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katbran

Brilliant_Rock
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Coming from the murky world of pearls I had hoped that Diamonds would be easy ...something that is measured and quantified and precise. Well...I've been reading for three days now to try to come to grips with the world of Cushion cut stones. I'm in Australia and have been in contact with two wholesalers in my state to find an engagement diamond for my son to give to his partner. She only wants Cushion cut so that's where I started. He of course wants to buy her the biggest stone he can ... he is a Paramedic and does not make a big income so I've tried to rein him in a bit. His stone budget is 6500 USD as that's about 8kAUD .

My problem is that I know nothing...three days of looking at photos and I'm still lost. I look at the photos and some have lots of black triangles in the middle and some have none..I need a crash course in Cushions. I'd like Eye Clean and D-F with lots of sparkle. It's going on a thin pave band with 4 prongs on the basket and the prongs are pave. It's a nice setting with a bit of bling but simple so the stone needs to stand well on its own.

So please help me out and give me a clue as to what to avoid - does proportion/shape matter..some seem square and some more rectangular.

I can get the stone sent to her parents in San Diego and they can take a look at it...hopefully if all is good then they will bring it over for her Med School graduation in Mid December. So getting it here ..normally the tricky part...can be done and thus avoid the duty.

So suggestions would be greatly appreciated - Andy has given me no time at all having decided last week that he'd propose while her parents are here.... sigh ... under the gun a bit.

Thanks so very much
 

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Gypsy

Gypsy

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Okay so I have a few questions for you.

DO you really want to learn about cushions and learn how to select one on your own? Because I am happy to link you to older threads that will start you on that road.

But you don't HAVE to learn a ton about cushions to get a really beautiful one. Several of us are very good at picking cushions and we are happy to select several winners for your consideration. We can point out what we like about them, and give you enough information that you can make a knowledgeable choice that you can be confident with. And that would be the fastest route, given the time crunch.

So in order to start you, either way, I am going to ask you some questions.

Why are you specifying stones in the colorless range? Is it a cultural issue? Or is it because you are new to diamonds and want to play it safe?


Also, are you aware the pave on the prongs is not really a good choice, in terms of practicality? Prongs take the brunt on dings and stones get loose, and prongs need to be tightened, etc. So... overall, it's not a practical choice. As a secondary issue, good quality pave settings aren't that cheap. And adding a requirement to the design choice to have pave on the prongs is going to shrink the available selection of settings down, and drive the price up. With your son's already tight budget that is frankly, not a smart choice all around.

So let's start there.

If her parent's are flying the ring over does that mean we don't need to subtract import fees from the budget? I don't know how that works.
 
Gypsy

Gypsy

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What is the setting you are considering? Quality really matters with pave, so I want to make sure that you are getting a setting that is going to be as trouble free as we can make it.

Now you said 6500 for the stone budget. I am going to ignore you on the F or better color specification for now. Unless there are cultural reasons, G is going to be a very conservative choice as it is and very white. And H is very white and will give you the most bang for your buck.


So the first piece of information you need to know about cushions is that you don't compare carat weight. You compare dimensions. A one carat cushion can face up larger than a 1.2 carat cushion, for example.

If eyeclean, these two are the best available choice if you want colorless range:
https://enchanteddiamonds.com/diamonds/view/C120-730310657 You would need an ASET of this one.
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/cushion-cut/1.20-carat-e-color-si1-clarity-sku-2179472 And while you don't strictly need an ASET of this one, it would be nice so ask if they can get you one.

I PERSONALLY, would be investigating this one:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/cushion-cut/1.40-carat-h-color-si2-clarity-sku-1949597 It will be VERY white still, at H color. And it is a significantly larger stone. If it's eyeclean-- it's a seriously great buy at that price given how much size you are getting. An ASET would be nice but is not strictly necessary.
 
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katbran

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Gypsy - thank you so much for your response. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the time you have taken to answer me. Truly.

I will start to read up more on diamonds as I do find them really interesting. But as you noted..time is of the essence in that he's given me almost no warning. So any and all help would be greatly appreciated. You have helped enormously by pointing out the dangers of the pave on the prongs. I was wondering why the setting was so expensive 2800 for a very thin pave platinum band and 4 pave prongs..the prongs are probably what drove the cost up. So I will recommend to them that they forget the pave prongs! Such a help !

