Cushion cut thoughts...

[Dodgers!]

Hi All,

After months of lurking and going through a range of emotions along with all of your stories about your diamond search experiences as well as engagement/wedding experiences, I am finally making my first post. I am excited to have chosen a diamond that Mark T. at ERD found for me,and just wanted to hear your often wise opinions on the stone (I trust Mark, but considering my current childlike knowledge of diamonds, the saying that, "it takes a Village to raise a Child," seems very apropos") So Villagers...what do you think?

Stats:
1.65ct Cushion Cut
E color
IF Clarity
ex/ex pol/sym
no flour.

55% table
64.8% depth
7.67 x 6.71 x 4.35 mm


plus a pic that he attached...

 

[CrookedRock]

OK.. So I bought a stone from Mark too, and I will be the first to say that his pics aren''t exactly great...
BUT GEEZ!!! An E IF!!! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU QUESTIONING???

I have to assume that you asked for an IF...

 

[mrssalvo]

i agree with crookedrock, mark''s pics aren''t always the greatest but my guess is that is one heck of a gorgeous cushion...

 

[Dodgers!]

Not questioning anything specifically as all stats seem good...just want to hear opinions...
First rock purchase and all...

 

[glitterbug]

It''s beautiful! (from one "child" to another)

 

[CrookedRock]

I am guessing by your screenname that you are a guy... I could be wrong!

Either way, I am just curious as to why you want an IF stone. Clearly there is nothing wrong with them, literally! But did she/you decide that (IF) was more important than anything else. (And forgive me ahead of time for being a size girl, it''s shameless, I know!) But did you consider even a VVS1 or 2 and a little more size? Not that this is a small stone by any means, but you obviously have a great budget to work with!

 

[glloyd77]

I know this is rude, but how much does an IF E diamond of that size cost!? Sorry to be so rude, and please don''t answer if you should choose not to.

 

[LegacyGirl]

WOW! That is beautiful!!

 

[pixley]

I think it looks great even in Mark (or Gary''s) funky little photo! I just have to laugh at the photos that come out of ERD. Bless their hearts. I love the L x W ratio (1.14) ''cause that''s my sweet-spot for rectangular cushions.
You didn''t list the girdle thickness, but the depth is in the mid 60''s so, as long as the girdle isn''t extreeeeemly thick, then you''ve probably got a stone that faces up quite nicely.
I agree with CrookedRock on the clarity vs size point. That size is fantastic, but if you think she may be a size girl over a clarity girl, dropping to a VS clarity stone would certainly allow you to increase the size while still giving you a super clean rock.

 

[LegacyGirl]

Date: 3/27/2008 11:50:24 PM
Author: pixley
I think it looks great even in Mark (or Gary''s) funky little photo! I just have to laugh at the photos that come out of ERD. Bless their hearts. I love the L x W ratio (1.14) ''cause that''s my sweet-spot for rectangular cushions.
You didn''t list the girdle thickness, but the depth is in the mid 60''s so, as long as the girdle isn''t extreeeeemly thick, then you''ve probably got a stone that faces up quite nicely.
I agree with CrookedRock on the clarity vs size point. That size is fantastic, but if you think she may be a size girl over a clarity girl, dropping to a VS clarity stone would certainly allow you to increase the size while still giving you a super clean rock.

I cannot agree more!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 3/27/2008 10:51:43 PM
Author: glloyd77
I know this is rude, but how much does an IF E diamond of that size cost!? Sorry to be so rude, and please don''t answer if you should choose not to.

not rude..to me that is what PS is partly about. you can enter the specs on the homepage and come up with similar stones and pricing. other cushions with these specs run around 15K. Do keep in mind though that cushions are just CRAZY and cut will play a factor so an ex/ex will cost more than a fair/vg with the same specs etc. also, the highly sought after chuncy facet new antiques add a small premuim to pricing now as well.


dodgers, what you did decide? you stone reminds me a lot of mine in it''s shape/look..i really love yours, i hope you got it!!

 

[scarlet16]

Date: 3/27/2008 11:50:24 PM
Author: pixley
I think it looks great even in Mark (or Gary''s) funky little photo! I just have to laugh at the photos that come out of ERD. Bless their hearts. I love the L x W ratio (1.14) ''cause that''s my sweet-spot for rectangular cushions.

