CUTS: solasfera/eternity/star129

[proto]

Hi there

I am familiar with HA diamonds and all of their incarnations thereof, which are just the normal round brilliant cut to a high degree of precision.

My understanding is that HA is called different names by different vendors:

True Hearts: James Allen (seems not the best if you want to get a HA just by looking at the symmetry)
A Cut Above: White Flash
Signature: Brian Gavins
Superior HA: Good Old Gold
Eternity: High Performance Diamonds [I think eternity is just another well cut RB/HA, but I may be wrong]

I was unable to find many listing for solasfera/eternity/eighternity/star129 in terms of price and particularly, vendors in the UK or vendors which ship to the UK. I see that GOG lists some, but there are not very many so it is very difficult to do a large scale price comparison such as is possible on normal cuts or HA cuts.

Is there any consensus on how much of a premium they attract over a GIA XXX or AGS 0, or how much you can/should sacrifice in terms of colour by upgrading in cut.

Is there any video comparing eternity diamond to a high quality HA diamond, GIA XXX/AGS 0, and GIA very well cut? Have not seen this anywhere on internet so far.

 

[luvdajules]

Hi OP, just fyi...High Performance Diamonds is a dealer for Crafted by Infinity diamonds, which a branded H&A diamond, cut to perfection. I think I've seen some GOG videos for the other diamond brands you've listed like solasfera and star129. Those brands have more than the typical 57 facets for a mrb, so there is more pin flash, versus broader larger flashes...one might say, a bit of a different personality (disco ball maybe?). I'm not sure how to access those videos but you might check the GOG website in the video archives. My guess, if you search old threads, you'll get a feel for answering your questions. But what it boils down to, your personal preferences. What are your objectives, or target specs and budget? How would you describe the perfect stone? Are you looking for cut perfection and optical symmetry? Most PS'ers would not sacrifice cut, ever but might let color and clarity slide a bit to get size. Most agree that G/H VS2 is the sweet spot for value and quality with Ideal cut. I'm a little more lenient in color, when the cut is Ideal, I could go I/J/K and depending on the type/size of inclusions, I'm not afraid of Si1/Si2. Once you nail down a few parameters, it will be a lot easier for this forum to help suggest stones and discuss various aspects and give advice. Good luck and enjoy your diamond quest!

 

[proto]

ah yes, I meant infinity rather than eternity. Too many brand names to keep track of.

I have seen the videos from GOG on what a solasfera, star 129, and eighternity look like under different light conditions and their comparison to a HA RB. I have also seen videos of the CBI diamonds themselves, but with no comparators in same video. For those who may also be interested, my previous research sources are below.

Solasfera - https://www.youtube.com/user/DiamondInfoMan/search?query=solasfera

Star129 - https://www.youtube.com/user/DiamondInfoMan/search?query=star129

Eighternity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63X18dsLfJ0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMqHqU6pLJg

CBI - https://www.youtube.com/user/Wink1Jones/videos


To clarify my post:

1 - where I can purchase solasfera, star 128, and eighternity other than GOG, if I am in the UK?

2 - is there some place other than GOG to view price lists to get a feel for what price/premium they trade at? Most of these are "call to find price" , but you can work out approx by using the search function which is tedious.

3 - I understand the sweet spot for RB and HA diamonds. Is this the same for solasfera, star 128, and eighternity, or does the increase in cut quality mean you can reduce something as a result? Or to put it another way, if you were to mix and match HA with solasfera, star 128, and eighternity in a 3 stone setting, would you get the same colour for all three diamonds?

4 - has a video been done comparing Infinity RB to other HA diamonds? I have seen videos on infinity diamonds, but never a comparison in the same video to a HA.

luvdajules

objective - buy a beautiful diamond while getting value

target spec - around 1.0 to 1.2ct (other specs are dependent on answer to query 3 above)

budget - unlimited, keeping in mind 1.2 ct. I am not entirely price insensitive, but I want to know what I am getting for how much. at the moment, there is no transparency on what the premium is, because there is not enough pricing data available to me to come to an informed opinion.

