Cushion Cut-Symmetry Importance?

[majupa611]

I''ve recently fallen in love with the cushion cut. I plan on purchasing the diamond online. I''m just having a hard time finding a selection with VeryGood symmetry. Everything is listed as Good. Is this a huge factor? I wonder if i''m starting to know too much about diamonds for my own good and i''m just going to drive myself crazy. Its not like I have any friends/family that know much about diamonds. They''ll just be happy i''m finally engaged! lol. Here are the other guidelines i''ve been trying to follow. Let me know if these are off.

Depth: 59-69
Table: 55-65
Ratio: 1.0-1.17
Polish: EX, VG
Symm: EX, VG
Wt: ~2
Color: D-G
Clarity: IF-VS2

I''m also curious about H color. Is it a major no-no? I guess i''m wondering where I could bend a little or if I can''t. I had just spent months doing research on Rounds and then came across this website and saw the cushions of some of the users. Beautiful!! So now i''m back to square one. Thanks for the help!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You can''t judge cushions by numbers. You HAVE to see pictures. I haven''t seen too many cushions with excellent polish or symmetry, so I''d be open minded about that. I think F-G-H is fine for color, personally, and VS1 and VS2 is very nice for clarity. You do not want to pay for IF or VVS. There are some good threads on here about cushions. You need to determine what kind you are looking for first of all. Then you may need someone to help you find one. Mark at Engagement Rings Direct is very popular here, and Good Old Gold has a few pictured on their site.

 

[majupa611]

Thank you!

 

[majupa611]

Do these #''s look ok? Or am I getting too caught up w/ numbers and should go w/ appearance?


Shape : Cushion
Carats : 1.74
Cut Grade : Very Good
Color Grade : H
Clarity Grade : VS1
Certificate No. :
Measurement : 7.65x6.28x4.19
Ratio : 1.22
Depth : 66.7%
Table : 61
Girdle : TN-
Culet : None
Polish : Very Good
Symmetry : Very Good
Certification : GIA
Fluorescence : NO

 

[diagem]

Date: 5/28/2007 5:45:39 PM
Author: majupa611
Do these #'s look ok? Or am I getting too caught up w/ numbers and should go w/ appearance?


Shape : Cushion
Carats : 1.74
Cut Grade : Very Good --- Since when do GIA add a "Cut Grade" for fancy shapes?
Color Grade : H
Clarity Grade : VS1
Certificate No. :
Measurement : 7.65x6.28x4.19
Ratio : 1.22
Depth : 66.7%
Table : 61
Girdle : TN-
Culet : None
Polish : Very Good
Symmetry : Very Good
Certification : GIA
Fluorescence : NO

 

[Cehrabehra]

symmetry is JUST as important in a cushion as it is in a round. Getting EXEX or IDID sym in a round might be overkill and getting Good in a cushion may or may not be good enough. You can set your standard as high as you want and the answer will be - what''s good enough for you? I got VG sym in my cushion and I can see in super duper 8" closeups where it isn''t perfect, but dang, its certainly good enough in person LOL We expect ideals because we can get them. When we can''t get them we lower our expectations. When ideals will be found in cushions you bet people are going to say settle for nothing less, in the meantime the answer is settle for what you can find. And you can find EXEX for modern cushions relatively easy and you can find VGVG for old style cuts with moderate ease. use your eyes and you might find that Good really is good enough. But VG will always be even better

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 5/28/2007 5:55:38 PM
Author: DiaGem

Date: 5/28/2007 5:45:39 PM
Author: majupa611
Do these #''s look ok? Or am I getting too caught up w/ numbers and should go w/ appearance?


Shape : Cushion
Carats : 1.74
Cut Grade : Very Good --- Since when do GIA add a ''Cut Grade'' for fancy shapes?
Color Grade : H
Clarity Grade : VS1
Certificate No. :
Measurement : 7.65x6.28x4.19
Ratio : 1.22
Depth : 66.7%
Table : 61
Girdle : TN-
Culet : None
Polish : Very Good
Symmetry : Very Good
Certification : GIA
Fluorescence : NO

Blue nile gives a cut grade for fancies.... its *their* cut grade and who knows what they base it on LOL

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 5/28/2007 5:45:39 PM
Author: majupa611
Do these #''s look ok? Or am I getting too caught up w/ numbers and should go w/ appearance?


Shape : Cushion
Carats : 1.74
Cut Grade : Very Good
Color Grade : H
Clarity Grade : VS1
Certificate No. :
Measurement : 7.65x6.28x4.19
Ratio : 1.22
Depth : 66.7%
Table : 61
Girdle : TN-
Culet : None
Polish : Very Good
Symmetry : Very Good
Certification : GIA
Fluorescence : NO

tables on the big side for my preference, but it really depends on the type of look you''re going for.

This would be a modern cushion:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?__fun_frm=i&pid=LD00474346&filter_id=0

this would be an old style cushion:
http://www.bluenile.com/diamonds_details.asp?__fun_frm=i&pid=LD00368162&filter_id=0

 

[elmo]

Date: 5/28/2007 6:32:53 PM
Author: Cehrabehra
Blue nile gives a cut grade for fancies.... its *their* cut grade and who knows what they base it on LOL

Sara, it's funny, I think some the best "traditional" cushions from your BN supplier only get "fair"...one I have here has 42.9% pavilion 20% crown 50% table 1.12 length/width and it's a really fine stone

. Note that on topic, this one is vg/vg but a similar one from the same folks with vg/g had slightly better optical symmetry I thought.