You didn''t list the girdle thickness, but the depth is in the mid 60''s so, as long as the girdle isn''t extreeeeemly thick, then you''ve probably got a stone that faces up quite nicely.

I agree with CrookedRock on the clarity vs size point. That size is fantastic, but if you think she may be a size girl over a clarity girl, dropping to a VS clarity stone would certainly allow you to increase the size while still giving you a super clean rock.

If I''m not mistaken, the E IF choice might be a matter of availability. I think Mark told me that Boston_Jeff created sort of a run on these sorts of cushions and they are very difficult to find anyway, not to mention the difficulty of finding stones from between 1.5 and 2.0cts.

 

[ayala_jessica]

Date: 3/26/2008 10:32:39 PM
Author: glitterbug
It''s beautiful! (from one ''child'' to another)

Ditto !! An awesome rock

 

[CrookedRock]

Date: 3/28/2008 10:36:08 AM
Author: scarlet16

Date: 3/27/2008 11:50:24 PM
Author: pixley
I think it looks great even in Mark (or Gary''s) funky little photo! I just have to laugh at the photos that come out of ERD. Bless their hearts. I love the L x W ratio (1.14) ''cause that''s my sweet-spot for rectangular cushions.

You didn''t list the girdle thickness, but the depth is in the mid 60''s so, as long as the girdle isn''t extreeeeemly thick, then you''ve probably got a stone that faces up quite nicely.

I agree with CrookedRock on the clarity vs size point. That size is fantastic, but if you think she may be a size girl over a clarity girl, dropping to a VS clarity stone would certainly allow you to increase the size while still giving you a super clean rock.

If I''m not mistaken, the E IF choice might be a matter of availability. I think Mark told me that Boston_Jeff created sort of a run on these sorts of cushions and they are very difficult to find anyway, not to mention the difficulty of finding stones from between 1.5 and 2.0cts.

He mentioned the same thing to me about how difficult they are to source, and it was all BostonJeff''s fault for statring this tough trend! I say thank you to Boston Jeff!!!

But where did the OP go... I want to know about the IF...

 

[pixley]

Hopefully the OP is at the bank cutting a nice check for that juicy E/IF cushion!!!

I say, "YAY Boston_Jeff!" for showing us the beauty of old school cushions~ All I had to do was show my DH Boston_Jeff's cushion thread and he was totally ON BOARD! Yeeehaw! Before that, neither of us really got excited about diamonds.

Sadly, now I'm a little too excited about diamonds.

ETA: This doesn't look like an old school cushion. Looks more like a mrssalvo style, modern 8 main, but who can ever tell with Mark's kooky photos?

 

[CrookedRock]

I was thinking the same thing about this pic and how it did look more like MrsS's stone. I went back and looked at the pic Mark sent me, and it did the stone no justice at all, but I could still see the chunks!

 

[pixley]

Yeah, my head is spinning with all the cushion action that''s going on these days, but I LOVE IT. I think glloyd77 is or was working on an old school cushion (YUM!) and the OP''s got a new school EX/EX (YUM!). At any rate, rockin'' cushions are a rarity. I can''t even count the number of unimpressive cushions I saw at my local B&M stores before I found one that made me swoon. I would have liked to have found a larger one, but they just weren''t out there in the colour, shape and price that I wanted. I can''t imagine how many bummer cushions Mark and Jon have to sift through to find winners for us.

 

[Dodgers!]

Thanks for all the replies...
I did put a deposit with Mark for the stone, so hes working on getting
me a CAD for the setting.

To crooked: haha, yes I am a guy. As for why I wanted an IF stone, scarlet kind of hit it on the head. Not so many in the size range for modern brilliant or chunky style. Mark showed me the best specimens, and though i took a look at some larger, there was always at least one things that I kind of didn''t like (for ex..one had great size and clarity, but cut was just good...another had great cut and color, but was vs2 etc...) Also looking at the measurements of this stone, it was pretty close L&W to some of the deeper 2ct stone I saw.

For some reason, i recall reading somewhere that in a chunky faceted stone, clarity and color are even more noticeable, so that stuck.