Do you own a solasfera, star 128, eighternity or CBI?

 

[TC1987]

To clarify my post:

1 - where I can purchase solasfera, star 128, and eighternity other than GOG, if I am in the UK?

2 - is there some place other than GOG to view price lists to get a feel for what price/premium they trade at? Most of these are "call to find price" , but you can work out approx by using the search function which is tedious.

3 - I understand the sweet spot for RB and HA diamonds. Is this the same for solasfera, star 128, and eighternity, or does the increase in cut quality mean you can reduce something as a result? Or to put it another way, if you were to mix and match HA with solasfera, star 128, and eighternity in a 3 stone setting, would you get the same colour for all three diamonds?

4 - has a video been done comparing Infinity RB to other HA diamonds? I have seen videos on infinity diamonds, but never a comparison in the same video to a HA.

1. Contact the websites for Solasfera, etc, and ask for referral to a UK dealer.

2. Probably not. Proprietary and/or branded cuts are often sold at premium prices. All dealers may be prohibited from selling it below a certain minimum price,so the price is essentially the same everywhere.

3, Color is graded face-down. It's the body color. You are wondering if one make washes face-up color better than the others. My guess would be perhaps the stones with more splintery arrows and faceting can do that better, and the ones with the more chunky facets or chunky arrows might lean slightly toward warmth. Cut for more brilliance than fire will return more white light. The "sweet spot" for you might be different than it it for someone else. H is the cutoff for a "white" diamond, to me. Many people can see tint in an "I" stone, but blue fluorescence will help camouflage that if UV light is present. I think J and K are definitely tinted. The body tint is always there from the profile view.


4. Not that I know of. But even if there were one, there is no standard for H&A diamonds. So, someone could pick a really bad non-branded GIA excellent that's a steep/deep and stack it up against a Crafted by Infinity (or any other brand) and say "Look how much better my (branded stone) is." There have been discussions on here that the cut of Tiffany's and Hearts on Fire's diamonds can vary and is sometimes a lower performing diamond than some of the nonbranded H&A you can buy from Pricescope vendors. But Crafted By Infinity has very high and very consistent standards. Aside from clarity issues, you are unlikely to find a "bad" CBI stone. Once you get into the top tier of "superideal" H&A, there are no performance issues but might be subtle differences in "personality" of individual diamonds due to the table size, minor faceting, body tint, inclusions, etc.

 

[luvdajules]

Hi OP, I really love the broad, bold flashes of a mrb with the typical 57 facets, so I would not go solasfera or star 129 and other extra faceted brands. The extra facets do NOT make it a better cut, just more facets that give a different look/personality to the stone. I believe they do take extra labor to make and market. I have seen a Crafted by Infinity and it was remarkable, but I have yet to see a WF ACA or Brian Gavin Signature or GOG superior...but I've heard these are all top notch H&A ideal cut stones. I would not mix and match, pick one style to make up a 3 stone ring, I would think. If you stick to top cuts, that will already be very special and people will wonder why your ring is so sparkly and theirs look dull in comparison. I've heard about GOG pricing, if you add the stone to cart and start check out, the price pops up. I wouldn't pay the premium to buy solasfera or star 129 because I prefer ideal cut mrb. I'm only aware of GOG, if you do indeed want to proceed with those type of stones. I can't help myself, but if there is a Crafted by Infinity that meets your target specs, I wouldn't hesitate! You'll be so pleased and Wink is a gem to work with and will provide great CS (as will the others mentioned often on this forum) but like I said, I actually saw the CBI and was totally blown away. I'm afraid videos and photos can't really capture the special qualities of CBI stone, from my experience. They really have to be seen to be believed. Hope this was helpful. Please post your progress.

 

[Rhino]

Hi proto,

To answer your questions...

To clarify my post:

1 - where I can purchase solasfera, star 128, and eighternity other than GOG, if I am in the UK?

To my knowledge they do not have distributorships in the UK. If you drop us an email I'll inquire for you. Otherwise you'd have to purchase via the web and we'd ship it to you in the UK. We do this all the time.