 

[boston_jeff]

Date: 5/28/2007 8:44:11 PM
Author: elmo

Date: 5/28/2007 6:32:53 PM

Author: Cehrabehra

Blue nile gives a cut grade for fancies.... its *their* cut grade and who knows what they base it on LOL

Sara, it''s funny, I think some the best ''traditional'' cushions from your BN supplier only get ''fair''...one I have here has 42.9% pavilion 20% crown 50% table 1.12 length/width and it''s a really fine stone

. Note that on topic, this one is vg/vg but a similar one from the same folks with vg/g had slightly better optical symmetry I thought.

My stone had a "Good" cut rating on Mondera (I was panicking before I thought about it for a millisecond), so I would definitely agree with you. I think old-style cushions get dinged for depth, maybe for girdle/culet as well on some sites that do it mechanically and apply the same criteria to all cushions.

Elmo, how do you know who the supplier is? I''d be interested to know.

 

[neatfreak]

Majupa,

As much as I would love to tell you that you can buy a cushion online, sight unseen, you can''t. You really should NOT be shopping at bluenile for cushions unless you know exactly what you want and are willing to gamble (i.e., have time to send it back if you don''t like it). If not, Mark at Engagement Rings Direct is AMAZING at selecting cushions and he will find you a gorgeous one as well as teaching you all about it. He''ll also happily send pictures of the stones which Bluenile won''t do. He ALSO has an upgrade policy should you ever decide to trade up for a bigger stone.

I really love ex/ex cushions and if you''re going for a modern stone, IMO symmetry is VERY important. I have seen quite a few cushions with only good symmetry that otherwise looked great by the numbers, and the stone was not nice in person. Could have been coincidence, but since you CAN get ex/ex cushions (like by calling Mark) I would just go that route honestly...

This comes from someone who has spent a LOT of time researching cushions before purchasing. Just letting you know my experiences with it.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 5/28/2007 8:55:03 PM
Author: neatfreak
Majupa,

As much as I would love to tell you that you can buy a cushion online, sight unseen, you can''t. You really should NOT be shopping at bluenile for cushions unless you know exactly what you want and are willing to gamble (i.e., have time to send it back if you don''t like it). If not, Mark at Engagement Rings Direct is AMAZING at selecting cushions and he will find you a gorgeous one as well as teaching you all about it. He''ll also happily send pictures of the stones which Bluenile won''t do. He ALSO has an upgrade policy should you ever decide to trade up for a bigger stone.

I really love ex/ex cushions and if you''re going for a modern stone, IMO symmetry is VERY important. I have seen quite a few cushions with only good symmetry that otherwise looked great by the numbers, and the stone was not nice in person. Could have been coincidence, but since you CAN get ex/ex cushions (like by calling Mark) I would just go that route honestly...

This comes from someone who has spent a LOT of time researching cushions before purchasing. Just letting you know my experiences with it.

We overlook lack of sym on genuine antiques all the time and relish in their quirkiness. But ANY stone that is cut will benefit to greater symmetry, whether it be a modern style cushion OR an antique style cushion. A round, an oval, a princess, an asscher, or any type of cushion will benefit from a greater degree of symmetry. Its just a matter of a) what is available and b) what we will settle for. Symmetry is just as important in a cushion of any type as it is in a round, we just have come to expect it in a round and won''t settle for less. I doubt the eye-visible difference between VG and EX is a make it or break it issue, but obviously the more the better - especially at the magnifications we scrutinize at LOL! If a stone didn''t look good based on what you could see with your eyes, it is likely more to do with the angles and table than the symmetry.

Also, I don''t know if this person found their stone on BN, I was just commenting that that particular vendor (and I assume others) have their own proprietary system of creating a "cut grade" just as David Atlas does.

Now that I''ve said all of that I definitely give a hearty "second" to the part where you talk about turning the search over to mark LOL!

 

[elmo]

Date: 5/28/2007 8:50:44 PM
Author: boston_jeff
Elmo, how do you know who the supplier is? I''d be interested to know.

Appraiser. I think in this case it is getting dinged for the table, which is exactly how I want it.

 

[majupa611]

If I go through Mark, do I contact him first and tell him my interests so that he''ll have some stones when we go to visit? Im starting to think I want to turn this whole project over to my boyfriend. I''m in nursing school and its enough stress. I mean would I be totally crazy to leave a lot of the work in Mark''s hands? I''m nervous that having read all the good experiences I trust him and don''t even know him!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 5/28/2007 9:52:49 PM
Author: majupa611
If I go through Mark, do I contact him first and tell him my interests so that he'll have some stones when we go to visit? Im starting to think I want to turn this whole project over to my boyfriend. I'm in nursing school and its enough stress. I mean would I be totally crazy to leave a lot of the work in Mark's hands? I'm nervous that having read all the good experiences I trust him and don't even know him!

Not crazy at all!!! Mark is awesome. What we did was when we were ready to buy (we couldn't visit in person), we called him, explained what we hoped to get, and our budget. He educated us on a few things, then we sent him off. Within a week he had a stone he thought was perfect for us, he sent us pictures, and I thought that was the one. I then happened to be flying home to visit my parents who live in MA, and Mark happened to be in the same area of the state. On a Sunday no less, he brought the stone in question to my parent's house for me to inspect personally, I loved it, and BF paid for it the next day.

Mark is truly fantastic and he really won't let your boyfriend make a poor choice without at LEAST letting him know he's making a bad choice!!! Even if your boyfriend just hands over his credit card I am confident that Mark would get you an amazing stone and even setting at a great price.