much light near the edges, they look about the same size as a well cut 90-point diamond. That’s a rip off of about a third of the cost!”
The Looks Like tool assesses a stone from its grading report specifications – including depth and table percentage, crown and pavilion angle and dimensions in millimetres – in order to determine whether it appears smaller, bigger or average in relation to its carat weight.
It is designed to complement Holloway’s diamond analysis software, the Holloway Cut Adviser. At present, the systems only work for round diamonds.
“The only readily available data my software can use is the rounded proportion information from a grading certificate,” Holloway explained. “Most people in the trade, and virtually all consumers, seem to have no idea that there are only cut grades given for round diamonds – so there is no gatekeeper for fancy shapes and cutters get away with murder!”
The goal is to eventually move into analysing 3D digital models of diamonds, sourced from trading platforms like RapNet, IDEX and Polygon.
“If this takes off then the trade will make available the 3D digital files (as every cutter and all labs generate them) and we can stop the rampant cheating of fancy shapes,” Holloway says.
Looks Like is currently available for a free trial on hollowaycutadviser.com using the coupon code ‘FREE HCA LL’ when you register a new account.
More reading:
Jeweller to the stars shines in Australia
Diamond grading games: The search for consumer confidence