OEC Thoughts

[DenverMx]

Hi folks,

When my close friend was newly-engaged and turned me on to this site, I was hesitant to believe the hype re: helpfulness and guidance. Boy, was I wrong. Now that I'm earnestly in the hunt for an engagement ring for my gal, this site has been tremendously helpful. With that being said, I've been looking at OEC stones, and have been shown a number of them. I'm in the $10,000-$11,000 stone budget range, and at the moment, I'm considering a 1.91 L VS2 GIA stone. I did see it yesterday, sorry no pictures yet, and having seen a few OECs, I fully understand that they are all so unique, and the numbers can't really carry you all the way like they could with a modern cut. But I'd like to get some reaction to them, so here are the specs:

1.91ct L VS2 GIA
Measurements: 8.07 - 8.15 x 4.62 mm
Depth: 57.0 %
Table: 44 %
Girdle: Very Thin to Slightly Thick
Culet: Large
Polish: Good
Symmetry: Good
Fluorescence: None
Note cavities shown in the GIA report below
link:http://www.gia.edu/cs/Satellite?pag...&c=Page&cid=1355954554547&reportno=2155964667

Briefly, based on some looking on this site and discussion with the jeweler, at GIA VS2, the cavities should not be a concern from a durability or visibility standpoint, sound right?

Having compared the measurements to the Dave Atlas chart, it looks like the table % is a little low (falls in the Modern Cut Class 3 range), but the Depth is is good.

In terms of looks, as the measurements show, this stone has a great spread, and faces up very large and white. Larger than the 2+ carats I was also looking at (and a whole lot cheaper!). On the optics front, I compared it to a 2.01 carat with a GIA Excellent cut (I understand there aren't a ton of those) and the Excellent cut did win the optics for me, but not by a ton. The 1.9 held its own and looked far better than the much deeper 2 carat with a smaller spread. There was good fire across the stone, but the petals at the center weren't quite as pronounced as I would have liked, but it was incredibly stunning and came out my sure favorite.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks very much!

 

[liaerfbv]

OECs need to be seen and can't be evaluated by numbers. Can you get close up (macro) shots of the faceting?

 

[tyty333]

Can you get an aset image of it? You know it's shallow right?

Try looking at it in all different kinds of lighting. Can you see through the stone at all?

 

[arkieb1]

OECs are not like RBs they were handcut to look the best they can with what the cutter had to work with so they can have numbers all over the shop and still look O.K. Dave Atlas's guide is just that a guide. A stone with an acceptable depth and a teeny tiny table can look great provided its got a nice crown height to go with it and it's not what a call a flatty up top. In fact I think a lot of stones with tiny tiny tables are complete fireballs!!!

Do you have a pic? Seeing pics or a video of the stone are great ways to tell.

 

[DenverMx]

Still working on the photo front. Will update when I can.

It's certainly sub 60% in depth, but it didn't strike me as absurdly shallow. Does its wide diameter play into this? Also, what types of things should I look out for visually given the depth and other numbers.

 

[arkieb1]

Honestly with the little info on the GIA report, I judge what I look at with my eyes, it would be helpful if you can post some good clear pics top down so we can see the cut pattern, and if there are any dark dead areas (that might be leakage) and maybe one pic side on so we can look at the crown height and the overall depth. If the place is able to take an ASET image of the stone that would be even better again.

 

[DenverMx]

Thanks a lot, arkieb. I'll work on getting a photo together if possible!

 

[misskittycat]

I agree with Arkie - I have a pair of diamond studs, the tables are completely different sizes, the numbers are totally different and yet they perform very very similarly. And there is almost 10 points difference in the size, yet they face up within 0.1mm of each other. On paper they wouldn't work but in person they are great...

So there is very little we can say until we see pictures.

 

[luvdajules]

Hi OP, did you see this OEC posted earlier by tyty333 in another post? How does your stone compare? Is this an option? I think it's lovely.
http://www.loveaffairdiamonds.com/1-89ct-old-european-cut-diamond-gia-k-si1/

 

[mercoledi]

I would throw this into the mix too, same stats as your stone but has images (and a trusted old cut diamond vendor to back it up).

listing:
http://www.jewelsbygrace.com/rings/...opean-cut-diamond-solitaire.html#.VC1qlitAQV0

images:
http://jewelsbygrace.smugmug.com/Vintage-and-Antique-Rings/191ct-Old-European-Cut-Diamond/

 

[DenverMx]

Thanks, everyone! Here's a link to a video of the stone--the quality is okay in the link, but I got a better image downloading the small file: http://www.mediafire.com/view/4vsu52dbqt4d45a/1.91OldEuro.mov
I'm working on getting a better close-up/macro shot for the faceting. Would love your thoughts!

