What exactly is girdle? I think I understand table size, etc. but girdle baffles me...is there an easy way to communicate this?

Of course, you can always use the gridle to cook the cutlet, together with the (finely cut) carrots.

This is the type of question that simply has no "set answer"
Going back to a lot of the BS passed off as "buying guides for diamonds" I've seen on the web- many places seem to make concrete statements about girdle thickness which are simply not true.

It's like asking- if a man weighe 200 pounds, is he overweight?
Well, if he's 4'11", than he might be- if he's 6'11" he might be skinny at that weight-.
You have to consider many factors....

Actually not at all!

If we believe we can tell something from these numbers, we'd be buying into what these BS tables promise. Hook, line and sinker.
What I'm saying is that you can not judge a diamond based on measurements.

We didn't even get into esoteric differences...like polished versus faceted, versus bruted girdles- or even the shape of the diamond.
Even if we did, we'd still need to observe the diamond to make judgements....

ok, i think i will leave this to the experts!

thank you though...the information provided was very helpful!

Is it true however, in any case, that a very thin girdle does pose a greater risk of chipping if hit at the right angle?

Well, found this... pearl of a typo on a coloured gemstones forum. Not quite relevant to the discussion, but it was too good not to share it.

If you are looking for a truly rare stone, how about a dementoid garnet?

Kind retards and Merry Christmas to all!
(as a colleague of mine once closed an email)

I love you guys.  You have absolutely no compunction about using horrible puns.

Happy Nude Deer to all, and to all a good fight.

Here, Miz M.  Have another glass of wine.  Great idea!  Sam Spade's Bedtime Tales of Sparklier Times .
 If I was closer, I'd volunteer to take down verbal history and present it for him.     

HI All!

Jen- I ike the way you think!
Any conversation can be nicer if you're not forced to watch out for strangers bearing gifts ( or knives)...heheheh

In terms of Sam- If only the guy knew how to use a computer - in fact he doesn't even use the word "computer"

if I have one of his stones he'll ask- "Did you put it on the machine"
( translated- is it on the site?)

But he's really been a great friend for many years.
I don't like to call him after ...say 8pm, but i can't tell you how many times I've called him at home to answer a question.
I also like the way you are thinking about jewelry- and it's use to gauge society Jen!

Sam started cutting diamonds before WWII. He served during the war and resumed cutting for a while afterwards.
The question about Girdles involved a discussion of the three main type of girdles.
1) "Bruted" which is a girdle that looks frosted- like a mirror after you come out of the shower
2) Polished- where the entire girdle is shiny
3) Faceted- also shiny, but on a faceted girdle there's little demarcations all that way around- facets. The polished girdle is smooth all the way around


Sam was mentioning how Willie Goldberg was at the forefront of the faceted girdle, in the 1950's

All modern stones have faceted girdles.

There's different schools of though on the effects of the girdle.
For example- on fancy colors it's believed a faceted girdle increases any natural body color- making a yellow diamond yellower ( as compared to a bruted Girdle)

But this seemingly contradicts the fact that D-E and F color diamonds generally have faceted girdles- and it's though to make them brighter ( by some, there's really no industry consensus)

David,
Don't you have software that recognizes speech so that typing isn't necessary?
It would be so cool, if Sam Spade had his own thread that he narrated for us.
 

Ok, before I have to renounce my CDI membership, I'll do that google search!

I live in a small village. We have turf cutters and railway cutters but the world of diamond cutters isn't all that familiar...

I'll go look!

Jen