 

[Dodgers!]

oh and BTW...
I had to resize Mark''s pic a little to fit, so it looks worse than his original...
although the original is not that much better

j/k (kinda)

 

[Dodgers!]

Date: 3/27/2008 10:51:43 PM
Author: glloyd77
I know this is rude, but how much does an IF E diamond of that size cost!? Sorry to be so rude, and please don''t answer if you should choose not to.

An ulcer and many sleepless nights...j/k
Not rude at all, if you search on "Pricescope your diamond" i believe you can get a good (if not exact) estimate.

 

[dani13]

How exciting, Dodgers!! How will you be setting the stone?

 

[scarlet16]

Yay! Another Mark T masterpiece. Great job Dodgers!

 

[pixley]

Second that "YAY" and add in a Snoopy Dance for your new stone!

 

[boston_jeff]

Congratulations, Dodgers! It looks great for a ERD picture. In person I bet it is a stunner.

And to scarlet, crooked, and pixley, thanks so much for your compliments, as always-- I am so glad that my search has helped others find their perfect stones to get engaged, celebrate anniversaries, or just to treat themselves.

Best,

Jeff

 

[wen104]

Ok picture is not good but it is good enough to see that

THAT IS A VERY YUMMY ROCK you got there! Cannot wait to see what it looks like set and ow in a better picture

 

[pixley]

Date: 3/28/2008 3:57:07 PM
Author: boston_jeff
Congratulations, Dodgers! It looks great for a ERD picture. In person I bet it is a stunner.

And to scarlet, crooked, and pixley, thanks so much for your compliments, as always-- I am so glad that my search has helped others find their perfect stones to get engaged, celebrate anniversaries, or just to treat themselves.

Best,

Jeff

OMG, you have no idea how helpful your threads were! I wish I could thank CB too, but she vanished into thin air. Now, if you and your FI could just sort out her wedding band, that would save us all (ok, me) the additional aggravation/inconvenience of having to do that from scratch...

 

[dianne]

OMG!!!!.....I think the stone looks just gorgeous!

...and, believe me, that is a Sports Illustrated of Diamonds cover shot of a stone from ERD. I just had to trust Mark''s eyes because the pic he sent to me was so bad I wouldn''t even show my boyfriend until it was in mid-shipment....then he asked me why in the world would I want that.

Thank goodness the seeing it for real made us very happy and he bought it! Good Luck to you! I really do think it looks gorgeous!

 

[boston_jeff]

Date: 3/28/2008 4:17:48 PM
Author: pixley

OMG, you have no idea how helpful your threads were! I wish I could thank CB too, but she vanished into thin air. Now, if you and your FI could just sort out her wedding band, that would save us all (ok, me) the additional aggravation/inconvenience of having to do that from scratch...

Well, you can be sure that the FI will start pressing for a visit to Leon sooner than necessary. Although I have made it very clear that she can''t wear it until the wedding in September, which is a strong statement from a pushover like me. That seems to have reduced her motivation. But I would expect an update on that by June-ish.

What are you thinking for your wb, pixley?

*to the OP, sorry for the ''jack

 

[pixley]

Date: 3/28/2008 7:41:57 PM
Author: boston_jeff

Date: 3/28/2008 4:17:48 PM
Author: pixley

OMG, you have no idea how helpful your threads were! I wish I could thank CB too, but she vanished into thin air. Now, if you and your FI could just sort out her wedding band, that would save us all (ok, me) the additional aggravation/inconvenience of having to do that from scratch...

Well, you can be sure that the FI will start pressing for a visit to Leon sooner than necessary. Although I have made it very clear that she can't wear it until the wedding in September, which is a strong statement from a pushover like me. That seems to have reduced her motivation. But I would expect an update on that by June-ish.

What are you thinking for your wb, pixley?

*to the OP, sorry for the 'jack

Threadjack = My fault

September! Sheesh, I don't know if we (and by "we", I mean the collective we - your FI, me, and every other poster on PS) can wait that long. Soooo, what I'm thinking is a single sided pave with single cuts, "mushroom set" orrrrr one of those Singlestone eternity bands with mini emerald cuts.

ETA: Dodgers! - We'll be wanting more photos of that cushion along with progress photos of the CADs, etc. Just so you know what the expectations are 'round here.