Advice Needed!

[Wewechew]

True... but I’m getting “tired” on all this changing!!!
You mentioned WF... most have mentioned HPS... is that because WF might not take in trades?

Correct, WF takes trade ins on a case by case basis. I think it's worth it for you to reach out to both vendors, get a trade in quote from both (if both are able to do that), and then go from there.

 

[junebug17]

@headlight, thanks for responding! Hmm, recutting does sound like a decent option! I do understand that sometimes a diamond can just feel out of proportion. And yes, your diamond definitely has advantages. I'm going to stay tuned to see what you ultimately decide.

 

[mwilliamanderson]

https://www.whiteflash.com/loose-diamonds/round-cut-loose-diamond-3970294.htm

Here’s one. There’s a two carat E as well if you’d rather.

 

[Dancing Fire]

@headlight
Beautiful stone from Jon...
https://www.augustvintageinc.net/co...vs1-hearts-arrows-round-brilliant-cut-diamond

 

[chamois]

I feel for you.....

I would investigate all the available options to you (going with your current jeweller/trading/etc., etc.) Then make a decision based on what will make you the happiest and also give you the peace of mind in knowing that you made the best possible decision for you and your husband.
Life is so short.....

 

[cmd2014]

I wonder if you are making the need to have something perfect get in the way of being able to appreciate something really, really good. I think it might be pushing you into decisions that you later come to regret (like trading in your first marquise, and spending lots of money on trade-ins that you are still not happy with). And even thinking about having heirloom earrings recut (please, please do not do this).

You do have a stone that is beautiful, eye clean, of very high colour, and in a size most people would envy. It looks absolutely lovely in pictures, and it sounds like before you got obsessed with specs by spending too much time on here, you loved your stone. It also sounds like it performs beautifully in most lights. No stone is going to look its best in all lights. I'm just saying. Plus, you don't even know for sure if an ACA or CBI diamond would be so different to your eye that you would notice a significant difference between the two. Like with colour, some people are more cut sensitive than others. So maybe before you spend MORE money and take even MORE of a hit on a trade in stone, take a deep breath. Leave it alone for a while. Plan a trip to WF (or another super ideal vendor) at some point and compare in person your stone with one of the super ideals. See if it does actually make enough of a difference for you to make it worth trading into something smaller and gradually building up. Then decide. But I honestly think a lot of people come here loving their stones and then getting so wrapped up in the "mind clean" aspect of needing to have ideal specs that it makes it impossible to appreciate what you have. (don't get me wrong, I understand getting obsessive - but I also know that sometimes small differences between diamonds don't translate to what you can actually see with the naked eye - depending of course, on the eye). So breathe, try to love what you have, and at some point go see them in person before you decide. You'll be way happier no matter what you ultimately decide to do that way.

 

[Kaycee2018]

Sound advice, @cmd2014 I’m one of those who can’t detect the differences in the real life performance between diamonds with ideal or very near ideal proportions vs. super ideals. I am currently walking around with two potential diamonds for a ring project, both have ideal or very near ideal specs and great HCA scores, in order to view them under all types of lighting, etc, One of them came with advanced images and a slightly cleaner H&A than the other, and I know Its *supposed* perform better, but I am making myself crazy trying to see the difference. I realize I just need to get over the mental thing and go with the one I prefer rather than the one that is *supposed* to perform better and let it go. Just like clarity tolerance and color sensitively are subjective, so is cut sensitivity...especially when you are splitting hairs within the ideal ranges recommended here on PS. Take some time to enjoy your diamond and maybe at some point compare it to branded super ideals if it’s still bothering you. I think going with another non-branded super ideal from your jeweler will not satisfy you since it seems to be a mental thing and not actually a failure in the performance of the diamond. GL!

 

[nala]

I haven’t read all the posts but chiming in to say that if I’ve learned anything from PS it is that once the wheels start turning, there is no going back. Sounds like you are set on this trade. You have posted a few threads, and many posters have told you that your stone is great. Yet you continue to seek advice and ponder the issue. I say, if you can afford it, why not. Many of us have been down this road, and I speak for myself only when I say, I have no regrets. Can’t wait to see your new stone!
ETA: just promise yourself not to settle this time around!

 

[headlight]

I wonder if you are making the need to have something perfect get in the way of being able to appreciate something really, really good. I think it might be pushing you into decisions that you later come to regret (like trading in your first marquise, and spending lots of money on trade-ins that you are still not happy with). And even thinking about having heirloom earrings recut (please, please do not do this).

