diamonds are IN!

[Nate]

I have started to post pics here.

I absolutely LOVE the 1.33ct SI1 J H&A!!! It is awesome! I don''t have any problems with it being a J, it might as well be a D to me! Of course I don''t have much to compare it to. But I have no regrets with color! Clarity is awesome as well, the inclusion can be seen if you know where to look, squint and cross your eyes, and tilt the stone at the right angle. Even then it is so small its easy to miss. The cut is beautiful, as you can see in the hearts pic at the link above. Looking at it in sunlight... WOW!!! Totally amazing! Can''t wait to post more pics to show ya''ll!

The 0.55ct and 0.528ct side stones are SI2 J H&As... I suppose I''m happy with them. Don''t get me wrong, they are cut really well and have great really nice sparkle... they both rated a 1.7 on the HCA (the 1.33ct got a 0.8!). One has very difficult to spot inclusions, but the other... kinda bothers me.

It has one small black inclusion right in the center of the table and another slightly bigger one towards the edge, but not far enough to be covered by a prong. These two are the only visible inclusions from the top, looking through the pavillion it looks like a ring of inclusions about halfway down the pavillion. This is because there are a couple inclusions there and the pavillion makes a bunch of reflections. So it looks horrible from the backside but its not easy to spot the inclusions from the top.

I handed the stone to three seperate people and asked them if they could see any inclusions only by looking at the top and they said they couldn''t. I''ve decided its acceptable because of this... I know its hard to see the inclusions from the top and thats what counts, even if it does look really bad from the bottom. I''ll try and post some pics of this if I have time. The Vatche 3 stone truffle is pretty open, but I don''t think anyone could see into the pavillion unless she takes the ring off. It still bothers me that there are inclusions like that, even if they don''t matter.

Overall though, the 3 stones are amazing and everything I could hope for! Its going to be totally killer once they are set!

Much thanks to all who have helped me along the way, as well as GoodOldGold for such amazing diamonds!!

 

[diane5006]

Congrats Nate...glad you are happy...I was down to see Jonathan last weekend...picked out a stone

Saw the Vatche truffle live...with 3 diamonds in it...1ish center .25ish side it is awesome...I picked it for my setting...the pictures on Vatche's site don't really do it justice...the on on GOG website better...but live...WOW...

Looking forward to further updates

 

[AnnaMagdalena]

CONGRATS!! The stone looks great, and what a terrific h&a pattern!! Make sure you post more pix more pix when the whole ring is done!

Hey, where's that photo of you and your fiancee-to-be? I posted the picture of me that you asked for...fair is fair...

Anna Magdalena

 

[Nate]

Anna, check your thread.

Here's the best pic of the Vatche truffle that I've seen, its what sold me on the setting!

 

[Mara]

Yay the pictures look great Nate!! Don't worry about the small side stone, no one looks at stones like us diamond nuts do. People will be blinded by the intense sparkle when set. Plus Jonathan has a trade-in program for the future, so you can always replace that SI2 with an SI1 or similar and rest easily if it continues to irk you. Also no one can see diamonds from the pavilion..no one takes off the ring, hands it to someone else and turns it over to peek!

Congrats....and enjoy! More pictures...we love the eye candy. Don't forget to post your pictures in the Eye Candy forum also, esp when the ring is set and done!

 

[Giangi]

Hi Nate!!!!!! I knew that J would have been just fine!!
I WANT to see pics ASAP!

PS. Can't you ask Jonathan if he can find another stone instead of that SI 2 that bothers ya? Maybe an I-J-K color? On his site I've seen a K VS 2, a J SI 1 and several other stones very comparable to yours in terms of measurements and diameters...

Also, when you talk about inclusions, do you mean you can find them with your naked eye on all three stones??

 

[pqcollectibles]

WOW, Nate!!! GREAT Pics!!! GREAT shot on the Hearts!!!! Can't wait to see the ring!!!

 

[Nate]

Well Mara, the two SI2 sidestones are broker stones and aren't covered under the trade up policy. We don't plan on using it anyway, my fiancee is the sentimental type and doesn't want to trade away her original diamonds/ring.

Giangi, I have borrowed an awesome camera and plan on taking all kinds of pics!

About inclusions, the 1.33ct stone's inclusion is nearly mpossible to see with the naked eye. Once you see it under magnification and know where it is, at the right angle you can *barely* barely see it with the naked eye.

One of the ~0.5ct SI2 stones is essentially eye clean. The other, looking into the table, has a small translucent black speck in the center and small black speck closer to the edge (but not close enough to be prong covered). Non-diamond freaks can't even see the specks on this stone, much less the other two. Thats from top down, from the pavillion there are easily noticeable inclusions. I think the stone is acceptable, though I will ask Jonathan what he thinks.

 

[fire&ice]

Your hard work has paid off! Can't wait to see pics!

 

[Mara]

Boooo no trade-in on the brokered stones? That may be why they are priced a little lower but personally if I am going to spend X amount on a stone, I would pay a few hundred more or get a slightly smaller stone in order to get that trade-up and all the extra info/reporting on the stone.

Maybe not for side stones, but for anything 'big' I would consider in the future!!

Esp for non e-ring purchases that are more likely to be traded-in (e.g. pendant etc).