Solasfera

[oatmealhp]

Solas-what? Can I get the opinions of board in regards to Solasfera cut stones. Worth the money?

 

[strmrdr]

I wish I could see one of them.
Im of 2 minds about them.
The data looks awesome, the pictures look awesome, Jon says they are awesome but with every one of the extra facet cuts Iv seen I prefere the look of a super-ideal h&a RB.
Its not that some of them Iv seen arent awesome they just dont appeal to me over a wide range of lighting as much as the best of the H&A diamonds.
So without having seen one I cant really answer your question.
Solasfera may very well be the cut that unseats the super-ideal h&a cut as my ultimate choice in round diamonds but I cant say for sure.

 

[Rhino]

Date: 3/1/2005 2

5:35 PM
Author:oatmealhp
Solas-what? Can I get the opinions of board in regards to Solasfera cut stones. Worth the money?

Solas ... *FERA*.

Solasfera diamonds are perhaps the pinnacle of super ideals. If you take all the geeky knowledge of these boards and roll them all up into one diamond you have a Solasfera.

Last year while attending one of the trade shows I saw the booth and it''s advertisements intrigued me so I investigated further. Here was a diamond that ...

a. is built off the H&A foundation.
b. They''ve taken red reflector technology and maxed out what they could accomplish with this technology. Ie. the results of their stones under this technology is NO blatant light leakage. Hence a Solasfera''s IS image will show no white.
c. They''ve also taken the B''scope technology and built upon this as well. The goal? Max out all 3 metrics.

The finished product the cutting has resulted in is a diamiond that displays some of the most incredible brilliance you''ll observe in every light condition perceivable. When clients come to the store we''ll show them next to the other rounds we feature and there are many people who do choose it over the others. While they are perhaps the most technically engineered diamonds, beauty is still in the eye of the beholder so we would always recommend a comparison next to say a more traditional stone. However if its a traditional *blah* stone, a Solasfera will kick the pants off of it. It must be a cherry H&A for the optics to at least be almost comparable. If you did bypass the comparison (which I would recommend that you do) I can tell you that if you do get a Solasfera you are *safely* getting one of the most rare and beautifully cut diamonds in the world.

If you have any other questions I work with these kind of stones on a daily basis and can answer any questions you may have about them.

Kind regards,

 

[noobie]

Date: 3/1/2005 5:57:24 PM
Author: Rhino

If you have any other questions I work with these kind of stones on a daily basis and can answer any questions you may have about them.

OK you asked .... what''s the approximate premium for a Solasfera over a comparable size and spec''d ideal H&A round? Are we talking Jubilee range and H&A cushion range or are we talking Tiffany range?

 

[Dancing Fire]

o.k. Rhino

even thought i can''t afford it ,never could afford something that i can''t pronounce, but any way, here''s my question...am i correct to assume,with the extra facets the solasfera "flashes" are smaller compared to a traditional H&A ideal cuts? what about your eighternity?

 

[mdx]

Not everyone’s taste, I like the look of them in the larger sizes (above 1crt.) They look a bit busy in the smaller sizes however.

There is nothing really spectacular about the design though, they are basically the same as the normal ideal cuts we love but with 10 fold symmetry instead of 8 fold.

The extra facets created by the 10fold symmetry create a very pleasing optical effect.

There is a lot of extra faceting work in this cut so in this case I feel a premium in price is certainly justified

Johan

 

[AGBF]

Jonathan-

One more word out of you and you will hit 2,000 postings! I must say that they are all substantive, too. You are the repository of a lot of what you call, here, "geeky knowledge". Congratulations!

Deborah

 

[Rhino]

Actually I''m meeting with representatives from their company today. There may be some changes so as soon as we''re done with our meeting I''ll fill ya''ll in on the details.

 

[Rhino]

Date: 3/2/2005 7:37

2 AM
Author: AGBF
Jonathan-

One more word out of you and you will hit 2,000 postings! I must say that they are all substantive, too. You are the repository of a lot of what you call, here, ''geeky knowledge''. Congratulations!

Deborah

DOH! I just noticed this Deb! THANKS for the congrats!!! Shall we celebrate the old fashioned way? Who starts the thread?

 

[Maxine]

So Jonathan, are you an official "Geek" now??????????????

 

[Rhino]

Date: 3/2/2005 1

7:27 PM
Author: Maxine
So Jonathan, are you an official ''Geek'' now??????????????

