Cushion me baby!

[ello]

First of all....Happy Valentine''s Day!

Can anyone tell me the difference between cushion brilliant diamonds versus cushion modified brilliant diamonds? Pictures would be awesome - I''m not very technical! Thank you....

 

[ello]

BUMP!

I''m hoping the cushion experts can help me with pictures or more information so that I can visualize the difference - as I am not sure which cushion would work better for us. I''ve not seen images of the 2 types of cushions...so I would appreciate additional info. or recommendations. Thank you ladies!

Mark sent me the following info.

By Mark: engagementringsdirect.com
"Cushions are being cut in 2 different ways. One is the Cushion Modified brilliant which is a cushion that the brilliance is in the center of
the diamond, more like a Radiant. The cutters have added extra facets on the pavillion side to create more brilliance in the center while taking away the overall brilliance. The 2nd type of cushion is the cushion brilliant that is not modified, thus having the bottom(pavillion) cut more like a round stone. This creates more of an overall brilliance appearance. - Mark"

 

[slammie]

Ries, I don't have any comparison photos but check out this thread
I believe though, that example 1 and 3 are mislabed as cushion modified brilliants. They are cushion brilliants.


My understanding is the modified brilliants tend to have more of a "crushed ice" look to them.

 

[valeria101]

As far asI know, the 'cushion brilliant' has the same facet pattern of a round brilliant only 'extruded' on a rectangular outline.

Every other sort of cushion is a 'modified brilliant' and there seems to be an endless variation - some look very close to radiants as Mark says, some not at all.

I am trying to figure out why radiant cut cushions would be brighter in the middle but nothing smart comes to mind. Perhps some look less bright at an angle (thinking of some stones with steep lower girlde facets) so one can say they have 'brilliance concentrated in the centre' - just to mention the full half of the glass ... but... I would love to hear more about this!

 

[Incognito2]

Hi Ries,

I''m going through this same thing myself. This thread is a pretty big help:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/a-cushion-by-any-other-name.36001/=

I hope this helps....GOOD LUCK and keep us posted on what you find!

 

[Incognito2]

Ries,

Great minds.......



Val,

From what has been explained to me, the reason they are brighter in the middle is that facets have been added to the pavilion that create more refraction and draw the eyes to that part of the stone. There are a lot of facets in that area, hence the reason you get the "crushed ice" look. From there I guess it is all personal preference....

 

[ello]

Thank you - I really appreciate all your help. I guess it''s a situation where you really have to see both cuts. It just difficult to determine which type of cut to ask for since both sounds great in their own way. I also don''t want to send Mark or a wild goose chase only to find out that I like one cut over the other...

Our local jewelers are not knowledgeable either. One lady told me last night that the cushion cut diamond ring in their window was a Asscher cut and I almost wanted to strangle her...it was so not a Asscher - OMG! So to my knowledge is really better to shop online - at least the online vendors seem to know their cuts. It''s just difficult because you kinda have to make up your mind for the final search. I almost feel like shopping for a Cushion is like shopping for the diamond blind folded. Both cuts sound promising...

Mark did say that that the 2nd cut (Cushion Brilliant) works better for the cushion though it is harder too locate) -I wonder why the 2nd cut would be better....it''s mind boggling.

If you guys learn or hear anything else (or see images) that might help, it would be wonderful if you could update this post from time to time...

Thank you so much...

 

[decodelighted]

Date: 2/14/2006 7:38:58 PM
Author: Ries
One lady told me last night that the cushion cut diamond ring in their window was a Asscher cut and I almost wanted to strangle her...it was so not a Asscher - OMG!

Even in NYC''s diamond district, the same thing happened to me more than once!!!

But in reverse ... I kept asking for Asschers and they kept showing me Cushions. Ack!

 

[Incognito2]

Hi Ries,

A couple of questions:

1. Are you near NYC? If so, I am sure you could go into Mark''s office and he could show you a couple of cushions of both kinds.....That way you could get an idea which one looks better to your eye. That will help you narrow your search down to only the particular type of cut that you prefer.

2. What specs are you looking for in your stone (color, clarity, carat, square vs. rectangular...etc) The people on this forum seem to really love treasure hunts

Good Luck in your Search!

 

[ello]

Hi Incognito...
Thank you for the recommendations. Yes, I would love to visit Mark in NY (my bags are always packed - wink-wink!) but I''m in Toronto Canada (yikes!) so I will have to make up my mind first so that Mark will know which Cushion types to select upon our arrival. We would like to visit Mark for our final selection & payment in April/May (we can only fly to NY once) but before then I''ll have to make up my mind...bummer!!! It is for this reason that I wanted to understand and see images of the two cuts to determine which one I like better...sigh! Life was so much simpler when a Cushion was just a Cushion!

We were thinking of a 2.5 to 2.75 Ct. Cushion (square-ish) G,H colour - VS2, SI1, SI2 depending on the diamond and if it is achievalbe with our budget.

Thanks for all you help.

 

[Incognito2]

Hi Ries,

Yes, I suppose that Toronto to NYC isnt terribly convenient more than once.... It''s funny, you and I are looking for very similar things (I am in a seemingly ENDLESS

search for a 2+ G-H-I VS2/SI1 sqaure cushion....) Ill post a couple of pics I''ve gotten in my search that might help show a bit of the difference. First the cushion modified:

 

[Incognito2]

Cushion Brilliant: