Bought a BIG blue nuance for planned recut to OEC/transitional...!

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Agree w @Garry H (Cut Nut) that dark blue might wash out the center and bright white can highlight it most. But how about as a second choice, matching the light blue exactly. A flower-cluster ring.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

That would be about this one center left and I think in low lighting they would all look plain white?

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

HERE WE GO. The center is a screenshot from the video @DejaWiz sleuthed!

Left to right, saturation; lower left is white. The "blue" rows are two different tones of blue, both somewhat desaturated (greenish blue in the middle, a more purplish blue above).


Lower left and lower right are "inverses" of each other - the R puts blue stones close to the center, the L puts yellow ("warmish diamonds") close to the center. Obviously, the top one is full-diamond plus some little blue buddies right at the edge. I think this also happens to be the style of the Sako ring. (Halos will not be Saturn-ring flat; they will be angled, but it's hard to do that in PPT )

It is not, based on these images, obvious to me which will bring out the color in the center blue the best. I might be too literal in the way my eyes interpret color - obviously, the center stone is exactly the same color in all of the images, and I'm not sure whether that would reflect real behaviour!

Here's the same simple halo mocks but smaller:


What do you think? Would other images be helpful?

Did this one too. Mixed-color small-scale halo, but varied the color of the metal (head only, vs head and band). I feel like the white metal works BETTER... even though I had expected rose to be contrasty and help out with highlighting the blue color.

To my eye, white or light blue stones make your centre look bluer. The yellowish stones are neutralising the colour somewhat; and the rose gold clashes with the blue imo. I would definitely do all white metal (WG or platinum) for this ring!

Is a double halo something you’ll consider? I think that would look lovely too but it depends on how much “finger presence” you like.

Of everything you posted my favourite is the mixed shades of blue halo in all white metal!

 

[Cerulean]

• Rose gold will work against your blue and bring out any grey undertones - I suggest RG shank and white gold head (better yet platinum)
• I love the idea of the mixed shades of blue but would drop the idea of spinels and not go deep blue

These 2 are definitely my favorite concepts. I feel a single toned halo won’t get you the contrast and excitement you’re looking for


Have you heard of Joke Quick? Expertly plays with contrasting colors in his colorful cluster rings. These are both fancy whites - personally I think rose cut diamonds would look fantastic with your stone too!

 

[Mrsz1ppy]

• Rose gold will work against your blue and bring out any grey undertones - I suggest RG shank and white gold head (better yet platinum)
• I love the idea of the mixed shades of blue but would drop the idea of spinels and not go deep blue

These 2 are definitely my favorite concepts. I feel a single toned halo won’t get you the contrast and excitement you’re looking for


Have you heard of Joke Quick? Expertly plays with contrasting colors in his colorful cluster rings. These are both fancy whites - personally I think rose cut diamonds would look fantastic with your stone too!

BTW Joke Quick is a woman who lives in Belgium. I have some of her pieces.

 

[geckodani]

I think the white halo, white white metal head is going to be the best, to my eye. The double row halo with the light blue on the outside also looks great, IMO. I don't think the rose gold is doing any favors.

 

[evergreen]

@AllAboardTheBlingTrain and @geckodani and @Cerulean - You're right, rose might be the wrong direction. I think what I'm worried about w/ rose, based on the mocks, is that it is pushing the stone a bit more green (complementary color for red, unsurprising) when what I'd really like is to bring out the purple if there is any. The white gold mocks are looking better to me, too, which is not what I anticipated! I am currently kinda not wearing my white metal rings, though, I always prefer my rose ones... so maybe a rose shank with white head... except we're getting into "Whole Lotta Look" territory. My diamond has a white gold bezel with rose outer bezel; wonder if keeping only white gold touching the bluish diamond would work, while setting the halo and doing the shank in rose.

I'm not opposed to double halo, and yeah, maybe little tiny white sparkles and then an outer rim of something else (mixed color?) would contrast best with the blue? Hadn't planned to go with a simple white halo but I am not opposed to it if it's the thing that works best with the blue!

Thinking I really gotta see this stone in person... I haven't gotten a shipping notification yet but hopefully soon!!

 

[Mooshi]

I love the Sako style mocks, as well as the Joke Quick inspiration ideas!

 

[AllAboardTheBlingTrain]

@AllAboardTheBlingTrain and @geckodani and @Cerulean - You're right, rose might be the wrong direction. I think what I'm worried about w/ rose, based on the mocks, is that it is pushing the stone a bit more green (complementary color for red, unsurprising) when what I'd really like is to bring out the purple if there is any. The white gold mocks are looking better to me, too, which is not what I anticipated! I am currently kinda not wearing my white metal rings, though, I always prefer my rose ones... so maybe a rose shank with white head... except we're getting into "Whole Lotta Look" territory. My diamond has a white gold bezel with rose outer bezel; wonder if keeping only white gold touching the bluish diamond would work, while setting the halo and doing the shank in rose.