Honey... I started the club. Insofar as I''m aware of I''ve coined the phrase firstly in our tutorial "Cut Analysis 101" in a paragraph on that tutorial that states...

"This is some neat stuff huh? You bet! hehe... I was thinking of naming this page "For Cut Geeks Only". If you''ve read through this and are interested in this data when it comes to making your purchase and YOU KNOW you want a true precision cut stone, just confess it to me up front ... Jonathan ... I''ll admit it! I''m a cut geek! That''ll give me an idea of what you''re looking for in cut quality. "

Since then many emails sent to me are from confessed "cut geeks".

 

[JohnQuixote]

Congrats Jonathan!

 

[Lynn B]

Jonathon,

Two questions...

How do the Solasfera stones do in the I-See-2 machine? And...

Can you possibly please post a few photos (different angles, lighting, etc.) of a Solasfera stone beside an ideal-cut H & A? That would be so interesting for those of us who may otherwise never get to see one or "compare".

THANK YOU!

Lynn

 

[Rhino]

Date: 3/1/2005 6:14:20 PM
Author: noobie

Date: 3/1/2005 5:57:24 PM
Author: Rhino

If you have any other questions I work with these kind of stones on a daily basis and can answer any questions you may have about them.

OK you asked .... what''s the approximate premium for a Solasfera over a comparable size and spec''d ideal H&A round? Are we talking Jubilee range and H&A cushion range or are we talking Tiffany range?

Hi Noobie,

Good question. The answer is slightly over Jube/SQHA range ... still considerably less than Tiff range. The company, in the interest of watching for their other retail distributors, do not want me to disclose prices over the net but if you pm or email me I can discuss any precise monetary values with you.

 

[Rhino]

Date: 3/2/2005 1:20:28 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
o.k. Rhino

even thought i can''t afford it ,never could afford something that i can''t pronounce, but any way, here''s my question...am i correct to assume,with the extra facets the solasfera ''flashes'' are smaller compared to a traditional H&A ideal cuts? what about your eighternity?

Good questions too DF.

Firstly ... you *can* afford one DF, even if you can''t pronounce it.

Regarding the character of it''s optics. ... in direct light conditions YES you do get many more smaller flashes, however in the mix you also get some really intense bursts of fire too. Their brightness is overwhelming. One of my upcoming projects is to capture, in high definition video, comparisons of these and all the other new cuts/shapes in various light conditions to show our clients the differences between the round products we feature. People still choose the H&A''s as they are more familiar with them but the more people see and become exposed to these 2nd generation super ideals, the more that people are choosing for them.

As compared to an H&A round I would say this. It is a little easier to resolve the flashes of light within an H&A round as they will be more random. In a Solasfera there are so many flashes happening at once. Words don''t do it justice. When I''m showing both side by side I always let our clients know that they are observing 2 diamonds of the highest caliber (and when an Eighternity is in the mix ... 3) as very few diamonds in the world have the optical properties of stones like em. When we''re showing all 3 rounds I''d say it''s a pretty even split regarding what people choose.

The Eighternity ... another awesome 2nd gen stone. Completely different optical design altogether with an emphasis on scintillation. You .. DF ... have got to take a peek at these down the road. I am confident you''ll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Rhino]

Date: 3/2/2005 6:18:17 PM
Author: Lynn B
Jonathon,

Two questions...

How do the Solasfera stones do in the I-See-2 machine? And...

Can you possibly please post a few photos (different angles, lighting, etc.) of a Solasfera stone beside an ideal-cut H & A? That would be so interesting for those of us who may otherwise never get to see one or ''compare''.

THANK YOU!

Lynn

Here are a couple of Solafera''s on the Isee2. They always get outstanding results via diffuse light testing. This was one unknown the manufacturers didn''t have access to when then began the project as they didn''t have access to this technology. Obviously they were pleasantly surprised.

 

[Rhino]

Here are a couple of different shots. H&A on the left, Solasfera on the right.

 

[Rhino]

Here''s one at an angle.

 

[Lynn B]

Thanks, Jon! It is SOOO interesting to see those two side-by-side. Fascinating!

Is it just the photo -- (or just my eyes

) -- but does the Solasfera have almost a "shattered" type of look to it from a certain angle?

And... just one more thing, please, sir...

If you get a chance sometime, could you possibly post a few photos of the Eighternity for comparison, as well? (You DO mention all three, you know, piquing our interest!

)

And one LAST question (for now, anyway!) -- what're the differences between an Eighternity and an Eightstar? (And if I should already know this, please forgive!)

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks!

Lynn