Thanks!

 

[DenverMx]

Update--Here's a shot of the stone face up:



And here's the prior link to the video of the stone: http://www.mediafire.com/view/4vsu52dbqt4d45a/1.91OldEuro.mov

Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

[liaerfbv]

It doesn't appeal to me. It looks better in the video than the still shot, but I like my OECs to have crisper facets under the table. It looks mushy.

 

[liaerfbv]

Hi OP, did you see this OEC posted earlier by tyty333 in another post? How does your stone compare? Is this an option? I think it's lovely.
http://www.loveaffairdiamonds.com/1-89ct-old-european-cut-diamond-gia-k-si1/

Love this one.

 

[luvdajules]

I'm sorry, but I agree, a little mushy in the middle, but the perimeter is nice. I think you should contact Erica at LAD for the oec. I think that would be a better bet, facet wise and color. You have some nice options and a great budget to find something wonderful. Good luck.

 

[DenverMx]

Thanks so much for everyone's input. An update: I agreed with everyone's views on the original stone, and passed. In turn, I pulled the trigger on the 1.89ct K SI1 from Erica at LAD!!! It couldn't have been more perfect, and I received the stone last weekend. I spent some time with it and I love it! I dropped it off with the folks at Ken and Dana Design here in NYC, who are creating the setting for me. The stone will be set in a four prong, 14K rose gold setting with milgrain/diamond detail similar to the image below. Thanks so much for everyone's help, and especially to Erica at LAD. Can't wait for the finished product.

 

[Crazie4Cuts]

DenverMX, did you get the ring back already? If so, please post pics if you can so others like myself will benefit! Thank you!

 

[DenverMx]

Hi Everyone, and Happy New Year. I'm sorry for my slowness in getting back to all the helpful folks here at Pricescope. It's been quite the last few months. Happy to say that we are engaged!! With all your help, and a huge help from Erica at LoveAffair diamonds, my ring from Ken and Dana Designs came out absolutely stunning. And most of all, my gal was over the moon! So, I wanted to come back and put a few pics of the final product. Sorry for the iPhone quality pictures.

Regarding the ring, I designed the setting with the great folks at Ken and Dana Designs. After doing some serious snooping on my gal's Pinterest, and working off her general taste for more vintage things in life, I made some mock up drawings, and met with the jeweler to discuss thing. We took some more inspiration from rings at K&DD and elsewhere. Ultimately, we finalized a 14K rose gold setting. At that point, I was going on faith, as I purposefully was keeping the whole thing under wraps, and gave zero hint of it to my fiancee--this made the ultimate proposal an absolute surprise, which was really special. The setting has an ornate four prong basket, and five side stones on each side along with migraine detailing leading up to the center stone. Of course, I went with LAD's 1.89 OEC K Faint Brown, SI1 stone. Together, the setting and the stone are just perfect and my fiancee absolutely LOVES it. The stone is a real chameleon, and really sucks up the surrounding light and colors, particularly the rose gold. Above all, the stone just sparkles like nothing I've seen. After having it appraised, it looks like the stone is in that early transitional period, early twentieth century. We love it! Really glad to have had all you PS folks' help during this. Thanks, guys!

 

[diamondhelp123]

stunning!!

 

[misskittycat]

Gorgeous stone - and ring!! You did brilliantly!

 

[arkieb1]

Oooooh that's lovely congrats!!!!

 

[woofmama]

Gorgeous ring! Congratulations

 

[JulieN]

Wow that is stunning

 

[gregchang35]

WOW!!! that is realy nice.. congrats on engagement and the ring!

wear in good health.

 

[missy]

GORGEOUS! YAY for getting the OEC ring of your dreams.
Congratulations on your engagement!

 

[tyty333]

Wow! It turned out beautiful! Nice job!

 

[kathley]

Absolutely gorgeous!

 

[akoya]

Hi!
Do u think u can have a few pics of yr ring @ different lights? sunlight / daylight? like to see how yr ring looks face up n the side. i was also looking at a K, faint brown but with medium blue fluro at the moment. i dont think i will be able to find one in the store to check things out so it will be based on www purchase.
How do you think the diamond color is altered by having a rose gold setting? it looks more pink? more bright? less brown or more brown etc?
Thank you!

 

[ericad]

I turned out amazing, DenverMX!!!! I'm so happy that you both love the diamond - it was meant to be yours! Enjoy it in good health and happiness, always.

Yay for OEC's!!!