IGI Hearts & Arrows vs. Whiteflash Precision Lab: Understanding the Different Standards

Two diamonds with IGI reports featuring the Hearts and Arrows designation can differ demonstrably in cut quality. Our recent review of the IGI standard showed wide variation, extending beyond what most experts would consider true hearts and arrows.

The term “hearts and arrows” (or H&A) gets bandied about pretty freely these days in the diamond market, but consumers would naturally think that a laboratory would have a strict standard. Since this characteristic pertains to a very important aspect of diamond cut quality, the term should be used with the precision that it is meant to convey with respect to diamond facet alignment. A precise H&A pattern is visual proof that a diamond has a level of facet alignment in 3 dimensional space (optical symmetry) that optimizes its facet design. Since true hearts and arrows patterning requires a very tight tolerance in both optical symmetry and proportions, the standard by which it is measured should be clearly defined by anyone using the term. Otherwise, it is easy for the term to be misapplied or misunderstood.

Companies specializing in diamonds of the highest cut quality and light performance often provide evidence to support claims that their diamonds are cut with hearts and arrows precision. An inexpensive hearts and arrows viewer, and photos taken with a hearts and arrows device, make demonstrating the level of precision possible. In the absence of such evidence, a claim of H&A is unsubstantiated. Even when advanced imaging is provided, it is necessary to understand the exact standard by which hearts and arrows are assessed.

• What Does IGI Hearts & Arrows Certification Mean?
• How Do IGI Hearts & Arrows Diamonds Perform in Real Testing?
• What Makes a True Hearts & Arrows Diamond?
• How Whiteflash Precision Lab Surpasses IGI Hearts & Arrows
• Does Hearts & Arrows Mean a Diamond Is Super Ideal?
• Final Thoughts: Is an IGI Hearts & Arrows Designation Enough?

While GIA does not grade or have a designation for H&A, other laboratories do. IGI is one of the most commonly encountered reports providing an H&A component, and there are many IGI reports in the market today indicating that the diamond detailed in the report is a hearts and arrows diamond. The trouble with the IGI designation, is that there is no actual hearts and arrows image on most reports, and no specificity about how the designation has been arrived at. It is important to note that the H&A images on most IGI reports are a “visual representation”. It is not a photo, or even a computer generated map, of the individual diamond graded in the report.

It is possible to study IGI diamonds with the H&A designation to get a sense of how strict or lenient their standard is in assessing this important characteristic. To that end, Whiteflash recently received a group of about a dozen lab grown diamonds offered by a manufacturer who was looking to become a supplier. Knowing that we specialize in precision cut diamonds, all stones offered were IGI graded with the H&A designation on the report. In order to determine if the stones would qualify for our Precision Lab brand, we did advanced light performance imaging on them and reviewed the findings. We were quite surprised at the range of precision we found within this sample, many of which would not be considered hearts and arrows by most objective reviewers.

It is unclear exactly how IGI makes the H&A assessment in their reporting, but considering the volume of reports they issue it is very unlikely that it involves reviewing actual photographs, and perhaps not even making a physical evaluation. Rather, they are most likely relying on an algorithm tied to the scan of the diamond to automate this grading call. A system like this would be governed by tolerances for pattern deviation built into the algorithm, and those tolerances appear to be very large judging from our review of actual images.

On the IGI website, the main H&A page linked from top navigation gives only a brief definition of Hearts and Arrows.

Another page found by searching hearts and arrows on their site search includes the statement below referencing their established criteria, but the link embedded in the statement takes you back to the main page where only a definition of H&A can be found. And the statement that “authentic images” are included on the report appears not to be accurate, or perhaps pertains to only select reports:

The earliest use of Hearts and Arrows to judge cut quality of round diamonds dates to Japanese researchers in the 1980s. Their quest for cut perfection led them to a very strict standard of optical precision. Companies adopting those standards, including Whiteflash, have been likewise focused on the perfection of the hearts and arrows pattern. Most experts working in the “super ideal” market would not consider a diamond that had an obvious defect in patterning to be a true hearts and arrows diamond.

Many companies today market diamonds as hearts and arrows (or super ideal) that do not rise to this level of perfection, and are sometimes offered without any supporting evidence of the claims at all. It is possible to get a feel for the variances in “industry standard” hearts and arrows by studying the images posted by companies that do offer some basis for their claims. When we compare that range to the IGI samples we reviewed, we see that some are within that general standard and some are clearly not.

The super ideal offered by Whiteflash is our A CUT ABOVE® brand of round natural diamonds. We adopted the strict standard pioneered by the Japanese cutters, and provide actual hearts and arrows images including H&A as well as ASET, Ideal Scope, face up photo, and HD video in two different light environments. We publish the details of our grading standard for H&A as well as all the specifications and qualifications that must be met for a diamond to achieve our super ideal brand. A CUT ABOVE® diamonds come with a GIA report and accompanying AGS Ideal light performance addendum report issued by GIA.

Round diamonds in our Precision Lab brand of lab grown diamonds are what we consider “industry standard” hearts and arrows. That is, they may have more variation in optical precision but they must display a distinct pattern of hearts and arrows. And we also provide actual images taken by the Whiteflash team to substantiate the claim. When we look at the IGI range of variation, most of the stones in the sample would not qualify for our Precision Lab brand, despite having the hearts and arrows designation on the IGI report.