You do have a stone that is beautiful, eye clean, of very high colour, and in a size most people would envy. It looks absolutely lovely in pictures, and it sounds like before you got obsessed with specs by spending too much time on here, you loved your stone. It also sounds like it performs beautifully in most lights. No stone is going to look its best in all lights. I'm just saying. Plus, you don't even know for sure if an ACA or CBI diamond would be so different to your eye that you would notice a significant difference between the two. Like with colour, some people are more cut sensitive than others. So maybe before you spend MORE money and take even MORE of a hit on a trade in stone, take a deep breath. Leave it alone for a while. Plan a trip to WF (or another super ideal vendor) at some point and compare in person your stone with one of the super ideals. See if it does actually make enough of a difference for you to make it worth trading into something smaller and gradually building up. Then decide. But I honestly think a lot of people come here loving their stones and then getting so wrapped up in the "mind clean" aspect of needing to have ideal specs that it makes it impossible to appreciate what you have. (don't get me wrong, I understand getting obsessive - but I also know that sometimes small differences between diamonds don't translate to what you can actually see with the naked eye - depending of course, on the eye). So breathe, try to love what you have, and at some point go see them in person before you decide. You'll be way happier no matter what you ultimately decide to do that way.

I think this is going to be the plan!!!

 

[headlight]

Sound advice, @cmd2014 I’m one of those who can’t detect the differences in the real life performance between diamonds with ideal or very near ideal proportions vs. super ideals. I am currently walking around with two potential diamonds for a ring project, both have ideal or very near ideal specs and great HCA scores, in order to view them under all types of lighting, etc, One of them came with advanced images and a slightly cleaner H&A than the other, and I know Its *supposed* perform better, but I am making myself crazy trying to see the difference. I realize I just need to get over the mental thing and go with the one I prefer rather than the one that is *supposed* to perform better and let it go. Just like clarity tolerance and color sensitively are subjective, so is cut sensitivity...especially when you are splitting hairs within the ideal ranges recommended here on PS. Take some time to enjoy your diamond and maybe at some point compare it to branded super ideals if it’s still bothering you. I think going with another non-branded super ideal from your jeweler will not satisfy you since it seems to be a mental thing and not actually a failure in the performance of the diamond. GL!

This is really helpful!

 

[headlight]

I haven’t read all the posts but chiming in to say that if I’ve learned anything from PS it is that once the wheels start turning, there is no going back. Sounds like you are set on this trade. You have posted a few threads, and many posters have told you that your stone is great. Yet you continue to seek advice and ponder the issue. I say, if you can afford it, why not. Many of us have been down this road, and I speak for myself only when I say, I have no regrets. Can’t wait to see your new stone!
ETA: just promise yourself not to settle this time around!

I am going to let things sit for a bit and try to just enjoy and let things unfold as they do if that’s what is meant to be.

 

[kmoro]

I am going to let things sit for a bit and try to just enjoy and let things unfold as they do if that’s what is meant to be.

@headlight, I’m pretty sure that I am also one of the people who said your diamond is beautiful. At the same time, I completely understand the “mind-clean” issues, and have made less popular (and more expensive) choices based on my own.

I have to say that buying for my mind issues has left me completely thrilled with my diamonds - still no regrets at all.

I used to suggest that you enjoy your beautiful diamond, but seeing that there is another thread here ... I think you really need to trade it for something that you will be happy with. As @Dancing Fire says, it’s harder to find a mind-clean stone than an eye-clean stone ... and despite my recent posts saying why worry about 76 vs 77 LGFs, lol, really you need to have a mind-clean diamond - otherwise, what is the point if you don’t really enjoy it?

 

[headlight]

@headlight, I’m pretty sure that I am also one of the people who said your diamond is beautiful. At the same time, I completely understand the “mind-clean” issues, and have made less popular (and more expensive) choices based on my own.

I have to say that buying for my mind issues has left me completely thrilled with my diamonds - still no regrets at all.

I used to suggest that you enjoy your beautiful diamond, but seeing that there is another thread here ... I think you really need to trade it for something that you will be happy with. As @Dancing Fire says, it’s harder to find a mind-clean stone than an eye-clean stone ... and despite my recent posts saying why worry about 76 vs 77 LGFs, lol, really you need to have a mind-clean diamond - otherwise, what is the point if you don’t really enjoy it?

... and the angst begins again lol! Clearly the journey continues!!! Thanks for the input.

 

[Wewechew]

@headlight, I’m pretty sure that I am also one of the people who said your diamond is beautiful. At the same time, I completely understand the “mind-clean” issues, and have made less popular (and more expensive) choices based on my own.

I have to say that buying for my mind issues has left me completely thrilled with my diamonds - still no regrets at all.

I used to suggest that you enjoy your beautiful diamond, but seeing that there is another thread here ... I think you really need to trade it for something that you will be happy with. As @Dancing Fire says, it’s harder to find a mind-clean stone than an eye-clean stone ... and despite my recent posts saying why worry about 76 vs 77 LGFs, lol, really you need to have a mind-clean diamond - otherwise, what is the point if you don’t really enjoy it?

This 100%. And I say this as also one that had to learn the hard way (and spent way too much money), only to end up with a super ideal.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

If you would like to share a picture or two of the earrings, it would be wonderful to see them! Pretty please?

