When various observers of different ages were shown the three stones and asked to rank them in size order, more than half thought the lightest shallow diamond (A) had the largest diameter; bigger even than the stone that weighs 12% more. This is probably because the light return at the edges is better as is evident in the photo on the dark background shown here again in Figure 6. OctoNus DiamCalc shows that although this stone has somewhat reduced light return from the table, the crown facet light return is very high.

Figure 6. The shallow stone on the left would be the best value if size counts.

It is true that few experts like shallow proportioned diamonds, however as a diamond retailer I know that many consumers do.

When all three stones are dirty, with the usual grease etc, then the shallow 'Very Good' stone will look the best of the three.