As for the colour - I was just trying for colourless as I thought that would be the brightest so figured to stay at the F . If you think that G will deliver that then that is a huge help .

Available funds will remain the same as I never factored in duty. The big advantage in buying in the states is it saves the 10%GST, that alone goes a long way towards the band.

I just read up on ASET - that was interesting.
 
Gypsy

Gypsy

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Okay so, let's find a nice cushion and a nice platinum (I assume) pave setting. $2200 is a great budget for a platinum pave setting (and likely we'll find you something nice for 1800-2000), so that's allocate that. Also you DO NOT want to go too thin on pave (look up in the threads to the sticky threads-- the ones that are always there-- and you'll see the 'helpful threads' thread. On page 3 you'll see threads that discuss pave) so stick to a MINIMUM thinness at 1.8mm, although frankly 2mm is better and still quite thin.

So that means we can add 500 to the stone budget. So that's $7100 for the stone! And G color as the floor. Let me look and see what I find.

Personal favorite pave setting for a cushion:
http://www.briangavindiamonds.com/engagement-rings/pave-and-side-stones/legera-pave-platinum-5861p I just don't know if that would work with timeline because lead time normally is 2-3 weeks.

That said, IDJ can make a similar setting for you, and their lead time is usually less.

Now for the stone:
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/cushion-cut/1.23-carat-f-color-vs1-clarity-sku-2238705
https://www.jamesallen.com/loose-diamonds/cushion-cut/1.31-carat-f-color-si1-clarity-sku-1806491 I'd personally take this one happily. It's a really nice big stone (remember compare dimensions) and has a really good chance of being eyeclean.

NOW, what I'd personally do is call ID Jewelry. Ask for Denise or Yekutiel and tell them PS sent you. Ask them to look both those up (JA is a drop shipper, they do not own these stones so anyone can get most of them) and see if either of them are A) a good choice and B) easy for them to call in (many stones are in India which makes shipping a stone on memo hard, but if they are in the US then it's easy). AND also tell them that you are open to any "PS quality" cushions that they can find you themselves.

Also, if you like that BGD setting, ask them to quote you on something similar to that one.

And that will get you one stop shopping at a really great price (IDJ will usually beat JA's price) and they will be able to get you an ASET on anything they call in.

Another option is this stone: http://www.goodoldgold.com/diamond-search/1.21-Cushion--GIA-E-VS2-diamond-stock-CU10426-cert-2161194598 from GOG (dimensions, not weight matter) and it's a very nice size. Ask for ASET. They have lots of pave settings. Ask them to tell you what they have in stock or can get in time.
 
K

katbran

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Hi LovingG - Thanks for that link - very pretty and I'll run that cut by them.

Gypsy - Thank you for the links - I'm waiting for him to be home to go over all of this..much appreciated. I do like that pave setting you linked to. . very pretty.

I have trouble sorting out the stones as everyones photos are so blown up that the flaws are waving around in your face - I have no idea as to whether or not you'd notice them irl . But I will go over the suggestions with him and see what he thinks. Again, thanks very much!
 
K

katbran

Brilliant_Rock
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Well, sorry it's taken a couple of days..everyone's work schedules seem to be at odds...shift work .

Having been told your most excellent advice as to the hazards of stones set on prongs...Andy's partner decided that she wanted them anyways. You can lead a horse to water.

So they are going to go with the setting that they looked at in Sydney. As for the diamond .. faced with the options you provided and a single option here in town the Sydney jeweler has offered this stone for $5809 USD .. $7800 AUD ,

Could you please take a look at it...thanks :)
GIA REPORT NUMBER
5223748965


They are pushing him - fairly I think - as if he doesn't agree very quickly then he can't get it before xmas. I looked at the setting and it's pretty..stones being G and VS1/S1 So same colour as main stone.

Cheer and Thanks
 
tyty333

tyty333

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Unfortunately fancy cut stones like cushions can not be evaluated by the numbers. We would need up close pictures and aset
images to be able to tell you anything worthwhile. :(( Post them if you have any.
 
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