After months and months of searching, I think I may have found my stone. It arrived via Fed-Ex this morning and I have done nothing but play with it at my desk all day! 
It is a 3.08 antique cushion circa 1890-1910. It has the classic chunky facets, open culet, high crown angles, and a somewhat irregular outline. Not everyone''s cup of tea and I''m sure that the specs on paper are not going to be impressive, but it has a lot of personality
This has been a long time coming - almost 2 years ago, I saw my first antique cushion and I knew I had to have one! When hubby and I finally had the $$ to be able to purchase one about 6 months ago, I had no luck at all. I looked at a 1.75 H VS1 at stardustantiques.com, and various stones and rings at M. Khordipour (estatediamondjewelry.com), Israel Rose (newyorkestatejewelry.com), Fay Cullen, Nelsons Rarities, Singlestone, and a B&M in Philly - Martin Pulli. At the time, no one had any inventory that exactly matched what I was looking for (2-3 ct., eye-clean, J-color +). Ari Madilian at Singlestone found a couple of stones that were close, but were not quite there...
I got in touch with Tim at goodoldgold and the cushion-king Mark T to start looking for newly-cut cushions in the old style. Both gentlemen were very gracious and showed me some beautiful stones that were cut in an older style, but the new stones just didn''t quite have the same charm.
Ari called me late on my cell phone the other night (he''s on the West coast - I''m EST) to tell me that he just returned from a buying trip and thought he had found "my stone." For people interested in antique stones, I would highly recommend him - he really knows his stuff!
Now, the stone doesn''t come with a grading report and I have an appointment with Martin Fuller on Saturday. I''m trying not to get too attached until I get the results from the appraisal, just in case I end up returning it. It''s supposed to be a J/K. It is totally eye-clean from about 3 inches away and I''ll pull out my loupe tonight
The stone is definitely not icy white - not that I was expecting it to be - and compared to my 0.9 ct RB G-color w/ Med. fluorsecence, the color faces up a little warmer in my office lighting, but the stones look the same in bathroom lighting. From the pavillion, the slightly yellow tinge is pretty apparent. I have some time to return it if I decide that it bothers me...
Pics to come after work tonight if my camera will cooperate!
It is a 3.08 antique cushion circa 1890-1910. It has the classic chunky facets, open culet, high crown angles, and a somewhat irregular outline. Not everyone''s cup of tea and I''m sure that the specs on paper are not going to be impressive, but it has a lot of personality This has been a long time coming - almost 2 years ago, I saw my first antique cushion and I knew I had to have one! When hubby and I finally had the $$ to be able to purchase one about 6 months ago, I had no luck at all. I looked at a 1.75 H VS1 at stardustantiques.com, and various stones and rings at M. Khordipour (estatediamondjewelry.com), Israel Rose (newyorkestatejewelry.com), Fay Cullen, Nelsons Rarities, Singlestone, and a B&M in Philly - Martin Pulli. At the time, no one had any inventory that exactly matched what I was looking for (2-3 ct., eye-clean, J-color +). Ari Madilian at Singlestone found a couple of stones that were close, but were not quite there...
I got in touch with Tim at goodoldgold and the cushion-king Mark T to start looking for newly-cut cushions in the old style. Both gentlemen were very gracious and showed me some beautiful stones that were cut in an older style, but the new stones just didn''t quite have the same charm.
Ari called me late on my cell phone the other night (he''s on the West coast - I''m EST) to tell me that he just returned from a buying trip and thought he had found "my stone." For people interested in antique stones, I would highly recommend him - he really knows his stuff!
Now, the stone doesn''t come with a grading report and I have an appointment with Martin Fuller on Saturday. I''m trying not to get too attached until I get the results from the appraisal, just in case I end up returning it. It''s supposed to be a J/K. It is totally eye-clean from about 3 inches away and I''ll pull out my loupe tonight
The stone is definitely not icy white - not that I was expecting it to be - and compared to my 0.9 ct RB G-color w/ Med. fluorsecence, the color faces up a little warmer in my office lighting, but the stones look the same in bathroom lighting. From the pavillion, the slightly yellow tinge is pretty apparent. I have some time to return it if I decide that it bothers me...
Pics to come after work tonight if my camera will cooperate!
300x240.png)