2 - is there some place other than GOG to view price lists to get a feel for what price/premium they trade at? Most of these are "call to find price" , but you can work out approx by using the search function which is tedious.

None of these diamond facilities want their prices listed for various reasons. There is no website that lists them and there is a lot more available that isn't listed. If you want pricing contact us and we can let you know.

3 - I understand the sweet spot for RB and HA diamonds. Is this the same for solasfera, star 128, and eighternity, or does the increase in cut quality mean you can reduce something as a result? Or to put it another way, if you were to mix and match HA with solasfera, star 128, and eighternity in a 3 stone setting, would you get the same colour for all three diamonds?

Yes but you can actually be + or - a color grade and the diamonds will still match fine depending on the size.

4 - has a video been done comparing Infinity RB to other HA diamonds? I have seen videos on infinity diamonds, but never a comparison in the same video to a HA.

I've shot videos of different types of H&A diamonds with varying H&A patterns, lower half lengths, upper half angles, etc. In top make H&A diamonds when the measurements are similar it can be tough to see any difference. The *key* is the critical data shared and the photographic evidence provided. Some of the prosumers here may be familiar with how upper half angles, lower half %, etc. affect optics.

luvdajules

objective - buy a beautiful diamond while getting value

target spec - around 1.0 to 1.2ct (other specs are dependent on answer to query 3 above)

budget - unlimited, keeping in mind 1.2 ct. I am not entirely price insensitive, but I want to know what I am getting for how much. at the moment, there is no transparency on what the premium is, because there is not enough pricing data available to me to come to an informed opinion.

Do you own a solasfera, star 128, eighternity or CBI?

Just one note on "value". Solasfera, Eighternity, Star129 & August Vintage are not that much more expensive than H&A (some are not at all). What many jewelry stores charge for commonly cut diamonds and you learn the pricing on even the most valuable of these modified rounds you'll find them to be an incredible value compared to typical retail. Pick what appeals to you most.

Hope that helps.

Kind regards,
Rhino

 

[ame]

I have owned multiple Star129s, and bought more than one from GOG. My original one was bought locally. After owning so many, I don't know if I can go back to an ideal cut RB, at least not yet. I would not call this cut "crushed ice" as many do that have never seen one before, but the pattern in a nice Star129 is pretty awesome. If you want to see photos of my current one, you should be able to search for my threads and see them that way.

Over the years, and while searching for this particular stone, I've seen a few Star129s I didn't love, just that weren't cut as nicely as others, but on the whole, they're pretty fantastic. I keep prodding the current cutters to go back to buying higher clarity rough like the original cutters did because the lower clarity is to me a turnoff. I am a clarity freak, though. Others don't care as much and the majority of the inclusions are well concealed by the cut because the cut itself is very different. They take, in general a well cut round, and "slice and dice" the pavilion.

The way the extra facets in the pavilion look creates a different style than the H&A pattern we're used to on here. It's more of a flower, or starburst, is the best way I can describe it. But it creates an edge to edge brightness that you just won't see elsewhere, and the fire and light return is unmatched. It is almost impossible to photograph in sunlight and have it actually show you what it looks like.

 

[carbonquest]

I am in the UK and am interested in buying a solasfera or star 129 diamond. I'm having EXTREME difficulty in finding diamonds that have extra facets that are cut to super ideal cut proportions.

I've been to Hatton Garden and it is a RIP OFF! Plus the jewellers there don't have a clue. I spoke to the manager of the store and he didn't know what a star % was, nor a Lower Half %. If I am an absolute amateur who can tell you what they are and what an ideal range for me, you would expect somebody trained and who owns a store(s) to know this information, whilst also charging a premium.

They sit there with their calculators trying to see exactly how much they can make from you.

In that respect I admire whiteflash and other retailers with set prices. But have yet to find a UK store who just give a fixed price for super ideal diamonds, on par with Whiteflash A Cut Above, BG Signature Ideal, Solasfera style and Star129 Style