I'm not opposed to double halo, and yeah, maybe little tiny white sparkles and then an outer rim of something else (mixed color?) would contrast best with the blue? Hadn't planned to go with a simple white halo but I am not opposed to it if it's the thing that works best with the blue!

Thinking I really gotta see this stone in person... I haven't gotten a shipping notification yet but hopefully soon!!

I sort of feel like just the simple white halo won’t show off the blue as well. Imo bringing out the colour of a stone works best if you put some stones of a slightly darker colour (but the same colour) next to the stone - I feel like it tricks the eye into thinking the stone is that colour. It can’t be much darker or it swings the opposite way. The thin white halo in between can help also by creating a contrast, but you’ll have to see it (if possible) to know if it’s going the opposite direction and muting the blue. All depends on how prominent the blue is.

An RG shank with WG head could be a good compromise btw. I think as long as the stone is surrounded in WG it should be ok.

 

[Cerulean]

BTW Joke Quick is a woman who lives in Belgium. I have some of her pieces.

omg that's amazing! also i have always thought they were a man whoops

 

[evergreen]

OH SNAP Y'ALL

Like, THAT could work, right? Maybe if keeping the blues a little lighter? Phew. Is this for one of y'all on here??

 

[geckodani]

OH SNAP Y'ALL

Like, THAT could work, right? Maybe if keeping the blues a little lighter? Phew. Is this for one of y'all on here??

That. Is. Gorgeous.

 

[digital_bling]

So, I just did A Big Professional Thing (pats self on the back), thus lowering my resistance when I stumbled across this 4.01ct J VVS2 blue nuance LGD. Assuming I like the color, I plan to have it recut to a transitional/OEC. It is already deep with a fairly poofy crown for a MRB, so I am optimistic it will do well in recutting; if it loses a mm or a full ct I will still be happy with the size.

Diamonds

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Question for y'all, though, while I wait: Is there much variability in the specific tint of a blue-nuance LGD? I want to try to make this stone look light blue-purple -- my favorite color -- and while I have seen other blurple-er LGDs, this one hit a sweet spot for size and price. Does it look fairly blue, and not so much grey or blue-green, to you? Monitors being what they are...! I think I will likely set it in rose gold to try to bring out more purple tones... choices are white or rose, since I don't wear yellow.

I'm planning to treat it as a lightly-saturated blue stone and to highlight its blue-ness with a variegated blue-and-white diamond/sapphire halo! Maybe a mixed-cut halo, with rounds and pears? Kinda... floral? If you have seen any examples of a really huge halo/cluster ring - since this center will, I imagine, end up 9-10mm - I would love to see them!

How did you actually ~find~ a diamond with blue nuance? been after an LGD like this for ages. What filters did you use?

 

[yssie]

Not gonna lie, just looking at this picture makes me feel weirdly serene.

 

[evergreen]

How did you actually ~find~ a diamond with blue nuance? been after an LGD like this for ages. What filters did you use?

I set restrictive filters for how much $ I wanted to spend (because blue nuance is cheaper), limited to lower colors (because I wanted to see the blue), and then sorted carat high-to-low! Ritani helps out by having a HPHT filter (although you have to mouse-over to see the ACTUAL diamond which will look blueish), but I got this one from With Clarity. Being able to see the diamond is critical. It's true, you can look through a lot before finding one that checks those boxes (sometimes they just don't exist) but this one was a lucky find. Once I "bought" a 2.5ct L with blue nuance for $1300 but they didn't actually have it available... so I guess maybe there are other people out there trying to do the same thing.

 

[Tiff1886]

Thinking I really gotta see this stone in person... I haven't gotten a shipping notification yet but hopefully soon!!

Please post some pics when you get the loose stone. I am excited to follow along with you on your design! Thanks for sharing.

The IGI report on your stone says "Hearts and Arrows" in the comments. It will be interesting to see how good the optical symmetry is when you get it (of course this doesn't really matter when the plan is to re-cut to an OEC/Transitional).

I am still learning and this will be educational for me. If it is IGI that puts that comment in, it will give us some clues as to how strict they are with their grading.

 

[Rfisher]

Thinking I really gotta see this stone in person... I haven't gotten a shipping notification yet but hopefully soon!!

Do you know when you might be receiving it?

soooo curious on what you think about it!

 

[evergreen]

It's here!! And I am not super shocked that it doesn't usually look blue. It's enormous. Really it's only in rare lighting environments that I see the blue; I scored well on that color discrimination test, but I don't consider myself color-sensitive inasmuch as most diamonds still just look white. Here it is in comparison with:
-- Periwinkle sapphire with G/H melee
-- 3-stone, which is a GIA I center (with VSBF, which you can see in some photos) and uncerted "K" (Adam at OWD) sides
-- GIA O/P cushion bezeled in unplated 14k WG and 18k RG
Everything's dirty and smudged, ha.