 

[headlight]

If you would like to share a picture or two of the earrings, it would be wonderful to see them! Pretty please?

I was just LITERALLY thinking about the earrings I had inherited and was going to post that they are not antique cuts... they are round brills... my point was that my grandmother had them a long time ago and she has been deceased a long time, hence they may have been cut during a period of time where stones weren't being cut for optimal performance, I don't know... but they are not antique cuts. I will say that they sparkle like mad, it is just the optical pattern isn't what one would look for today (although my new one isn't, either lol!).
I am in the middle of a project, but will take a photo ASAP and post them. I do not anticipate they will lose much weight in the effort toward making them cut to ideal proportions and given I already have so much to work with on size, I am willing to lose some weight if they can be made even more beautiful than they are. Will post soon. But, just for clarification, they are not antique cuts... I would never take an antique and recut to a MRB.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

I would never take an antique and recut to a MRB.

Bless you!

 

[srke]

Just my 2c, I think you are primarily having reservations because of a few numbers, and having read all the threads on PS about ideal spec and super ideal stones, some part of your stone is no longer mind clean for you. While numbers can make it easier to get a good stone, they are no guarantee that a stone would be good or bad or that you will like it more or less. The risk of getting your current jeweller to find something that is better by the numbers, is that you could end up just not liking the flavour of it as much as your current stone, even if the numbers are more in line with recommended stats.
My ering since has a 62.4 depth and if I went with recommended ranges, I would never have considered it. For a long while I did think it was too deep and this probably smaller than it should be, until I realised it always seemed to have a larger diameter than many super ideals of the same carat with depths in the 61%s. And I realised that because of the super small 54%table and high crown(16%) that depth didn't really matter. All this to say that the numbers don't always say everything, especially not when it comes to one or two numbers, which seems with your mention of the girdle and depth, what is mainly eating at you.

That said though, if something is not mind clean, you may end up spending a lot of time and money and energy chasing the illusion of perfection, when it would have been cheaperiif you had just gone and got what have satisfied you as perfect straight from the start.
Part of the problem obviously is that there is always some form if settling for good enough, and you tell yourself that getting a GIA 3x cut will be good enough within your budget and colour and size requirements. But at the back of your mind the "good enough" never actually is. I think if you upgrade to another gia3x with different numbers , you may still end up wondering that it may not be the best and whether you should have gone for a branded superideal instead.

There are vendors with decent return policies to let order a stone and judge in person whether in the end you can see or will want the difference in the "better" numbers. Or maybe you can get a small starter super ideal, made into a pendant or RHR, or something else to add to you collection. And that way you can take the time to decide how much you would actually appreciate those "ideal" numbers, and owing a superideal stone in another piece might scratch the itch of needing to have something you think to be perfect, especially if you decide you can't see enough of a difference to justify having to sacrifice something else in you ering stone.
I definitely wouldn't buy another marquis though to replace the ering. I think you will end up forever chasing the dream of the first stone, and there will always be something less than perfect, or slightly off, as it sounds be the same stone. I think, if you like the look of marquis, then when funds permit, getting another marquis made into another item of jewellery but without the idea of it being a stand in for the one that was lost, will lead to less angst in the end.

 

[mwilliamanderson]

@dreamer_dachsie I love this advice!

 

[cmd2014]

@headlight

Your studs are likely some kind of transitional cut. If they sparkle like mad like you say, why mess with them? Again, I think you may be getting wrapped up in becoming obsessed by things that may or may not necessarily affect the beauty of the piece that you own.

The other thing is that people sometimes forget that they get to choose how they feel about something. You can choose to focus on perceived flaws, or you can choose to appreciate what you have. The grass grows where you water it... (and this board sometimes isn't a healthy influence on people who may be prone to obsessing over perceived flaws).

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I'd definitely get the heirloom studs recut because that could make them outstanding! But ONLY recut if a superideal vendor will do it! Maybe the recut will reduce the size enough for you to wear them!

No to the marquise, as others have said. There is zero purpose in doing that unless you had been able to get the original back.

I get the desire to have the best possible cut. I am sure I could search and find all the measurements of your current stone, but if you don't mind, please post them again here as I just don't remember.

I have had a non-superideal a couple of times, but they were within ideal cut parameters:
table 34-35
depth 60-62.3 (63.4 isn't bad)
crown angle 34-35.0
pavilion angle 40.6-40.9

I am curious how far off your numbers are from these. If they are outside these numbers, then it's super easy to give your jeweler the numbers above and tell him that you won't consider anything outside of those numbers. Stones definitely exist within those numbers. I would not take a chance going below VS2 in a 2+ ct stone that you can't exchange again. So I personally would encourage you to consider F color. Truly, a really terrific cut stone looks great in every color, and F is white! But only you can decide if you can sacrifice one color grade for better cut.