INTRODUCTION GUIDELINES Update June 2009 GUIDELINES: HEARTS AND ARROWS BY HRD ANTWERP For a diamond to receive the HRD Antwerp Hearts and Arrows grade both the hearts pattern and the arrows pattern have to comply to all the guidelines. The pattern is evaluated for each guideline. Each guideline has a safe zone, a border zone and a reject zone. If the pattern fully complies to the guideline the pattern is in the safe zone (zero penalty) for that guideline. In the other case, the pattern does not fully comply to the guideline and a penalty is given proportionally to the defect in the pattern. The pattern evaluation is situated in the guideline border zone when the penalty is between 0 and 1. A penalty of l, reject zone, results in immediate rejection of the pattern. To decide if the diamond is rewarded the Hearts and Arrows by HRD Antwerp mark, the total sum of the penalties for the hearts pattern and for the arrows pattern is calculated. If and only if both sums are less than 1 the Hearts and Arrows by HRD Antwerp mark is given. The standard reference for an HRD Antwerp Hearts and Arrows is a zero penalty or safe zone for all guidelines. An example of this standard reference is shown at the bottom of this page. Using the penalty system described above, some deviation from the standard reference is tolerated. On the following pages each guideline is described and examples are given that demonstrate the penalty in case of defect for that guideline. The examples are classified in three categories: low penalty, medium penalty and high penalty. Note that the guideline examples are selected to demonstrate the guideline only and that the penalty category does not state a final result for the pattern. Example of standard reference
HEARTS GUIDELINE 1 8 REGULAR SHAPED HEARTS A pattern of eight regular shaped hearts should be visible. Missing hearts or extremely irregular shaped hearts result in rejection. No pattern visible Missing hearts Extreme irregular shape
HEARTS GUIDELINE 2 UNIFORM INTENSITY The eight hearts should be sufficiently bright and the overall pattern brightness should be uniform. Remark: Reflections of impurities in the diamond have a negative effect on the uniformity of the brightness of the pattern.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 3 NO COLOURATION The hearts should not show any colour. The presence of the typical blue or yellow colour in one or more of the hearts results in a penalty proportional to the total area showing colour and the saturation of the colour.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 4 SMALL VARIATION SIZE All hearts should have the same size. A variation in size results in a penalty proportional to this variation.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 5 NO OR SMALL INCISION An extra incision in the split of the heart should be avoided. Incisions in the hearts will result in a penalty proportional to the size and the variation in size of the incisions.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 6 NO POINTED SHOULDERS The shoulders of the hearts should be flattened. Hearts with pointed shoulders result in a penalty proportional to the number of pointed shoulders. A majority of pointed shoulders leads to rejection. Remark: Pointed shoulders is a result of large tables (>60%).
HEARTS GUIDELINE 7 SMALL VARIATION SHOULDERS WIDTH All shoulders should have the same width. A variation in shoulder width of the hearts results in a penalty proportional to this variation.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 8 SYMMETRICAL HEARTS The hearts should have symmetrical points. Asymmetrical points are a result of an offset between the left side and the right side of the hearts. This asymmetry results in a penalty proportional to the offset.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 9 GAP BETWEEN HEART AND V There should be a space between the heart and the V. The separation between the heart and the V must be crisp to avoid rejection. For border cases a penalty is given.
HEARTS GUIDELINE 10 BALANCED V`S The center pattern consisting of eight V`s should be well balanced. A disturbance of the symmetry in the V pattern results in a penalty proportional to the disturbance. An upperlimit on the penalty prevents immediate rejection. High penalty
ARROWS GUIDELINE 1 8 REGULAR SHAPED ARROWS A pattern of eight regular shaped arrows should be visible. Missing arrows or extremely irregular shaped arrows result in rejection. No pattern visible Missing arrows Extremely irregular shape
ARROWS GUIDELINE 2 UNIFORM INTENSITY The eight arrows should be sufficiently bright and the overall pattern brightness should be uniform. Remark: Reflections of impurities in the diamond have a negative effect on the uniformity of the brightness of the pattern.
ARROWS GUIDELINE 3 NO COLOURATION The arrows should not show any colour. The presence of the typical yellow or blue colour in one or more arrows results in a penalty proportional to the total area showing colour and the saturation of the colour.
ARROWS GUIDELINE 4 SMALL VARIATION IN SIZE All arrows should have the same size. A variation in size results in a penalty proportional to this variation. Remark: Variation in size often occurs together with excentricity of the central pattern.
ARROWS GUIDELINE 5 CENTRAL PATTERN DIAMETER The star shaped central pattern, formed by the basis of the shafts of the arrows should not be too large or too small. Large central patterns result in a penalty proportional to the diameter of the central pattern. Very small central patterns result in rejection. Too small > rejected Too large > rejected Remark: A large central pattern is a consequence of short arrows.
ARROWS GUIDELINE 6 CENTRAL PATTERN SHAPE In the ideal case the central pattern is a perfectly symmetrical star shape. The central pattern may show deviations from this ideal star shape as long as the pattern remains regular shaped. Regular shaped implies an 8-fold symmetry for the central pattern. The presence of symmetry deviations in the central pattern results in a penalty proportional to these deviations.
ARROWS GUIDELINE 7 NO CLUSTERING Clustering is the disturbance of the arrows pattern by white areas that surround the shafts of the arrows. Clustering results in a penalty proportional to the total cluster area and the cluster brightness. Remark: Extreme clustering annihilates the star shape of the center pattern.
ARROWS GUIDELINE 8 POINT-SHAFT ALIGNMENT The point and the shaft of each arrow should be aligned. In other words the major axis of the point and the shaft of each arrow should coincide. A difference in angle or position of the major axis of the point and the shaft results in a penalty.