Hearts & Arrows Diagrams: What’s Real vs Photoshop

Hearts & Arrows (H&A) photos have become a shorthand for “precision cut” round brilliant diamonds. The images are meant to show perfect symmetry: eight arrows from the crown and eight hearts from the pavilion. But not every H&A photo you see is an honest picture of what the diamond looks like. Some images are accurate. Others are enhanced, staged, or completely fabricated. This article explains how real H&A patterns are created, why they matter, how to spot Photoshop or staged images, and what to ask sellers before you buy.

What creates a true Hearts & Arrows pattern?

The H&A pattern is not a surface engraving. It’s an optical effect produced by the diamond’s facet geometry and alignment. Two things must be true for clear H&A images:

• Precise facet angles and proportions. Typical ranges for classic H&A rounds are a crown angle around 34.0–35.0°, pavilion angle around 40.4–41.0°, and table between 53–58%. These ranges keep facet reflections aligned so the pattern appears.
• Near-perfect facet symmetry and girdle centering. Mains, halves, and star facets must meet and align. A slightly off-center pavilion or uneven girdle breaks the pattern.

Why these numbers matter: light paths inside the diamond follow the facets. If angles are outside those ranges, the internal reflections shift and the clean eight-heart/eight-arrow geometry vanishes.

Why H&A matters — and what it doesn’t prove

A crisp H&A image shows excellent symmetry. That usually correlates with good light return. But H&A alone does not guarantee brilliance or fire. Two reasons:

• Windowing. A stone can show H&A yet be “windowed” — it leaks light through large open areas and looks less sparkly in normal lighting.
• Other cut details. Polish, facet finish, culet size, and slight variations in crown/pavilion angles influence appearance. H&A is a symmetry pattern, not a complete light-performance score.

Common ways H&A photos are faked or exaggerated

Photos can be altered in many ways. Here are the most common tricks and why they’re misleading.

• Photoshop overlays. Sellers sometimes overlay vector shapes — perfect hearts and arrows drawn on top of the image. These always look too uniform and have clean edges. They don’t change with rotation and often sit above the surface in the file.
• Contrast and levels pushed too far. Boosting contrast can make faint patterns appear stronger. Extreme contrast hides “windows” and other flaws by turning subtle gray tones into solid black or white.
• Clone stamping and mirroring. Repeating a single good segment across the image produces a pattern that is mathematically perfect. In real stones, tiny variations exist.
• Staged lighting and multiple exposures. Photographers can blend shots under different lighting to exaggerate symmetry or remove reflections that reveal misalignment.

How to tell if an H&A photo is real

Look for these signs of authenticity. Each one explains why it matters.

• Natural imperfections. In a real H&A photo you’ll often see tiny asymmetries: one heart slightly different, a small dark speck, or slight edge blur. Perfect uniformity is suspicious because real polishing leaves micro-variations.
• Consistent depth cues. Zoom in. Real photos show depth: reflections wrap around facet junctions and there’s natural noise. Fake images can have flat, smooth areas with identical pixel patterns.
• Rotation behavior. Ask for a short video inside a hearts-and-arrows viewer while rotating the diamond 180°. Real patterns rotate consistently and slight changes appear as the stone turns. Overlays do not change with rotation.
• Matching crown and pavilion views. Request both crown (arrows) and pavilion (hearts) images taken in the same session. The patterns should align — the arrow shafts line up with the hearts’ tops. If they don’t, someone may have paired unrelated images.
• Unedited files. Ask for the raw camera file or an uncompressed image. Heavy JPEG compression, repeated identical noise, or missing EXIF data are red flags.

Tools and tests you can request

If you’re buying online, ask the seller for specific diagnostics. These tests are practical and hard to fake convincingly.

• Video through a hearts-and-arrows viewer. A real viewer produces distinct black-and-white contrast. A live rotation video shows consistent motion of the pattern.
• ASET or Ideal-Scope image. These tools map light return and leakage. They show if the stone is windowed even when H&A appears strong.
• Scale reference. Request a ruler or known object (like a 1.00 ct round at ~6.45–6.55 mm) in the frame. This proves the photo is of the actual diamond and not a stock image.
• Independent inspection. If possible, view the diamond in person or ask for a third-party appraisal that includes scope images.

Practical buying advice

If you want a true H&A stone, follow these steps.

• Buy from sellers who show unedited scope photos and videos. Transparency matters. Reputable sellers will supply them without hesitation.
• Request proportion numbers. Ask for crown angle, pavilion angle, table percentage, and diameter in mm. Compare those to the ranges that typically produce H&A patterns.
• Don’t pay only for the label. A certified H&A with supporting scope images is worth a premium. But don’t pay extra for a single perfect photo without the supporting data.
• Consider size limits. In tiny stones (under ~0.30 ct, diameter < ~4.0 mm) H&A is hard to produce and to see. Expect the pattern to be subtle or absent even with excellent cutting.

In short: real Hearts & Arrows images reflect precise cutting and symmetry. Many images you see online are enhanced or fabricated. Ask for raw scope photos, rotation videos, and proportion numbers. Those things prove the pattern and, more importantly, the stone’s optical performance.