Bedroom CFLs which have a bizarrely good color-rendering index - this is the only place where I would say it LOOKS blue:


Natural light, picking up some fluorescence in the 3-stone center:



Regular ol' CFLs:



Regular CFLs, more flattering angle:



Off-white bathroom counter with regular CFLs:


So, I think to really find a diamond that LOOKS blue, one would have to go lower than J. I'm fine with it, since I feel like K/L blues in this size are rare as hen's teeth, and I am enjoying the market discount from it being blue nuance! There may not be much I can do to make it look blue, so I will definitely be mixing blue stones in the setting just to declare "there are colors here!" rather than sticking with white.

I have also learned that I dislike the splintery RB faceting, even in a 10mm stone that's ostensibly well-cut (ish.. @Tiff1886 I'm going to try to find my homemade ASET and see how it does re: H&A!), so it's clearly headed for a recut.

 

[evergreen]

@Tiff1886 Tada! Ok, but, this is far from a professional setup, the "ASET scope" itself was homemade from some file folders, the diamond is probably a little crooked... What I do trust is that there are arrows, the optical symmetry would not meet PS standards, and that the cut is pretty leaky, ha!




After all, this is what the cert says we're dealing with:


No biggie, I've been thinking of it as "raw material" all along!

 

[DejaWiz]

Looks pretty cool!
Fiery little bugger, eh?

 

[Tiff1886]

Wow - great pictures!

From my perspective, this seems like a nice level of blue where you can appreciate that it is there, but also enjoy fire that will not be overpowered by blue tint.

I like your homemade ASET . Thanks for your effort in capturing the arrows. This "raw material" has pretty good optical symmetry!

Your experience has confirmed for me that IGI stating "Hearts and Arrows" in their comments is still a ways off from Whiteflash ACA, Brian Gavin Black, or GCAL 8X....
It is good to know that it still is nicer cut that the vast majority of the stones on the market.

I checked the angles again and it looks like the crown angle is 36 and Pavilion angle is 40.5. When it is time for you to re-cut to OEC or Transitional, this seems like a pretty good starting point based on Garry's Chart for Modern Round Brilliants. I'm not sure how much of this MRB chart carries over to OEC or Transitional but I imagine the CA/PA relationship is still relevant.

I am enjoying learning from the sidelines here .

 

[evergreen]

@Tiff1886 yup, I figured that at 4.01ct with that cut, someone was trying to make the 4ct mark and left it a bit deep with a high crown, but yes, it should be in a good range for fire already (@DejaWiz it was a little tricky to photograph, tbh, because of the pinpoint light return!) and I am hoping they won't have to take too much off when OECifying it.

Took a couple more photos; this one with fun zone-y blue sapphires (it's the Wrong Blue, IMO, not enough purple to work well with the sapphires, so maybe in some future setting I should be looking at something with a little more green... Montanas, maybe. Rose gold with Montanas?? Still on that RG kick.) --


And this one with pink-toned J CVD ovals, which is fun - since everybody's a J!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Google good diamonds look bad in sunlight.
And we'll cut diamonds always face up a few colour grades better.
An oval or radiant work better

 

[evergreen]

Google good diamonds look bad in sunlight.
And we'll cut diamonds always face up a few colour grades better.
An oval or radiant work better

Yup and everyone says OEC faceting hides color well. Basically, if I"d hoped to have a BLUE diamond, I'm going about it all wrong! I think it will still be beautiful, though, and a 9+mm OEC/tranny is a "someday must own" for me, so I think that day will be coming soon!

I spoke with Ashley this afternoon and just based on the cert he thought we'd manage 9.5-9.6mm but of course will need to properly evaluate the stone. It will be a VERY assertive ring!

I wonder if a collet-style bezel would help the stone's tint be visible (i.e., "you can see it from the side, but from face-up it looks white" which I have seen a lot in OECs), or if would just be A Whole Lotta Look with a multicolor, maybe calibre-cut, halo.

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

OEC will not hide color as well as the current cut - unless you create very large dark zones.
A collet will not help.

 

[evergreen]

OEC will not hide color as well as the current cut - unless you create very large dark zones.
A collet will not help.

Well that's encouraging re: OEC faceting perhaps not hiding the color as much as RB!

 

[Rfisher]

If anyone remembers more about Yoram's journey to increase body tint thru old-cut style cutting, I would LOVE to learn more! I didn't figure out the jackpot of search terms...

Double decker cushions.
one is on his site shop for sale

mostly I remember DBL having /talking about them years back on their own forum. You can see some of his archived items with descriptions.

no rounds unfortunately.

again, can’t wait to see where this project takes you!

 

[evergreen]

Little mini update - the diamond is with Ashley, he thinks it'll cut to ~9.8mm diameter (from 10.1) and around 3.6ct (from 4.0). He also pointed out it would probably look less blue as an old-cut than it does as a RB, which I was prepared for. I'm thinking... kinda, "secret blue". Pretty psyched!

 

[Mooshi]

Crazy idea but might be fun.... what about having Ashley cut a culet, and then placing a blue sapphire underneath? Raintree's done quite a few, here are some:

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[evergreen]

@Mooshi holy mackerel, that's a cool idea!!! It's going to have a culet, maybe I will ask for it to be a wee whiff bigger than I otherwise would - love this idea for enhancing the blue appearance!!