This is not to say that the IGI designation of H&A is arbitrary or not without some merit. Considering how important IGI has been in the growth of the lab grown diamond market, and the volume of stones they grade, it is understandable that the time-consuming job of photographing and evaluating each would not be feasible and an automated method would have to be used. It appears from the results of our review that the standard used in their process is not nearly as strict as the original standard for evaluating hearts and arrows, including the A CUT ABOVE® standard, and not even as strict as Whiteflash requires for our Precision Lab. While some would qualify for Precision Lab, others would not.

When we created the Whiteflash offering of laboratory grown diamonds, our goal was to provide an in-stock inventory of the finest cut lab grown diamonds with the highest level of light performance available in the market. Leveraging our expertise in elite light performance developed over two decades of providing A CUT ABOVE® natural super ideal diamonds, we put our round brilliant lab diamonds through a similar diagnostic process. We provide real photos of ASET, IdealScope, and Hearts and Arrows imaging, as well as HD video taken in two different lighting environments. Our Precision Lab diamonds cannot have any significant faults on any of these tests.

As transparency deficits are common in lab grown diamonds due to atomic-level defects in their carbon lattice, and since this factor is not measured, graded or described on most laboratory reports (and may not show in imaging), our Precision Lab diamonds must pass a careful physical inspection and be free of any appreciable transparency issue. A diamond with diminished transparency will not have optimal brilliance and fire no matter how precisely crafted.

As part of ensuring that our Precision Lab diamonds are the best-of-the best in the market for laboratory grown diamonds we focus the inventory on HPHT “As Grown” grown diamonds for their immaculate level crystal perfection. GIA describes their superiority thusly:

“In general, colorless and near-colorless HPHT-grown diamonds have low impurity concentrations and uniform pressure is applied during growth, resulting in high crystalline perfection and very weak or almost no strain levels” (GIA- Gems and Gemology Summer 2024)

Hearts and arrows patterning alone is not a sufficient criterion for determining whether a diamond can accurately be called a super ideal. Precise alignment of facets in 3 dimensions does not preclude a diamond from having proportion faults or other factors that might result in a light performance deficit, or other cut craftsmanship issue such as painting and digging or a polish fault. This is why the details on a GIA report and the evaluation of advanced light performance images is required to determine whether a diamond is a true super ideal.

A diamond can be ideal cut without having hearts and arrows precision, and a diamond with a true hearts and arrows pattern may not be ideal cut. Proportion factors may keep a diamond from being graded ideal even though its facet alignment is perfect. Diamonds that have both are those cut within a very small range of ideal proportions and have precision faceting in 3 dimensional space, optimizing light performance.

The term super ideal, much like the term hearts and arrows, is frequently used today by companies simply using catch words without substantiating their claims of elite craftsmanship and light performance. For Whiteflash, a super ideal is a set of very exacting characteristics that together define an elite level of cut quality. And we publish the entire list of factors, all of which must be met to achieve our super ideal brand, so that our customers know exactly what they are getting and can independently hold us accountable for our claims. The full set of factors and evaluations necessary for a diamond to carry the A CUT ABOVE® brand can be found on our A CUT ABOVE® specifications and qualifications page.

Hearts and arrows diamonds are desirable for their high level of craftsmanship and facet alignment. Diamonds crafted within a small range of proportions and with outstanding facet alignment in 3D space will exhibit a precise pattern of hearts and arrows under a specialized scope. While there can be some variance within this range, true hearts and arrows patterning should be without obvious faults such as unequal or misshapen hearts, hearts that have deep clefts, hearts merged with chevrons, and missing or misaligned arrows.

While GIA does not grade hearts and arrows, IGI does issue reports that designate some diamonds as Hearts and Arrows. Our evaluation of a sample of diamonds with IGI reports with the designation of Hearts and Arrows showed a very large range of variance as documented above, some of which would not qualify as Hearts and Arrows by any objective definition of the term. The conclusion that best fits the evidence presented in this survey suggests that IGI is likely using a very tolerant algorithm applied to their scans of the diamond, as opposed to photographic or gemologist evaluation, to determine whether a diamond qualifies for their H&A designation.

While IGI does a great job in diamond grading considering their volume and price structure, particularly as relates to lab grown diamonds, customers shopping for true hearts and arrows diamonds should seek additional diagnostics rather than relying solely on an IGI designation of H&A.

Yes. IGI offers Hearts & Arrows reports, but it is uncertain how this determination is made and the variances seen suggest that these reports need to be validated with actual diamond imaging and light performance analysis.

No. Hearts and Arrows refers primarily to 3-dimensional facet alignment, also known as optical symmetry. A super ideal diamond must also meet strict standards for proportions, light performance and overall cut quality.

IGI provides a proprietary Hearts & Arrows assessment with uncertain criteria and wide variance, while Whiteflash Precision Lab applies strict criteria based on actual optical imaging, light performance analysis, and screening for additional screening such as transparency.

Look for actual Hearts & Arrows images showing consistent size hearts are cleanly separated from chevrons, and arrows that are complete and precisely aligned with arrow heads. ASET and Ideal-Scope images can further help assess the diamond's light performance.

Yes. A diamond can display a Hearts and Arrows pattern while also having faults that result in light performance deficiencies including light leakage.